Bereshis 19:21

21 And He said unto him, Hinei, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the Ir, for the which thou hast spoken.

Bereshis 19:21 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 19:21

And he said unto him, see, I have accepted thee concerning
this thing also
Accepted thy prayer and granted thy request, as well as in other things; shown grace and mercy to thee: or, "have lifted up thy face" ^F5; alluding to the custom of the eastern countries, where persons, when they come into the presence of their superiors, used to prostrate their faces to the ground; when, as a token of their acceptance of them, and good will to them, they used to order them to be lifted up, or them to lift up their faces, and stand before them:

that I will not overthrow this city for the which thou hast spoken;
for, though he had not in express words petitioned that the city might be spared, yet he had tacitly done it, insomuch as he had requested he might flee unto it, where he could not have been safe had it been destroyed.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 (Kynp ytavn) "suscepi faciem tuam", Pagninus, Moatanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Piscator.

Bereshis 19:21 In-Context

19 Hinei now, thy eved hath found chen in Thy sight, and Thou hast magnified Thy chesed, which Thou hast showed unto me in sparing my nefesh; and I cannot flee to escape to the mountain, lest some ra’ah overtake me, and I die;

20 Hinei now, this Ir is near to run unto, and it is a little one; Oh, let me flee to escape there, (is it not mitzar [small]?) and my nefesh shall live.

21 And He said unto him, Hinei, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the Ir, for the which thou hast spoken.

22 Haste thee, flee to escape there; for I cannot do anything till thou arrive there. Therefore the shem of the Ir was called Tzoar [sounds like mitzar].

23 The shemesh rose over ha’aretz when Lot entered Tzoar.