Genesis 18:20

My Notes

What Does Genesis 18:20 Mean?

Genesis 18:20 records God's assessment of Sodom and Gomorrah before the investigation and the destruction: "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous." The Hebrew za'aqath Sedom va'Amorah (the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah) — za'aqah is the cry of distress, the scream of the oppressed, the wail of victims. The cry isn't Sodom's prayer. It's the cry going up from the victims of Sodom's sin.

The Hebrew ki ravvah (because it is great/much) and ki kavedah me'od (because it is very heavy/grievous) — kavad means heavy, weighty, burdensome. The sin isn't light. It has mass. It produces weight. It presses down on the people beneath it. The cry rises because the sin weighs down.

God's language — "I will go down now, and see" (verse 21) — isn't divine ignorance. It's judicial protocol. God investigates before He judges. The cry reached Him. The sin was reported to Him. And rather than acting on the report alone, He descends to verify. The God who knows all things still conducts due diligence. The judgment on Sodom wasn't a knee-jerk response to hearsay. It was the conclusion of a process that began with victims crying, continued with divine investigation, and ended with the most thorough verification possible: God Himself going down to see. Even Sodom got a fair trial.

Reflection Questions

• 1.The 'cry' of Sodom reached God — the scream of victims, not the prayer of the city. What cries of injustice are rising from your community that you might not be hearing?
• 2.The sin is 'very grievous' — heavy, weighty, pressing down on people. Where do you feel the weight of someone else's sin on your life, and does this verse give you confidence that God hears?
• 3.God investigates before He judges — 'I will go down and see.' How does God's due diligence change your understanding of divine judgment — is it impulsive or thorough?
• 4.Even Sodom got a fair investigation. How does that affect your trust that God is evaluating your situation carefully rather than acting on incomplete information?

Devotional

The cry of Sodom went up to God. Not the worship of Sodom. Not the prayer of Sodom. The cry — the scream of victims, the wail of the oppressed, the sound that rises when sin has weight and the weight is crushing people underneath it. Sodom's sin wasn't a private matter. It was producing victims. And the victims were screaming. And God heard.

The sin is called "very grievous" — the Hebrew means very heavy. The sin has mass. It presses down. The people under it are being crushed by its weight, and the crushing produces a cry that travels from the earth to heaven. If you've ever felt the weight of someone else's sin on your life — exploitation, abuse, injustice, cruelty — this verse says the cry you're producing is reaching God. The weight you feel is registered in heaven. The grievousness isn't invisible. It's heard.

God's response is investigation: "I will go down and see." The God who knows everything still investigates. He doesn't judge from a distance. He goes down. He sees for Himself. Even Sodom — the city that would become the Bible's permanent symbol of divine judgment — received due process. God heard the cry. He assessed the weight. He went down to verify. And then — only then — did the judgment fall. If God gives due diligence to Sodom, He's giving due diligence to your situation too. The cry has been heard. The weight has been measured. The investigation is underway. The God who went down to see Sodom is the same God who sees you.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture