Genesis 18:32

32 He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. What if ten are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake."

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, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?" He said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."

31 He said, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake."

32 He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. What if ten are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake."

33 The LORD went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Avraham, and Avraham returned to his place.