Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

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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