EXPOSITION. Ver. 16. -And the men rose up from equivalent to liis deed, the action is regaru.ell thence,-Mamro (vide supra, ver. I)-and by the Speaker ns being nlready ns good ns looked towards Sodom. Literally, towai·d finished (vide Ewald, 'Heb. Syut.,' § 13~; the face (Rosenmiiller), or towards the plnin Gesenius, § 126). ( Krill, of Sodom, os if intending to proceed Ver. 18. - Seeing that Abraham shall thither. And Abraham went with them- surely become (literally, becoming shall b,'- nc1·oss the mountains on the east of Hebron, come) a great and mighty nation (cf. eh. xii. os for as Caphar-barucha, according to tra- 2 ; xvii. 4-6), and all the nations of the tlition, whence o. view can be obtained of the earth shall be blessed in him 1 The import Dead Sen-solitudinem ac terrcis Sodomce of Jehovllh's self-interrogntion was that (vicle Keil, in loco)-to bring them on the since Abralrnm hau. alrclldy been pr~moted way. Litornlly, to send tliemaway, or accord to so distinguished 11 position, not only was them a friendly convoy over a portion of there no sufficient reason why the Divine their journey. purpose concerning Sodom should Lo con- Ver. 17.-And the Lord so.id (to himself), cealed from him, bnt, ou tho contrary, the Shall I hide from Abraham-the LXX. in- gracious footing of intimacy which su!Jsisted tel'polote, roii 1ra,oo~· µov; but, ns Philo ob- between himself anll his humble frieml serves, rojj <juXoii µov would have been a more almost necessitatetl some sort of friendly appropriate designation for tho patriarch (cf. communication on the subject, nnu nil the 2 Chron. xx:. 7; Isa. xii. 8; James ii. 23)- moro for tho reason next appemlecl. that thing which I do. I. e. propose to do, Vrr. 19.-For I know him, that-literally, the preseut being used for the future, where, for I have known (or chosen,.lJ1; being = 11B in the ultcrnnces or Goel, whoso will is dilexi, llS in Amos iii. '2) \,-, to the end that 24(1 Ttrn BOOR OF GENESIS. [cu. xvm. 16-22.
(i!.!~? conwying the idea of purpose; 'Vide Liternlly, and thefr iin, because it fa !wavy Ewald, § 3!'>7), the lan~uage expressing the i. o. abundant and heinous. idea that Ahrnhnm l1n<1 been the object of Ver. 21.-I will go down now (cf. oh. :xi. DiYinc foreknowledge and elcctioR (<ksenius, 6), and see (judicial investigation over pro- Roscnmiillcr, Delitzsch, Keil, Oehler, Ka- cedes judicia1 infliction at tho Divine tri- lisch, Lange), although the reading of tho bunal) whether they have done altogether-· text is substantially adopted by many (LXX., literally, whether they have made complete- Vnlgate, Targums, Luther, Calvin, Datho, et ness1 i. e. carried their iniq_uity to perfection, alii). The latter interpretation nssigns as the to tile highest pitch of wickedness (Calvin, reason of the Dfrinecommunication the know- Delitzsch, Keil); or consummated their ledge which Jehovah then possessed of Abra- wickedness, by carrying it to that pitch of ham's piety; the former grounds the Divine f~ness which .~orks death (Ainsworth, Ka- resolution on the prior fact that Divine grace lisch, Rosenmiiller). The received rendering, had clcrtecl him to the l1igh destiny described which regards ;,',::, e.s an adverb, has the in the language following. It is generally authority of Luther and Gesenius-accord- :1grcc,l that tl1is clause connects witli ver. 17; i.ng to the cry of it, which has oome unto· Bush rcgnrds it as exhibiting tl1e means by me ; and if not, I will know. The LXX. whic11 the future promised to Abraham in ver. reuder ,va -yvw, meaning, "should it not 18 should be realised-he will (rather, may) be so, I will still go down, that I may ascer• command his children and his household tain th~ exact truth ; " the Chaldee para- after him (by parental authority as well as phrases, " and if they repent, I will not hy personal example), and they shall keep exact punishment." The entire verse is (rather, that they may keep) the way of the anthropomorphic, aud designed to express Lord, - i. e. the religion of Jehovah (cf. the Divine solicitude that the strictest jus- .1 u,lgcs ii. 22 ; 2 Kings xri. 22 ; Ps. crix. 1 ; tice should characterise all his dealings both Acts xnii. 25), of which the practical out- with men and nations. . eome is-to do justice a.nd j udgment ;-or Ver. 22.-And the men turned their faces 1·igliteousuess and judgment, that which ac- from thence, and went toward Sodom (i. e. corils "ith right or the sense of oughtness in two of the three proceeded on their way intelligent and moral beings, and that \lhich towards the Jordan valley, while the third 1,armoniscs with tbe Dinne law (cf. Ezek was detained by.the patriarch, probably on the xnii. 5)-that (literally, to the end that, in heights overlooking the plain, for a sublime act of intercession which is thus briefly but order that, !~~?, ut supra) the Lord may suggestively described): bnt Abraham stood bring upon Abra.ham that which he hath yet before the Lord. According to the spoken of him. Masorites the text originally read, "And Ver. 20.-And the Lord se.id, Because the the Lord stood before Abraham," and was cry of Sodom a.nd Gomorrah is great, Lit- changed because it did not seem becoming emlly, the cry of Sodom and Gornorrah (cf. to speak of God standing in the presence of r·h. iv. 10), because i.t is (not, it is indeed, a creature. This, however, is a mere Rab- Baumgarten, Keil) multiplied; the place of binical conceit. As Abraham is not said to •'mphasis being conceded to the subject of have stood before the three men, the expres- <liscourse, Yiz., the cry of Sodom's wicked- sion points to spiiitual rather than to locnl ness. And because their sin is very great. contiguity.