Avraham's Prayer for Sedom/2/en

Avraham's Prayer for Sedom

Exegetical Approaches

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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.

Sources:Qumran,Scroll 4Q252 Fragments 1,3-5 Column 3About the Qumran Scrolls R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 18:24,28About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RambanBereshit 18:23About R. Moshe Nachmanides

"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 HirschBereshit 18:23-25About R. Samson Raphael 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 as a reward for the righteous, but not due to their righteousness.

Meaning of  "לַמָּקוֹם" – 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 its simple meaning is that Avraham is bothered by the possibility that the righteous will actually be killed (and not just distressed by the deaths of others).

Relationship between verses 23-25 – The three verses all constitute one request and refer only to the saving of the wicked.

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 – According to R. Hirsch, Hashem agrees to save the wicked if there are a portion of righteous in the city, not as part of the collective, but because the very presence of righteous people proves that the wicked tolerate them and thus were not totally corrupt.¹

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.

Sources:SefornoBereshit 18:17Bereshit 18:24,26About R. Ovadyah Seforno, BiurBereshit 18:23,24,26About the Biur, R. Y"S ReggioBereshit 18:18Bereshit 18:23,24,26About R. Yitzchak Shemuel Reggio

"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע" – 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" to refer to all of the people in the city whereas 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 praying for both the righteous of Sedom, and that Hashem not destroy the land itself.

Sources:R. Yehuda HaChasidBereshit 18:23About Moshav Zekeinim, RadakBereshit 18:24About R. David Kimchi, Ma'asei HashemMa'asei Avot 17About R. Eliezer Ashkenazi

"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע" – This approach explains that in this verse, 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" – These commentators agree that in these words Avraham was praying that Hashem should not destroy the city itself but differ regarding the reason.   Radak asserts that Avraham was requesting that the city be saved due to the merit of the righteous people while Ma'asei Hashem maintains that Avraham did not think it just that the righteous should lose their land.²

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 RashbamBereshit 18:17About R. Shemuel b. Meir and explain that the reason Hashem told Avraham about Sedom is because Hashem was going to destroy land which belonged to Avraham.

¹ He explains that the word, "בַּעֲבוּרָם"

² Ma'asei Hashem adds that Avraham might be further motivated to save the land because it was promised to him with the rest of Israel.