[b-hebrew] M$QH at Genesis 13: 10: Where Did Lot Go?
JimStinehart at aol.com
JimStinehart at aol.com
Tue Sep 30 09:51:56 EDT 2008
M$QH at Genesis 13: 10: Where Did Lot Go?
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the [KKR/valley/]plain of the
Jordan, that it was well watered [M$QH] every where, before the LORD [YHWH]
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the LORD [YHWH], like the land of
Egypt, as thou goest unto Zoar.” Genesis 13: 10 (JPS 1917 translation)
Gesenius says that M$QH means a “well-watered district” at Genesis 13: 10
and at Ezekiel 45: 15. Outside of Genesis 13: 10, the only other time this word
is used in this sense in the Bible is at Ezekiel 45: 15, where KJV translates
M$QH as “fat pastures”. JPS1917 translates M$QH at Ezekiel 45: 15 as “
well-watered pastures”.
Let’s consider “well-watered pasture” here as the meaning of M$QH.
If we use that translation, and translate KKR as “valley” (with KKR, which
means “flat”, apparently meaning the flat land at the bottom of a valley, and
only in that limited sense meaning “plain”), and if we represent the
parenthetical-type remarks by ellipses, then arguably the thrust of Genesis 13: 10 is
as follows:
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the valley of the Jordan, that it
was well watered pasture [M$QH] every where…as thou goest unto Zoar.”
Unlike the traditional interpretation of this key sentence, arguably Genesis
13: 10 is saying that one, and only one, portion of the Jordan River Valley is
well-watered pasture, namely the portion of the Jordan River Valley that
extends to Zoar.
In fact, we know that most of the Jordan River Valley is not well-watered
pasture. Yes, the Jordan River supplies a steady source of water, but most of
the land along the Jordan River is not fertile at all.
Is it true that there is one, and only one, portion of the Jordan River
Valley that is “well-watered pasture”/M$QH?
Where is “Zoar”? In the ancient world, is Zoar located at the far end
(viewed from the perspective of Beth-el) of the one and only portion of the Jordan
River Valley that is well-watered pasture?
If we pay close attention to the text, and we consider the geography of
Canaan, and we look for “Zoar” in ancient inscriptions, then we can figure out
where Lot went. The key is to find the city of Zoar in the Late Bronze Age, and
to verify that Zoar was indeed located at the far end of the one and only
portion of the Jordan River Valley that is “well-watered pasture”/M$QH.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
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