בראשית, פרק י״ט, פסוק ל׳

After the total obliteration of Sodom, an impoverished survivor finds his temporary sanctuary unraveling, forcing him to flee into the desolate wilderness. Although he initially found refuge in the nearby city of Zoar, his sense of security quickly shattered. The primary approach among commentators is divided into two main directions regarding the exact nature of his fear. Some explain that he was terrified by Zoar's physical proximity to Sodom [רש״י]. Despite the angel's promise to spare the city, he worried that the natural fallout of the upheaval, such as earthquakes, fire, and brimstone, would spread and engulf his location [מזרחי, גור אריה]. He may have believed the destruction would sweep across the entire plain all the way to the mountain [ספורנו]. Alternatively, he suspected that Zoar was only temporarily spared because its sins had not yet reached their limit, but its doom was imminent [גור אריה, דברי דוד]. He might also have lost faith in the promise of salvation after witnessing the destruction begin before he even entered the city [העמק דבר].

In contrast, many commentators argue that Zoar was originally condemned along with the other cities. Lot understood that the angel only spared it as a temporary emergency measure because he lacked the time to reach the mountain that day. Once he had rested and time permitted, he feared remaining in the city, realizing that its brief extension had expired and it was destined to be overthrown [רמב״ן, רשב״ם, שד״ל, חזקוני, מלבי״ם]. Another approach suggests that Lot recognized the wickedness of Zoar's inhabitants and feared that God's fire would soon consume them as well [רד״ק]. A unique perspective proposes that the residents of Zoar saw the distant fire, mistook it for an invading army, and marched out to fight. They were entirely wiped out, leaving Lot alone and terrified [פענח רזא].

Fleeing the city, he relocated to the mountain, returning to the specific peak the angel had originally instructed him to seek [רד״ק, ביאור יש״ר]. Having lost all his wealth, flocks, and tents in the ruins of Sodom, he arrived completely destitute and was forced to seek basic shelter from the rain and elements inside a cave [מלבי״ם, ביאור יש״ר]. While living in this confined space with his two daughters, a conscious effort was made to maintain modesty. Although they walked together outdoors, inside the enclosed cave, he deliberately distanced himself from them to avoid improper seclusion, even though such seclusion between a father and his daughters is technically permitted [אלשיך].

This hasty and panicked retreat from Zoar profoundly impacted his daughters. Witnessing their father's terror, they assumed the city was destroyed the moment they departed. This led them to the tragic misconception that the entire world had been annihilated, much like the generation of the Flood [רמב״ן, טור הארוך, מלבי״ם, ברכת אשר על התורה]. Alternatively, they may have understood that the world remained intact, but realized that as survivors from a cursed epicenter of divine wrath, no respectable man would ever agree to marry them [טור הארוך, הכתב והקבלה].

Commentators agree that unlike their father, who was historically drawn toward lust and transgression, the daughters acted from pure, heavenly motives. Driven by a desperate need to preserve the human race, they engaged in the act only once for the sole purpose of conception, not prostitution. Because their intentions were rooted in a desire to fulfill a commandment, they were granted a profound historical reward. From their lineage emerged Ruth the Moabite and Naamah the Ammonite, the matriarchs from whom the royal house of David ultimately blossomed [רבנו בחיי, הכתב והקבלה, צרור המור].