Bible Strands
Genesis 18:21
I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — YHWH speaks at the threshold between declaring the grievous outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18:20) and the departure of the two messengers toward the city (Gen 18:22). The statement occurs as the narrative transitions from divine announcement to investigative movement.
The words — The Hebrew אֵרֲדָה ('eradah) translates "I will go down," coupled with וְאֶרְאֶה (ve'erah) "so I may see" and כָּלָה (kahlah) "completion" or "fully." These lexical elements structure the verse as a declaration of inspection to measure reported outcry against actual conduct.
The thread — Divine descent for observation appears in Genesis 11:5, where YHWH comes down to see the city and tower, while Exodus 3:8 records God descending specifically to rescue Israel from Egyptian oppression.
Why it lands — The text establishes that divine judgment responds to verified evidence rather than unconfirmed reports. It requires the reader to acknowledge that accountability follows direct examination of actions.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
Cross-references
- Exodus 3:8 I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- Genesis 11:5 Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.
- Joshua 22:22 “The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today.
- Genesis 11:7 Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
- Exodus 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”
- Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
- Deuteronomy 13:3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Psalms 139:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
- Jeremiah 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Micah 1:3 For behold, the LORD comes forth from His dwelling place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.