Difference between revisions of "Avraham's Prayer for Sedom/2/en"
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<p>Avraham was only praying for the sinners, being certain that Hashem would save the righteous even without his request.</p> | <p>Avraham was only praying for the sinners, being certain that Hashem would save the righteous even without his request.</p> | ||
<mekorot><multilink><a href="RSRHirschBereshit18-23-25" data-aht="source">R. S"R Hirsch</a><a href="RSRHirschBereshit18-23-25" data-aht="source">Bereshit 18:23-25</a><a href="R. Samson Raphael Hirsch" data-aht="parshan">About R. Samson Raphael Hirsch</a></multilink></mekorot> | <mekorot><multilink><a href="RSRHirschBereshit18-23-25" data-aht="source">R. S"R Hirsch</a><a href="RSRHirschBereshit18-23-25" data-aht="source">Bereshit 18:23-25</a><a href="R. Samson Raphael Hirsch" data-aht="parshan">About R. Samson Raphael Hirsch</a></multilink></mekorot> | ||
| − | <point><b>"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע"</b> – R. S"R Hirsch explains the word "תִּסְפֶּה" as to punish.  He says that by killing the sinners, the righteous are also getting punished because they | + | <point><b>"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע"</b> – <p>R. S"R Hirsch explains the word "תִּסְפֶּה" as to punish.  He says that by killing the sinners, the righteous are also getting punished because it is distressful for them to watch the people they worked hard to bring back to the right path get destroyed.</p></point> |
| − | <point><b>"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה וְלֹא תִשָּׂא לַמָּקוֹם לְמַעַן חֲמִשִּׁים הַצַּדִּיקִם"</b> – | + | <point><b>"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה וְלֹא תִשָּׂא לַמָּקוֹם לְמַעַן חֲמִשִּׁים הַצַּדִּיקִם"</b> – R. Hirsch distinguishes between the terms "לְמַעַן" and "בגלל", asserting that the former means "for the good of" rather than "because of".  Thus, Avraham was praying that all of the people in the city be saved for the benefit of the righteous, but not due to their righteousness.</point> |
<point><b>What does "לַמָּקוֹם" mean?</b> This approach holds that "לַמָּקוֹם" is a general term for all of the people of the city.</point> | <point><b>What does "לַמָּקוֹם" mean?</b> This approach holds that "לַמָּקוֹם" is a general term for all of the people of the city.</point> | ||
| − | <point><b>"חָלִלָה לְּךָ מֵעֲשֹׂת כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה לְהָמִית צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע"</b></point> | + | <point><b>"חָלִלָה לְּךָ מֵעֲשֹׂת כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה לְהָמִית צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע"</b> – This sentence is problematic for R. Hirsch, since</point> |
<point><b>Relationship between verses 23-25</b></point> | <point><b>Relationship between verses 23-25</b></point> | ||
<point><b>Collective Punishment</b> – According to R. S"R Hirsch it was obvious to Avraham that Hashem does not kill righteous people and there was no doubt that they will be saved.</point> | <point><b>Collective Punishment</b> – According to R. S"R Hirsch it was obvious to Avraham that Hashem does not kill righteous people and there was no doubt that they will be saved.</point> | ||
Version as of 10:31, 5 November 2014
Avraham's Prayer for Sedom
Exegetical Approaches
Even for Sinners
Avraham wanted all of the people in Sedom to be saved. Commentators disagree, though, regarding whom Avraham was actively praying for:
For Both Righteous and Wicked
Avraham was praying for everyone in Sedom to be saved, both the righteous and the wicked.
"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע" – ש
"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה וְלֹא תִשָּׂא לַמָּקוֹם לְמַעַן חֲמִשִּׁים הַצַּדִּיקִם"
What does "לַמָּקוֹם" mean?
Relationship between verses 23-25
Collective Punishment
Collective Salvation
What happened at the end?
Was Avraham's Prayer Accepted?
Was Lot Righteous?
Why does Hashem tell Avraham about Sedom?
Specifically for the Wicked
Avraham was only praying for the sinners, being certain that Hashem would save the righteous even without his request.
