Genesis 18:32

32 Abraham said, "Don't be angry with me, my Lord, but let me speak just once more. What if there are ten?" And the LORD said, "I will not destroy it because of those ten."

Genesis 18:32 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 18:32

And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak
yet but this once
This should be the last request he should make on this account, and therefore he desired he might be heard without any marks of his displeasure;

Peradventure ten shall be found there:
how would the place be dealt with then? would it be consumed or not?

and he said, I will not destroy [it] for ten's sake;
though no more righteous persons were found in it. Some of the Jewish writers say ^F7, he ended at ten, because he supposed there were ten righteous persons in Lot's family, Lot and his wife, and their four daughters, and their four husbands; but they forgot that two of Lot's daughters were unmarried, and how many he had married is not known; ten they say make a congregation, and wherever there are ten righteous persons, a place is saved for their sakes.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Bereshit Rabba, sect. 49. fol. 44. 3.

Genesis 18:32 In-Context

30 He said, "Don't be angry with me, my Lord, but let me speak. What if thirty are there?" The LORD said, "I won't do it if I find thirty there."

31 Abraham said, "Since I've already decided to speak with my Lord, what if twenty are there?" The LORD said, "I won't do it, for the sake of twenty."

32 Abraham said, "Don't be angry with me, my Lord, but let me speak just once more. What if there are ten?" And the LORD said, "I will not destroy it because of those ten."

33 When the LORD finished speaking with Abraham, he left; but Abraham stayed there in that place.