language · Gen 13:10–11 · ✓ Approved

The kikkar of the Jordan and Lot’s choice

Says וַיִּשָּׂא־לוֹט אֶת־עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא (“and Lot lifted up his eyes and saw”) takes in אֶת־כָּל־כִּכַּר הַיַּרְדֵּן, “all the kikkar of the Jordan”: kikkar is a “round” or circle (BSB “plain of the Jordan”). כִּי כֻלָּהּ מַשְׁקֶה is “that all of it was a well-watered place” (the lexicon on the suffix: “the whole of it”). The Hebrew order is לִפְנֵי שַׁחֵת יְהוָה אֶת־סְדֹם וְאֶת־עֲמֹרָה (“before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah”), then כְּגַן־יְהוָה כְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם (“like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt”), then בֹּאֲכָה צֹעַר (“as you come to Zoar”). BSB moves “all the way to Zoar” forward and puts the destruction last. The Greek has “ὡς ὁ παράδεισος τοῦ θεοῦ” (“like the paradise of God”).

Says In 13:11 וַיִּבְחַר־לוֹ לוֹט אֵת כָּל־כִּכַּר הַיַּרְדֵּן is “and Lot chose for himself all the kikkar of the Jordan,” וַיִּסַּע לוֹט מִקֶּדֶם “and Lot set out miqqedem,” וַיִּפָּרְדוּ אִישׁ מֵעַל אָחִיו “and they separated, each from his brother.”

Implies The destruction clause looks ahead to Gen 19 from the narrator’s day; Sodom, the plain and Zoar are real places.

Uncertain Skinner holds that the clause “might very well be a gloss.” Miqqedem may be “eastward,” as the lexicon takes it with a verb of motion, or “from the east,” as the Greek “ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν”; BSB has “toward the east.” No lean is taken here.

Claims

Saysוַיִּשָּׂא־לוֹט אֶת־עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא (“and Lot lifted up his eyes and saw”) takes in אֶת־כָּל־כִּכַּר הַיַּרְדֵּן, “all the kikkar of the Jordan”: kikkar is a “round” or circle (BSB “plain of the Jordan”). כִּי כֻלָּהּ מַשְׁקֶה is “that all of it was a well-watered place” (the lexicon on the suffix: “the whole of it”). The Hebrew order is לִפְנֵי שַׁחֵת יְהוָה אֶת־סְדֹם וְאֶת־עֲמֹרָה (“before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah”), then כְּגַן־יְהוָה כְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם (“like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt”), then בֹּאֲכָה צֹעַר (“as you come to Zoar”). BSB moves “all the way to Zoar” forward and puts the destruction last. The Greek has “ὡς ὁ παράδεισος τοῦ θεοῦ” (“like the paradise of God”).
SaysIn 13:11 וַיִּבְחַר־לוֹ לוֹט אֵת כָּל־כִּכַּר הַיַּרְדֵּן is “and Lot chose for himself all the kikkar of the Jordan,” וַיִּסַּע לוֹט מִקֶּדֶם “and Lot set out miqqedem,” וַיִּפָּרְדוּ אִישׁ מֵעַל אָחִיו “and they separated, each from his brother.”
ImpliesThe destruction clause looks ahead to Gen 19 from the narrator’s day; Sodom, the plain and Zoar are real places.
UncertainSkinner holds that the clause “might very well be a gloss.” Miqqedem may be “eastward,” as the lexicon takes it with a verb of motion, or “from the east,” as the Greek “ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν”; BSB has “toward the east.” No lean is taken here.

Citations

OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 13:10–11 (WLC/OSHB; morph HNcbsc HNcmsa HVqc/Sp2ms HR/Ncmsa)
BSB public domain Gen 13:10–11 (BSB)
BDB CC BY 4.0 BDB 1906, p. 481 (leaf n504), archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, s.v. H3605 “the whole of it”; checked against the printed page (scan)
BDB CC BY 4.0 BDB 1906, p. 869 (leaf n892), archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, s.v. H6924 “(3) eastward, c. vb. of motion”; checked against the printed page (scan)
LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 13:10–11, text and apparatus. LXX: Swete, vol. 1 (1901), p. 21 (leaf n52). Checked against the printed page (scan).
Skinner, Genesis (ICC) public domain Skinner, Genesis (ICC, 1910), on Gen 13:10, p. 252 (leaf n353); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted

Sources OSHB CC BY 4.0 BSB public domain BDB CC BY 4.0 LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Skinner, Genesis (ICC) public domain

Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits

2026-11-12

Open in Reader All notes on this passage