Why God Consulted Abraham Before Destroying Sodom

Another interpretation: Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, reveal it to Abraham? Rabbi Judah the Levite said: A parable. To what is the matter comparable? To a king who had an orchard and gave it to his friend as a gift. After some days the king needed to cut beams from within it. The king said: Even though it was mine and I gave it to my friend, I will not cut them down until I take counsel with my friend. So too the Holy One, blessed be He: once He brought him up to the Land of Israel, He said to him, "Please lift up your eyes and look [northward and southward and eastward and westward]" (Genesis 13:14), and it is written, "[For] all the land which you see, [to you will I give it, and to your seed forever]" (Genesis 13:15). Therefore, when the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to destroy these five cities, He said: I will not destroy them except with the knowledge of Abraham. And if you should say that they were not part of the land of Canaan, see what is written: "And the border of the Canaanite was from Sidon [as you come to Gerar, unto Gaza]" (Genesis 10:19). Therefore He did not destroy them until He had taken counsel with Abraham, as it is said, "And the Lord said: Shall I hide from Abraham [what I am doing]?" (Genesis 18:17).