19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went 1 to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 19:28 He looked out toward 2 Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. 3 As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. 4
1 tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “upon the face of.”
3 tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
4 tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”
sn It is hard to imagine what was going on in Abraham’s mind, but this brief section in the narrative enables the reader to think about the human response to the judgment. Abraham had family in that area. He had rescued those people from the invasion. That was why he interceded. Yet he surely knew how wicked they were. That was why he got the number down to ten when he negotiated with God to save the city. But now he must have wondered, “What was the point?”