Vayeira 19:20 · unit 2

Parashas Vayeira · Passuk 19:20

The Complete Passuk

הִנֵּה־נָ֠א הָעִ֨יר הַזֹּ֧את קְרֹבָ֛ה לָנ֥וּס שָׁ֖מָּה וְהִ֣וא מִצְעָ֑ר אִמָּלְטָ֨ה נָּ֜א שָׁ֗מָּה הֲלֹ֥א מִצְעָ֛ר הִ֖וא וּתְחִ֥י נַפְשִֽׁי׃

Behold now, this city is near to flee to, and it is small; let me flee there—is it not small?—and my life will be saved.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Shabbos 10b.

TT lemma: אמלטה נא שמה.

Sefaria — Shabbos 10b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
אִמָּלְטָה נָּא שָׁמָּה. אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק, יְשִׁיבָתָהּ שֶׁל צוֹעַר נ"א שָׁנָה, דִּכְתִיב אִמָּלְטָה נָּא שָׁמָּה; נָא בְּגִימַטְרִיָּא נ"א.

English: “Let me flee there.” Rabbi Yitzchak said: The settlement of Tzoar lasted fifty-one years, as it is written “Let me flee there (na)”; “na” has the numerical value of fifty-one.

On the daf / in context: The word “na” is read gematria-style to give the duration of Tzoar’s existence before the destruction of the cities of the plain.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli / gematria) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The particle “na” yields a chronological figure.

What Is Learned

Tzoar had been settled for fifty-one years; the gematria of “na” (“please / there”) supplies the number.