What Does Genesis 18:22 Mean?
And the men turned their faces from there and walked toward Sodom, while Abraham still stood before the LORD.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.THE KEY
The men turn toward Sodom while Abraham stands before the LORD, the Hebrew links both movements through the language of turning and facing.
THE MEANING
The scene holds two directions at once: the men turn toward Sodom, while Abraham remains standing before the LORD. The Hebrew verb for “turned” echoes the face-and-front family behind “before,” joining their direction with Abraham’s position. His stillness is a held place from which a consequential exchange can begin.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the assumption that the person in motion is the one acting: here, Abraham’s remaining is the consequential position.
THE ROOT
וַיִּפְנוּ
vayyifnu
GROWS FROM
פנה
p-n-h
To turn, face, or direct oneself; the related face-and-front language also describes what is before someone.
“turned their faces” in this verse is vayyifnu. The Hebrew verb וַיִּפְנוּ (vayyifnu, “they turned”) comes from פנה (panah, “turn” or “face”), while לִפְנֵי (lifnei, “before” or “in front of”) belongs to the related face-and-front family. The KJV makes the first face explicit as “their faces,” so the verse’s two orientations stand out: the men turn toward Sodom, and Abraham remains before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
panah: Turn or face toward.
פָּנָה
This is the verb behind the men’s turning toward Sodom, making their direction part of the verse’s central contrast.
panim: Face; front or presence.
פָּנִים
This face-and-front word family illuminates לִפְנֵי (lifnei), “before”: Abraham remains in front of the LORD while the men turn elsewhere.
עֹמֵד
omed
GROWS FROM
עמד
ʿ-m-d
To stand, remain, or take one’s position.
“still stood” in this verse is omed. Abraham is not described as simply being nearby; he is עֹמֵד (omed, “standing”), from עמד (amad, “stand” or “remain”). The root holds posture and persistence together: as the men move toward Sodom, Abraham holds his position before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
amad: Stand or remain.
עָמַד
This is the verb behind Abraham’s continuing position in the scene.
ammud: Pillar or column.
עַמּוּד
The related word for a pillar gives a concrete image of standing firm in one place, sharpening the contrast with the men’s departure.
THE PATTERN
Standing before the LORD is an active position from which a person can speak or intercede.
And he said to cut them down, unless Moses, his chosen, had stood in the breach before him, to turn back his burning from ruining them.Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.Therefore he is also able to deliver to the very end those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to plead for them.THE THREAD
And he said to cut them down, unless Moses, his chosen, had stood in the breach before him, to turn back his burning from ruining them.Moses “stood” in the breach, using the same Hebrew root עמד (amad, “stand” or “remain”) that describes Abraham here. That shared root opens Abraham’s stillness as a position before God while a city’s fate comes into view.
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