Genesis 18:32

32 I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more: What if ten shall be found there? And he said: I will not destroy it for the sake of 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 Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak: What if thirty shall be found there? He answered: I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

31 Seeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord: What if twenty be found there? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.

32 I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more: What if ten shall be found there? And he said: I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.

33 And the Lord departed, after he had left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.