Genesis 18:32

(Verse 32) And he said, 'Is it, Lord, if I speak?' Which is written in Greek, μήτι, Κύριε, ἐὰν λαλήσω. Secondly, Abraham spoke to the Lord, which does not seem to clearly indicate what he is saying. Therefore, in Hebrew it is written more explicitly: 'Please do not be angry, Lord, if I have spoken.' For since he seemed to be questioning, he qualifies what he seeks by beginning with a plea.

For proof that such persons' good standing is a means of winning long suffering for us, take heed in that very story to what he says to the patriarch: "If I find ten good people, I will not destroy the city." Why do I say ten good people? No one was found there free from lawlessness, except alone the good man Lot and his two daughters. His wife, you remember, perhaps on his account escaped punishment in the city but paid later the penalty for her own indifference. Now, however, since through God's ineffable love the growth of religion was taking place, there were many people unobtrusively in the heart of the cities capable of appealing to God, others in hills and caves, and the virtue of these few succeeded in canceling out the wickedness of the majority.The Lord's goodness is immense, and frequently he finds his way to grant the salvation of the majority on account of a few just people. Why do I say on account of a few just people? Frequently, when a just person cannot be found in the present life, he takes pity on the living on account of the virtue of the departed and cries aloud in the words, "I will protect this city for my own sake and the sake of my servant David." Even if they do not deserve to be saved, he is saving. And [they] have no claim on salvation; yet, since showing love is habitual with me and I am prompt to have pity and rescue them from disaster, for my own sake and the sake of my servant David I will act as a shield; he who passed on from this life many years before will prove the salvation of those who have fallen victim to their own indifference.

DOES GOD FORGIVE WHEREVER HE FINDS TEN RIGHTEOUS? — The question often arises as to whether what God said about Sodom, namely, that he would not punish that place if there were only ten righteous ones, is to be understood only of that city, or, more generally, of any place, so that God would forgive any place where only ten righteous ones would be found. I think that in this matter we are not forced to accept that the text has to be interpreted as a general law. But, as far as Sodom is concerned, God was able to keep this manner of expression, because he knew that it contained not even ten righteous. And his response was to make Abraham see that it was impossible to find that number, so great was their iniquity. For God had no need to forgive those wicked men so as not to punish the righteous with them, for he could give the wicked worthy punishments, excluding the righteous. But as I have said, to bring out the wickedness of that multitude, he said: If I find ten righteous men there, I will spare the whole city. As if to say, "I cannot punish the righteous with the wicked, but without forgiving the wicked; for, when the righteous are liberated and separated from there, I can give to the wicked their due; And yet, if those righteous ones are found there, I forgive them ", knowing that even that number was not there. A similar thing is found in Jeremiah (5:1), when he says, "Go through the streets of Jerusalem, and look and search in their places, and see: if you find one who practices righteousness and seeks faithfulness, I will forgive their sins, I will forgive others. In this way he exaggerates and proves that not one could even be found there. [