Бытие 18:20

"The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, yea it is great; and their sin, yea it is very grievous." The cry is the appeal for vengeance or punishment, which ascends to heaven (Gen 4:10). The כּי serves to give emphasis to the assertion, and is placed in the middle of the sentence to give the greater prominence to the leading thought (cf. Ewald, 330).

We have an account in this chapter of another interview between God and Abraham, probably within a few days after the former, as the reward of his cheerful obedience to the law of circumcision. Here is, I. The kind visit which God made him, and the kind entertainment which he gave to that visit (Gen 18:1-8). II. The matters discoursed of between them. 1. The purposes of God's love concerning Sarah (Gen 18:9-15). 2. The purposes of God's wrath concerning Sodom. (1.) The discovery God made to Abraham of his design to destroy Sodom (Gen 18:16-22). (2.) The intercession Abraham made for Sodom (Gen 18:23, etc.).

18:20-21 The omniscient God was cautious in his judgment: He knew the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, but this close scrutiny communicated God’s justice in human terms—he would not destroy the people of the plain unless he was absolutely sure they were wicked. 18:20 a great outcry: See Ezek 16:49-50.