1And Jehovah will be seen to him at the oaks of Mamra: and he will sit at the entrance of his tent at the heat of the day. 2And he shall lift up his eyes and shall see, and behold, three men stood by him: and he will see and will run to meet them from the door of the tent, and will bow himself to the earth. 3And he will say, Lord, if now I found grace in thine eyes, now thou wilt not pass away from thy servant 4Now he shall take a little water, and will wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5And I will take a bit of food, and strengthen your heart, afterwards ye shall pass away; for, for this ye passed over to your servant And they will say, Thou shalt do according to what thou saidst 6And Abraham will hasten to the tent to Sarah, and will say, Hasten thou measures of the finest flour; knead and make cakes. 7And Abraham running to the oxen, will take the son of a cow, tender and good, and will give to the youth, and he will hasten to do it 8And he will take curdled milk, and new milk, and the son of the cow which he did, and he will give before their face; and he stood by them under the tree, and they shall eat 9And they will say to him, Where is Sarah thy wife? and he will say, Behold, in the tent. 10And he will say, Returning, I will return to thee according to the time of life; and behold, a son to Sarah thy wife. And Sarah heard at the door of the tent, and she behind him. 11And Abraham and Sarah were old, being gone in days; the way according to women ceased to be to Sarah. 12And Sarah will laugh within her, saying, After it has not been to me till now, and my lord, being old. 13And Jehovah will say to Abraham, For what did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall truly even I bring forth, and I have become old? 14Shall the word of Jehovah be difficult, at the appointed time? I will return to thee, according to the time of life, and a son to Sarah. 15And Sarah will deny, saying, I did not laugh; for she was afraid. And he will say, Nay, for thou didst laugh. 16And the men will rise up from thence, and will look forth upon the face of Sodom: and Abraham went forth with them to accompany them. 17And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I do? 18And Abraham being, shall be for a great and numerous nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves in him. 19For I know him, for that he will command his sons and his house after him; and they watched the way of Jehovah to do justice and judgment, for Jehovah to bring upon Abraham what he spake to him. 20And Jehovah will say, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah became great, and because their sin was exceedingly heavy, 21I will go now and see whether they did wholly according to its cry coming to me; and if not, I shall know. 22And the men will turn back from thence, and will go forth to Sodom: and Abraham stood yet before the face of Jehovah. 23And Abraham will draw near, and will say, Wilt thou also destroy the just with the wicked 24Perhaps there is fifty just in the midst of the city: wilt thou also destroy and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty just which are within it? 25Far be it with respect to thee doing as this word to kill the just with the wicked; and for the just to be as the wicked, far be it with respect to thee: shall not the judge of all the earth do judgment? 26And Jehovah will say, If I shall find in Sodom fifty just, in the midst of the city, I forgive all the place for their sakes. 27And Abraham will answer and say, Behold now, I have undertaken to speak to my Lord, and I dust and ashes. 28If the fifty just shall lack five: wilt thou destroy for sake of five all the city? And he will say, I will not destroy, if I shall find there forty and five. 29And he added yet to speak to him, and he will say, If forty shall be found there? And he will say, I will not do for sake of forty. 30And he will say, Now will it not kindle to the Lord, and I will speak: If thirty shall be found there? And he will say, I will not do, if I shall find thirty there. 31And he will say, Behold now, I have begun to speak to the Lord If twenty shall be found there? And he will say, I will not destroy for sake of twenty. 32And he will say, Now will it not be angry to the Lord, and I will speak only this once: If ten shall be found there? And he will say, I will not destroy for sake of ten. 33And Jehovah went forth after that he finished to speak to Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 ENTERTAINMENT OF ANGELS. (
Gen 18:1-
Gen 18:8)
the Lord appeared--another manifestation of the divine presence, more familiar than any yet narrated; and more like that in the fulness of time, when the Word was made flesh.
plains of Mamre--rather, terebinth or oak of Mamre; a tall-spreading tree or grove of trees.
sat in the tent door--The tent itself being too close and sultry at noon, the shaded open front is usually resorted to for the air that may be stirring.
