Bede : "I will go down," he says, "and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know." Therefore, when the Lord said that he would go down to see whether the same outcry was true, he did not show his ignorance, who possesses the knowledge of all things, but instructs our rashness, lest we presume to blame the deeds of others before we learn perfectly; which He also teaches us in the construction of the tower, where it is written that the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of Adam had built; for what would He not see from heaven to earth, of whom it is written that "Hell is naked before Him, and there is no covering for perdition"? — Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron) Origen of Alexandria : What then after so great and such a banquet, which Abraham displayed to the Lord and to the angels under the tree of vision? The guests set out. "Abraham however was escorting" it says "them and was walking with them. But the Lord said: I will not hide from Abraham my servant what I am going to do. For Abraham shall become a great and numerous nation, and in him shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. For he knew that he would command his sons, and they will keep the ways of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may fulfill for Abraham the things which he indicated to him. And he said: the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is filled up, and their sins are exceedingly great. I have therefore come down, to see whether they are being consummated according to their cry which comes to me; but if not, that I may know." These are the words of the divine Scripture. Let us therefore now see what in these things is worthy to be understood. "I have come down," he says, "that I may see." When responses are conveyed to Abraham, God is not said to come down, but to stand over him, as we expounded above: "three men stood," it says, "over him." But now, because the cause of sinners is being dealt with, God is said to come down. See that you do not perceive an ascent and descent of place. For frequently this is found in the divine letters, as in the prophet Micah: "behold," he says, "the Lord has gone out from his holy place and has come down and will tread upon the high places of the earth." God therefore is said to come down, when he deigns to have care of human frailty. Which is to be understood more especially of our Lord and Savior, who "did not deem it robbery to be equal to God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." He came down therefore. "For no one else has ascended into heaven, except him who came down from heaven, the Son of man, who is in heaven." For the Lord came down not only to care for, but also to bear, the things which are ours. "For he took the form of a servant," and although he himself is of invisible nature, as being equal to the Father, yet he took a visible appearance, "and was found in appearance as a man." But even when he came down, to some he is below, but to others he ascends and is above. For to the chosen Apostles he ascended "into a high mountain, and there he is transformed before them." To those therefore whom he teaches about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, he is above; but to the crowds and the Pharisees, whom he reproaches for their sins, he is below and is there with them, where there is hay. But he could not be transformed below, but ascended above with those who could follow him, and there he is transformed. — HOMILIES ON Genesis 4.5 Origen of Alexandria : "I have come down therefore," he says, "that I may see whether they are being consummated according to their cry which comes to me. But if not, that I may know." From this saying the heretics are accustomed to assail my God, saying: behold, the God of the law did not know what was being done in Sodom, unless he had come down to see, and had sent those who might find out. But let us, who are commanded to fight the battles of the Lord, sharpen against them "the sword of the word of God" and meet them for battle. Let us stand in the battle line "girded in our loins with truth," and at the same time "bearing before us the shield of faith," let us receive their venomous darts of disputations and, aiming them back more carefully, hurl them against those very men. For such are the battles of the Lord which David and the rest of the patriarchs fought. Let us stand against them on behalf of our brothers. "For it is better for me to die" than that they should snatch and plunder any of my brothers and, by the clever theft of words, lead away captive "the little ones" and those still nursing in Christ. But with the perfect they will be able neither to join hand nor will they dare to come into the contest. We therefore, first entreating the Lord and aided by your prayers, will undertake against them the battle of the word. We say therefore with confidence that according to the Scriptures God does not know all. God does not know sin, and God does not know sinners; those estranged from himself he does not recognize. Hear the Scripture saying: "The Lord has known those who are his, and: let everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." The Lord knows his own, but the wicked and the impious he does not know. Hear the Savior saying: "Depart from me all you workers of iniquity, I have not known you." And again Paul says: "If anyone among you is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things I write are the Lord's. But he who is ignorant, is ignored." But we say these things not perceiving anything blasphemous about God, as you do, nor ascribing ignorance to him, but we understand it thus, that those whose deed is unworthy of God are also deemed unworthy of the knowledge of God. For God does not deign to know him who is turned away from him and is ignorant of him. And therefore the Apostle says that "he who is ignorant, is ignored." Under such an appearance, therefore, it is now said also concerning those who dwell in Sodom, that, if indeed "their deeds are being consummated according to the cry" which ascends to God, they are deemed unworthy of his knowing; but if there is in them any conversion, if even ten just men be found in them, then at last God knows them. And therefore he said: "but if not, that I may know." He did not say, that I may know what they do, but that I may know them and make them worthy of my knowledge, if I should find any just among them, if I should find any repenting, if any such as I ought to know. Finally, because no one who repented, no one who was converted, was found other than Lot, he alone is recognized, he alone is delivered from the burning. Neither do the kindred follow though admonished, nor the neighbors, nor those nearby; no one wished to recognize the clemency of God, no one to flee to his mercy; and therefore no one is recognized. These things indeed against those who "speak iniquity on high." But let us give effort that our deeds be made such, our manner of life such, that we may be held worthy of the knowledge of God, that he may deign to know us, that we may be held worthy of the knowledge of his Son Jesus Christ and of the knowledge of the Holy Spirit, so that, recognized by the Trinity, we too may deserve to recognize the sacrament of the Trinity fully and wholly and perfectly, the Lord Jesus Christ revealing it to us, "to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen." — HOMILIES ON Genesis 4.6