Vayeira 18:20 · unit 2

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 Yerushalmi Bava Metzia 4:2.

TT lemma: כי רבה.

Sefaria — Yerushalmi Bava Metzia

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
כִּי רָבָּה. בִּסְדוֹם כְּתִיב זַעֲקַת סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה כִּי רָבָּה וּבְדוֹר הַמַּבּוּל כְּתִיב וַיַּרְא ה׳ כִּי רָבָּה רָעַת הָאָדָם; מְלַמֵּד שֶׁכְּמַעֲשֵׂה אֵלּוּ כָּךְ מַעֲשֵׂה אֵלּוּ.

English: “For it is great.” Concerning Sedom it is written “the outcry of Sedom and Amorah is great,” and concerning the generation of the Flood it is written “And Hashem saw that the wickedness of man was great.” This teaches that the deeds of the one were like the deeds of the other.

On the daf / in context: The shared language of “rabbah” equates the moral state of Sedom with that of the generation destroyed by the Flood.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Yerushalmi) — not a formal named middah of the 13. Parallel wording links two generations of corruption.

What Is Learned

The sin of Sedom was of the same character and magnitude as the sin of the generation of the Flood; both are described with the word “rabbah.”