Commentary
Skeptic's Annotated Bible
18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Another appearance by God.
18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
18:3 And said, My LORD, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
18:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
18:5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
Abraham shows some hospitality to some angels, though he doesn't know what they're doing here yet.
18:6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
18:7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
18:8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
Beef, butter and milk. I'm not up on my kosher laws, but I'm pretty sure this violates one of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 23.
18:9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
18:10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Sarah is past menopause.
18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Sarah laughs at the idea of having a child, or at least enjoying sex with her old husband.
18:13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD?
God can do anything, including getting an old lady pregnant. But he can't save a city of sinners from themselves. (Oops, reading ahead a bit...)
At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
18:15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
Let's have an argument over whether Sarah did or didn't laugh at the suggestion that she would get pregnant and have a child.
18:16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
Yeah, the conversation was getting a little dull. Plus, there's people who need killing!
18:17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
God debates whether to admit to Abraham that he's about to commit another mass murder. I guess he knows Abraham will try to talk him out of it, which means he must know it's wrong.
18:18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
I know that Abraham is just, and that therefore he won't approve of my crime.
18:20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
18:21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
Strange line. I have to go there to see if they're as evil as they sound, but if they aren't, I'll just know it. What an incomprehensible burdern omniscience must be.
18:22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
Uh oh. I guess Abraham found out what God was up to.
18:23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Good question. Throw the baby out with the bath water?
At this point Abraham and God start to haggle over how many righteous souls there would need to be in Sodom for God to save it. Would you save it for 50? 45? 40? 30? 20? 10? So God admits that he would save the city if Abraham can find even 10 righteous souls. I'm sure there are easily 10 infants, young innocent children, pious men and women who could save this city, if Abraham could only find them. Or better yet, since God is omniscient, he could easily know about these 10 pure souls.
But God has his mind made up, and he's in the mood to kill.
18:24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Good questions! Why would you kill the righteous as well as the wicked? If they're righteous, shouldn't you honor them and spare them?
Apparently not. I guess there's no rainbow in Sodom today.
18:26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but dust and ashes:
18:28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
18:29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.
18:30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
18:31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.
18:32 And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
18:33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
At this point I wonder why Abraham, who knows what God is getting ready to do and knows what it would take to talk him out of it, doesn't rush immediately to Sodom to find 10 righteous souls (10 newborn infants would do) in order to save all those people? Instead he just goes back into his tent and lets God proceed with the mass murder. Nice, Abraham.
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