Genesis 18:23

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Abraham	אַבְרָהָ֖ם 'av.ra.Ham	H85	Abraham · proper noun, a man's name
near	וַיִּגַּ֥שׁ vai.yi.Gash	H5066	to be or come (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
said	וַיֹּאמַ֑ר vai.yo.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
destroy	תִּסְפֶּ֔ה tis.Peh	H5595	properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
righteous	צַדִּ֖יק tza.Dik	H6662	just · adjective, masculine singular absolute
with	עִם 'im-	H5973	adverb or preposition · preposition
wicked	רָשָֽׁע ra.Sha'	H7563	morally wrong · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Numbers 16:22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the…
2 Samuel 24:17 And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these…
Genesis 20:4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
Genesis 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that b…
Job 34:17 Shall even he that hateth right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just?
Psalms 11:4-7 The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
Romans 3:5-6 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed wi…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 18:23–end

Communion with God is kept up by the word and by prayer. In the word God speaks to us; in prayer we speak to him. God had revealed to Abraham his purposes concerning Sodom; now from this Abraham takes occasion to speak to God on Sodom's behalf. Note, God's word then does us good when it furnishes us with matter for prayer and excites us to it. When God has spoken to us, we must consider what we have to say to him upon it. Observe, I. The solemnity of Abraham's address to God on this occasion: Abraham drew near, Gen 18:23. The expression intimates, 1. A holy concern: He engaged his heart to approach to God, Jer 30:21. "Shall Sodom be destroyed, and I not speak one good word for it?" 2. A holy…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 18:23

ABRAHAM'S INTERCESSION. (Gen 18:23-33) Abraham drew near, and said, &c.--The scene described is full of interest and instruction--showing in an unmistakable manner the efficacy of prayer and intercession. (See also Pro 15:8; Jam 5:16). Abraham reasoned justly as to the rectitude of the divine procedure (Rom 3:5-6), and many guilty cities and nations have been spared on account of God's people (Mat 5:13; Mat 24:22).

Adam Clarke on Genesis 18:23

Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? - A form of speech similar to that in Gen 18:17, an invariable principle of justice, that the righteous shall not be punished for the crimes of the impious. And this Abraham lays down as the foundation of his supplications. Who can pray with any hope of success who cannot assign a reason to God and his conscience for the petitions he offers? The great sacrifice offered by Christ is an infinite reason why a penitent sinner should expect to find the mercy for which he pleads.

John Gill on Genesis 18:23

And Abraham drew near,.... To the Lord; he approached nearer to him, to have more close and intimate conversation with him on the subject of the destruction of Sodom, which he perceived, by what had been said, was like to be; he drew nigh to God in prayer; so the Targum of Jonathan,"and Abraham prayed and said;''he drew nigh with faith and freedom, and an holy boldness and confidence, and yet with great reverence of the divine Majesty, and in all humility, under a deep sense of his own meanness and unworthiness: and said, wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? having in his mind righteous Lot, who dwelt in Sodom, whom he knew to be a just man, though he had departed from him,…

The Church Fathers

And they turned themselves from there and went towards Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the Lord, and approaching he said: Will you indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? If fifty righteous are in the city, will they perish along with the rest, until he said: If ten are found there; and the Lord said: I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten. It is read further that two angels came to Sodom and were received by Lot; hence it seems likely that at this place two angels departed from Abraham, and he spoke with the one who remained with him, interceding for the perishing city. In which intercession, the humility of the blessed Abraham is especially to be considered, who, although he was esteemed so highly by God that he received Him as a familiar guest and interceded with Him as if with a friend of one mind for others, nevertheless in his own estimation he remained vile and despicable; hence in his second prayer he says to Him:
— Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Abraham — Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred…
Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Communion — Fellowship with God (Gen. 18:17-33; Ex. 33:9-11; Num. 12:7, 8), between Christ and his people (John 14:23), by the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14; Phil. 2:1), of believers with one another (Eph. 4:1-6). The…
Abraham · in — in
Boldness · .Abraham — .Abraham
Boldness, Holy · Exemplified: Abraham — Exemplified: Abraham
Communion · .Abraham — .Abraham
Condescension Of God · Indulges Abraham’s intercession for — Indulges Abraham’s intercession for
Curiosity · who lived in — who lived in
God · .To Abraham — .To Abraham
Prayer · .Exemplified by Abraham in his inquiry concerning — .Exemplified by Abraham in his inquiry concerning
Prayer, Intercessory · Exemplified: Abraham — Exemplified: Abraham
Presumption · .Abraham, in questioning about

Genesis 18:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 18:23–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 18:23

Adam Clarke on Genesis 18:23

John Gill on Genesis 18:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 18:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 18:23–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 18:23

Adam Clarke on Genesis 18:23

John Gill on Genesis 18:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 18:23-24

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 18:21–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 18:22-33

Rashi on Genesis 18:11