Genesis 18:23

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

Genesis 18:23 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 18:23

And Abraham drew near
To the Lord; he approached nearer to him, to have more close and intimate conversation with him on the subject of the destruction of Sodom, which he perceived, by what had been said, was like to be; he drew nigh to God in prayer; so the Targum of Jonathan,

``and Abraham prayed and said;''

he drew nigh with faith and freedom, and an holy boldness and confidence, and yet with great reverence of the divine Majesty, and in all humility, under a deep sense of his own meanness and unworthiness: and said, wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
having in his mind righteous Lot, who dwelt in Sodom, whom he knew to be a just man, though he had departed from him, and was dwelling in such a wicked place; and he might charitably hope there were more in so large a city and in the parts adjacent, at least that were not so flagitious and abominably wicked as the greater part were, and who, in comparison of them, were sober and moral people.

Genesis 18:23 In-Context

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?

25 Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to kill [the] righteous with [the] wicked, that the righteous would be as the wicked! Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do justice?"