Genesis 16:5

16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! ¹  I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, ²  but when she realized ³  that she was pregnant, she despised me. ⁴  May the Lord judge between you and me!” ⁵ 

Genesis 18:25

18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ⁶  of the whole earth do what is right?” ⁷ 

Genesis 19:9

19:9 “Out of our way!” ⁸  they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, ⁹  and now he dares to judge us! ¹⁰  We’ll do more harm ¹¹  to you than to them!” They kept ¹²  pressing in on Lot until they were close enough ¹³  to break down the door.

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¹ tn Heb “my wrong is because of you.”

² tn Heb “I placed my female servant in your bosom.”

³ tn Heb “saw.”

⁴ tn Heb “I was despised in her eyes.” The passive verb has been translated as active for stylistic reasons. Sarai was made to feel supplanted and worthless by Hagar the servant girl.

⁵ tn Heb “me and you.”

sn May the Lord judge between you and me. Sarai blamed Abram for Hagar’s attitude, not the pregnancy. Here she expects to be vindicated by the Lord who will prove Abram responsible. A colloquial rendering might be, “God will get you for this.” It may mean that she thought Abram had encouraged the servant girl in her elevated status.

⁶ tn Or “ruler.”

⁷ sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.

⁸ tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”

⁹ tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”

¹¹ tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.

¹² tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”

¹³ tn Heb “and they drew near.”