R. Eliezer says, "This is illustrated by the instance
of Lot. He was in Sodom only for the sake of
his property, yet he left the town empty-handed,
as it is written : Escape thither in haste,^ as
if to say " Let it suffice thee that thou escape with
thy life." Said R. Shimeon : Why is it said, " The
property of the righteous that is therein is lost"?
Because it is the property of the righteous which
makes them dwell among the ungodly. And is it
not an example of the a fortiori argument ? If
mere property, which cannot hear or see or speak,
is condemned by the Almighty to be burnt because
it makes the righteous live among the ungodly,
much more ought the man to be burnt who turns
away his fellow from the way of life to the way
of death.
M. X. 6a. All the spoil thereof thou shalt

GATHER INTO THE MIDST OF THE MARKET-
PLACE ^ ; if it have no market-place they must
make one. If the market-place is outside, they

' Gen. 19. 22. * Deut. 13. 16.
T. XIV.] . THE BEGUILED CITY 133

bring it inside, for it is written : Into the MIDST M.
(of) its market-place.
