<b>And the two angels came to Sodom at evening (Gen. 19:1).</b> What is written before this verse? <i>And Abraham drew near and said, “Wilt Thou sweep away the righteous with the wicked?”</i> (Gen. 18:23). R. Phinehas the priest, the son of Hama, stated: Certainly the Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire to find any of His creatures guilty, for it is said: <i>I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth</i> (Ezek. 18:32). Furthermore it says: <i>For Thou are not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness</i> (Ps. 5:4); and: <i>As I live, saith the Lord Eternal, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked</i> (Ezek. 33:11). What does the Holy One, blessed be He, take pleasure in doing? In proving the righteousness of His creatures, as it is said: <i>The Lord was pleased, for His righteousness’ sake</i> (Isa. 42:21). Proof of this is that even when mankind sins against the Holy One, blessed be He, and provokes him to anger, He relents and seeks an advocate to plead in their behalf. In fact, He suggests the arguments the advocate can employ. Hence, you find that at the time of Jeremiah, He proclaimed: <i>Run ye, to and fro, through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man. If there be any who doeth justly, that seeketh truth, and I will pardon her</i> (Jer. 5:1).
Similarly, after the Sodomites had transgressed, He revealed His intentions to Abraham in order to discover something to their credit, as it is said: <i>And the Lord said: “Shall I hide from Abraham?”</i> Abraham began to plead in their behalf, as it is said: <i>And Abraham drew near and said: “Wilt Thou, indeed, sweep away the righteous with the wicked?”</i> (Gen. 18:23). <i>Drew near</i> is an expression used to indicate prayer, as is said: <i>And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening offering, that Elijah the prophet drew near and said: “O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel”</i> (I Kings 18:36).
<i>Wilt Thou, indeed, sweep away the righteous with the wicked?</i> What is implied by this verse? That he spoke harshly to Him and said: Anger consumes a human being, but is it possible that you are so angry that you would sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Would You judge the innocent as You judge the wicked? Would You destroy the innocent and the evil together? <i>It is far from Thee to do after this manner</i> (Gen. 18:25). Since the Hebrew word <i>hallilah</i> (“it is far from thee”) contains the letters of the word <i>hallalah</i> (“profaned”), as in the verse <i>A woman that is a harlot, or profaned</i> (Lev. 21:7), this verse implies that he was suggesting, “Would it not be a profanation of Your name if You were to act in this manner? Did You do that with the generation of the flood, or the generation of the separation? Surely, that is not Thy way.”
“To do this thing” is not written in this verse, but rather “(to do) <i>like this</i>”—not this and not like this,<sup class="footnote-marker">12</sup><i class="footnote">The use of the preposition <i>kaf</i>, meaning “as” or like,” rather than the definite article <i>heh</i>, implies “nothing like this.”</i> that is, not even anything that resembles it. <i>Shall not the Judge of all the world do justly?</i> (Gen. 18:25). <i>Perhaps there are fifty righteous in the city</i> (ibid., v. 24). Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, replied: <i>If I find fifty righteous men in Sodom … then I will forgive</i> (ibid., v. 26). Though He started with fifty men, He decreased the number ultimately to ten men, for even ten righteous men (the number required for a minyan) possess the power to ward off retribution. However, when even that number could not be found, <i>The Lord went His way, as soon as He had left speaking with Abraham</i> (ibid., v. 33). And after that is written: <i>And the two angels came to Sodom</i> (ibid., 19:1).
Observe the humility of the Holy One, blessed be He. R. Berechiah stated: Normally, when two men converse with each other and are about to separate the younger asks the elder for permission to leave; however, when the Holy One, blessed be He, concluded speaking with Abraham, and was about to depart, as though that were possible, He requested Abraham’s permission, as it is said: <i>And the Lord went His way</i>. When? <i>As soon as He had left off speaking with Abraham</i>. And afterwards: <i>And Abraham returned to his place</i>.
Immediately thereafter, <i>’The two angels came to Sodom at even</i> (ibid. 19:2). Where did the third one go, since it is written: <i>And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood over against him</i> (ibid. 18:2)? This verse teaches us that each one was charged with a separate mission. One of them came to tell Sarah: <i>And I will certainly return unto thee when the season cometh around, and lo, Sarah, thy wife shall have a son</i> (ibid., v. 10); he completed his assignment and ascended. The second went to destroy Sodom, as it is said: <i>And he said unto him: “See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow”</i> (ibid. 19:21). It does not say “We have accepted thee, we will not overthrow,” but <i>I have accepted thee, I will not overthrow</i>, thereby indicating that this was the mission of the second one. The third one came to rescue Lot from the destruction that overwhelmed Sodom. Each one completed his mission and ascended.