Bible Strands
Genesis 18:22
And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records the moment immediately after God declares His plan to investigate the outcry against Sodom. The two divine messengers depart for the city while Abraham stays behind in the presence of the LORD.
The words — The Hebrew עֹמֵד ('o.Med) translates literally as "standing," modified by עוֹדֶ֥/נּוּ (o.De./nu) meaning "still" or "yet." This combination marks Abraham's uninterrupted physical posture as the others move away.
The thread — The departing figures arrive at Sodom in Genesis 19:1 to continue the judgment narrative. The motif of remaining before God to intercede reappears in Ezekiel 22:30 and Acts 7:55.
Why it lands — The text places Abraham in a position to speak before God without interruption. It requires the reader to acknowledge that persistent presence is the factual prerequisite for bold petition.
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
And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.
Cross-references
- Genesis 19:1 Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed facedown,
- Ezekiel 22:30 I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.
- Acts 7:55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
- 1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone—
- Psalms 106:23 So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
- Jeremiah 18:20 Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.
- Genesis 18:1 Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.
- Jeremiah 15:1 Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go!
- Genesis 18:16 When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.