בראשית פרק יב, טז וּלְאַבְרָם הֵיטִיב בַעֲבוּרָהּ
A person should always be careful with the honor of one’s wife, since a blessing occurs in one’s house only for the sake of the wife. This is the intention of the above verse about the blessing from HaShem. even though the verse appears to be referring to the benefit from Paroh, Chazal explain otherwise.
בראשית פרק יג, ח וַיֹאמֶר אַבְרָם אֶל-לוֹט אַל-נָא תְהִי מְרִ יבָה בֵינִי וּבֵינֶך
The previous verse mentions a ריב between the shepherds of Lot and Avrohom. This verse uses the word מריבה . The latter word indicates a more difficult and harsher level of disagreement than the former word. Avram requested that Lot and himself should not allow the small disagreement between their workers to grow into a much harsher disagreement that they would be unable to quiet. Thus, Avram suggested this advice of separation and used the word נא, a language of request, indicating that he was pleading to Lot to prevent a greater disagreement.
בראשית פרק יג, יג וְאַנְשֵי סְדֹם רָעִים וְחַטָאִים לַה' מְאֹד :
Rashi (bringing from Chazal) states that word רעים is with their bodies, and חטאים is with their property, and לה' מאד is that they rebelled against G-d. Why did Chazal break this verse into many parts, when the simple explanation seems to be that they were bad and sinned to G-d very much?
It is possible to explain by reviewing the mesoratic “notes” (trop) in the verse. An אתנחתא is under the word וחטאים. This indicates a “pause” in the reading, which indicates that the words should be separated and explained separately and not as one unit.
In addition, by explaining the phrase לה' מאד by itself to indicate that they rebelled against G-d, we might be able to understand the pleas of Avram to HaShem on behalf of Sodom. Avram seems to only plead for the righteous in Sodom and not for the sinners in the city. Once we explained that the sinners had already rebelled against HaShem, Avram was unable to offer a reason to save the sinners, but could only plead that the righteous should not be punished together with the sinners.
בראשית פרק יד, יב וַיִקְחוּ אֶת-לוֹט וְאֶת-רְ כֻשוֹ בֶן -אֲחִי אַבְרָם
Previously when going down to Egypt, the text stated Lot the son of Avram’s brother and then mentioned the possessions. Then, when returning to Israel, the possessions (which had greatly increased) separated Lot from the family connection. Immediately following is the disagreement that arose between the shepherds of Lot and of Avram. And in this verse, while living in Sodom, the possessions separate Lot from Avram clearing indicating the cause of the disagreement.
בראשית פרק יד, יד וַיִרְ דֹף עַד-דָן
Many times the approach of the Torah text is that when one word ends with a letter and the next word begins with the same letter, then the Torah removes the first letter of the second word (and sometimes the opposite, the last letter of the first word is removed). In essence one letter is written but implied for both words. (In the Sefer, 13 examples are brought) In this case, the third word should be דדן, which is a well-known place, actually mentioned earlier in Parshas Noach. But the first ד is dropped to only דן.
