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The LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
Verse 1. Sitting, and so forth that he might lose no opportunity of exercising hospitality.
He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,
Verse 2. Men in outward appearance, but angels indeed. Hebrews 13:2. Saint Augustine de Calmet. D. xvi. chapter 29. Some have supposed, that one of them was the Son of God, whom Abraham adored, and who bears throughout the chief authority. Tres vidit et unum adoravit. He saw three and adored one, as we read in the Church office. In the former supposition, which is generally adopted, this adoration was only a civil ceremony, if Abraham considered them as mere men; or it might be mixed with a degree of religious, though inferior veneration, if he imagined they were angels; or in fine, he adored God in his representatives. Bible.
and said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant.
Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
Verse 4. Wash ye, or let your feet be washed by me, or by my servants, laventur. Menochius.
I will get a piece of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant.” They said, “Very well, do as you have said.”
Verse 5. Therefore, Providence has directed you hither. Abraham promises but little, and gives much, in the true spirit of generous hospitality. Calmet.
Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three seahs of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.”
Verse 6. Measures, or one epha; that is, three pecks and three pints, English corn measure.—Flour, of the finest quality, similæ.—Hearth, as being soonest ready.
1 seah is about 7 liters or 1.9 gallons or 0.8 pecks
Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it.
Verse 7. Himself. These rich and truly noble people, do not esteem it beneath themto wait on strangers. They provide abundance, but no dainties. Bible.
He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.
They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” He said, “There, in the tent.”
Verse 9. Eaten apparently. Tobit 12:19 or perhaps they consumed the food, as fire may be said to eat. S. Justin’s Dial.
He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.
Verse 10. Time, or season of the year ensuing, if I be alive; which he says after the manner of men, as he had assumed also the human form. Bible.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
Verse 12. Laughed, as if the promise were incredible.—My lord, or husband, which title of respect, Saint Peter i. Calmet. 3:6, commends. D.
The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child when I am old?’
Verse 13. Indeed. This was the import of Sara’s words. By thus revealing what was secretly done in the tent, he shewed himself to be more than man.
Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes around, and Sarah will have a son.”
Verse 14. Hard. So Gabriel says to the blessed Virgin: there is nothing impossible to God.
Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
Verse 15. Afraid; which does not entirely clear her of sin: for though she might innocently laugh, if she thought the person who spoke was only a man, yet she ought not to have told an untruth; and if she reflected, that he had disclosed what she supposed no one knew, and thereby manifested his superiority over man, her denial was still more inexcusable. But she was taken, as it were, by surprise; and therefore the Lord reproves her very gently. Bible.
The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.
The LORD said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do,
since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?
For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that the LORD may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.”
The LORD said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,
I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
Verse 21. I will go down, and so forth The Lord here accommodates his discourse to the way of speaking and acting amongst men: for he knoweth all things, and needeth not to go any where for information.—Note here, that two of the three angels went away immediately for Sodom; whilst the third, who represented the Lord, remained with Abraham.
The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?
What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?
May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Verse 25. With the wicked. God frequently suffers the just to be here the most afflicted; designing to reward them abundantly hereafter. But this was not so common in the days of Abraham and Job. Calmet.
The LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.
What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?” He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
He spoke to him yet again, and said, “What if there are forty found there?” He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.”
He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?” He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
He said, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.”
He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”
Verse 32. Ten. Abraham’s chief solicitude was for Lot; though, out of modesty, he does not mention him; trusting, however, in the divine goodness the he would be preserved, unless he had forfeited his justice, he proceeds no farther. God thus challenges Jerusalem to produce one virtuous man, and the city shall be saved for his sake. Jeremiah 5:1. Bible.
The LORD went his way as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.