On what grounds does Abraham ask that Sodom be spared?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Abraham asks whether the just should be destroyed with the wicked and appeals to the justice of the judge of all the earth. The Lord agrees to spare the city if the stated number of just people is found, as Abraham’s requests move from fifty down to ten.

Chapter breakdown

The Lord appeared to Abraham in the valley of Mambre while he was sitting at his tent’s entrance in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He ran from the tent to meet them and bowed to the ground. He asked the Lord, if he had found favour, not to pass his servant by. He offered water to wash their feet, rest under the tree, and bread to strengthen them before they continued. They agreed to his offer.

Abraham hurried into the tent and told Sara to mix three measures of flour and make cakes on the hearth. He ran to the herd, chose a very tender, good calf, and gave it to a young man, who hurried to boil it. Abraham served butter, milk, and the cooked calf, standing beside the visitors under the tree. After eating, they asked where his wife Sara was. He said she was in the tent.

The promise was made that the speaker would return at this appointed time, “life accompanying,” and Sara would have a son. Sara heard and laughed behind the tent’s door. Both she and Abraham were old, and Sara’s monthly periods had ceased. She laughed privately, asking whether she could have pleasure when she and her husband were old.

The Lord asked Abraham why Sara laughed and questioned whether she, an old woman, would bear a child. He asked whether anything was hard for God and repeated that he would return at the appointed time, “life accompanying,” and Sara would have a son. Sara denied laughing because she was afraid. The Lord answered that she had laughed. The men rose and looked towards Sodom, and Abraham walked with them to see them on their way.

The Lord asked whether he could hide from Abraham what he was about to do. Abraham would become a great and mighty nation, and all nations of the earth would be blessed in him. The Lord said he knew Abraham would command his children and household to keep the Lord’s way and do judgment and justice, so that the promises to Abraham might be fulfilled. The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrha had grown, and their sin was very grave. The Lord said he would go down and see whether they had acted according to the outcry that had reached him.

Challoner explains that the Lord’s words about going down use a human way of speaking and acting. God knows all things and does not need to travel anywhere to get information. The note also identifies the visitors as angels: two went on to Sodom immediately, while the third, representing the Lord, remained with Abraham.

The men went towards Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. He drew near and asked whether the Lord would destroy the just with the wicked. If fifty just people were in the city, would they perish too, or would the place be spared for their sake? He said that treating the just and wicked alike would not be fitting for the judge of all the earth. The Lord answered that if he found fifty just people within Sodom, he would spare the whole place for their sake.

Abraham said that he would speak to the Lord though he was dust and ashes. What if the fifty were short by five? The Lord said he would not destroy the city if he found forty-five. Abraham then asked about forty, and the Lord said he would not destroy it for their sake.

Asking the Lord not to be angry at his speaking, Abraham asked about thirty. The Lord said he would not destroy the city if he found thirty there. Abraham asked about twenty, and the Lord again agreed not to destroy it for their sake. Asking to speak once more without the Lord’s anger, Abraham finally asked about ten. The Lord said he would not destroy it for the sake of ten. The Lord departed after finishing the exchange, and Abraham returned to his place.

The story inside

Abraham’s requests keep the same central concern while changing the number. He begins by asking whether just people will be destroyed along with wicked people, and whether the city can be spared for the just people within it. He appeals to the Lord as judge of all the earth rather than claiming that the city’s wrongdoing is harmless. The Lord’s first answer makes the condition clear: if fifty just people are found, the whole place will be spared. Abraham then asks about forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty and ten. He calls himself dust and ashes and repeatedly asks that the Lord not be angry at his speaking. Each answer preserves the condition that the stated number be found. The chapter ends with the Lord’s departure and Abraham’s return, not with a count of Sodom’s people. It records a conditional promise; it does not establish that ten just people are present.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Hospitality is shown through particular actions. Abraham runs to welcome the visitors, offers water and rest, directs Sara to prepare three measures of flour, supplies a calf, and serves butter and milk. The visitors eat while he stands beside them. These actions give the opening its depth without an invented custom or added scene.
2
The promise about Sara includes an exchange with her. She hears, laughs, denies laughing because she is afraid, and is corrected by the Lord. The account notes both spouses’ old age and the end of her monthly periods. The Lord’s question about whether anything is hard for God answers the difficulty raised by her words.
3
The city’s sparing remains conditional throughout the exchange. Abraham’s concern is the treatment of just people among the wicked, and the Lord agrees to spare the place for each stated number, down to ten. Retaining all six numbers and the condition avoids turning the conversation into a claim that Sodom has already been spared.

