Genesis 18:24

18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare ¹  the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it?

Genesis 18:28-32

18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ²  the whole city because five are lacking?” ³  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

18:29 Abraham ⁴  spoke to him again, ⁵  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

18:30 Then Abraham ⁶  said, “May the Lord not be angry ⁷  so that I may speak! ⁸  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ⁹  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 ¹⁰  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 43:12

43:12 Take double the money with you; ¹¹  you must take back ¹²  the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks – perhaps it was an oversight.

[18:24]  ¹ tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).

[18:28]  ² tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

[18:28]  ³ tn Heb “because of five.”

[18:29]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ⁴ tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”

[18:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

[18:30]  ⁶ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

[18:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “in your hand.”

[43:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “take back in your hand.” The imperfect verbal form probably has an injunctive or obligatory force here, since Jacob is instructing his sons.