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.
I will go down ... and see. The meaning of the passage, which is elliptical, is this:-I shall examine fully whether the corruption of the people is as universal and hopeless as rumour says: in that case they must be exterminated; otherwise, I shall inflict a mitigated punishment. This language is used not in reference to a topographical descent from the Hebron hills to the cities of the plain, in the valley of the Jordan, but in the anthropomorphic style-after the manner of men. These cities were to be made ensamples to all future ages of God's severity, and therefore ample proof given that the judgment was neither rash nor excessive (Ezekiel 18:23; Jeremiah 18:7). The language seems framed to demonstrate the unchallengeable equity of the divine procedure, and the deliberate result of wise and impartial counsel. Notwithstanding the report flagrantissimi delicti, there would be no sudden or precipitate resolve; the Sodomites would be placed on their trial, and a solemn judgment pronounced upon evidence. The impression thus conveyed, that the divine purpose was conditional, and suspended on the repentance of the Sodomites and their neighbours, encouraged Abraham to make the earnest intercession that followed.