“Lot raised his eyes and saw the entire plain of the Jordan, that it was all watered, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you come to Tzoar” (Genesis 13:10). “Lot raised his eyes and saw the entire plain of the Jordan” – Rabbi Naḥman bar Ḥanin said: Anyone who has a voracious appetite for sexual immorality will ultimately be fed from his own flesh and blood.37He will end up committing incest.
See Genesis 19:32. Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: This entire verse is comprised of expressions of sexual immorality. [“Lot raised his eyes”] – just as it says: “His master's wife raised her eyes [toward Joseph and she said: Lie with me]” (Genesis 39:7). “And saw the entire plain [kikar] of the Jordan, that it was all watered” – just as it says: “For due to a licentious woman, one is brought to a loaf [kikar] of bread” (Proverbs 6:26).
“That it was all watered [mashke]” – just as it says: “He shall give the woman to drink [hishka] the bitter water that causes a curse” (Numbers 5:24). “Before the Lord destroyed [shaḥet]” – just as it says: “It was when he consorted with his brother's wife, he would spill [veshiḥet] on to the ground” (Genesis 38:9). “Like the garden of the Lord” – for trees; “like the land of Egypt” – for seeds. “Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed from the east, and each parted from his brother” (Genesis 13:11).
“Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent as far as Sodom” (Genesis 13:12). “And the men of Sodom were extremely wicked and sinful to the Lord” (Genesis 13:13). “Lot chose for himself” – Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra said: Like a person selecting his mother’s marriage contract.38When a man marries several women, each of the women brings property into the marriage as part of the marriage contract.
When the husband dies after the wives, each of the sons inherits the property that his mother had introduced into the marriage. Lot chose Sodom as if it were his ordained legacy. “Lot journeyed from the east [mikedem]” – he moved himself away from the One who preceded [kadmono] the world. He said: ‘I desire neither Abram nor his God.’
“Each parted from his brother. Abram lived [in the land of Canaan]” – Rabbi Meir says: You do not have among the cities any as evil as Sodom, as when a person is wicked, they refer to him as a person of Sodom.39And yet Lot chose that place to live in. You do not have any among the peoples as tough as the Emorites, as when a person is tough, they refer to him as an Emorite. Rabbi Yosei said: You do not have among the cities any as beautiful as Sodom, as Lot circulated among all the cities of the plain and did not find a place as fine as Sodom, and these [the people of Sodom] were the most distinguished among them40According to Rabbi Yosei, the people of Sodom were better than those of the other cities in the area, and that is why Lot chose it to live in.
Yet, despite their relative eminence, the Torah testifies that they “were extremely wicked.” – “and the men of Sodom were extremely wicked and sinful to the Lord” (Genesis 13:13). “Wicked” – towards one another; “sinful” – through sexual immorality; “to the Lord” – through idolatry; “extremely” – through bloodshed.