Genesis 18:28

28. There shall lack five First he drops to forty-five; then to forty; then to thirty; then to twenty; and finally to ten . Conant observes on this whole passage that it has “no parallel, even in sacred history . With earnestness, but with unaffected humility, devout courtesy, and a reverent freedom, the patriarch presses his suit on behalf of the few righteous men in Sodom . On the other hand, Jehovah receives the intercession of his servant graciously, and admits the reasonableness of his plea by granting all that he desires . There is a beautiful aptness in the turn given to the first plea for a slight abatement of this number; ‘Wilt thou for five destroy the whole city?’ The whole passage is singularly felicitous and beautiful, in conception and expression . ”