Avraham's Prayer for Sedom/1/en
Avraham's Prayer for Sedom
Introduction
Two Pleas or One?
The second half of Bereshit 18 recounts how Hashem takes Avraham into His confidence, sharing His intent to scrutinize Sedom's conduct. This elicits not merely a simple prayer from Avraham on their behalf, but an astounding fire and brimstone condemnation1 of the implied2 and impending Divine judgment:
(כג) וַיִּגַּשׁ אַבְרָהָם וַיֹּאמַר הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע.
(כד) אוּלַי יֵשׁ חֲמִשִּׁים צַדִּיקִם בְּתוֹךְ הָעִיר הַאַף תִּסְפֶּה וְלֹא תִשָּׂא לַמָּקוֹם לְמַעַן חֲמִשִּׁים הַצַּדִּיקִם אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבָּהּ.
(כה) חָלִלָה לְּךָ מֵעֲשֹׂת כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה לְהָמִית צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע וְהָיָה כַצַּדִּיק כָּרָשָׁע חָלִלָה לָּךְ הֲשֹׁפֵט כָּל הָאָרֶץ לֹא יַעֲשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט.
A glance at these verses reveals their perplexing structure. The first and third verses (23 and 25) appear to demand simply that Hashem save the innocent and avoid the collateral damage of "צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע".3 Had Avraham sufficed with only these two verses, his protest would have read seamlessly and it would have constituted a readily comprehensible plea to avoid collective punishment. Sandwiched in between them, though, is verse 24 which, at first glance, looks like an appeal to Divine mercy to spare the entire city, including its wicked, because of the putative virtues of the righteous.
Why does Avraham interpose this middle verse, thereby interrupting and undercutting the much more powerful argument of the surrounding two? Why did he not wait to first get a positive nod on the clearer issue before proceeding to the more controversial one?4 Is Avraham's petition a dual themed one, or is it possible that all three verses are really part of a single line of reasoning? Or, in other words, is Avraham pleading for justice, mercy, or both?
