Genesis 18:30

30 Abraham said, Lord, I beseech, take thou (it) not into indignation, if I speak (again); what if thirty be found there? The Lord answered, I shall not do (it), if I shall find thirty there.

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 what if less than fifty just men by five be, shalt thou do away all the city for five and forty? And the Lord said, I shall not do away, if I shall find five and forty there. (what if there be five less than fifty righteous people there, shalt thou do away all the city for forty-five? And the Lord said, I shall not do them all away, if I shall find forty-five righteous people there.)

29 And again Abraham said to him, But if forty be there, what shalt thou do? The Lord said, I shall not smite for forty (I shall not strike them all down, for the sake of forty righteous people).

30 Abraham said, Lord, I beseech, take thou (it) not into indignation, if I speak (again); what if thirty be found there? The Lord answered, I shall not do (it), if I shall find thirty there.

31 Abraham said, For I began once, I shall speak to my Lord; what if twenty be found there? The Lord said, I shall not slay for twenty. (Abraham said, For once I began, I shall speak again to my Lord; what if twenty be found there? The Lord said, I shall not slay them all, for the sake of twenty.)

32 Abraham said, Lord, I beseech, be thou not wroth, if I speak yet once (more); what if ten be found there? The Lord said, I shall not do away for ten. (And Abraham said, Lord, I beseech thee, be thou not angry, if I speak yet once more; what if ten be found there? And the Lord said, I shall not do them all away, if I shall find ten righteous people there.)