genesis 18:1-19:38 chiastic structure

Read Genesis 18:1-19:38 at Bible Gateway.

Hebrew paragraph divisions

Gen 18:1-19:38 {s} Abraham’s intercession/ overthrow of Sodom + Gomorrah

Gen 18:1-19:38 chiastic structure

1a) Gen 18:1-15 The seed of Abraham by Sarah promised;

1b) Gen 18:16-22 Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, because of the wickedness of Sodom + Gomorrah;

1a) Gen 18:16 The men rose from there + looked toward Sodom/ Abraham went with them to send them on the way;
1b) Gen 18:17 YHVH: Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing;
1c) Gen 18:18 Since Abraham shall surely become a great + mighty nation/ all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
central axis) Gen 18:19a For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of YHVH, to do righteousness and justice;
2c) Gen 18:19b That YHVH may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him;
2b) Gen 18:20-21 YHVH: The outcry against Sodom + Gomorrah/ I will see if it is as the outcry;
2a) Gen 18:22 The men turned away from there + went toward Sodom/ Abraham still stood before YHVH;

1c) Gen 18:22-33, Abraham’s intercession, that the righteous are not destroyed with the wicked;

central axis) Gen 19:1-11 The worldly + wicked men of Sodom;

2c) Gen 19:12-24, The angels save Lot, so that the righteous are not destroyed with the wicked;

1a) Gen 19:12-14, The angels urge Lot to depart, for they will destroy the city;
1b) Gen 19:15, Arise, go with your wife + 2 daughters, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city;
1c) Gen 19:16, The men brought him outside the city, YHVH being merciful to him;
central axis) Gen 19:17a, So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain;”
2c) Gen 19:17b-19 Lot: Since you have increased mercy toward me by saving my life;
2b) Gen 19:20-23, Hurry + escape to the little city which I will not overthrow;
2a) Gen 19:24, YHVH rained brimstone + fire on Sodom + Gomorrah, from YHVH out of the heavens;

2b) Gen 19:25-29 YHVH overthrew Sodom + Gomorrah/ destroyed the cities of the plain;

1a) Gen 19:25 He overthrew those cities + plain + inhabitants of the cities + growth;
1b) Gen 19:26 His wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt;
central axis) Gen 19:27 Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before YHVH;
2b) Gen 19:28 He looked toward Sodom + Gomorrah/ the smoke of the land like a furnace;
2a) Gen 19:29 When God destroyed the cities of the plain He remembered Abraham + sent Lot out;

2a) Gen 19:30-38, The seed of Lot by his daughters.

What I learned this morning, is that God reveals what He is about to do to His prophets (Gen 18:17) so that intercession can then go up for salvation and mercy (Gen 18:22-33). It is amazing that God partners with us! And He partners with us, because He does not desire that anyone perish. But we have to recognize our role, which is, when we hear of possible judgment coming, not to excoriate and repeat words of death, but to intercede and repeat words of life and mercy – if we would be true children of Abraham.