John Calvin Commentary Genesis 18:21

"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." — Genesis 18:21 (ASV)

I will go down now. Since this was a notable example of the wrath of God, which He intends to be remembered through all ages, and to which He frequently refers in Scripture, Moses therefore diligently records those things that are especially to be considered in divine judgments. Just as, in this place, he commends the moderation of God, who does not immediately fulminate against the ungodly and pour out His vengeance upon them, but who, when affairs were utterly desperate, at length executes the punishment that had long been held suspended over them.

And the Lord does not testify in vain that He proceeds to inflict punishment in a suitable and rightly balanced order, because whenever He chastises us, we are apt to think that He acts towards us more severely than is just. Even when, with astonishing forbearance, He waits for us until we have come to the utmost limit of impiety, and our wickedness has become too obstinate to be spared any longer, we still complain of the excessive haste of His rigour.

Therefore, He presents, as in a conspicuous picture, His equity in bearing with us, so that we may know that He never breaks forth to inflict punishment except on those who are mature in crime. Now, if, on the other hand, we look at Sodom, a horrible example of stupor meets our eyes.

For the men of Sodom go on as if they had nothing to do with God; their sense of good and evil being extinguished, they wallow like cattle in every kind of filth; and, just as if they would never have to give an account of their conduct, they flatter themselves in their vices.

Since this disease is too prevalent in all ages, and is at present far too common, it is important to note this circumstance: at the very time when the men of Sodom, having dismissed all fear of God, were indulging themselves and promising themselves impunity, no matter how they sinned, God was planning to destroy them. He was moved by the tumultuous cry of their iniquities to descend to earth while they were buried in profound sleep.

Therefore, if God at any time defers His judgments, let us not on that account think ourselves in a better condition; but before the cry of our wickedness shall have wearied His ears, may we, aroused by His threats, quickly hasten to appease Him. However, since such forbearance of God cannot be comprehended by us, Moses introduces Him as speaking in the manner of men.

Whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it. The Hebrew noun כלא (cala,), which Moses here uses, means the perfection, or the end of a thing, and also its destruction. Therefore, Jerome translates it, ‘If they shall have completed it in act.’

I have, indeed, no doubt that Moses intimates that God came down to inquire whether or not their sins had risen to the highest point, just as he said before that the iniquities of the Amorites were not yet full.

The sum of it all, then, is this: the Lord was about to see whether they were altogether desperate, having precipitated themselves into the lowest depths of evil, or whether they were still in the midst of a course from which it was possible for them to be recalled to a sound mind, since He was unwilling to destroy those cities utterly if their wickedness was in any way curable.

Others translate the passage, ‘If they have done this, their final destruction is at hand; but if not, I will see how far they are to be punished.’ But the former sense is most consistent with the context.