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Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clearImportance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV)“Listen, I’ve taken it upon myself to speak to my master,” Abraham asked again, “suppose twenty are foundthere?” ¶ “I won’t do it for the sake of the twenty,” he agreed.
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 εἶπεν, ἐπειδὴ ἔχω λαλῆσαι πρὸς τὸν Κύριον, ἐὰν δὲ εὑρεθῶσιν ἐκεῖ εἴκοσι; καὶ εἶπεν, οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσω, ἐὰν εὕρω ἐκεῖ εἴκοσι. (Kai eipen, epeidaʸ eⱪō lalaʸsai pros ton Kurion, ean de heurethōsin ekei eikosi; kai eipen, ou maʸ apolesō, ean heurō ekei eikosi. )
BrTrAnd he said, Since I am able to speak to the Lord, what if there should be found there twenty? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there twenty.
ULTThen he said, “Behold, please, I have taken it upon myself to speak to my Lord. Suppose twenty are found there?” And he said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
USTThen Abraham asked him, “My Lord, please excuse me for speaking to you so boldly. What will you do if there are only twenty righteous peopleliving in the city?” Yahweh replied, “I will not destroy the city, in order to save the twenty righteous people.”
BSB § And Abraham said, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty are found there?” § He answered, “On account of the twenty, I will not destroy it.”
OEBThen Abraham said, ‘You see that I have dared to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there?’ He replied, ‘For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.’
WEBBEHe said, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?” ¶ He said, “I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.”
NETAbraham said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
LSVAnd he says, “Now behold, I have willed to speak to the Lord: perhaps there are found there twenty?” And He says, “I do not destroy [it], because of the twenty.”
FBV“I admit I've been very bold to speak to my Lord like this,” Abraham said. “What if only twenty are found there?” ¶ “I won't do it for the sake of the twenty,” the Lord replied.
T4TAbraham said, “I should not be bold and speak to you like this, God. But what will you do if you find that there are only 20 righteous people there?” He replied, “I will not destroy the whole city, for the sake of those 20.”
LEBAnd he said, “Please, now, I was bold to speak to my Lord. What if[fn] twenty be found there?” And he answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
BBEAnd he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty.
JPSAnd he said: 'Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure there shall be twenty found there.' And He said: 'I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake.'
ASVAnd he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.
DRASeeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord. What if twenty be found there? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.
YLTAnd he saith, 'Lo, I pray thee, I have willed to speak unto the Lord: peradventure there are found there twenty?' and He saith, 'I do not destroy [it], because of the twenty.'
DrbyAnd he said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak with the Lord. Perhaps there may be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy [it] for the twenty's sake.
RVAnd he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.
WbstrAnd he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak to the LORD: Peradventure there will be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.
KJB-1769And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.
KJB-1611And he said, Behold now, I haue taken vpon mee to speake vnto the LORD: Peraduenture there shall bee twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenties sake. (And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD: Peraduenture there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenties sake.)
BshpsHe sayde agayne: O see I haue taken vppon me to speake nowe also vnto my Lord: What if there shalbe twentie founde there? He aunswered, I wyll not destroy them for twenties sake. (He said again: O see I have taken uppon me to speak now also unto my Lord: What if there shall be twenty found there? He answered, I will not destroy them for twenties sake.)
GnvaMoreouer he said, Behold, now I haue begonne to speake vnto my Lord, What if twentie be founde there? And he answered, I will not destroy it for twenties sake. (Moreover/What's_more he said, Behold, now I have begonne to speak unto my Lord, What if twenty be found there? And he answered, I will not destroy it for twenties sake. )
CvdlAnd he sayde: O se, I haue taken vpon me to speake vnto my LORDE.Peradueture there might be twetie founde therin. He answered: I wyll not destroye them for those twentyes sake. (And he said: O se, I have taken upon me to speak unto my LORD.Peradueture there might be twetie found therein. He answered: I will not destroy them for those twentyes sake.)
WyclAbraham seide, For Y bigan onys, Y schal speke to my Lord; what if twenti be foundun there? The Lord seide, Y schal not sle for twenti. (Abraham said, For I began once, I shall speak to my Lord; what if twenty be found there? The Lord said, I shall not slay/kill for twenti.)
LuthUnd er sprach: Ach siehe, ich habe mich unterwunden, mit dem HErr’s zu reden. Man möchte vielleicht zwanzig drinnen finden. Er antwortete: Ich will sie nicht verderben um der zwanzig willen. (And he spoke: Ach look, I have me unterwunden, with to_him LORD’s to reden. Man möchte vielleicht twenty drinnen finden. He replied: I will they/she/them not verderben around/by/for the/of_the twenty willen.)
ClVgQuia semel, ait, cœpi loquar ad Dominum meum: quid si ibi inventi fuerint viginti? Ait: Non interficiam propter viginti. (Because semel, ait, cœpi loquar to Dominum meum: quid when/but_if there inventi fuerint twenty? Ait: Non interficiam propter twenty. )
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 said to him” or “Then Abraham asked Yahweh,”
see/lo/see! now bold to,speak to/towards my=master
See how you translated this clause in verse 27. Alternate translation: “Listen, please, since I have been bold to speak to you, my Lord” or “My Lord please excuse me for speaking to you so boldly.”
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.
