52 | Genesis 18:3
three men p stand ing nearby. When he saw them, he hur ried from the en trance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
3 He said,“ If I have found fa vor in your eyes, my lord, a do not pass your ser vant by. 4 Let a lit tle wa ter be brought, and then you may all wash your feet q and rest un der this tree. 5 Let me get you some thing to eat, r so you can be re freshed and then go on your way— now that you have come to your ser vant.”“ Very well,” they an swered,“ do as you say.” 6 So Abra ham hur ried into the tent to Sarah.“ Quick,” he said,“ get three se ahs b of the fin est flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
7 Then he ran to the herd and se lected a choice, ten der calf and gave it to a ser vant, who hur ried to pre pare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been pre pared, and set these be fore them. s While they ate, he stood near them un der a tree. 9“ Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.“ There, in the tent,” he said. 10 Then one of them said,“ I will surely re turn to you about this time next year, and
Sarah your wife will have a son.” t
Now Sarah was lis ten ing at the en trance to the tent, which was be hind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were al ready very old, u and Sarah was past the age of child bear ing. v 12 So Sarah laughed w to her self as she thought,“ Af ter I am worn out and my lord x is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abra ham,“ Why did Sarah laugh and say,‘ Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? y I will re turn to you at the ap pointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said,“ I did not laugh.” But he said,“ Yes, you did laugh.”
18:2 p ver 16, 22; Ge 32:24; Jos 5:13; Jdg 13:6-11; Heb 13:2
18:4 q Ge 19:2; 43:24 18:5 r Jdg 13:15 18:8 s Ge 19:3 18:10 t Ro 9:9 *
18:11 u Ge 17:17 v Ro 4:19
18:12 w Ge 17:17; 21:6 x 1Pe 3:6
18:14 y Jer 32:17, 27; Zec 8:6; Mt 19:26; Lk 1:37; Ro 4:21
18:17 z Am 3:7 a Ge 19:24
18:18 b Gal 3:8 *
18:19 c Dt 4:9-10; 6:7 d Jos 24:15; Eph 6:4
18:21 e Ge 11:5 18:22 f Ge 19:1 18:23 g Nu 16:22
Abraham Pleads for Sodom
16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down to ward Sodom, and Abra ham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said,“ Shall I hide from Abraham z what I am about to do? a 18 Abra ham will surely be come a great and pow er ful na tion, b and all na tions on earth will be blessed through him. c 19 For I have cho sen him, so that he will di rect his chil dren c and his house hold af ter him to keep the way of the Lord d by do ing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abra ham what he has promised him.”
20 Then the Lord said,“ The out cry against Sodom and Go mor rah is so great and their sin so griev ous 21 that I will go down e and see if what they have done is as bad as the out cry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
22 The men turned away and went to ward Sodom, f but Abra ham re mained stand ing be fore the Lord. d 23 Then Abra ham ap proached him and said:“ Will you sweep away the righ teous with the wicked? g 24 What if there are fifty righ teous peo ple in the city? Will you
a 3 Or eyes, Lord b 6 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms c 18 Or will use his name in blessings( see 48:20) d 22 Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition but the Lord remained standing before Abraham
18:2 three men. See note on vv. 1 – 15. Abraham must have viewed them as important visitors, for he runs to meet them and bows down to the ground before them. An elderly, wealthy herdsman would not normally greet visitors like this. 18:3 – 5 While Abraham treats all the visitors with respect, his initial word of invitation indicates that he views one of the men as more important than the others. 18:3 my lord. May be used to indicate respect for an important person( e. g., 23:6 [“ Sir”]) or to address God in prayer( e. g., 20:4). From what is said, it is difficult to tell at what point Abraham recognized the special visitor as the Lord( see NIV text note). 18:5 something to eat. Abraham sets about preparing a lavish meal for his visitors. Abraham’ s actions underline his desire to satisfy his guests as best he can. He even stands( v. 8), waiting on them, while they eat the food. Stressing the importance of hospitality, Heb 13:2 possibly alludes to this occasion and also Lot’ s actions in Gen 19:1 – 3.
18:9 – 15 As the meal proceeds, the Lord promises that Sarah will bear Abraham a son in 12 months( v. 10). 18:11 – 12 Since Sarah has passed the age of bearing children, she laughs disbelievingly at the thought of giving birth to a son. Her reaction resembles that of Abraham in 17:17. Nothing, however, is“ too hard for the Lord”( 18:14). 18:16 – 33 Abraham Pleads for Sodom. Perhaps out of concern for his nephew Lot( although he does not specifically mention Lot), Abraham questions the Lord about the forthcoming destruction of Sodom. The text already mentioned that Sodom’ s inhabitants are wicked( 13:13), a point underlined by how Melchizedek contrasts with the king of Sodom( 14:17 – 24). Abraham’ s concern centers on the possibility that the total destruction of the city may include people who are righteous. Cautiously, Abraham presents various scenarios to God, reducing by stages the number of righteous people in the city. Eventually, God reassures Abraham that he will not destroy Sodom if there are ten righteous people within the city. 18:18 all nations on earth. God’ s remarks emphasize the important role that Abraham will have in mediating God’ s blessing to the whole world. This recalls God’ s earlier promise in 12:2 – 3 and the covenant in ch. 17, which portrays Abraham as the“ father of many nations”( 17:5; see note there). 18:20 – 21 God does not take lightly his decision to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord’ s visit demonstrates that the destruction is punishment for their wrongdoing. There is no reason to assume on the basis of these verses that God’ s knowledge of all that occurs on earth is somehow limited. Before God punishes, he scrutinizes the situation with the utmost rigor. 18:23 – 26 Seizing the opportunity, Abraham questions the Lord regarding the fate of the righteous in Sodom. Will God treat the good and the bad in the same way? Abraham seeks reassurance that God will not act unfairly. See“ Justice,” p. 2366.