The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (J) Genesis 18:1. Visit of three Angels to Abraham, and the promise of a son to Sarah. 16 33. Colloquy of Jehovah with Abraham; Jehovah's purpose to overthrow Sodom and Gomorrah and the intercession of Abraham. Genesis 19:1. Visit of two Angels to Lot in Sod... [ Continue Reading ]
Visit of three Angels to Abraham, and the Promise of a Son to Sarah (J) 1. _the Lord appeared_ The personal Theophany of Jehovah (cf. Genesis 16:13) was evidently at first not recognized by Abraham. _the oaks of Mamre_ Better, as R.V. marg., _terebinths_. See note on Genesis 13:18. Mamre is here t... [ Continue Reading ]
_lo, three men_ The sudden appearance of the three men before the tent is especially recorded. Their approach had not been observed. As in the case of Genesis 32:24; Joshua 5:13; Judges 13:10-11, the angelic visitants are not distinguishable from ordinary men. _bowed himself to the earth_ Cf. Genesi... [ Continue Reading ]
_My lord_ R.V. marg. _O Lord_. The Heb. word so rendered has received three different translations. (1) "O Lord," as in Genesis 18:27_; Genesis 18:30_, _Adonâi_, addressed to God. So the Massoretic Heb. text, adding the word "holy," as a note, to safeguard the meaning and the pronunciation. (2) "m... [ Continue Reading ]
_wash your feet_ Abraham's offer of hospitable welcome is said to be a faithful representation of the reception of a traveller by an Eastern sheikh. Here we have its various aspects of (1) the courteous greeting; (2) the feet washing; (3) the repast and personal attendance by the host; (4) the escor... [ Continue Reading ]
_a morsel of bread_ Cf. Judges 19:5. With true Oriental subservience of speech Abraham gives this description of the generous entertainment which he intends to provide. For this modesty of speech as a formula of courtesy, cf. Genesis 13:9, Gen 23:11; 2 Samuel 24:22-23. _comfort ye your heart_ As in... [ Continue Reading ]
_into the tent unto Sarah_ Sarah does not appear before the strangers. She is occupied with the baking. Abraham and his servant are responsible for the selection and killing of a calf, the cooking of the meat, and the procuring of butter and milk from the herd. A meal in which meat is provided is a... [ Continue Reading ]
_fetched a calf_ We must remember that meat is rarely eaten by the tent-dwelling nomads. The killing of an animal for a repast indicated a desire to do special honour to a guest.... [ Continue Reading ]
_butter, and milk_ Butter (_ḥem'ah_, LXX βούτυρον) is not what we should call butter, but rather "curds," mentioned here and Judges 5:25, as a cool and refreshing delicacy to be offered to a guest. It is called in the East _leben_. It is probably this which we find so often mentioned with honey, e.g... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sarah thy wife_ The knowledge of his wife's name must have caused Abraham surprise, and gives perhaps the first indication of his guests" real character.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will certainly_ A first hint of Divine knowledge of the parents" grief over their childlessness. _when the season cometh round_ R. V. marg. Heb. _liveth_, or, _reviveth_. A strange phrase, probably meaning "at this time a year hence," as in Genesis 17:21. Cf. 2 Kings 4:16-17, LXX κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν... [ Continue Reading ]
_well stricken in age_ An Old English expression for well-advanced in years: cf. "… his noble queen Well struck in years" (Shakespeare, _Rich. III_, i. 1). Heb. "entered into days," LXX προβεβηκότες, Lat. _provectae aetatis_. Cf. Luke 1:7; Hebrews 11:11-12.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sarah laughed within herself_ This is the laughter, according to J, which furnished a reason for the name "Isaac"; and on that account it is here emphasized. See, for the reason in P, Genesis 17:17. _waxed old_ The word in the original is forcible, and is used elsewhere for worn-out raiment, e.g.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore did Sarah laugh?_ The Divine nature of Abraham's guest is shewn in His knowledge of Sarah's thought, cf. Genesis 17:19. Here, for the first time, Abraham's Visitant is identified with Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
