Shall the Judge of All the Earth Not Do Justice

"Far be it from You to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked" (Genesis 18:24-25). [Abraham argued:] You swore and said that You would not bring a flood upon the world. Why are You being cunning about the oath? A flood of water You do not bring, but a flood of fire You bring? If so, You have not discharged the oath. "Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?" If You seek a world, there is no [strict] judgment; and if You seek [strict] judgment, there is no world. You are grasping the rope at both ends: You desire a world and You desire judgment. If You do not relent a little, the world cannot stand. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham, "You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness" (Psalms 45:8). "You have loved righteousness"—to justify My creatures; "and hated wickedness"—you hated to condemn them; "therefore God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows." What is "above your fellows"? From Noah until you there are ten generations, and of them all I spoke with not one of them except with you. Rabbi Yudan said: "Far be it" (chalilah) means: it is profane (chullin) for You, it is a fabrication for You; there is a desecration of the Name in the matter. It is not written here "to do a thing" (davar) but "such a thing" (ka-davar)—neither this nor anything like it nor anything lesser than it. Rabbi Levi said: Two men said the same thing, Abraham and Job. Abraham said, "Far be it from You," and Job said, "It is all one; therefore I say, He destroys the blameless and the wicked" (Job 9:22). Abraham received reward for it; Job was punished for it. Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba said: There is a confusion of questions here. Abraham said, "Far be it from You to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked," and the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "the righteous shall be as the wicked"—suspend [judgment] upon the wicked for the sake of the righteous—for they are merely deceptive righteous ones. For Rabbi Yochanan said: Wherever "righteous ones" (tzaddikim) is said regarding Sodom, it is written defectively [tzaddikm], the view of Rabbi Yochanan who said of "And our elders and all the inhabitants of our land said to us" (Joshua 9:11), "our elders" is written [defectively], elders of worthlessness, that is, elders of shame. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Abraham said, "Combine My deeds and let them add up to the count of fifty." Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Simon said: [God replied,] "Are you not the righteous one of the world? Combine yourself with them and let them add up to the count of fifty." Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Simon said: Thus Abraham said to Him, "A king of flesh and blood, an appeal is presented to him from the duke to the prefect, from the prefect to the general, and You, because there is none above You to whom to present an appeal, will You not do justice?" Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Simon said: "When You wished to judge Your world, You handed it over to two, Romulus and Remus, so that if one of them wished to do a thing, his fellow would restrain him; and You, because there is none to restrain You, will You not do justice?"