Test your recall

How does Abraham’s concern about the just and wicked shape his requests, and what condition remains in each of the Lord’s answers?

Show answer

Abraham asks whether the just will be destroyed with the wicked, then asks God to spare the whole city for the just people within it. His requests move from fifty to forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and finally ten. Each answer keeps a condition: God will spare the place if that number of just people is found there. The conversation does not say that they have already been found.

Quotes from Scripture

Exact Scripture quotations from the Douay–Rheims Bible, revised by Bishop Richard Challoner (1749–1752), the same edition used for these chapters. Source: Project Gutenberg no. 1581.

Is there any thing hard to God? According to appointment I will return to thee at this same time, life accompanying, and Sara shall have a son.

Genesis 18:14 · Douay–Rheims / Challonerpg1581.txt · lines 1868–1870

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 1819–1839
Genesis Chapter 18 Angels are entertained by Abraham. They foretell the birth of Isaac. Abraham’s prayer for the men of Sodom. 18:1. And the Lord appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day. 18:2. And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near to him: and as soon as he saw them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground. 18:3. And he said: Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away from thy servant. 18:4. But I will fetch a little water, and wash ye your feet, and rest ye under the tree. 18:5. And I will set a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart, afterwards you shall pass on: for therefore are you come aside to your servant. And they said: Do as thou hast spoken.
Lines 1841–1853
18:6. Abraham made haste into the tent to Sara, and said to her: Make haste, temper together three measures of flour, and make cakes upon the hearth. 18:7. And he himself ran to the herd, and took from thence a calf, very tender and very good, and gave it to a young man, who made haste and boiled it. 18:8. He took also butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled, and set before them: but he stood by them under the tree. 18:9. And when they had eaten, they said to him: Where is Sara thy wife? He answered: Lo she is in the tent.
Lines 1855–1863
18:10. And he said to him: I will return and come to thee at this time, life accompanying, and Sara, thy wife, shall have a son. Which when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent. 18:11. Now they were both old, and far advanced in years, and it had ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women. 18:12. And she laughed secretly, saying: After I am grown old, and my lord is an old man, shall I give myself to pleasure?
Lines 1865–1876
18:13. And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sara laugh, saying: Shall I, who am an old woman, bear a child indeed? 18:14. Is there any thing hard to God? According to appointment I will return to thee at this same time, life accompanying, and Sara shall have a son. 18:15. Sara denied, saying: I did not laugh: for she was afraid. But the Lord said: Nay; but thou didst laugh. 18:16. And when the men rose up from thence, they turned their eyes towards Sodom: and Abraham walked with them, bringing them on the way.
Lines 1878–1893
18:17. And the Lord said: Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do: 18:18. Seeing he shall become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed? 18:19. For I know that he will command his children, and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, and do judgment and justice: that for Abraham’s sake, the Lord may bring to effect all the things he hath spoken unto him. 18:20. And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous. 18:21. I will go down and see whether they have done according to the cry that is come to me; or whether it be not so, that I may know.
Lines 1895–1899
I will go down, etc.... The Lord here accommodates his discourse to the way of speaking and acting amongst men; for he knoweth all things, and needeth not to go anywhere for information. Note here, that two of the three angels went away immediately for Sodom; whilst the third, who represented the Lord, remained with Abraham.
Lines 1901–1917
18:22. And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way to Sodom: but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord. 18:23. And drawing nigh, he said: Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked? 18:24. If there be fifty just men in the city, shall they perish withal? and wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty just, if they be therein? 18:25. Far be it from thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked; this is not beseeming thee: thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this judgment. 18:26. And the Lord said to him: If I find in Sodom fifty just within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.
Lines 1919–1927
18:27. And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes. 18:28. What if there be five less than fifty just persons? wilt thou for five and forty destroy the whole city: And he said: I will not destroy it, if I find five and forty. 18:29. And again he said to him: But if forty be found there, what wilt thou do? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of forty.
Lines 1929–1944
18:30. Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak: What if thirty shall be found there? He answered: I will not do it, if I find thirty there. 18:31. Seeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord: What if twenty be found there? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty. 18:32. I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more: What if ten shall be found there? And he said: I will not destroy it for the sake of ten. 18:33. And the Lord departed, after he had left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.