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 ¹  of the whole earth do what is right?” ² 

Genesis 18:28

18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ³  the whole city because five are lacking?” ⁴  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

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¹ tn Or “ruler.”

² 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.

³ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

⁴ tn Heb “because of five.”