18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
18:29 Abraham 1 spoke to him again, 2 “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”
18:31 Abraham 3 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.”
18:32 Finally Abraham 4 said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1 tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”
2 sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.
1 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
2 tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.
1 tn Heb “and he said to his father”; the referent of “he” (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity, while the words “his father” have been replaced by the pronoun “him” for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Or “arise” (i.e., sit up).
3 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.”