Genesis 18:23

Genesis 18:23

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

a. NLT: Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked?

b. NIV: Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

c. YLT: And Abraham draweth nigh and saith, 'Dost Thou also consume righteous with wicked?

d. Amplified Bible: And Abraham came close and said, Will You destroy the righteous (those upright and in right standing with God) together with the wicked?

e. Septuagint: And Abraam drew nigh and said, Wouldest thou destroy the righteous with the wicked, and shall the righteous be as the wicked?

f. Stone Edition Chumash: Abraham came forward and said, “Will You also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked?”

1. “And Abraham drew near, and said…”

a. Abraham [85 * ‘Abraham] [Strong: contracted from 1 and an unused root (probably meaning to be populous); father of a multitude; Abraham, the later name of Abram:--Abraham.]

b. drew near [5066 * nagash] [Strong: a primitive root; to be or come (causatively, bring) near (for any purpose); euphemistically, to lie with a woman; as an enemy, to attack; relig. to worship; causatively, to present; figuratively, to adduce an argument; by reversal, to stand back:--(make to) approach (nigh), bring (forth, hither, near), (cause to) come (hither, near, nigh), give place, go hard (up), (be, draw, go) near (nigh), offer, overtake, present, put, stand.]

c. and said [559 * ‘amar] [Strong: a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech), utter, X verily, X yet.]

2. “…Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?”

a. destroy [5595 * caphah] [Strong: a primitive root; properly, to scrape (literally, to shave; but usually figuratively) together (i.e. to accumulate or increase) or away (i.e. to scatter, remove, or ruin; intransitively, to perish):--add, augment, consume, destroy, heap, join, perish, put.

b. the righteous [6662 * tsaddiyq] [Strong: from 6663; just:--just, lawful, righteous (man).]

c. with [5973 * ‘im] [Strong: from 6004; adverb or preposition, with (i.e. in conjunction with), in varied applications; specifically, equally with; often with prepositional prefix (and then usually unrepresented in English):--accompanying, against, and, as (X long as), before, beside, by (reason of), for all, from (among, between), in, like, more than, of, (un-)to, with(-al).]

d. the wicked [7563 * rasha’] [Strong: from 7561; morally wrong; concretely, an (actively) bad person:--+ condemned, guilty, ungodly, wicked (man), that did wrong.]

1). God’s attitude toward the righteous and the wicked are spelled out in Ezekiel.

a). Ezekiel 18:21-23 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

18:22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.

18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

b). Ezekiel 18:31, 32 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.