Genesis 18:30

30 And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty.

Genesis 18:30 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 18:30

And he said unto him, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I
will speak
He feared, through his importunity, he should be wearisome to him and incur his displeasure; this being often the case among men, especially when inferiors are soliciting their superiors, and, not content with one favour, are pressing for more:

Peradventure there shall thirty be found there;
the abatement is larger than before; he only made an abatement of five at a time, now ten at once, and so he proceeds;

and he said, I will not do [it], if I find thirty there;
not destroy the place for their sake.

Genesis 18:30 In-Context

28 If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will you give up all the town to destruction because of these five? And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are forty-five.

29 And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty.

30 And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty.

31 And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty.

32 And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I will have mercy because of the ten.