Genesis 18:21

18:21 that I must go down ¹  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ²  If not, ³  I want to know.”

Genesis 18:24

18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare ⁴  the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it?

¹ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

² tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

³ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

⁴ tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).