Vayeira 18:20 · unit 1

Parashas Vayeira · Passuk 18:20

The Complete Passuk

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֔ה זַעֲקַ֛ת סְדֹ֥ם וַעֲמֹרָ֖ה כִּי־רָ֑בָּה וְחַ֨טָּאתָ֔ם כִּ֥י כָבְדָ֖ה מְאֹֽד׃

And Hashem said, “The outcry of Sedom and Amorah is great, and their sin is very heavy.”

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Sanhedrin 109b.

TT lemma: כי רבה.

Sefaria — Sanhedrin 109b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
כִּי רָבָּה. הֲוַאי הָתָם הַהִיא רְבִיתָא דַּהֲוַת מַפְּקָא רִיפְתָּא לְעַנְיָא בְּחַצְבָּא; אִגְּלַאי מִילְּתָא, שַׁפְיוּהָ בְּדוּבְשָׁא וְאוֹקְמוּהָ עַל אִיגַּר שׁוּרָא, אֲתוֹ זִיבּוּרֵי וְאַכְלוּהָ; וְהַיְינוּ דִּכְתִיב זַעֲקַת סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה כִּי רָבָּה – עַל עִסְקֵי רִיבָה.

English: “For it is great.” There was a certain young woman there who used to take out bread to the poor in a pitcher. The matter became known; they smeared her with honey and set her on the top of the wall, and bees came and ate her. That is the meaning of “the outcry of Sedom and Amorah is great”—on account of the young woman (rivah).

On the daf / in context: The word “rabbah” is midrashically linked to the fate of a girl who performed charity and was tortured to death for it; her cry is the “outcry” that reached Heaven.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli sugya) — not a formal named middah of the 13. A word-play on “rabbah / rivah” supplies a concrete narrative behind the outcry.

What Is Learned

The “great outcry” of Sedom included the cry of a girl who was murdered for giving bread to the poor; the word “rabbah” alludes to that rivah.