Limitless Word
I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
Genesis 18:21 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
  • BSB I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”
  • ESV I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”
  • NKJV I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
  • NASB I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.”
  • NLT I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.”

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God speaks of 'going down' to verify the cities' guilt before acting.

Overview

This anthropomorphic language stresses that God judges justly, on the basis of true knowledge, not hasty rumor. It echoes the same divine 'coming down' to assess Babel (Genesis 11:5). The point is the perfect righteousness of the Judge, who never condemns unfairly.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Exod 3:8I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
  • Gen 11:5Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
  • Josh 22:22“The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against Yahweh (don’t save us today),
  • Ps 139:1–24For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.
  • Jer 17:10“I, Yahweh, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
  • Deut 8:2You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.
  • Zeph 1:12It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, “Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil.”
  • Luke 16:15He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
  • Mic 1:3For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
  • Gen 11:7Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
  • Exod 33:5Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up into the middle of you for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do to you.’”
  • Deut 13:3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
  • Job 34:22There is no darkness, nor thick gloom, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
  • John 6:38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
  • 1 Th 4:16For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first,
  • 2 Cor 11:11Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows.
  • Jer 17:1“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond. It is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars.
  • Ps 90:8You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
  • Heb 4:13There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 18:21YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.

How Genesis 18:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.