_too hard for the Lord_ Lit., as marg, _wonderful_. The LXX rendering μὴ ἀδυνατεῖ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ ῥῆμα finds an echo in St Luke 1:37. Compare Jeremiah 32:17, "Ah! Lord God! behold, thou hast made, the heaven and the earth by thy great power …: there is nothing too hard for thee." He who thus speaks of... [ Continue Reading ]
_I laughed not_ Sarah apparently emerges, in confusion and fear, to deny the guest's statement. This occasions the fourth repetition of the word "laugh" in these four verses, by the short reply, "Nay, but thou didst laugh.... [ Continue Reading ]
Colloquy of Jehovah with Abraham, &c. (J.) 16. _looked toward Sodom_ The idea is that of directing the gaze from an eminence. A view of the Dead Sea is to be obtained from the hills in the neighbourhood of Hebron: cf. Genesis 19:28. The LXX and Lat. add "and Gomorrah" after "Sodom." _to bring them... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Lord said_ i.e. within Himself: cf. Genesis 20:11, "I thought," lit. "I said." _Shall I hide from Abraham_ With the thought of this verse, cf. Amos 3:6-7, "shall evil befall a city, and the Lord hath not done it? Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his ser... [ Continue Reading ]
_blessed in him_ See note on Genesis 12:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have known him_ See Amos 3:2. Personal knowledge is the basis of confidence and love; the choice of Abraham is no arbitrary election, but the result of knowledge. _to the end that_, &c. The purpose for which God has known and sought out Abraham is here epitomized; (1) that, through the obedience... [ Continue Reading ]
_Because … because_ Better, as marg., _Verily … verily_. _the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah_ See Genesis 19:13. (1) Either, this is the complaint concerning Sodom and Gomorrah going up to Heaven. The genitive "of" is then objective, like "the report of Tyre" (Isaiah 23:5), "the spoil of thine enemies... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will go down_ Cf. Genesis 11:5; Genesis 11:7. The Dead Sea lies in a deep depression to which there would be a continuous descent from Hebron; so that the words may be also understood quite literally. The strong anthropomorphism is in the character of J.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the men turned_ There is nothing definitely to shew that all three Angels are not here intended. But, as the passage stands, Jehovah here separates Himself from the two Angels mentioned in Genesis 19:1. _Abraham stood yet_ Standing is the posture of prayer and intercession. The dialogue (1) em... [ Continue Reading ]
_Abraham drew near_ Abraham's intercession comes as a reply to Jehovah's statement in Genesis 18:20, from which the doom of the cities might be inferred. It forms one of the most striking and pathetic passages in the book. It expresses the generous instincts of the patriarch's nature. Nothing can ex... [ Continue Reading ]
_spare the place_ The word in the Heb. means literally "and take away for the place," i.e. its guilt, and so "forgive," as in Numbers 14:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
_That be far from thee_ An exclamation of deprecation, like "God forbid," or the Lat. _nefas tibi sit_. LXX μηδαμῶς, Lat. _absit a te_. Cf. chap. Genesis 20:4, "Lord, wilt thou slay even a righteous nation?" _that so the righteous should be as the wicked_ This was one of the great problems of relig... [ Continue Reading ]
_dust and ashes_ Two alliterative words in the Heb. (_âphar va-êpher_) which defy reproduction in English: cf. Genesis 1:2; Genesis 4:14. For the dust of man's frame, cf. Genesis 2:7; Genesis 3:19. See a similar use of the phrase in Job 30:19; Job 42:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_communing with_ i.e. "speaking to," as in Genesis 18:27_; Genesis 18:29; Genesis 18:31_. _unto his place_ i.e. "the terebinths of Mamre" (Genesis 18:1), from which Abraham had gone forth to escort the Angels (Genesis 18:16). In the expression "the Lord went his way" (Heb. "went") the writer leaves... [ Continue Reading ]