Kejadian 18:21

18:21 that I must go down ¹  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ²  If not, ³  I want to know.”

Kejadian 24:5

24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me ⁴  to this land? Must I then ⁵  take your son back to the land from which you came?”

[18:21]  ¹ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  sn I must go down. The descent to “see” Sodom is a bold anthropomorphism, stressing the careful judgment of God. The language is reminiscent of the Lord going down to see the Tower of Babel in Gen 11:1-9.

[18:21]  ² tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

[18:21]  ³ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[24:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “to go after me.”

[24:5]  ⁵ tn In the Hebrew text the construction is emphatic; the infinitive absolute precedes the imperfect. However, it is difficult to reflect this emphasis in an English translation.