Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Genesis 18:24 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 24. 24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Abraham supposes that fifty righteous people may be inside the city and asks whether the place will be spared for their sake. The plea expands from protecting righteous individuals to preserving the whole community.
Read It With
- Genesis 18:16–33
Read verses 23–26. The first question opposes sweeping righteous and wicked together; this verse proposes mercy for the place; verse 25 grounds the plea in the Judge's justice; verse 26 agrees.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The first number turns the distinction question into a plea to preserve the whole city for a righteous minority.
Read Genesis 18:23–26 together
Why these verses belong together: The first plea establishes distinction, citywide preservation, the Judge's justice, and the LORD's agreement.
Verse 23. 23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Verse 24. 24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
Verse 25. 25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Verse 26. 26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
The number fifty does not establish a universal mathematical threshold for every community or judgment.
What Remains True
A faithful concern for justice can seek both protection from wrongful harm and mercy that benefits a wider community.
How It Can Shape Life
- When advocating in a high-stakes case, name both the people who must not be wrongfully harmed and the wider good that a just remedy could preserve.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 18:16–33 — Abraham Pleads for Righteous JudgmentSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? very strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, unit movement, vocation, outcry, investigation, intercession, numbers, and canonical links.
Exact location: Genesis 18:16–33 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 13:10–13; 14:1–24; 19:1–29; 20:7; Exodus 32:7–14; Jeremiah 15:1
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Yada, purpose clauses, righteousness and justice, outcry, cohortative investigation sequence, standing, sweep away, spare, far-be-it, Judge, dust and ashes, conditional proposals, and closure.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 18:16–33
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Know/choose, syntax, outcry, investigation wording, spare, rhetorical force, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 18:16–33 and translator notes, especially verses 17, 19, 20–25, 27, and 32
Open NET Genesis 18 ↗