Passage

Genesis 18.19

Book: Genesis · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

17. And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do; 18. seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

19. For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

And Jehovah said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21. I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. (Genesis 18:17-21, ASV)

WEB

17. Yahweh said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do, 18. since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?

19. For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.”

Yahweh said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, 21. I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.” (Genesis 18:17-21, WEB)

KJV

17. And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18. Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

19. For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21. I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. (Genesis 18:17-21, KJV)

YLT

17. and Jehovah said, 'Am I concealing from Abraham that which I am doing, 18. and Abraham certainly becometh a nation great and mighty, and blessed in him have been all nations of the earth?

19. for I have known him, that he commandeth his children, and his house after him (and they have kept the way of Jehovah), to do righteousness and judgment, that Jehovah may bring on Abraham that which He hath spoken concerning him.'

And Jehovah saith, 'The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, because great; and their sin, because exceeding grievous: 21. I go down now, and see whether according to its cry which is coming unto Me they have done completely, and if not, I know;' (Genesis 18:17-21, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the LORD, speaking of Abraham
Audience: reported as divine deliberation
Location: near the oaks of Mamre, on the way toward Sodom
Time period: the patriarchal age, commonly placed in the early second millennium BC

Theological reading

I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice.

The verse gives the purpose of the election in the middle of the Sodom narrative, and the placement is the point: God is about to disclose his intention to Abraham, and the reason given is that Abraham is to teach his household righteousness and justice.

So the calling is not a privilege held but a trust transmitted. The word rendered "I have known him" is the covenant-relational sense of yada rather than mere cognition, and what it produces is instruction of the next generation.

The two nouns, tsedaqah and mishpat, are the standard pair for right conduct and just judgment, and they are exactly what Sodom is about to be found lacking. The chapter thus sets the elect household and the condemned city side by side under one standard.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H6666 - tzedakah, tzedakah, Strong's H6666
H4941 - mishpat, mishpat, Strong's H4941
H3045 - yada, yada, Strong's H3045
H6213 - asah, asah, Strong's H6213
H1121 - ben, ben, Strong's H1121
H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Atheism, via Genesis 18.16-33
Sodom and Gomorrah Objection, via Genesis 18.16-33

Lexicon:

Passages:

Amos 3.2

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.