What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?
Parallel Translations
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What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?
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Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
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Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep away and not forgive the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Genesis 18:24 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 1:9 Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah.
- Jeremiah 5:1 “Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its wide places, if you can find a man, if there is anyone who does justly, who seeks truth, then I will pardon her.
- Genesis 18:32 He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”
- Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it. How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it.
- Acts 27:24 saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (7 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 18:24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the…
Gen 18:24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that [are] therein?
Ver. 24. Peradventure there be fifty righteous.] Charity presumes the best, hopes the best. The disciples could not imagine that Judas was so very a traitor: each one suspects himself sooner than him. And when our Saviour said, "What thou doest do quickly"; they thought he had meant of making provision, or giving something to the poor. {Joh 13:27-29}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Within the city, i.e. in the cities concerned, as…
Within the city, i.e. in the cities concerned, as appears by Gen 18:20, and Gen 19:25; the singular number for the plural, as is frequent, as Gen 3:22; 1Ch 10:1, compared with 1Sa 31:1, and oft elsewhere. Or the city Sodom alone is mentioned, but the rest are comprehended under it, either because of its eminency, or because they were subject or subordinate to it, as may seem probable from the history, Gen 14:1-24.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city,.... Within…
Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city,.... Within the Pentapolis, which consisted of five cities; and so ten righteous persons are supposed to be in each, as Jarchi observes, agreeably to the Targum of Jonathan;"perhaps there may be fifty righteous persons in the city who pray before thee, ten for every city, answerable to the five cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar:"
wilt thou also destroy, and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? here Abraham becomes an advocate and intercessor for all the inhabitants of the place, even the wicked, that they might not be destroyed, but spared and be delivered from impending ruin, for the sake of the fifty righteous among them; before he seemed only concerned for the righteous, lest they should perish with the rest, and that some method might be found out and taken to distinguish them from them; but here he expresses himself in favour of the wicked also, that they might be spared, provided such a number of righteous ones was found among them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 24. Peradventure there be fifty — He begins his…
24. Peradventure there be fifty — He begins his intercession with this moderate number. Surely if half a hundred righteous people are living in the city, for their sake it should be spared.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 24. spare the place] The word in the Heb.…
24. spare the place] The word in the Heb. means literally “and take away for the place,” i.e. its guilt, and so “forgive,” as in Num_14:19.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city. A…
Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city. A charitable supposition, as the event showed, though at first sight it might not appear so to Abraham; and the bare Possibility of Sodom"s not Sodom alone (Kalisch), but the Pentapolis containing so many good men was enough to afford a basis for the argument which followed. Wilt thou also destroy and not spare literally, take away (sc. the iniquity) i.e. remove the punishment from the place (not the godly portion of the city merely, but the entire population; a complete discovery of Abraham s design) for the fifty righteous that are therein?
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Abraham continues talking to Yahweh.
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Perhaps there are
"Suppose there are"
Will you sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are there?
Abraham was hoping that Yahweh would say, "I will not sweep it away." AT: "I think you would not sweep it away. Instead, you would spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are there" (See: Rhetorical Question)
sweep it away
"destroy it." Abraham speaks of destroying people as if it were sweeping dirt with a broom. AT: "destroy the people who live there" (See: Metaphor)
not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are there?
Abraham was hoping that God would say "I will spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people there."
spare the place
"let the people live"
for the sake of
"because of"
Far be it from you to do such a thing
Here "Far be it from you" is an idiom that means the person should never do something like that. AT: "I would never want you to do something like that" or "You should not want to do something like that" (See: Idiom)
such a thing, killing
"such a thing as killing" or "such a thing, that is, killing"
the righteous should be treated the same as the wicked
This can be stated in active from. AT: "you should treat the righteous the same way you treat the wicked" (See: Active or Passive)
Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?
Abraham used this rhetorical question to say what he expected God to do. AT: "The Judge of all the earth will certainly do what is just!" or "Since you are the Judge of all the earth, you will surely do what is right!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Judge
God is often referred to as a judge because he is the one perfect judge who makes the final decisions about what is right or wrong.
translationWords
righteous
sweep
judge, judges
evil
Yahweh
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.