Kommentar zu Bereschit 18:33

'וילך ה 'וגו AND THE LORD WENT AWAY — As soon as the counsel for the defence had nothing more to say the Judge took his departure.

וילך ה, Avraham remained in a waiting posture. He had not given up hope to expect further prophetic insights until it became clear to him that G’d’s presence had departed. We cannot help noting the contrast with Genesis 4,16 where the Torah reports the termination of G’d speaking to Kayin as ויצא קין מלפני ה', Kayin terminating the interview with G’d by his being the first one to leave while the presence of G’d had not yet departed.

וילך ה׳ כאשר כלה לדבר. When G'd completed speaking with Abraham He left. The Torah reports that G'd did not even give Abraham a chance to plead further on behalf of a lesser number of righteous people. After all, Abraham said that he had used his final plea. Although the Zohar 1,82 suggests that the righteous is the foundation of the earth, i.e. that a single righteous person could save the rest of the world, this may apply only to an outstanding צדיק. Perhaps if Abraham had lived in Sodom, his presence could have sufficed to save the town.

'וילך ה, G’d’s presence withdrew from Avraham, and it became clear to him as part of his vision that he had returned to his terrestrial home, the very place where he had become the recipient of this prophetic vision.

Once the Judge leaves, the defender leaves... I.e., the verse comes to teach us that Hashem seeks out the defender’s words because He does not desire death for the wicked. But when the defender fell silent, He left. Otherwise, why does it say here, “He departed,” unlike all other prophecies where this is not mentioned?

ואברהם שב למקומו AND ABRAHAM RETURNED UNTO HIS PLAGE — The Judge departed, the Advocate went away, but the Prosecutor continued his accusation, and on that account— ויבואו שני המלאכים סדומה “The two angels came to Sodom” to destroy it (Genesis Rabbah 49:14).

ואברהם שב, he returned from the place to which he had accompanied the angels, where G’d’s word had come to him.

למקומו, to his home.