Commentary for Sotah 68:14

(במדבר יג, כה) וישובו מתור הארץ

— what means 'was built'? If I say that it means actually built, is it possible that a man constructs a house for his younger son before his elder son; as it is written: And the sons of Ham: Cush and Mizraim?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. X, 6. Canaan was the youngest of his sons and Mizraim the second. ');">²³</span> But [the intention is], it was seven times more productive than Zoan. There is no worse stony ground in all the land of Israel than Hebron, and that is why they bury the dead there; and there is none among all the countries superior to the land of Egypt, as it is said: Like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XIII, 10. ');">²⁴</span> and there is no place superior to Zoan In all the land Egypt, as it is written: For his princes are at Zoan.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. XXX, 4. ');">²⁵</span> Nevertheless Hebron was seven times more productive than Zoan. But was Hebron stony ground; behold it is written: And it came to pass at the end of forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go [and pay my vow&nbsp;… in Hebron];<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. XV, 7. ');">²⁶</span> and R. Iwya — another version is, Rabbah b. Bar Hanan-said: He went to fetch lambs from Hebron; and there is also a teaching: [The best] rams are from Moab and lambs from Hebron! — From that very fact [it is proved that the land was stony]; because the soil is thin it produces pastures<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It does not yield any other produce. ');">²⁷</span> and the cattle grow fat there. And they returned from spying out the land&nbsp;…

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