Genesis 18:25-32

18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ¹  of the whole earth do what is right?” ² 

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.”

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ³  (although I am but dust and ashes), ⁴  18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ⁵  the whole city because five are lacking?” ⁶  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

18:29 Abraham ⁷  spoke to him again, ⁸  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

18:30 Then Abraham ⁹  said, “May the Lord not be angry ¹⁰  so that I may speak! ¹¹  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ¹²  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 ¹³  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.”

Genesis 32:12

32:12 But you ¹⁴  said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper ¹⁵  and will make ¹⁶  your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’” ¹⁷ 

Exodus 32:12-13

32:12 Why ¹⁸  should the Egyptians say, ¹⁹  ‘For evil ²⁰  he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy ²¹  them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent ²²  of this evil against your people. 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants ²³  like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about ²⁴  I will give to your descendants, ²⁵  and they will inherit it forever.’”

Numbers 14:13-19

14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear ²⁶  it – for you brought up this people by your power from among them – 14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants ²⁷  of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, ²⁸  that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 14:15 If you kill ²⁹  this entire people at once, ³⁰  then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 14:16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 14:17 So now, let the power of my Lord ³¹  be great, just as you have said, 14:18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, ³²  forgiving iniquity and transgression, ³³  but by no means clearing ³⁴  the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ ³⁵  14:19 Please forgive ³⁶  the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, ³⁷  just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.”

Joshua 7:8-9

7:8 If only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say now that Israel has retreated ³⁸  before its enemies? 7:9 When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will turn against us and destroy the very memory of us ³⁹  from the earth. What will you do to protect your great reputation?” ⁴⁰ 

Psalms 25:11

25:11 For the sake of your reputation, ⁴¹  O Lord,

forgive my sin, because it is great. ⁴² 

Daniel 9:18-19

9:18 Listen attentively, ⁴³  my God, and hear! Open your eyes and look on our desolated ruins ⁴⁴  and the city called by your name. ⁴⁵  For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying to you, ⁴⁶  but because your compassion is abundant. 9:19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention, and act! Don’t delay, for your own sake, O my God! For your city and your people are called by your name.” ⁴⁷ 

[18:25]  ¹ tn Or “ruler.”

[18:25]  ² sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.

[18:27]  ³ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[18:27]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

[18:28]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

[18:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “because of five.”

[18:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ⁸ tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”

[18:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

[18:30]  ¹¹ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

[18:31]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:32]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “But you, you said.” One of the occurrences of the pronoun “you” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[32:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “will certainly deal well with you.” The infinitive absolute appears before the imperfect, underscoring God’s promise to bless. The statement is more emphatic than in v. 9.

[32:12]  ¹⁶ tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the nuance of the preceding verb forward.

[32:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “which cannot be counted because of abundance.” The imperfect verbal form indicates potential here.

[32:12]  ¹⁸ tn The question is rhetorical; it really forms an affirmation that is used here as a reason for the request (see GKC 474 §150.e).

[32:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “speak, saying.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[32:12]  ²⁰ tn The word “evil” means any kind of life-threatening or fatal calamity. “Evil” is that which hinders life, interrupts life, causes pain to life, or destroys it. The Egyptians would conclude that such a God would have no good intent in taking his people to the desert if now he destroyed them.

[32:12]  ²¹ tn The form is a Piel infinitive construct from כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”) but in this stem, “bring to an end, destroy.” As a purpose infinitive this expresses what the Egyptians would have thought of God’s motive.

[32:12]  ²² tn The verb “repent, relent” when used of God is certainly an anthropomorphism. It expresses the deep pain that one would have over a situation. Earlier God repented that he had made humans (Gen 6:6). Here Moses is asking God to repent/relent over the judgment he was about to bring, meaning that he should be moved by such compassion that there would be no judgment like that. J. P. Hyatt observes that the Bible uses so many anthropomorphisms because the Israelites conceived of God as a dynamic and living person in a vital relationship with people, responding to their needs and attitudes and actions (Exodus [NCBC], 307). See H. V. D. Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.

[32:13]  ²³ tn Heb “your seed.”

[32:13]  ²⁴ tn “about” has been supplied.

[32:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “seed.”

[14:13]  ²⁶ tn The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when…then they will say.”

[14:14]  ²⁷ tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.

[14:14]  ²⁸ tn “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.

[14:15]  ²⁹ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (vÿhemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.

[14:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “as one man.”

[14:17]  ³¹ tc The form in the text is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay), the word that is usually used in place of the tetragrammaton. It is the plural form with the pronominal suffix, and so must refer to God.

[14:18]  ³² tn The expression is רַב־חֶסֶד (rav khesed) means “much of loyal love,” or “faithful love.” Some have it “totally faithful,” but that omits the aspect of his love.

[14:18]  ³³ tn Or “rebellion.”

[14:18]  ³⁴ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the verbal activity of the imperfect tense, which here serves as a habitual imperfect. Negated it states what God does not do; and the infinitive makes that certain.

[14:18]  ³⁵ sn The Decalogue adds “to those who hate me.” The point of the line is that the effects of sin, if not the sinful traits themselves, are passed on to the next generation.

[14:19]  ³⁶ tn The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh-na’), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.

[14:19]  ³⁷ tn The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.

[7:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “turned [the] back.”

[7:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and cut off our name.”

[7:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “What will you do for your great name?”

[25:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “name.” By forgiving the sinful psalmist, the Lord’s reputation as a merciful God will be enhanced.

[25:11]  ⁴² sn Forgive my sin, because it is great. The psalmist readily admits his desperate need for forgiveness.

[9:18]  ⁴³ tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[9:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “desolations.” The term refers here to the ruined condition of Judah’s towns.

[9:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “over which your name is called.” Cf. v. 19. This expression implies that God is the owner of his city, Jerusalem. Note the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1; Amos 9:12.

[9:18]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “praying our supplications before you.”

[9:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “for your name is called over your city and your people.” See the note on this expression in v 18.