Genesis Chapter 18 verse 23 Holy Bible

ASV Genesis 18:23

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked?
read chapter 18 in ASV

BBE Genesis 18:23

And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction come on the upright with the sinners?
read chapter 18 in BBE

DARBY Genesis 18:23

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also cause the righteous to perish with the wicked?
read chapter 18 in DARBY

KJV Genesis 18:23

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
read chapter 18 in KJV

WBT Genesis 18:23

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
read chapter 18 in WBT

WEB Genesis 18:23

Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?
read chapter 18 in WEB

YLT Genesis 18:23

And Abraham draweth nigh and saith, `Dost Thou also consume righteous with wicked?
read chapter 18 in YLT

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 23. - And Abraham drew near. I.e. to Jehovah; not simply locally, but also spiritually. The religious use of יִגַּשּׁ as a performing religious services to God, or a pious turning of the mind to God, is found in Exodus 30:20; Isaiah 29:13; Jeremiah 30:21; and in a similar sense ἐγγίζω is employed in the New Testament (cf. Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 10:22; James 4:8). The Jonathan Targum explains, "and Abraham prayed." And said. Commencing the sublimest act of human intercession of which Scripture preserves a record, being moved thereto, if not by an immediate regard for Lot (Lange), at least by a sense of compassion towards the inhabitants of Sodom, "communis erga quinque populos misericordia" (Calvin), which was heightened and intensified by his own previous experience of forgiving grace (Keil). Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? The question presupposes that God had, according to the resolution of Ver. 17, explained to the patriarch his intention to destroy the cities of the plain. The object the patriarch contemplated in his intercession was not simply the preservation of any godly remnant that might be found within the doomed towns, but the rescue of their entire populations from the impending judgment, - only he does not at first discover his complete design, perhaps regarding such an absolute reversal of the Divine purpose as exceeding the legitimate bounds of creature supplication; but with what might be characterized as holy adroitness he veils his ulterior aim, and commences his petition at a Point somewhat removed from that to which he hopes to come. Assuming it as settled that the fair Pentapolis is to be destroyed, he practically asks, with a strange mixture of humility and boldness, if Jehovah has considered that this will involve a sad commingling in one gigantic overthrow of both the righteous and the wicked.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(23) Abraham drew near.--As Jewish commentators remark, this word is especially used of prayer, and Abraham's intercession is unspeakably noble. Nor must we suppose that he thought only of Lot. Doubtless he remembered the day when he had restored the persons and spoil to the king of Sodom. He had then seen their human affection; the joy of parent meeting with child, and friend with friend; and he hoped that there were good people among them, and that so marvellous a deliverance would work in many of them a true repentance. Neither must we suppose that Abraham adroitly began with a large number, with the intention of lessening it. It was the readiness with which each prayer was heard which made him in his earnestness continue his entreaties. It thus illustrates the principle that the faith of the believer grows strong as he feels that his prayers are accepted, and he ventures finally to offer petitions, nothing wavering, which at an earlier stage would have seemed to him to ask more than he might venture to hope from the Divine goodness.Destroy.--Heb., sweep away; and so in Genesis 18:24. The difference is not without force; for the verb "to sweep away" gives the idea of a more indiscriminate ruin than the usual word destroy, which Abraham substitutes for it in Genesis 18:28; Genesis 18:31-32.