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:Bereshit Rabbah(Albeck) 49, verse 23(Albeck) 49, verse 25About Bereshit Rabbah, TanchumaVayera 8About the Tanchuma, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 18:24,28About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RambanBereshit 18:23About R. Moshe Nachmanides, Akeidat Yitzchak19About R. Yitzchak Arama, AbarbanelBereshit 18:23About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, ShadalBereshit 18:26About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto, MalbimBereshit 18:23-24About R. Meir Leibush Weiser, R. D"Z HoffmannBereshit 18:23-26About R. David Zvi Hoffmann

"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע" – All these sources agree that Avraham is questioning Hashem's collective punishment of the righteous, but differ in their understanding of the term "הַאַף":

• Also – According to R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, Avraham is asking Hashem, "[If the sinners are really the cause of the cry] will the righteous also perish with them?"¹
• In anger – the various opinions in Bereshit Rabbah and Ramban maintain instead that the word "הַאַף‎"² relates to anger and that Avraham is asking that Hashem not allow His anger to cause the worthy to perish with the unworthy.³

"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה וְלֹא תִשָּׂא לַמָּקוֹם לְמַעַן חֲמִשִּׁים הַצַּדִּיקִם" – These words constitute a further request, that Hashem act not only via justice, but also with mercy, to save even the wicked because of the merits of the righteous.

Meaning of "לַמָּקוֹם" – The word is a form of metonymy, referring to all the people of the city rather than the locale itself.

Relationship between verses 23-25 – The various verses contain two distinct requests

Collective punishment

Collective salvation

Why does Avraham stop at 10?

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 18:23-25Bereshit 18:28-33Bereshit 19:29About R. Samson Raphael Hirsch

"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע" – R. S"R Hirsch does not address the meaning of the word "הַאַף" but seems to be reading the phrase as if written "הַתִּסְפֶּה אַף צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע".  He explains the word "תִּסְפֶּה" as to punish and suggests that Avraham is pointing out that by killing the sinners, the righteous are also, unjustly getting punished. After working hard to reform the wicked,⁴ it is distressful for them to see the people nonetheless perish.

"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/sake 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,⁵ but not due to their righteousness.⁶

Meaning of "לַמָּקוֹם" – This approach maintains 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 it implies that Avraham is bothered by the possibility that the righteous will actually be killed (and not just distressed by the deaths of others).⁷

Relationship between verses 23-25 – The three verses all constitute one request and refer only to the injustice that would be done to the righteous through the destruction of the wicked..

Collective punishment – According to R. S"R Hirsch, Avraham is not arguing about the injustice of collective punishment; it was obvious to him all along that Hashem would not kill the righteous.

Collective salvation – According to R. Hirsch there is no collective salvation either.  Hashem agrees to save the wicked if there are a portion of righteous in the city, not because they are part of the collective,⁸ but because the very presence of righteous people proves that the wicked tolerated them and thus were not totally corrupt.⁹

Why does Avraham stop at 10? R. Hirsch asserts that Avraham understood why Hashem was willing to save the wicked,¹⁰ and realized that if there were less than ten righteous, the fact that they were tolerated is no longer such a merit for the wicked, since it is likely that they simply dismissed them as insignificant.¹¹

What happened at the end? Though Hashem accepts Avraham's prayer, apparently there were not enough righteous people to be found to enable a saving of the wicked.

Was Avraham's prayer accepted?

Why was Lot saved? R. Hirsch writes that Lot was "only with difficulty worthy of salvation".  It was Hashem's attribute of mercy rather than justice which saved him.

Why does Hashem tell Avraham about Sedom?

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 18:24Bereshit 18:32About R. David Kimchi, Ma'asei HashemMa'asei Avot 17About R. Eliezer Ashkenazi

"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע" – Radak understands "הַאַף" to mean "הגם" and that Avraham is questioning if killing the righteous with the wicked is also part of the sentence of the wicked.¹²

"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה וְלֹא תִשָּׂא לַמָּקוֹם לְמַעַן חֲמִשִּׁים הַצַּדִּיקִם" – According to all these sources, these words represent a second request, that Hashem should not destroy the city itself,¹³ but the commentators differ in their understanding of Avraham's reasoning. 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.¹⁴

Meaning of "לַמָּקוֹם" – This approach holds that "לַמָּקוֹם" means literally the land itself.

