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Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXXΚαὶ προσέθηκεν ἔτι λαλῆσαι πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ εἶπεν, ἐὰν δὲ εὑρεθῶσιν ἐκεῖ τεσσαράκοντα· καὶ εἶπεν, οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσω ἕνεκεν τῶν τεσσαράκοντα. (Kai prosethaʸken eti lalaʸsai pros auton, kai eipen, ean de heurethōsin ekei tessarakonta; kai eipen, ou maʸ apolesō heneken tōn tessarakonta. )
BrTrAnd he continued to speak to him still, and said, But if there should be found there forty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the forty's sake.
ULTThen he continued again to speak to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And he said, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”
USTThen Abraham spoke again to Yahweh and asked, “What will you do if there are only forty righteous people in the city? Will you destroy it then?” Yahweh answered, “I will not destroy the city, in order to save the forty righteous people.”
BSB § Once again Abraham spoke to the LORD, “Suppose forty are found there?” § He answered, “On account of the forty, I will not do it.”
OEBThen Abraham spoke to him again, and said, ‘Suppose forty are found there?’ He replied, ‘For the sake of forty I will not do it.’
WEBBEHe spoke to him yet again, and said, “What if there are forty found there?” ¶ He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.”
NETAbraham spoke to him again, “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”
LSVAnd he adds again to speak to Him and says, “Perhaps there are found there forty?” And He says, “I do not do [it], because of the forty.”
FBVAbraham spoke up again and he asked the Lord, “What if only forty can be found?” ¶ “I won't do it for the sake of the forty,” the Lord replied.
T4TAbraham continued to speak to him like this, saying, “What will you do if you find that there are only 40 righteous people there?” Yahweh replied, “I will not destroy them all, for the sake of the 40.”
LEBAnd once again he spoke[fn] to him and said, “What if[fn] forty are found there?” And he answered, “I will not do it on account of the forty.”
JPSAnd he spoke unto Him yet again, and said: 'Peradventure there shall be forty found there.' And He said: 'I will not do it for the forty's sake.'
ASVAnd he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for the forty’s sake.
DRAAnd again he said to him: But if forty be found there, what wilt thou do? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of forty.
YLTAnd he addeth again to speak unto Him and saith, 'Peradventure there are found there forty?' and He saith, 'I do [it] not, because of the forty.'
DrbyAnd he continued yet to speak with him, and said, Perhaps there may be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for the forty's sake.
RVAnd he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for the forty’s sake.
WbstrAnd he spoke to him yet again, and said, Peradventure there will be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.
KJB-1769And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.
KJB-1611And hee spake vnto him yet againe, and said, Peraduenture there shall be fourtie found there: and he said, I will not doe it for fourties sake. (And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peraduenture there shall be forty found there: and he said, I will not do it for fortys sake.)
BshpsAnd he proceaded to speake vnto hym agayne, and sayde: What yf there shall be fourtie founde there? He aunswered: I wyll not do it for fourties sake. (And he proceeded to speak unto him again, and said: What if there shall be forty found there? He answered: I will not do it for fortys sake.)
GnvaAnd he yet spake to him againe, and saide, What if there shalbe found fourtie there? Then he answered, I will not doe it for fourties sake. (And he yet spake to him again, and said, What if there shall be found forty there? Then he answered, I will not do it for fortys sake. )
CvdlAnd he proceded further to speake vnto him, and sayde: Peraduenture there might be fourtie founde therin. And he sayde: I wil do nothinge vnto them for those fourtyes sake. (And he proceded further to speak unto him, and said: Peraduenture there might be forty found therein. And he said: I will do nothing unto them for those fortys sake.)
WyclAnd eft Abraham seide to hym, But if fourti ben there, what schalt thou do? The Lord seide, Y schal not smyte for fourti. (And after Abraham said to him, But if forty been there, what shalt thou/you do? The Lord said, I shall not smite for forty.)
LuthUnd er fuhr weiter mit ihm zu reden, und sprach: Man möchte vielleicht vierzig drinnen finden. Er aber sprach: Ich will ihnen nichts tun um der vierzig willen. (And he fuhr further with him to reden, and spoke: Man möchte vielleicht vierzig drinnen finden. He but spoke: I will to_them nothing do/put around/by/for the/of_the vierzig willen.)
ClVgRursumque locutus est ad eum: Sin autem quadraginta ibi inventi fuerint, quid facies? Ait: Non percutiam propter quadraginta. (Rursumque spoke it_is to him: Sin however quadraginta there inventi fuerint, quid faces? Ait: Non percutiam propter quadraginta. )
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.
Consider what is the best way to translate this passive clause in your language. Alternate translation: “only 40 righteous people are found by you” or “you find only 40 righteous people” or “there are only 40 righteous people”
שָׁ֖ם
there
Alternate translation: “living there?” or “living in the city? Will you destroy it then?”
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.
