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Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clearImportance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV)My master, don’t get angry but let me speak,” Abraham said, “suppose thirty are found there?” ¶ “I won’t do it if I find thirty-five there,” he said.
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 εἶπε, μή τι Κύριε ἐὰν λαλήσω; ἐὰν δὲ εὑρεθῶσιν ἐκεῖ τριάκοντα; καὶ εἶπεν, οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσω ἕνεκεν τῶν τριάκοντα. (Kai eipe, maʸ ti Kurie ean lalaʸsō; ean de heurethōsin ekei triakonta; kai eipen, ou maʸ apolesō heneken tōn triakonta. )
BrTrAnd he said, Will there be anything against me, Lord, if I shall speak? but if there be found there thirty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the thirty's sake.
ULTThen he said, “Please do not let my Lord be angry, and let me speak: Suppose thirty are found there?” And he said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
USTThen Abraham pleaded with him, “My Lord, please do not be angry with me, but let me ask youanother question: What will you do if there are only thirty righteous peopleliving there?” He replied, “I will not destroy the city if there are thirty righteous people there.”
BSB § Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” § He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.”
OEBThen Abraham said, ‘Oh, let not the Lord be angry, but let me speak. Suppose thirty are found there?’ He answered, ‘I will not do it, if I find thirty there.’
WEBBEHe said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?” ¶ He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
NETThen Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak! What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
LSVAnd he says, “Please let it not be displeasing to the Lord, and I speak: perhaps there are found there thirty?” And He says, “I do not do [it], if I find there thirty.”
FBV“My Lord, please don't get angry with me,” Abraham went on. “Let me ask this—what if only thirty were found?” ¶ “I won't do it if I find thirty,” the Lord replied.
T4TAbraham said, “God, please don’t be angry now. Let me speak again. What will you do if there are only 30 righteous people?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find that there are 30 there.”
LEBAnd he said, “Please, let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if[fn] thirty be found there?” And he answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
JPSAnd he said: 'Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Peradventure there shall thirty be found there.' And He said: 'I will not do it, if I find thirty there.'
ASVAnd he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
DRALord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak: What if thirty shall be found there? He answered: I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
YLTAnd he saith, 'Let it not be, I Pray thee, displeasing to the Lord, and I speak: peradventure there are found there thirty?' and He saith, 'I do [it] not, if I find there thirty.'
DrbyAnd he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry that I speak! Perhaps there may be thirty found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there.
RVAnd he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
WbstrAnd he said, Oh, let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there will thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
KJB-1769And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
KJB-1611And he said vnto him, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speake: Peraduenture there shall thirtie bee found there. And he said, I will not doe it, if I find thirtie there. (And he said unto him, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speake:Peraduenture there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.)
BshpsHe sayde vnto hym agayne: O let not my lord be angry that I speake: What yf there shall thirtie be founde there? And he sayde: I wyll do nothyng yf I fynde thirtie there. (He said unto him again: O let not my lord be angry that I speake: What if there shall thirty be found there? And he said: I will do nothing if I find thirty there.)
GnvaAgaine he said, Let not my Lord nowe be angry, that I speake, What if thirtie be founde there? Then he saide, I will not doe it, if I finde thirtie there. (Again he said, Let not my Lord now be angry, that I speake, What if thirty be found there? Then he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. )
CvdlAbraham sayde: Oh let not my LORDE be angrie, that I speake yet more. Peradueture there might be thirtie founde therin. And he sayde: Yf I fynde thirtie therin, I will do nothinge vnto them. (Abraham said: Oh let not my LORD be angrie, that I speak yet more. Peradueture there might be thirty found therin. And he said: If I find thirty therin, I will do nothing unto them.)
WyclAbraham seide, Lord, Y biseche, take thou not to indignacioun, if Y speke; what if thretti be foundun there? The Lord answerde, Y schal not do, if Y schal fynde thretti there. (Abraham said, Lord, I beseech/implore, take thou/you not to indignation, if I speke; what if thirty be found there? The Lord answered, I shall not do, if I shall find thirty there.)
LuthAbraham sprach: Zürne nicht, HErr, daß ich noch mehr rede. Man möchte vielleicht dreißig drinnen finden. Er aber sprach: Finde ich dreißig drinnen, so will ich ihnen nichts tun. (Abraham spoke: Zürne not, LORD, that I still more rede. Man möchte vielleicht thirty drinnen finden. He but spoke: Finde I thirty drinnen, so will I to_them nothing tun.)
ClVgNe quæso, inquit, indigneris, Domine, si loquar: quid si ibi inventi fuerint triginta? Respondit: Non faciam, si invenero ibi triginta. (Ne quæso, inquit, indigneris, Domine, when/but_if loquar: quid when/but_if there inventi fuerint triginta? Respondit: Non faciam, when/but_if invenero there triginta. )
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.
Make sure it is clear in your translation that Abraham is speaking here, not Yahweh. Alternate translation: “Then Abraham asked him” or “Then Abraham pleaded with Yahweh,”
Abraham addresses Yahweh using the third person and the title Lord to show him honor and respect. Consider what is the best way to do that in your language. Alternate translation: “My Master, please do not be angry at me,”
וַאֲדַבֵּ֔רָה
and,speak
Alternate translation: “but let me say something else:” or “rather let me ask you another question:”
If you use the numeral “30” here in your translation, make sure that it will not get confused with the verse number. Alternate translation: “only 30 righteous people are found” or “you find only 30 righteous people” or “there are only 30 righteous people”
See how you translated a similar sentence at the end of verse 28. Alternate translation: “I will not destroy the city if I find 30 righteous people living there.” or “If I find 30 righteous people living in the city, I will not destroy it.”
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.
