Passage
Genesis 18.23
Book: Genesis · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV (ASV)
"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. 22. 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?"
"24. Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25. That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:21-25, ASV)
WEB (WEB)
"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.” 22. 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?"
"24. 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? 25. Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”" (Genesis 18:21-25, WEB)
KJV (KJV)
"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. 22. 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?"
"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? 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 be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:21-25, KJV)
YLT (YLT)
"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;' 22. 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?"
"24. peradventure there are fifty righteous in the midst of the city; dost Thou also consume, and not bear with the place for the sake of the fifty, the righteous who [are] in its midst? 25. Far be it from Thee to do according to this thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked; that it hath been, as the righteous so the wicked, far be it from Thee; doth the Judge of all the earth not do justice?'" (Genesis 18:21-25, YLT)
Setting
- Speaker: Moses (traditional authorship) / narrator
- Audience: Israelite congregation post-Exodus
- Location: various ANE settings (Eden → Mesopotamia → Canaan → Egypt)
- Time period: events c. creation-c. 1800 BC; composed c. 1446-1406 BC
Theological reading
Key words
No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches found in this passage. (Lexicon coverage is curated, ~159 of the most apologetically-loaded Greek/Hebrew terms.)
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.