Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for Genesis 13:10

וַיִּשָּׂא־ל֣וֹט אֶת־עֵינָ֗יו וַיַּרְא֙ אֶת־כָּל־כִּכַּ֣ר הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן כִּ֥י כֻלָּ֖הּ מַשְׁקֶ֑ה לִפְנֵ֣י ׀ שַׁחֵ֣ת יְהוָ֗ה אֶת־סְדֹם֙ וְאֶת־עֲמֹרָ֔ה כְּגַן־יְהוָה֙ כְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בֹּאֲכָ֖ה צֹֽעַר׃

And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou goest unto Zoar.

Rashi on Genesis

כי כלה משקה THAT IT WAS WELL WATERED — a land of water-streams.
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Ramban on Genesis

AS THE GARDEN OF THE ETERNAL, LIKE THE LAND OF EGYPT. The verse states that the whole land of the Plain was adequately irrigated from the Jordan by working with the foot, just as was done with the garden of G-d, concerning which it is stated, And a river went out of Eden to water the garden,103Above, 2:10. and as is the way in the land of Egypt, concerning which it is stated, And thou didst water it with thy foot.104Deuteronomy 11:10. The verse mentions both places: it says that the land of the Plain was as adequately irrigated as the garden of the Eternal, which is the most perfect place on this earth, and it also mentions, like the land of Egypt, a place well known for pasture.
Our Rabbis have said,105Sifre Ekev, 38. The Sifre is a Tannaitic Midrash on the book of Numbers and the book of Deuteronomy.As the garden of the Eternal for trees; Like the land of Egypt — for herbs.” Their intent was to explain that there were large rivers in the Plain, which watered the trees of the gardens, as was the case in the garden of G-d, and that there were also ponds in it, as in the land of Egypt, from which vegetable gardens were watered. Lot chose this part, for a land which is so irrigated is unlikely to suffer from a drought and is good for pasture.
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Radak on Genesis

וישא לוט את עיניו, from the mountain where they were staying, as we know from 12,8. Seeing that this was a high point in the country, it afforded Lot an opportunity to survey much of the rest of the country all around him. As a result, he observed כי כלה משקה, that the Jordan valley was very well irrigated. When the Torah uses the word כלה after having already said כל when describing the valley, this is a way of emphasising the word כל still further. We find a similar construction in Isaiah 14,18 כל מלכי גוים כולם, “all the kings of the nations, all of them.”
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