Relationship between verses 23-25 – According to these commentators the verses contain two different requests, that the righteous be saved (verses 23 and 25) and that the land not be destroyed (verse 24).  According to Ma'asei Hashem the common denominator is the demand that justice be done to the worthy people of the city.  However, it is unclear why Avraham goes back and forth between his different requests.

Collective punishment – This approach might maintain that Hashem had never planned to collectively punish Sedom; there were simply no righteous people to save.  Avraham, however, was unaware of this reality and mistakenly thought that Hashem was going to unjustly destroy them and their land.¹⁵

Collective salvation – According to this approach there is no discussion of collective salvation by either Avraham or Hashem; both believe that the sinners to be punished and that it would be unjust for them to be saved.¹⁶

Why does Avraham stop at ten? R. Yehudah HaChasid and Radak assert if there are less than 10 righteous people, there is no longer any justification to save the land.¹⁷  Regarding the salvation of the righteous, though, one would think that it should not matter how many or few there were; each should be saved for his own deeds regardless of the presence of others.  Ma'asei Hashem, in fact, asserts that Avraham had planned on asking Hashem to save even one, but Hashem ended the conversation before he could.

What happened at the end? The land and people were destroyed since there were no righteous people.

Punishing the land?

Why was Lot saved? Radak and Ma'asei Hashem both maintain that Lot was not righteous and was saved not due to his goodness, but out of kindness to Avraham.¹⁸

Why does Hashem tell Avraham about Sedom? These commentators could explain like RashbamBereshit 18:17About R. Shemuel b. Meir that Hashem told Avraham about Sedom because Hashem was going to destroy land which belonged to Avraham.¹⁹

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:QumranScroll 4Q252 Fragments 1,3-5 Column 3About the Qumran Scrolls,²⁰ 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" – All these sources assume that Avraham is questioning the justice of killing the righteous together with the sinners,²¹ but disagree regarding the meaning of the word "הַאַף".

• Also – R. Y"S Reggio understands it to mean "הגם"‎ and that Avraham is saying, "Will you also kill the righteous?"
• In anger – The Biur, instead, relates the word to anger,²² and has Avraham question why Hashem needs to act with His attribute of justice, which inevitably leads to collective rather than individual punishment.²³

"הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה וְלֹא תִשָּׂא לַמָּקוֹם לְמַעַן חֲמִשִּׁים הַצַּדִּיקִם" – These commentators all agree that these words are a continuation of Avraham's original argument, but differ in their specific understanding of the verse:

• In contrast to most commentators, Seforno reads these words of Avraham as a statement and not a question.²⁴  Avraham is telling Hashem, "Even though You do not plan to save the wicked due to the righteous, it is still unfathomable that You should kill the righteous with the wicked..."²⁵

• Biur and R. Y"S Reggio instead assert that Avraham realized that Hashem meant to destroy Sedom via a messenger²⁶ who would not be able to differentiate between good and evil.²⁷  He, thus, requests that Hashem save the entire immediate vicinity of the righteous so that they not perish with the wicked.²⁸

Meaning of "לַמָּקוֹם" – 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 specific area inhabited by the righteous.

Relationship between verses 23-25 – According to this approach all three verses form one argument, that justice demands that the righteous not be killed with the sinners. 

• According to Seforno, verse 23 is Avraham's opening question and then verses 24-25 together act as a reinforcing statement in which Avraham points out that although he does not expect the sinners to be saved, nonetheless the righteous should not die.
• The Biur and R. Y"S Reggio instead read verse 24 as a suggestion of how to implement the justice requested in verse 23.²⁹ In verse 25, Avraham concludes that if his suggestion is not taken, injustice will be done.³⁰

Collective punishment – According to the Biur and R. Y"S Reggio,³¹ Avraham erroneously thought that Hashem meant to collectively punish the city.  In reality, Hashem knew all along that there were no righteous to save, and thus had no qualms about sending a messenger who would destroy indiscriminately.

Collective salvation – These sources divide in their understanding of the role of collective salvation in the story:

• According to most of these commentators, even though Avraham only spoke about saving the righteous, Hashem responded that He would be even willing to save the wicked if there were sufficient righteous people³² to merit it.³³ Thus, Hashem was not only willing to avert collective punishment but also to collectively save.³⁴
• According to the fragment from Qumran, in contrast, neither Avraham nor Hashem looked to save the sinners, as they did not deserve it.  A discomfort with the concept of collective salvation is probably motivating their entire read of the story.³⁵

Why does Avraham stop at 10?

