Having succeeded twice, Abraham again lowers the number, this time to forty. Once again he expresses it as an unlikely possibility. The LORD assents quickly yet again. 18:30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” Again Abraham treads carefully, not wanting to raise the LORD’s anger. This time he jumps further, reducing the number by ten to thirty. Yet again the word “perhaps” (’ûlay)