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Key: khaki:verbs.
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ULTThen Abraham spoke up and said, “Behold, please, I have taken it upon myself to speak to my Lord, although I am dust and ashes.
USTThen Abraham spoke up again and asked Yahweh, “My Lord, please excuse me for speaking to you so boldly, even though I am as insignificant as dirt and ashes compared to you.
BSB § Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—
OEBAbraham answered, ‘I have dared to speak to the Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes.
WEBBEAbraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.
JPSAnd Abraham answered and said: 'Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.
ASVAnd Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes:
DRAAnd Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.
YLTAnd Abraham answereth and saith, 'Lo, I pray thee, I have willed to speak unto the Lord, and I — dust and ashes;
DrbyAnd Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak unto the Lord; I, who am dust and ashes.
RVAnd Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
WbstrAnd Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I, who am dust and ashes, have taken upon me to speak to the LORD.
KJB-1769And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
KJB-1611And Abraham answered, and said, Behold now, I haue taken vpon me to speake vnto the LORD, which am but dust and ashes. (And Abraham answered, and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but dust and ashes.)
BshpsAnd Abraham aunsweryng, sayde: beholde I haue taken vppon me to speake vnto the Lorde, whiche am but dust and asshes. (And Abraham aunsweryng, said: behold I have taken uppon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes.)
GnvaThen Abraham answered and said, Behold nowe, I haue begun to speake vnto my Lord, and I am but dust and ashes. (Then Abraham answered and said, Behold nowe, I have begun to speak unto my Lord, and I am but dust and ashes. )
CvdlAbraham answered, and sayde: O se, I haue taken vpon me to speake vnto the LORDE, howbeit I am but dust and asshes. (Abraham answered, and said: O se, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, howbeit I am but dust and ashes.)
WycAbraham answerde and seide, For Y bigan onys, Y schal speke to my Lord, sithen Y am dust and aische; (Abraham answered and said, For I began once, I shall speak to my Lord, since I am dust and aische;)
LuthAbraham antwortete und sprach: Ach siehe, ich habe mich unterwunden zu reden mit dem HErr’s, wiewohl ich Erde und Asche bin. (Abraham replied and spoke: Ach look, I have me unterwunden to reden with to_him LORD’s, wiewohl I earth and ash bin.)
ClVgRespondensque Abraham, ait: Quia semel cœpi, loquar ad Dominum meum, cum sim pulvis et cinis.[fn] (Respondensque Abraham, he_said: Quia semel cœpi, loquar to Dominum mine, when/with sim pulvis and cinis. )
18.27Loquar ad Dominum, etc. GREG. lib. XVIII Moral., c. 33 Mystice. Sancti quanto magis divinitatis interna prospiciunt, tanto magis se nihil esse conspiciunt. Nusquam legitur Abraham se cinerem et pulverem professum esse, nisi cum meruit Dei locutionem habere. Et ait: Loquar ad Dominum meum, cum sim pulvis, etc. Fortasse enim aliquid se esse crederet, si veram essentiam, quæ super ipsum est, non sensisset. Unde et David exclamat: Memento, Domine, quoniam pulvis sum Psal. 10, etc. Moraliter. Quosdam per tumorem sensus non elevat, sed per misericordiæ opera; quidam dum se terrenis abundare conspiciunt, veras divitias non requirunt, et æternum regnum non amant, quia temporalia sufficere putant. Non est ergo sensus in crimine, sed affectus. Cuncta enim quæ Deus condidit bona sunt. Sed qui bonis male utitur, hic agit ut per edacitatis ingluviem eo, quo vivere debuit, pane moriatur. Pauper ad requiem Lazarus venerat, superbum divitem cruciabant tormenta Luc. 16: dives tamen Abraham fuerat, qui Lazarum in sinu tenebat. Ait tamen: Loquar ad Dominum meum cum sim pulvis et cinis, etc. Quid divitias suas æstimabat, qui seipsum pulverem cineremque putabat? Aperte cernimus in quo loco se posuerat, qui se pulverem et cinerem, etiam cum Deo loqueretur, æstimabat. Qua ergo pœna feriendi sunt, qui ad summa non proficiunt et de minimis se extollunt?
18.27Loquar to Dominum, etc. GREG. lib. XVIII Moral., c. 33 Mystice. Sancti quanto magis divinitatis interna prospiciunt, tanto magis se nihil esse conspiciunt. Nusquam legitur Abraham se cinerem and pulverem professum esse, nisi when/with meruit of_God locutionem habere. And he_said: Loquar to Dominum mine, when/with sim pulvis, etc. Fortasse because aliquid se esse crederet, when/but_if veram essentiam, which over ipsum it_is, not/no sensisset. Unde and David exclamat: Memento, Domine, quoniam pulvis I_am Psal. 10, etc. Moraliter. Quosdam through tumorem sensus not/no elevat, but through misericordiæ opera; quidam dum se terrenis abundare conspiciunt, veras divitias not/no requirunt, and eternal kingdom not/no amant, because temporalia sufficere putant. Non it_is therefore sensus in crimine, but affectus. Cuncta because which God condidit good are. But who bonis male utitur, this agit as through edacitatis ingluviem eo, quo vivere debuit, pane moriatur. Pauper to requiem Lazarus venerat, superbum divitem cruciabant tormenta Luc. 16: dives tamen Abraham fuerat, who Lazarum in sinu tenebat. He_said tamen: Loquar to Dominum mine when/with sim pulvis and cinis, etc. Quid divitias their_own æstimabat, who seipsum pulverem cineremque putabat? Aperte cernimus in quo instead se posuerat, who se pulverem and cinerem, also when/with Deo loqueretur, æstimabat. Qua therefore pœna feriendi are, who to summa not/no proficiunt and about minimis se extollunt?
