Genesis 13:10
New International Version
Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

New Living Translation
Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the LORD or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

English Standard Version
And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

Berean Standard Bible
And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

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

New King James Version
And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.

New American Standard Bible
Lot raised his eyes and saw all the vicinity of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt going toward Zoar.

NASB 1995
Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere— this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah— like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.

NASB 1977
And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.

Amplified Bible
So Lot looked and saw that the valley of the Jordan was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; [it was all] like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar [at the south end of the Dead Sea].

Christian Standard Bible
Lot looked out and saw that the entire plain of the Jordan as far as Zoar was well watered everywhere like the LORD’s garden and the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Lot looked out and saw that the entire Jordan Valley as far as Zoar was well watered everywhere like the LORD’s garden and the land of Egypt. This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

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

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Lot lifted his eyes and he saw all the land of Jordan, that all the place was watered, before LORD JEHOVAH would destroy Sadom and Amora, as the Paradise of God and like the land of Egypt that was in the entrance of Zoan.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Lot having lifted up his eyes, observed all the country round about Jordan, that it was all watered, before God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha, as the garden of the Lord, and as the land of Egypt, until thou come to Zogora.

Contemporary English Version
This happened before the LORD had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And when Lot looked around, he saw there was plenty of water in the Jordan Valley. All the way to Zoar the valley was as green as the garden of the LORD or the land of Egypt.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor.

English Revised Version
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the Plain of 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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then Lot looked in the direction of Zoar as far as he could see. He saw that the whole Jordan Plain was well-watered like the LORD's garden or like Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

Good News Translation
Lot looked around and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water, like the Garden of the LORD or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.)

International Standard Version
Lot looked around and noticed that the whole Jordan plain as far as Zoar was well-watered like the garden of the LORD or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

JPS Tanakh 1917
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.

Literal Standard Version
And Lot lifts up his eyes, and sees the whole circuit of the Jordan that it [is] all a watered country (before YHWH’s destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, as YHWH’s garden, as the land of Egypt), in your coming toward Zoar,

Majority Standard Bible
And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

New American Bible
Lot looked about and saw how abundantly watered the whole Jordan Plain was as far as Zoar, like the LORD’s own garden, or like Egypt. This was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

NET Bible
Lot looked up and saw the whole region of the Jordan. He noticed that all of it was well-watered (before the LORD obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, all the way to Zoar.

New Revised Standard Version
Lot looked about him, and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar; this was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

New Heart English Bible
Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, like the garden of God, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

Webster's Bible Translation
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest to Zoar.

World English Bible
Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.

Young's Literal Translation
And Lot lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the whole circuit of the Jordan that it is all a watered country (before Jehovah's destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, as Jehovah's garden, as the land of Egypt,) in thy coming toward Zoar,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Lot Proceeds Toward Sodom
10And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.…

Cross References
Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.

Genesis 2:10
Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:

Genesis 11:27
This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.

Genesis 13:9
Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left."

Genesis 13:11
So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.

Genesis 14:2
went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

Genesis 14:8
Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and arrayed themselves for battle in the Valley of Siddim


Treasury of Scripture

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

and beheld.

Genesis 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Genesis 6:2
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Numbers 32:1
Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;

the plain.

Genesis 19:17,24,25
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed…

Deuteronomy 34:3
And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.

1 Kings 7:46
In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.

the garden.

Genesis 2:9,10
And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil…

Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

Ezekiel 28:13
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Zoar.

Genesis 14:2,8
That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar…

Genesis 19:20,22-30
Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live…

Deuteronomy 34:3
And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.

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Beheld Destroyed Egypt Everywhere Eyes Garden Goest Gomorrah Jordan Lot Plain Sodom Watered Well-Watered Zoar
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Beheld Destroyed Egypt Everywhere Eyes Garden Goest Gomorrah Jordan Lot Plain Sodom Watered Well-Watered Zoar
Genesis 13
1. Abram and Lot return with great riches out of Egypt.
6. Strife arises between Abram's herdsmen and those of Lot.
8. Abram allows Lot to choose his part of the country,
10. and Lot goes toward Sodom.
14. God renews his promise to Abram.
18. He moves to Hebron, and there builds an altar.














