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Three men come to visit Abraham, and it is good that Abraham is as hospitable as you please, since they are not regular guys. One is the Lord and the other two are apparently angelic figures, all cast in the form and figure of men. Abraham may have understood this right away.
As the visitors are getting ready to leave, the Lord confides to Abraham, “I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are extremely evil, and that everything they do is wicked. I am going down to see whether or not these reports are true. Then I will know.”
Then Abraham makes so bold as to engage the Lord in moral philosophy and justice, “Will you destroy both innocent and guilty alike? Suppose you find fifty innocent people there within the city - will you destroy it, and not spare it for their sakes? Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the innocent with the guilty. Why, you would be treating the innocent and the guilty exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
The Lord says that he would spare the city if he finds fifty innocent people, and Abraham proceeds while the iron is hot, “Since I have begun, let me go on and speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes. Suppose there are only forty-five? Will you destroy the city for lack of five?”
The Lord says that he would not, and this cycle goes on until Abraham reaches ten innocent people, for which number the Lord will still spare the city. Robert Alter makes the interesting note, “Abraham realizes he dare not go any lower than ten, the minimal administrative unit for communal organization in later Israelite life.”
For myself, in thinking about why the Lord should need to make a personal survey of a city, I am inclined to think that this is just an exercise for Abraham, to get him to develop his moral acumen, thus exposing Abraham to some of His doings and enticing him to engage Him in questions of morality and justice, for here is the first of the Chosen People, both Jews and, later, Christians, and the Lord might want to sharpen Abraham’s sense of righteousness, to get things going with a good start.
As the visitors are getting ready to leave, the Lord confides to Abraham, “I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are extremely evil, and that everything they do is wicked. I am going down to see whether or not these reports are true. Then I will know.”
Then Abraham makes so bold as to engage the Lord in moral philosophy and justice, “Will you destroy both innocent and guilty alike? Suppose you find fifty innocent people there within the city - will you destroy it, and not spare it for their sakes? Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the innocent with the guilty. Why, you would be treating the innocent and the guilty exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
The Lord says that he would spare the city if he finds fifty innocent people, and Abraham proceeds while the iron is hot, “Since I have begun, let me go on and speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes. Suppose there are only forty-five? Will you destroy the city for lack of five?”
The Lord says that he would not, and this cycle goes on until Abraham reaches ten innocent people, for which number the Lord will still spare the city. Robert Alter makes the interesting note, “Abraham realizes he dare not go any lower than ten, the minimal administrative unit for communal organization in later Israelite life.”
For myself, in thinking about why the Lord should need to make a personal survey of a city, I am inclined to think that this is just an exercise for Abraham, to get him to develop his moral acumen, thus exposing Abraham to some of His doings and enticing him to engage Him in questions of morality and justice, for here is the first of the Chosen People, both Jews and, later, Christians, and the Lord might want to sharpen Abraham’s sense of righteousness, to get things going with a good start.
