Genesis 18:16-26

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.

17 Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.^[a]

19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

20 Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous

21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.^[b]

23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare^[c] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?

25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

26 The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

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Genesis 18:16-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 18

Another appearance of God to Abraham is here recorded; three persons are seen by him in an human form, whom he kindly invites to stop with him, and generously entertains them, Ge 18:1-8; they inquire concerning Sarah his wife, and one of them renews the promise of her bearing a son to him, which occasions laughter in her, for which she is reproved, Ge 18:9-15; upon their departure the Lord thought fit, for reasons given, to make known to Abraham his intention to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Ge 18:16-22; when Abraham intercedes for the preservation of those cities in a most importunate and affectionate manner, Ge 18:23-33.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 24

1. S ver 2
2. Amos 3:7
3. Genesis 19:24; Job 1:16; Psalms 107:34
4. S Genesis 12:2; Galatians 3:8*
5. Genesis 17:9
6. Deuteronomy 4:9-10; Deuteronomy 6:7
7. Joshua 24:15; Ephesians 6:4
8. Genesis 22:12,18; Genesis 26:5; 2 Samuel 8:15; Psalms 17:2; Psalms 99:4; Jeremiah 23:5
9. S Genesis 16:11; S Isaiah 14:1
10. Isaiah 1:10; Jeremiah 23:14; Ezekiel 16:46
11. Genesis 19:13
12. S Genesis 13:13
13. S Genesis 11:5
14. S ver 2
15. Genesis 19:1
16. ver 1; Genesis 19:27
17. Exodus 23:7; Lev 4:3,22,27; Numbers 16:22; Deuteronomy 27:25; 2 Samuel 24:17; Psalms 11:4-7; Psalms 94:21; Ezekiel 18:4; 2 Peter 2:9
18. ver 26; Jeremiah 5:1
19. Genesis 44:7,17; Deuteronomy 32:4; Job 8:3-7; Job 34:10
20. Isaiah 5:20; Amos 5:15; Malachi 2:17; Malachi 3:18
21. Deuteronomy 1:16-17
22. Judges 11:27; Job 9:15; Psalms 7:11; Psalms 94:2; Hebrews 12:23
23. Genesis 20:4; Deuteronomy 32:4; 2 Chronicles 19:7; Ezra 9:15; Nehemiah 9:33; Job 8:3,20; Job 34:10; Job 36:23; Psalms 58:11; Psalms 75:7; Psalms 94:2; Psalms 119:137; Isaiah 3:10-11; Ezekiel 18:25; Daniel 4:37; Daniel 9:14; Malachi 2:17; Romans 3:6
24. S ver 24; Jeremiah 5:1

Footnotes 3

[a]. Or "will use his name in blessings" (see 48:20)
[b]. Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition "but the " Lord"remained standing before Abraham"
[c]. Or "forgive" ; also in verse 26