(10) The plain of Jordan.--This word, Ciccar, literally means the circuit, or, as it is translated in St. Matthew 3:5, "the region round about Jordan," and, according to Mr. Conder (Tent Work, ii., p. 14), is the proper name of the Jordan valley, and especially of the plain of Jericho. It is now called the Gnor, or depression, and is one of the most remarkable districts in the world, being a deep crack or fissure, with chalk rocks upon the western and sandstone on the eastern side, over which lies limestone, geologically of the age of our green-sand formation. It is thus what is technically called by miners a fault, the formations on the two sides having been displaced by some tremendous convulsion of nature. Most of the valley lies below the level of the Mediterranean, the Sea of Galilee being, by Mr. Conder's observations, about 682 feet below it, and the Dead Sea no less than 1,292 feet. As the watershed to the south rises to a level of 200 feet above the Mediterranean, al) egress for the waters is thereby cut off, and there are numerous proofs that at some distant period the whole valley, about 150 miles in length, was a succession of large lakes. But even in Abram's days the Jordan poured down a far larger volume of water than at present; for by the loss of its forests the climate of Palestine has become much more dry than of old, and regions once fertile are now barren. And as the supply of water has become less than that lost by evaporation, the Dead Sea has gradually receded, and left around it arid wastes covered over with incrustations of salt.

As the garden of the Lord.--Mr. Palmer (Desert of the Exodus. p. 465) describes the fertility of the Jordan valley as follows:--"Although the immediate vicinity of the Dead Sea is barren enough, the Ghor, or deep depression at the northern and southern extremities, teems with life and vegetation; and even where the cliffs rise sheer up from the water's edge, streams of fresh water dash down the ravines, and bring the verdure with them almost to the Salt Sea's brink." The same writer (p. 480) has also shown conclusively, with Mr. Grove, Dr. Tristram, and others, that Sodom and Gomorrha were at the northern end of the lake, and not, as was previously supposed, at the southern. For the Ciccar is strictly the part of the Ghor near Jericho, and as the Dead Sea is forty-six miles in length, its southern extremity was far away out of sight. Moreover, Lot was standing some miles away to the north-west, on the high ground between Beth-el and Ai, whence "the northern end of the Dead Sea, and the barren tract which extends from the oasis of Jericho to it and the Jordan, are distinctly visible" (Dr. Tristram, Sunday at Home, 1872, p. 215). This "barren tract" was once the Ciccar, and the traces of ancient irrigation and aqueducts attest its former fertility. It was upon this district, "well watered everywhere," that Lot gazed so covetously, and its richness is indicated by a double comparison: for, first, it was like Jehovah's garden in Eden, watered by its four rivers; and next, it was like Egypt, rendered fertile by artificial means.

As thou comest unto Zoar.--This makes no sense whatsoever. No person on the route to Egypt could possibly take Zoar in his way; and of the five cities of the plain this was the least like Paradise. The Syriac has preserved the right reading, namely, Zoan. This city, however, was called Zor, or Zar, by the Egyptians (Records of the Past, viii. 147), and was situated on the eastern side of the Tanaitic branch of the Nile, at the head of a fertile plain, called "the field of Zoan" in Psalm 78:12. Through this rich and well-watered region Lot had lately travelled in Abram's company, and the luxuriant vegetation there made it not unworthy to be compared with Paradise.

