18:30 Then Abraham 1 said, “May the Lord not be angry 2 so that I may speak! 3 What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
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 Heb “let it not be hot to the
3 tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “let there not be anger in your eyes.”
8 sn You sold me here, for God sent me. The tension remains as to how the brothers’ wickedness and God’s intentions work together. Clearly God is able to transform the actions of wickedness to bring about some gracious end. But this is saying more than that; it is saying that from the beginning it was God who sent Joseph here. Although harmonization of these ideas remains humanly impossible, the divine intention is what should be the focus. Only that will enable reconciliation.