Vayeira 19:17 · unit 1

Parashas Vayeira · Passuk 19:17

The Complete Passuk

וַיְהִי֩ כְהוֹצִיאָ֨ם אֹתָ֜ם הַח֗וּצָה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הִמָּלֵ֣ט עַל־נַפְשֶׁ֔ךָ אַל־תַּבִּ֣יט אַחֲרֶ֔יךָ וְאַֽל־תַּעֲמֹ֖ד בְּכׇל־הַכִּכָּ֑ר הָהָ֥רָה הִמָּלֵ֖ט פֶּן־תִּסָּפֶֽה׃

And it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Flee for your life; do not look behind you, and do not stay in all the plain; flee to the mountain, lest you be swept away.”

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10:8.

TT lemma: המלט על נפשך.

Sefaria — Yerushalmi Sanhedrin

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
הִמָּלֵט עַל נַפְשֶׁךָ. אָמַר לוֹ, דַּיֶּיךָ שֶׁאַתָּה מְמַלֵּט אֶת נַפְשֶׁךָ; מְלַמֵּד שֶׁיָּצָא לוֹט וְיָדָיו עַל רֹאשׁוֹ וְלֹא הִצִּיל מִנְּכָסָיו כְּלוּם.

English: “Flee for your life.” He said to him, “It is enough that you are saving your life.” This teaches that Lot went out with his hands upon his head and rescued nothing of his property.

On the daf / in context: The narrow permission to save only life implies that Lot left Sedom empty-handed, having lost all his possessions.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Yerushalmi) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The limited scope of the command is taken as a statement of total material loss.

What Is Learned

Lot was permitted to save only his life; he left Sedom with nothing of his wealth, hands upon his head.