Verse 10. - And Lot lifted up his eyes. Circumspexit; with a look of eager, lustful greed (cf. Genesis 3:6). The same expression is afterwards used of Abram (ver. 14), where perhaps also the element of satisfaction, though in a good sense, is designed to be included. And beheld all the plain. Literally, all the circle, or surrounding region (כִּכָּר, from כָּרַר, to move in a circle; cf. arrondissement, Fr.; kreis or bezirk, Ger.); ΠΑΡΙ´ΞΩΡΟΣ (LXX., Matthew 3:5); now called El Ghor, the low country (Gesenius). Of Jordan. Compounded of Jordan, the names of the two river sources (Josephus, Jerome); but, according to modern etymologists, derived from יָרַד, to go down, and signifying the Descender, like the German Rhine, from tin-hen, to run. The largest river of Palestine, rising at the foot of Antilibanus, and passing, in its course of 200 miles, over twenty-seven rapids, it pours its waters first into the lake of Merom, and then into the sea of Galilee, 653 feet, and finally into the Lacus Asphaltites, 1316 feet below the level of the Mediterranean (cf. Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine,' Genesis 7. p. 282). It is now called Esh-Sheri'ah, i.e. the ford, as having been of old crossed by the Israelites (Gesenius). That it was well-watered everywhere. Not by canals and trenches, as old interpreters imagined, but by copious streams along its course, descending chiefly from the mountains of Moab. Before the Lord destroyed - the same word is used for the destruction of all flesh in what is styled the Elohistic account of the Deluge (Genesis 6:13, 17; Genesis 9:11, 15; cf. ' Quarry on Genesis,' p. 423) - Sodom and Gomorrha (vide Genesis 14:2). Even as the garden of the Lord. Paradise in Eden, with its four streams (Genesis if. 10; Calvin, Lange, Keil); though by some this is deemed unsatisfactory (Quarry), and the phrase taken as - hortus amae-nissimus (Rosenmüller), and in particular Mesopotamia, which was a land of rare re. cundity (Grotius, Junius). Like the land of Egypt - which was irrigated by the Nile and by canals from it as well as by machines (Deuteronomy 11:10, 11) - as thou comest unto Zoar - at the south-east corner of the Dead Sea (vide Genesis 14:3).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Lot
ל֣וֹט (lō·wṭ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3876: Lot -- Abraham's nephew

looked out
וַיִּשָּׂא־ (way·yiś·śā-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5375: To lift, carry, take

and saw
וַיַּרְא֙ (way·yar)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7200: To see

that the whole
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

plain
כִּכַּ֣ר (kik·kar)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3603: A round, a round district, a round loaf, a round weight, a talent (a measure of weight or money)

of the Jordan,
הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן (hay·yar·dên)
Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3383: Jordan -- the principal river of Palestine

all the way
בֹּאֲכָ֖ה (bō·’ă·ḵāh)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to Zoar,
צֹֽעַר׃ (ṣō·‘ar)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6820: Zoar -- 'insignificance', a city at the southeastern end of the Dead Sea

was well watered
מַשְׁקֶ֑ה (maš·qeh)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4945: Causing to drink, a butler, drink, a well-watered region

like the garden
כְּגַן־ (kə·ḡan-)
Preposition-k | Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 1588: An enclosure, garden

of the LORD,
יְהוָה֙ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

like the land
כְּאֶ֣רֶץ (kə·’e·reṣ)
Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 776: Earth, land

of Egypt.
מִצְרַ֔יִם (miṣ·ra·yim)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4714: Egypt -- a son of Ham, also his descendants and their country in Northwest Africa

(This was before
לִפְנֵ֣י ׀ (lip̄·nê)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

the LORD
יְהוָ֗ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

destroyed
שַׁחֵ֣ת (ša·ḥêṯ)
Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct
Strong's 7843: Perhaps to go to ruin

Sodom
סְדֹם֙ (sə·ḏōm)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 5467: Sodom -- a Canaanite city near the Dead Sea

and Gomorrah.)
עֲמֹרָ֔ה (‘ă·mō·rāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6017: Gomorrah -- a city in the Jordan Valley


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OT Law: Genesis 13:10 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw (Gen. Ge Gn)
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