פירוש על בראשית 19:19

פן תדבקני הרעה [I CANNOT ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAIN,] LEST SOME EVIL CLEAVE UNTO ME — Whilst I was with the people of Sodom the Holy One, blessed be He, compared my deeds with the deeds of the people of my city and I seemed to be righteous and deserving to be saved. When, however, I come to the righteous man (i.e. Abraham whom Rashi 5:17 stated to be dwelling in the mountain) I must be regarded as wicked. Thus, too, did the woman of Zarefath say to Elijah, (1 Kings 17:18) “Art thou come to bring my sin in remembrance?” Before you came to me the Holy One, blessed be He, compared my doings with the doings of my people and I was regarded as a righteous woman amongst them, but now that you have come to me, in comparison with your deeds, I am wicked (Genesis 50:11).

הנה נא מצא עבדך חן בעיניך, seeing that the angel had told him המלט על נפשך, “save yourself,” it had become clear that the angel’s mission was to save him. Actually, both angels were on a mission of both saving Lot and destroying Sodom. The one who was speaking did so only because he was the senior of the two. The one who tried to save Lot said לבלתי הפכי את העיר, “I cannot yet overturn the city.” (verse 21) He also admitted that he was unable to destroy the town until Lot had been saved (verse 22).

And I appeared as a righteous person and worthy of rescue. [You might ask: Does this not contradict what] Rashi explained before, that Lot too participated in the evil ways of Sedom and was saved only in Avraham’s merit? The answer is: [What Rashi said before] is the truth. But Lot mistakenly thought he was saved in his own merit. Accordingly, when Rashi explains on v. 21: “I will spare the entire city for your sake,” it does not mean, “In your merit.” Rather it means, “In order that you will be saved.” Nonetheless, everything that is happening is in Avraham’s merit. (Nachalas Yaakov) But this is difficult: How could Lot make such a mistake after hearing the angel say, “Do not look back,” implying, “You did evil and are saved only in Avraham’s merit”? The answer is: Lot was not saying [that he appeared as a righteous person] to explain why he was being saved from Sedom’s upheaval. He was speaking generally about his residence in Sedom, during which time he was saved from punishment for his deeds because he was considered to be righteous when compared to them. (R. Meir Stern)

Ich verdiene allerdings die Rettung nicht und es ist schon eine große Gnade von dir, dass du mir das Leben erhalten willst; allein wenn ich dies nur durch ununterbrochenes Forteilen ins Gebirge hin soll erhalten können, so werde ich das nicht vollbringen können und von dem herbeieilenden Verderben erreicht werden.

פן תדבקני הרעה, “so that the disaster will not catch up with me.” He was afraid of the brimstone and sulphur that was beginning to spread all around him.

תדבקני, the vowel patach under the letter ק is in lieu of the vowel tzeyre.