Commentary for Genesis 19:17

המלט על נפשך ESCAPE FOR THY LIFE — Let it suffice you to save your lives; do not give a thought to your possessions.

LOOK NOT BEHIND THEE, NEITHER STAY IN ALL THE PLAIN. The purport of the verse is to state: “Do not stay in all the Plain and do not look behind you after you have been saved.” For as long as Lot had not reached the mountain, disaster would not overtake the inhabitants of Sodom. It is for this reason that Lot said, “And I cannot escape to the mountain, lest the evil overtake me²³⁹Verse 19 here. when I am in the Plain since you will not extend the time for me more than a little, as you have said, Haste thee, escape thither.”²⁴⁰Verse 22 here.
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said, “Look not behind thee, i.e., ‘thou and all who belong to thee.’ And similarly is the verse, Thou shalt not eat of it.”²⁴¹Above, 2:17. This command, given to Adam, must have included Eve as well, for otherwise she would not have been punished. Similarly, the command given to Lot must have included his wife and all who belonged to him.
But what need is there for this interpretation? The punishment here was not because they would violate the warning of the angel by looking at them. Instead, the angel merely warned them on his own that punishment would overtake them for such a glance, and he warned Lot because of his merit, and all who listened and took warning saved their lives.
Now as to the significance of the prohibition of looking, Rashi said: “You sinned with them but art saved through the merit of Abraham. You are not permitted²⁴²“You are not permitted.” In our Rashi the text reads, “It is not fitting that.…” to see their doom.”
There is yet another matter. Looking upon the atmosphere of a plague and all contagious diseases is very harmful, and they may cleave to him. Even the thought of them is harmful. Therefore, the leper is isolated and dwells alone.²⁴³Leviticus 13:40. Similarly, those who have been bitten by mad animals such as a mad dog and other animals besides, when they look into the water or any mirror, they behold in them the likeness of the offender, and as a result of this, they did just as the Rabbis have said in Tractate Yoma,²⁴⁴Yoma 84a. See also Ramban, Numbers 21:9. and as the students of nature have mentioned. It was for this reason that Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt²⁴⁵Verse 26 here. for the plague entered her mind when she saw the brimstone and salt²⁴⁶Brimstone and salt. Here in the chapter, brimstone and fire are mentioned (Verse 24). Salt however is mentioned in Deuteronomy 29:22, in connection with the overthrow of Sodom. which descended upon them from heaven, and it cleaved to her.
I am inclined to say that when G-d destroyed these cities the destroying angel stood between the earth and heaven,²⁴⁷I Chronicles 21:16. appearing in a flame of fire, as did the destroying angel whom David saw.²⁴⁷I Chronicles 21:16. Therefore, he prohibited them from looking.
In Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer²⁴⁸Chapter 25. there is a similar text: “The angels said to them, ‘Do not look behind you since the Divine Presence of the Holy One, blessed be He, has descended to rain brimstone and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah.’ The compassion of Edis, Lot’s wife, welled up for her married daughters who were in Sodom,²⁴⁹Lot, according to Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, had two married daughters in Sodom in addition to the two betrothed daughters who were yet in his house. See Verse 15. and she looked behind her to see if they were following her. She thereupon saw the back of the Divine Presence, and she became a pillar of salt.”

אל תביט אחריך, first of all on account of their going to experience the anguish of seeing the destruction of their city; secondly, in order not to afford them an opportunity to see the angels performing their destructive work as angels when there was no need for them to witness this. Watching divine beings in action and being saved by such spectacles requires Divine intervention and should therefore be avoided. Compare the awe with which Manoach comments on what he has seen in Judges 13,22, as well as Yaakov’s reaction in Genesis 32,31 after his wrestling match with the angel of Esau.

אל תביט אחריך, the evil would catch up with you as soon as you interrupt your march away from it. This is precisely what happened to his wife when she ignored the instructions and looked behind. (verse 26)

אל תביט אחריך, "do not look behind you!" The reason for this is simple. We believe that by looking at a person's face one (a צדיק) can detect whether he is good or evil. If Lot were to turn his face towards the city his sins would be reflected on his face and there would be no way he could have been spared.

ויהי כהוציאם, while they were in the process of removing them from the city of Sodom they urged them to hurry in order to be saved;

אל תבט אחריך “do not look behind you!” So that you will not lose momentum in your flight and the destruction would catch up with you.