BrTrAnd Abraam answered and said, Now I have begun to speak to my Lord, and I am earth and ashes.
BrLXXΚαὶ ἀποκριθεὶς Ἁβραὰμ εἶπε, νῦν ἠρξάμην λαλῆσαι πρὸς τὸν Κύριόν μου· ἐγὼ δὲ εἰμὶ γῆ καὶ σποδός. (Kai apokritheis Habraʼam eipe, nun aʸrxamaʸn lalaʸsai pros ton Kurion mou; egō de eimi gaʸ kai spodos. )
18:16-33 God took Abraham into his confidence as his prophet (18:16-21; see 20:7); Abraham, in turn, interceded for Sodom (18:23-32; see Heb 7:23-26). God is able to do whatever he chooses to do; this passage affirms that it will be just and right.
The idiom taken it upon myself means that Abraham has decided to do something and is acting boldly. Consider whether or not your language has an idiom that fits well here. Alternate translation: “Listen, please, since I have been bold to speak to you,” or “Please excuse me for speaking to you so boldly,”
Abraham realizes by now that he is talking to Yahweh, so use a respectful term in your translation that is appropriate for him to use when he refers to Yahweh here and in the rest of this chapter. Also, for some languages it is more natural to put this phrase first in this quote and say, “My Lord/Master, please excuse me for speaking to you so boldly,” Do what is best in your language. Alternate translation: “my Master,” or “Master,”
וְאָנֹכִ֖י
and,I
Alternate translation: “in spite of the fact that”
It may be clearer to put this comparison earlier in the sentence and say, “My Lord/Master, I am as unimportant/insignificant as dust/dirt and ashes, so please excuse me …” Do what is best in your language. Also, see how you translated dust in Gen 2:7 and 3:19. Alternate translation: “I am as unimportant as dust and ashes compared to you.” or “I am nothing compared to you.” or “I have no status compared to you.”
Author’s note: This article assumes that Sodom, Gomorrah, and Bela (Zoar) were located at Bab edh-Dhra, Numeira, and Khirbat ash-Sheikh `Isa, respectively. The exact locations of the cities of the plain are widely debated, with the primary dispute centering around whether the cities are to be found in the northern area of the Dead Sea (since Lot headed east from Bethel [Genesis 13]) or the southern area (as the Medeba Map shows). It is beyond the scope of this article to present all the evidence to support a southern location, but many of them are well summarized here: “The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” In addition, Eusebius in his Onomasticon describes the Dead Sea as lying between Jericho and Zoar. This author has also recently found that Eusebius notes that Nebereim (Nimrim; see Isaiah 15:6 and Jeremiah 48:34) is located at a village called Bennamareim (likely the site of Gomorrah on this map), which he also says is north of Zoar. Thus, if Eusebius is correct, Zoar is clearly located in the southern area of the Dead Sea, which fits very well with the location shown on this map. Also, Lot’s relocation to Sodom after moving east to the plain of the Jordan suggests that Sodom was located on the east side of the Dead Sea.
The famous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are first mentioned in Genesis 10:19 in a description of the territory of the Canaanites. The cities are mentioned again in chapter 13, which notes that while Abraham (then called Abram) was living near Bethel (also called Luz), tension began to grow between Abraham’s herders and the herders working for Abraham’s nephew Lot. To resolve the problem, Abraham suggested that he and Lot permanently part ways, and he offered Lot first choice of where to live. Lot chose to move east to the plain of the Jordan, because the land was well watered, and he eventually settled in the city of Sodom. Genesis 14 then describes how Lot was captured by four Mesopotamian kings as they attacked the cities of the plain, but Abraham rescued Lot. Sometime after this Abraham moved to the oaks of Mamre, near Hebron, and three visitors (one of whom is later called “the Lord,” and the other two “angels”) approached his tent. Abraham invited them to share a meal with him and then later accompanied them for the first part of their journey. Along the way the visitors revealed to Abraham that they were going to Sodom to destroy it for its wickedness. Abraham appealed to the Lord to spare the city if even a few righteous lived there, and the Lord agreed and went his way. The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening (Genesis 19:1), presumably the same day they left, although perhaps they actually took more than one day to travel to Sodom, because the distance from Mamre to Sodom is over 35 miles (56 km), and Scripture does not specifically note that it was the same day. The events that followed that evening are well known, and in the morning the angels compelled Lot and his family to flee the city before it was destroyed. The angels instructed them to flee to the hills, but Lot convinced them to allow him to take refuge in a small village on the plain and not destroy it. Genesis 19:23 seems to suggest that it took Lot’s family a full day and night to reach Zoar, which fits well with the 16 mile (25 km) distance from Sodom to Zoar. As they were reaching Zoar, the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur on Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, completely destroying them. As Lot’s family was still fleeing, Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. That same morning Abraham got up and went to where he had last spoken with the visitors, and when he looked out across the plain he saw columns of smoke rising from the destroyed cities. Later Lot and his daughters moved into the hills and lived in a cave, because they were afraid to remain in Zoar. Fearing they would never marry, Lot’s daughters both got their father drunk and conceived children by him, though he was unaware of it. These children became ancestors of the Moabites and the Ammonites.
