Genesis
Chapter 18
Abraham’s Visitors
The LORD appeared to Abraham near the oaks of Mamre. Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day
when he looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the tent’s entrance to meet them. He bowed to the ground
and said:
“My Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass your servant by.
Let a little water be brought. Wash your feet and then rest under the shade of the trees.
I shall fetch some bread so you can be refreshed and continue on your way since you have come to your servant.”
They then said:
“Do as you say.”
Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said to her:
Quick, take three measures of flour, knead it, and make cakes.”
Abraham then ran to the herd, took a fine, tender calf, and gave it to the servant who hurried to prepare it.
He took butter and milk, and together with the calf he had prepared, laid it all before them. While he remained standing, they ate.
They then asked:
“Where is Sarah, your wife?”
Abraham answered:
“She is in the tent.”
And the visitor said:
“At this same time next year I will return and Sarah by then will have a son.”
Now Sarah stood behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.
Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in years, and Sarah no longer had her monthly periods.
Sarah laughed to herself saying:
“Now that I am old and worn and my husband is an old man, am I to have this pleasure?”
The LORD said to Abraham:
“Why did Sarah laugh, saying: ‘Am I really going to have a child now that I am old?’
Is there anything impossible for God? At this same time next year, I will return, and Sarah, by then, will have a son.”
Sarah denied saying:
“I did not laugh,” because she was afraid.
But he said,
“You did laugh.”
Abraham’s Intercession
The men went away and headed toward Sodom. Abraham walked with them to guide them on their way.
And the LORD said:
“Can I conceal from Abraham what I am about to do?
Abraham, in fact, is going to become a great and powerful nation. Through him, all the nations of the earth will be blessed,
for I have chosen him to command his sons and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
Then the LORD said:
“How great is the cry for justice against Sodom and Gomorrah! And how grievous is their sin!
I am going down to see if they have done all that they are charged with in the outcry that has reached me. If it is not so, I will know.”
The men with him turned away and approached Sodom, but the LORD stood before Abraham.
Abraham went forward and said:
“Will you really let the just perish with the wicked?
Perhaps there are fifty good people in the town. Are you really going to let them perish? Would you not spare the place for the sake of these fifty righteous people?
It would not be at all like you to do such a thing, and you can’t let the good perish with the wicked, nor treat the good and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the judge of all the earth be just?”
The LORD said:
“If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Abraham spoke up again, “I know that I am very bold to speak like this to my LORD, I who am only dust and ashes!
But perhaps the number of good is five less than fifty. Will you destroy the town because of five?”
The LORD replied:
“I will not destroy the town if I find forty-five good people there.”
Again Abraham said:
“Perhaps there will be only forty.”
He answered:
“For the sake of forty I will not do it.”
Abraham went on, saying:
“May my Lord not be angry, but let me speak. Maybe only thirty good people will be found in the town.”
The LORD answered:
“I will not destroy it if I find thirty there.”
Abraham said:
“Now that I have been so bold as to speak to my LORD, what if only twenty can be found?”
He said:
“For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy the place.”
But Abraham insisted:
“May my LORD not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found?”
And the LORD answered:
“For the sake of ten good people, I will not destroy Sodom.”
When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham went home.
Commentaries
Abraham’s Visitors.
In the context of a vision the Lord shared with Abraham, we find the reaffirmation of the promise of a son to Abraham and his wife, Sarah. The frequency with which this promise is repeated and the contexts in which it is made highlight the diversity of traditions concerning the origins of Abraham’s descendants. This is illustrated by repetitions and, at times, even apparent contradictions. For instance, in 17:17, we learn that Abraham laughs at the promise of a son at his age, while in 18:12, it is Sarah who laughs.
Abraham’s Intercession.
The religious experience of the Patriarchs is rooted in their direct relationship with God. Notice the familiarity and simplicity of Abraham’s interactions with the three figures in this story, one of whom is God himself. This detail reveals that we are encountering a very ancient tradition. Abraham intercedes for the inhabitants of Sodom because he is convinced of divine justice. He intuits—and he wants to prove it—that God will not be so unjust as to act against the evildoer while also condemning the righteous.
This story foreshadows the sin of Sodom while also illustrating the positive impact of Abraham’s blessing on his people. Indeed, the punishment that befalls the corrupt city does not extend to Lot, the patriarch’s nephew.