You participated in their evil ways. You might ask: It said in v. 15, “Lest you be swept away in the iniquity of the city.” Does this not imply that he did not participate in their evil ways [and was in danger only due to their sins]? This is not a question, as v. 15 means: If you remain in the city you might be swept away with them [regardless of your virtue or lack of It]. Avraham’s merit will not help you then — for a tzaddik’s merit would not save even his own life! As Rashi says on 18:32, Avraham did not pray to save the city if there were less than ten tzaddikim; consequently the few would be swept away with the city if they remain. But Rashi’s comment here, “Only for the sake of Avraham are you saved,” means: [Although you participated in their evil ways,] you will be treated as if you did not do evil and are not deserving of punishment. Thus, if you leave the city you will be saved. But if you stay, you might be swept away with their iniquity — and Avraham’s merit will not help! Furthermore, Rashi’s comment of “You are not worthy to see their punishment” answers the question: Lot might be swept away with the city if he remains because he is not worthy to see their punishment, as indeed happened to his wife. (R. Meir Stern)

ויהי כהוציאם אותם החוצה, “and it was as he took them outside;” the word אותם appears superfluous, as it is included in the plural suffix ם; the reason it was added was to emphasise that the angel only took Lot, his wife and the two daughters who were still unmarried. They were not allowed to take with them any of their belongings. The spelling of the verse is to teach us that Lot was so “married” to his material possessions that he could not face having to become separated from these. We have a similarly strange sounding grammatical formulation in Numbers 14,32: ופגרכם אתם “and you who are living corpses;”An alternate exegesis for the expression: ויהי כאשר הוציאם; the word is not exclusive but inclusive, i.e. “when the angel took Lot and his family out, etc.;”

אל תבט אחריך LOOK NOT BEHIND THEE — You sinned with them but art saved through the merit of Abraham. It is not fitting that you should witness their doom whilst you yourself are escaping (Genesis Rabbah 50:11).

ויאמר, the angel whose task it was to save him, even though there were two angels that worked together.

And only for the sake of Avraham are you saved. People ask: It says, “Elohim remembered Avraham and He sent Lot out of the upheaval” (v. 29). On this, Rashi comments that Elohim remembered what Lot did for Avraham. Although Lot knew Sarah was Avraham’s wife, Lot did not betray Avraham in Egypt [by telling Pharaoh about Avraham]. Accordingly, why does Rashi not say here that Lot was saved because of his own merit? Furthermore, [if he had such a merit,] why did the angel warn him not to look back? The answer is: Lot indeed saved Avraham from death by not revealing who Sarah was, and, measure for measure, he was saved from death. But this act was meritorious enough to save Lot only because Avraham’s merit was so great. Lot would not have been saved had he done this kindness for someone less righteous than Avraham. Thus, the merit of Lot’s act actually depended on Avraham’s merit. This is why it says, “Elohim remembered Avraham” (v. 29), when it should say, “Elohim remembered Lot,” according to [the initial understanding of] Rashi’s above-mentioned comment on that verse. Perforce, it is as we explained. (R. Meir Stern)

אל תביט אחריך, “literally: “do not look behind you;” the reference is not to what one sees with one’s eyes, but to what one sees with one’s mind’s eye, i.e. leaving behind other members of one’s family. The angel warned Lot to move forward with all possible speed, not allowing any other consideration to slow him down. The reason was that the cloud containing the lethal particles had already risen and was unstoppable. It would discharge its contents all over the region.

בכל הככר IN ALL THE PLAIN — the plain of the Jordan (cf. Genesis 13:11).

אל תביט אחריך, they said that to him in order that he should not thereby create a delay. He was afraid that Lot would want to ascertain if the city behind him was really being destroyed.

אל תביט, “do not look!” Although the command is issued in the singular mode, [presumably Lot’s wife and daughters did not qualify for being addressed by an angel. Ed.] the warning was meant for each of the members of Lot’s family also. We find a parallel example of such a formulation in Genesis 2,17: ומעץ הדעת טוב ורע לא תאכל ממנו, where the prohibition to eat from the tree of knowledge is addressed to Adam in the singular mode, although it was intended both for him and his wife. This is the reason why Adam’s wife was punished for eating from it. אל תביט, the letter ב has the vowel chink, (instead of tzeyre.)

ההרה המלט ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAIN — Flee to Abraham who is dwelling in the mountain — as it is said, (Genesis 12:8) “And he removed his tent thence unto the mountain”. He was still dwelling there, as it is said, (Genesis 13:3) “[And he went unto] … the place where his tent had been at first”, and although it is stated (Genesis 13:18) “And Abraham moved his tent etc.”, he had many tents and they stretched as far as Hebron.

בכל הככר, in the entire valley, seeing that all the towns in that valley were being turned upside down.

המלט ESCAPE — it means “slipping away” and similarly wherever this root מלט occurs in the Scriptures; in old French émisser. Examples are: (Isaiah 66:7) “she was delivered of (המליטה) a man child” i. e. the embryo slipped out of the womb; (Psalms 124:7) “[Our soul] is escaped (נמלטה) like a bird”; and (Isaiah 46:2) “They could not deliver (מלט) the burden”, i.e. discharge (make slip out) the burden of excrement in their bowel-passages.

פן תספה, “lest you will be destroyed with the people of the city if you stand still. I have no authority to save you from the destruction once the process has commenced. The destruction will occur instantaneously and simultaneously in al the towns slated for this.” (compare Lamentations 4,6 on the expression ההפוכה כמו רגע).