Genesis 18:16

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

18:16 When the men got up to leave, ¹  they looked out over ²  Sodom. (Now ³  Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) ⁴ 

Genesis 18:22

18:22 The two men turned ⁵  and headed ⁶  toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. ⁷ 

[18:16]  ¹ tn Heb “And the men arose from there.”

[18:16]  ² tn Heb “toward the face of.”

[18:16]  ³ tn The disjunctive parenthetical clause sets the stage for the following speech.

[18:16]  ⁴ tn The Piel of שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to lead out, to send out, to expel”; here it is used in the friendly sense of seeing the visitors on their way.

[18:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “And the men turned from there.” The word “two” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied here for clarity. Gen 19:1 mentions only two individuals (described as “angels”), while Abraham had entertained three visitors (18:2). The implication is that the Lord was the third visitor, who remained behind with Abraham here. The words “from there” are not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “went.”

[18:22]  ⁷ tc An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition reads “but the Lord remained standing before Abraham.” This reading is problematic because the phrase “standing before” typically indicates intercession, but the Lord would certainly not be interceding before Abraham.