Sources:R. S"R Hirsch
"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע" –
R. S"R Hirsch explains the word "תִּסְפֶּה" as to punish. He says that by killing the sinners, the righteous are also getting punished because it is distressful for them to watch the people they worked hard to bring back to the right path get destroyed.
"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה וְלֹא תִשָּׂא לַמָּקוֹם לְמַעַן חֲמִשִּׁים הַצַּדִּיקִם" – R. Hirsch distinguishes between the terms "לְמַעַן" and "בגלל", asserting that the former means "for the good of" rather than "because of". Thus, Avraham was praying that all of the people in the city be saved for the benefit of the righteous, but not due to their righteousness.
What does "לַמָּקוֹם" mean? This approach holds that "לַמָּקוֹם" is a general term for all of the people of the city.
"חָלִלָה לְּךָ מֵעֲשֹׂת כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה לְהָמִית צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע" – This sentence is problematic for R. Hirsch, since
Relationship between verses 23-25
Collective Punishment – According to R. S"R Hirsch it was obvious to Avraham that Hashem does not kill righteous people and there was no doubt that they will be saved.
Collective Salvation
What happened at the end?
Was Avraham's Prayer Accepted?
Was Lot Righteous?
Why does Hashem tell Avraham about Sedom?
Only for the Righteous
Avraham was praying only for the righteous, that they should not die due to the rest of the people's sins.
"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע" – According to this approach Avraham is asking that the righteous should be saved and not die with the sinners.
"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה וְלֹא תִשָּׂא לַמָּקוֹם לְמַעַן חֲמִשִּׁים הַצַּדִּיקִם" –
These commentators differ in the understanding of this verse:
- Seforno explains
- Biur and R. Y"S Reggio say
What does "לַמָּקוֹם" mean? Seforno explains "לַמָּקוֹם" as all of the people in the whole city although the Biur and R. Y"S Reggio explain it to mean the people in the area where the righteous live.
Relationship between verses 23-25
Collective Punishment – R. Y"S Reggio
Collective Salvation
What happened at the end?
Was Avraham's Prayer Accepted?
Was Lot Righteous?
Why does Hashem tell Avraham about Sedom? Seforno explains that
For the Physical Location
Avraham was not praying for the people of Sedom, but rather asking that Hashem not destroy the land itself.
"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע" – Ma'asei Hashem explains that Avraham was requesting that Hashem not kill the righteous with the wicked. According to Ma'asei Hashem Avraham has two requests: that the righteous should be saved and that the land should be saved.
"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה וְלֹא תִשָּׂא לַמָּקוֹם לְמַעַן חֲמִשִּׁים הַצַּדִּיקִם" – This position says that Avraham was praying that Hashem should not destroy the city itself but they disagree why. Radak explains that the city should not be destroyed in merit of the righteous people. Ma'asei Hashem explains that the city should not be destroyed so that the righteous people to not lose their land1.
What does "לַמָּקוֹם" mean? This approach holds that "לַמָּקוֹם" means literally the land itself.
Relationship between verses 23-25 – The Ma'asei Hashem holds that in all of the verses Avraham is asking Hashem to do justice although there are two different requests. In verse 23 and 25 Avraham asks Hashem to save the righteous and then in verse 24 Avraham asks that the land should be saved. However, it is unclear why Avraham goes back and forth between his different requests.
Collective Punishment – This approach explains that there were no righteous in Sedom and that is why Hashem was destroying everyone. However, Avraham did not know that there weren't any righteous and he thought that Hashem was going to kill them also and that is why he prayed for them.
Collective Salvation – According to this approach both Hashem and Avraham wanted the sinners to get their punishment.
What happened at the end? This approach says that everyone in the city were killed because they were all sinners and since there weren't any righteous people the land was also destroyed. Lot was saved only because of Avraham.
Was Avraham's Prayer Accepted? According to this approach Avraham's prayer was not accepted at the end since there were not enough righteous people to save the land and there weren't any righteous in the city to be saved.
Was Lot Righteous? Radak and Ma'asei Hashem both hold that Lot was not righteous and was only saved because of Avraham.
Why does Hashem tell Avraham about Sedom? It is possible that this approach would hold like Rashbam and explain that the reason Hashem told Avraham about Sedom is because Hashem was going to destroy land which belonged to Avraham.
