Passage

Genesis 18.20-21

Book: Genesis · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

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.

20. 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.

And the men turned from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before Jehovah. 23. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked? (Genesis 18:18-23, ASV)

WEB

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.”

20. 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.”

The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh. 23. Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? (Genesis 18:18-23, WEB)

KJV

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.

20. 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.

And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 23. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? (Genesis 18:18-23, KJV)

YLT

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.'

20. 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;'

and the men turn from thence, and go towards Sodom; and Abraham is yet standing before Jehovah. 23. And Abraham draweth nigh and saith, 'Dost Thou also consume righteous with wicked? (Genesis 18:18-23, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the LORD
Audience: Abraham
Location: near the oaks of Mamre
Time period: the patriarchal age, commonly placed in the early second millennium BC

Theological reading

Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin very grave, I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.

The word tse'aqah, outcry, is the term used of the cry of the oppressed, and it recurs of Israel in Egypt. So the charge is stated in terms of victims before any specific sin is named, which shapes how the following chapter should be read.

The anthropomorphism is deliberate and is doing juridical work. God does not need to descend to learn, and the narrative has him do it anyway, which establishes that judgment follows investigation. The same movement occurs at Babel, where God comes down to see the city.

That framing is what makes Abraham's intercession possible: he can appeal to the Judge of all the earth precisely because judgment has been presented as a matter of found facts. See Sodom and Gomorrah Objection Defeater.

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.

H2403 - chattath, chattath, Strong's H2403
H3045 - yada, yada, Strong's H3045
H6213 - asah, asah, Strong's H6213
H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Passages:

Genesis 19

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.