Genesis 18:22

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

22 And the men turned from there and went toward Sodom. And Abraham [was] still standing before Yahweh.

Genesis 18:22 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 18:22

And the men turned their faces from thence
From the place to which Abraham brought them on; these were only two of them, for the third continued with Abraham: and went towards Sodom;
and are the two angels said to come thither at evening, ( Genesis 19:1 ) : but Abraham stood yet before the Lord;
before the third person, whom Abraham now began to know more clearly; he stood before him with all reverence and humility, to hear what he had further to say to him, as well as to say something to him himself; he stood "yet", he continued to stand after the departure of the two angels that were gone to Sodom. Onkelos and Jonathan paraphrase it,

``he ministered in prayer before the Lord.''

Genesis 18:22 In-Context

20 Then Yahweh said, "Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah [is] great and because their sin [is] very {serious},

21 I will go down and I will see. Have they done altogether according to its cry of distress [which] has come to me? If not, I will know."

22 And the men turned from there and went toward Sodom. And Abraham [was] still standing before Yahweh.

23 And Abraham drew near [to Yahweh] and said, "Will you also sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

24 If perhaps there are fifty righteous in the midst of the city, will you also sweep [them] away and not forgive the place on account of the fifty righteous in her midst?