Genesis 18:33

communing with i.e. "speaking to," as in Genesis 18:27; Genesis 18:29; Genesis 18:31.

unto his place i.e. "the terebinths of Mamre" (Genesis 18:1), from which Abraham had gone forth to escort the Angels (Genesis 18:16). In the expression "the Lord went his way" (Heb. "went") the writer leaves us uninformed as to the manner of Jehovah's separation from Abraham. There is no mention of "Sodom," as the place to which he "went," is in Genesis 18:22.

For other instances in which human intercession is raised to avert Divine anger, and is the means of forgiveness, cf. Exodus 32:9-14; Numbers 14:15-20; Amos 7:4-6. In all these cases, he that intercedes seeks, on the one hand, to enter into the mind of God in His holiness and in His mercy; and then, on the other, to be the spokesman and representative of the community whose sin he confesses, and in whose behalf he entreats forgiveness and deliverance.