What happened at the end? Seforno asserts that the messengers go to verify if there are any righteous, and conclude that there are not, leading to the city's destruction..

Why was Lot saved? According to the Biur, Lot was not a sinner, but his choice to leave Avraham and join the corrupt of Sedom made him deserving of some level of punishment.  Due to Avraham's merits, though, Hashem decided to save him totally.

Why does Hashem tell Avraham about Sedom?

• "לַעֲשׂוֹת צְדָקָה וּמִשְׁפָּט" – Seforno explains that Hashem wanted to teach Avraham about his attributes of both mercy and justice.  Wherever there is a quorum of righteous who might be able to lead the wicked to repent, Hashem is willing to grant them a stay.  If not, though, justice will be done.³⁶
• "הָיוֹ יִהְיֶה לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל" –  The Biur and R. Y"S Reggio assert that since Avraham was to become a well known nation, Hashem did not want future generations to complain that Avraham had not attempted to avert the disaster.  Hashem, thus, gave him an opening to pray on Sedom's behalf.³⁷

¹ He assumes that Avraham understood from Hashem's words "הַכְּצַעֲקָתָהּ הַבָּאָה אֵלַי עָשׂוּ כָּלָה" that Hashem intended to collectively destroy the entire city.

² See Onkelos who translates it in this manner.

³ The phrase reads: "will your anger destroy the righteous with the wicked?"

⁴ According to R. Hirsch, Avraham assumed that any righteous person  who lived in Sedom must have invested much effort in correcting his neighbors' behavior and tried to turn them towards the right path.

⁵ See above that the righteous would be pained to watch the destruction of their  neighbors whom they had tried so valiantly (though unsuccessfully) to reform.

⁶ R. Hirsch might be hesitant to suggest that the wicked should simply be saved collectively with the righteous, since they do not really deserve pardon.  Thus, he instead has Avraham justify their salvation by pointing out how their destruction would be an unjust punishment for others.

⁷ R. Hirsch attempts to explain that their distress at each lost life would be so great that it was almost like being killed, "והיה סובל יסורי – מות באבדן כל נפש".  This, though, is not the simple reading of the verse.

⁸ See above note, that Avraham, too, was not expecting the wicked to be saved only because of the merit of the righteous, but in order to prevent unjust suffering on the part of the righteous.

⁹ He explains that in his answer to Avraham, Hashem uses the word "בַּעֲבוּרָם" rather than Avraham's "למען" to show that He is saving the wicked not for the good of the righteous, but because of their very existence.

¹⁰ See bullet above.

¹¹ He points out that the opposite is true as well.  If there were many righteous in the city, it is likely that the attitude of the wicked towards them was motivated by fear, not some small modicum of conscience.

¹² Radak also brings the opinion of Onkelos and Ramban above, that "הַאַף" relates to anger and Avraham is questioning if Hashem's anger is leading him to kill also the righteous.

¹³ Ma'asei Hashem rejects the possibility that the verse refers to all of the people of the city, wicked included, since it is unfathomable that Avraham should ask that sinners who had not repented should go unpunished.  In addition, he asserts that Avraham is explicitly asking that justice be done and saving the sinners is not an act of justice, but rather of mercy.

¹⁴ He adds that Avraham might be further motivated to save the land because it belonged to him as part of Hashem's promise.

¹⁵ Radak implies that collective punishment is affected by the level of righteousness of a person.  If worthy, he will be saved despite the surrounding destruction, but if he is less worthy he might perish together with them.  In this case, it is unclear if all were active sinners or simply not righteous enough.

¹⁶ This issue is one of the motivating factors leading Ma'asei Hashem to understand that the discussion in verse 24 is about the land rather than the wicked of the city.

¹⁷ Radak notes that in Yechezkel 22, Hashem seems willing to save the land for even just one good person.  He suggests that there the person spoken of is a totally righteous person who was willing to reform those around him.  If no such people were to be found, though, there is not enough merit to save a city.  As further proof that sometimes the land will be destroyed despite the presence of even very righteous people, Radak points to Yechezkel 14:16 where Hashem says that though Noach, Daniel and Iyyov might be saved, "the land will lay barren".

¹⁸ According to Radak, Avraham had not prayed for him at all, not knowing if he deserved it. Ma'asei hashem, though, maintains that Avraham had intended to pray for him individually but was not given a chance.  Hashem, who knew this desire of Avraham, granted it.

¹⁹ Radak, though, says that Hashem had multiple reasons for sharing with Avraham.  As most of the world was to descend form Avraham, it was only right to share His plans for them.  In addition, Hashem hoped that Avraham's children would learn from the fate of Sedom to do what is right.  [Having shared their upcoming doom with Avraham before it happened would preempt any claims that his was simply a coincidental natural disaster.] Finally, Hashem wanted Avraham to question His justice, attempt to find merits, and through the process to better understand His judgements.

²⁰ The text of this section of the 4Q252 Commentary on Genesis is very fragmentary.  The text presented here incorporates much of the proposed reconstruction of G. Barzilai, "פירוש קדום מקומראן על עונשם של אנשי סדום", Daf Shevui of Bar Ilan University 210 (5758).

²¹ R. Y"S Reggio asserts that Avraham understood from Hashem's words "הַכְּצַעֲקָתָהּ הַבָּאָה אֵלַי עָשׂוּ כָּלָה" that he was planning on bringing total destruction on the city. Seforno who, instead, maintains that the word "כָּלָה" means כולם, must find a different verse which led Avraham to assume that Hashem meant to punish all. He thus suggests that Hashem's words "זַעֲקַת סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה כִּי רָבָּה" led Avraham to believe that Hashem was judging the city based on the majority of its inhabitants, and not each according to his deeds.

²² Cf. Ramban above.

²³ See below that he assumes that Hashem was to destroy Sedom via a messenger who could not differentiate between good and bad, especially if He was sent to quell Hashem's anger.

²⁴ He seems to be ignoring the initial "ה" in the word "הַאַף" which is normally read as a question marker, or  "ה' השאלה".

²⁵ Seforno is assuming that verses 24-25 are not two distinct statements but one connected one.

²⁶ Avraham saw that the angels who had been speaking with him headed towards Sedom, leading him to conclude that they, rather than Hashem Himself, were sent to fulfill the decree of destruction.

²⁷ They compare this to the משחית in Egypt who also could not differentiate on his own between the Israelites and Egyptians.  when such messengers bring destruction, there is inevitably collective punishment and it is against this that Avraham is arguing.

²⁸ As evidence, R. Y"S Reggio points to the word "לְמַעַן" which he understands to mean "for the sake of" rather than "because of".  Avraham is asking Hashem to save the area immediately surrounding the worthy for their benefit. Cf. R. Hirsch above.

²⁹ Hashem can save the righteous by not destroying the whole area in which they live.

³⁰ According to both these reads there is no back and forth in Avraham's argument, but one point leads to the next.

³¹ Seforno likely agrees, but does not ay so explicitly.

³² Seforno defines the righteous as people who are willing to protest the evil of Sedom and stand up against the wicked and attempt to reform them.  Cf. Radak above.

³³ R. Y"S Reggio supports this change of focus by contrasting Avraham's usage of the word "לְמַעַן" (for the sake of), with Hashem saying that he will save the wicked, "בַּעֲבוּרָם", due to the merits of the righteous.

³⁴

According to these commentators, the conversation between Avraham and Hashem switches its focus after Avraham's initial request. Once Avraham realizes Hashem is willing to even save the wicked, he bargains to that end. These commentators, thus, are not bothered by the notion of collective salvation, and this is not what is driving their read of the verses. Perhaps they are simply uncomfortable with the notion of Avraham demanding something which is undeserved.

³⁵

Knowing the strict nature of the Qumran community, it is not surprising that they would be motivated to read the story as one revolving around strict justice, with no room for mercy on the sinners.

??prototype to  עיר נדחת

³⁶ The Biur also suggests that in sharing the fate of Sedom, Hashem ensured that Avraham would teach the traits of "צְדָקָה וּמִשְׁפָּט" to his descendants, knowing that Sedom's lack thereof led to their destrcution.

³⁷ In addition, Hashem simply did not want to hide anything from Avraham, His chosen and loyal follower.