Discovery BoxGenesis 13:9-10 
Context13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go 1 to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
13:10 Lot looked up and saw 2 the whole region 3 of the Jordan. He noticed 4 that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated 5 Sodom and Gomorrah) 6 like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, 7 all the way to Zoar.
Genesis 18:25
Context18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge 8 of the whole earth do what is right?” 9
1 tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.
2 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.
3 tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”
4 tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).
6 tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.
7 sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the
8 tn Or “ruler.”
9 sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.