2 lift up his eyes . . . and, lo, three men--Travellers in that quarter start at sunrise and continue till midday when they look out for some resting-place.
he ran to meet them--When the visitor is an ordinary person, the host merely rises; but if of superior rank, the custom is to advance a little towards the stranger, and after a very low bow, turn and lead him to the tent, putting an arm round his waist, or tapping him on the shoulder as they go, to assure him of welcome.
3 My Lord, if now I have found favor--The hospitalities offered are just of the kind that are necessary and most grateful, the refreshment of water, for feet exposed to dust and heat by the sandals, being still the first observed among the pastoral people of Hebron.
5 for therefore are ye come--No questions were asked. But Abraham knew their object by the course they took--approaching directly in front of the chief sheik's tent, which is always distinguishable from the rest and thus showing their wish to be his guests.
6 Abraham hastened . . . unto Sarah . . . make cakes upon the hearth--Bread is baked daily, no more than is required for family use, and always by the women, commonly the wife. It is a short process. Flour mixed with water is made into dough, and being rolled out into cakes, it is placed on the earthen floor, previously heated by a fire. The fire being removed, the cakes are laid on the ground, and being covered over with hot embers, are soon baked, and eaten the moment they are taken off.
7 Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf--Animal food is never provided, except for visitors of a superior rank when a kid or lamb is killed. A calf is still a higher stretch of hospitality, and it would probably be cooked as is usually done when haste is required--either by roasting it whole or by cutting it up into small pieces and broiling them on skewers over the fire. It is always eaten along with boiled corn swimming in butter or melted fat, into which every morsel of meat, laid upon a piece of bread, is dipped, before being conveyed by the fingers to the mouth.
8 milk--A bowl of camel's milk ends the repast.
he stood by them under the tree--The host himself, even though he has a number of servants, deems it a necessary act of politeness to stand while his guests are at their food, and Abraham evidently did this before he was aware of the real character of his visitors.
10 REPROOF OF SARAH. An inquiry about his wife, so surprising in strangers, the subject of conversation, and the fulfilment of the fondly cherished promise within a specified time, showed Abraham that he had been entertaining more than ordinary travellers (
Heb 13:2). (
Gen 18:9-
Gen 18:15)
Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him--The women's apartment is in the back of the tent, divided by a thin partition from the men's.
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself--Long delay seems to have weakened faith. Sarah treated the announcement as incredible, and when taxed with the silent sneer, she added falsehood to distrust. It was an aggravated offense (
Acts 5:4), and nothing but grace saved her (
Rom 9:18).
16 DISCLOSURE OF SODOM'S DOOM. (
Gen 18:16-
Gen 18:22)
the men rose . . . Abraham went with them--It is customary for a host to escort his guests a little way.
17 the Lord said, Shall I hide--The chief stranger, no other than the Lord, disclosed to Abraham the awful doom about to be inflicted on Sodom and the cities of the plain for their enormous wickedness.
21 I will go down . . . and see--language used after the manner of men. These cities were to be made examples to all future ages of God's severity; and therefore ample proof given that the judgment was neither rash nor excessive (
Ezek 18:23;
Jer 18:7).
23 ABRAHAM'S INTERCESSION. (
Gen 18:23-
Gen 18:33)
Abraham drew near, and said, &c.--The scene described is full of interest and instruction--showing in an unmistakable manner the efficacy of prayer and intercession. (See also
Pro 15:8;
Jas 5:16). Abraham reasoned justly as to the rectitude of the divine procedure (
Rom 3:5-
Rom 3:6), and many guilty cities and nations have been spared on account of God's people (
Matt 5:13;
Matt 24:22).
33 the Lord . . . left communing . . . and Abraham returned unto his place--Why did Abraham cease to carry his intercessions farther? Either because he fondly thought that he was now sure of the cities being preserved (
Luke 13:9), or because the Lord restrained his mind from further intercession (
Jer 7:16;
Jer 11:14). But there were not ten "righteous persons." There was only one, and he might without injustice have perished in the general overthrow (
Eccl 9:2). But a difference is sometimes made, and on this occasion the grace of God was manifested in a signal manner for the sake of Abraham. What a blessing to be connected with a saint of God!