בֹּאֲכָ֖ה

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 בֹּאֲכָ֖ה

   bo-a-KHA

   toward
2. clause🔊 לִפְנֵ֣י שַׁחֵ֣ת יְהוָ֗ה אֶת־סְדֹם֙ וְאֶת־עֲמֹרָ֔ה כְגַן־יְהוָה֙ כְאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בֹּאֲכָ֖ה צֹֽעַר׃

   li-fe-NEI sha-KHET Ye-ho-VAH et-se-DOM ve-et-a-mo-RAH ke-gan-ye-ho-VAH ke-E-rets mits-RA-yim bo-a-KHA tso-AR

   like the garden of the LORD like the land of Egypt toward Zoar before LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
3. sentence🔊 וַיִּשָּׂא־ל֣וֹט אֶת־עֵינָ֗יו וַיַּרְא֙ אֶת־כָּל־כִּכַּ֣ר הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן כִּ֥י כֻלָּ֖הּ מַשְׁקֶ֑ה לִפְנֵ֣י שַׁחֵ֣ת יְהוָ֗ה אֶת־סְדֹם֙ וְאֶת־עֲמֹרָ֔ה כְגַן־יְהוָה֙ כְאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בֹּאֲכָ֖ה צֹֽעַר׃

   va-yis-sa-LOT et-ei-NAV va-YAR et-kol-ki-KAR ha-yar-DEN KI khu-LAH ma-she-KEH li-fe-NEI sha-KHET Ye-ho-VAH et-se-DOM ve-et-a-mo-RAH ke-gan-ye-ho-VAH ke-E-rets mits-RA-yim bo-a-KHA tso-AR

   Lot lifted up his eyes {And} he saw all the plain of the Jordan that all of it was well-watered like the garden of the LORD like the land of Egypt toward Zoar before LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah

Exegesis

The paired similes kegan YHWH {כְּגַן־יְהוָה | kə-gan Yə-hō-wāh} ‘like the garden of the LORD’ and ke-erets Mitsrayim {כְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם | kə-ʾe-reṣ miṣ-rā-yim} ‘like the land of Egypt’ employ vivid comparisons to heighten the depiction of fertility, while the infinitive bo'akhah Tsoar {בֹּאֲכָה צֹעַר | bō-ʾă-kā ṣō-ʿar} ‘as you come to Zoar’ situates the southern boundary of the fertile zone. The translation preserves the temporal-before sequence, the cumulative similes, and the narrative focus on Lot’s perspective.