A- Gen_18:1-33; Gen_19:1-38; Gen_20:1-18; Gen_21:1-34; Gen_22:1-24
Pgs. 68-80
Ch. 18-22
SECTION IV.
VAIYERA.
XVIII. AND the Lord was revealed to him in the Vale of Mamre; and he sat inthe door of the tent while the day was hot. And lie lifted up his eyes andlooked, and, behold, three men stood towards him; and he saw, and ran from thedoor of the tent to meet them, and worshipped upon the earth. And he said,Lord, if now I have found favour in Thine eyes, pass not, I pray, from Thyservant. Accept now a little water, and wash your feet, and recline under thetree, and take a mouthful of bread, and strengthen your hearts, afterward youshall pass on; because for this you have come over unto your servant. And Hesaid, So do as thou hast spoken. And Abraham hastened to the tent to Sarah, andsaid, Make haste with three seyin of the flour of meal, mix and make cakes. Andto the herd ran Abraham, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave to a youngman, and he hastened to dress him. And he took butter and milk, and the calfwhich he had prepared, and set before them, and he waited upon them under thetree, and they ate. And He said to him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said,Behold, in the tent. And He said, Returning I will return to thee, according tothe time that you shall revive, and, behold, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.And Sarah heard in the door of thetent, and it was behind Him. And Abraham and Sarah were old and advanced indays, and with Sarah had ceased to be the way of women. And Sarah laughedwithin herself, saying, After that I am old shall I have a child, and my lord(being also) old? And the Lord said to Abraham, Wherefore laughed Sarah,saying, Can it be in truth that I shall bring forth, and I being old? What wordis hidden from before the Lord? At the time I will return to thee, according tothe time that you shall revive, and Sarah shall have a son. And Sarah denied,saying, I laughed not: for she was afraid. And He said, No, but thou didstlaugh . . . . And the men arose thence, and looked towards the face of Sedom;and Abraham went with them to accompany them. And the Lord said, Shall Iconceal from Abraham what I am doing? And Abraham shall be indeed a people manyand strong, and in him shall all the peoples of the earth be blessed; becauseit is manifest before me that he will instruct his children, and the men of hishouse after him, to keep the ways which are right before the Lord, to dorighteousness and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which Hehath spoken concerning him. And the Lord said, The cry[1] <\l > ofSedom and Amorah [is heard before Me] because it is great, and the guilt ofthem is very mighty: I will now see, and will judge, whether they do accordingto the report of them which hath ascended before me. I will deal with themthoroughly unless they convert; but if they convert, I will not punish. And themen turned away from thence, and went toward Sedom. And Abraham yet ministeredin prayer before the Lord. And Abraham approached, and said, Wilt Thou, inanger, destroy the righteous with the guilty ? If perhaps there be fiftyrighteous within the city, wilt Thou in anger destroy and not forgive the placefor the fifty righteous who are within it? More true are Thy judgments thanthat Thou shouldst do a thing like that, to destroy the just with the guilty,and that the just should be as the guilty! Thy judgments are true! Can theJudge of all the earth but do justice? And the Lord said, If I find in Sedomfifty righteous in the midst of the city, I will spare all the place for theirsake.[2] <\l > And Abraham answered and said,Behold, I have done a great thing, to speak before the Lord, and I dust andashes! Perhaps of the fifty righteous there may be wanting five: shall all thecity perish through five? And He said, I will not destroy, if I find thereforty and five. And he added yet to speak before Him, and said, Perhaps fortymay be found there. And He said, I will not make the end on account of the forty.And he said, Let not the anger of the Lord now kindle, and I will speak.Perhaps thirty shall be found there. And He said, I will not make the end if Ifind there thirty. And he said, Behold, I have done a great thing to speakbefore the Lord: perhaps twenty shall be found there. And He said, I will notdestroy for the sake of twenty. And he said, Let not now the anger of the Lordkindle, and I will speak only this time: perhaps ten may be found there. And Hesaid, I will not destroy for the sake of the ten! And the Glory of the Lordascended when He had ceased to speak with Abraham, and Abraham returned to hisplace.
XIX. And two angels entered into Sedom in theevening; and Lot sat in the gate of Sedom. And Lot saw, and arose to presenthimself before them, and he bowed with his face to the earth. And he said, Ipray my lords (ribboni) to turn asideunto the house of your servant and lodge, and wash your feet; and rising earlyyou shall go on your way. And they said, Not so, but in the wide place will welodge. And he was greatly in earnest with them, and they turned aside with him,and entered into his house: and he made them a supper, and dressed unleavenedcakes for them, and they ate. As yet they had not slept; and the men of thecity, the men of Sedom, gathered against the house, from the youth unto the oldman, all the people from the extremes; and they cried to Lot, and said to him,Where are the men who came to thee to-night? Bring them forth to us, andwe will know them. And Lot went out to them to the gate, and the door he shutafter him. And he said, I pray you, my brethren, do not (so) wickedly. Behold,now, I have two daughters, who have not known man, I would bring them to you,and you should do to them what pleases in your eyes; only to these men donothing, because they have entered under the shadow of my dwelling.[3] <\l >And they said, Go in, however! And they said, One came to sojourn, and, behold,he judgeth judgment! Now will we do worse to thee than to them; and theyprevailed against the man, against Lot, greatly, and came nigh to shatter thedoor. And the men put forth their hands, and brought in Lot to be with them inthe house, and shut the door. And the men who were at the gate of the housethey smote with blindness,[4] <\l > from the little to the great, andthey were wearied to find the gate. And the men said to Lot, Whomsoever thouhast yet here, thy son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and allthat thou hast in the city, lead out from the place: for we will destroy thisplace, because their cry is great before the Lord, and the Lord hath sent us todestroy it. And Lot went forth, and spake with his sons-in-law, thetakers of his daughters, and said, Arise, come forth from this place; for theLord will destroy the city. And he was as a trifler in the eyes of his sons-in-law.And it was as the morning rose that the angels were urgent upon Lot, saying,Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters who are found faithful with thee,lest thou be smitten with the punishment of the city. But he delayed; and themen laid hold of his hands, and of the hand of his wife, and of the hand of histwo daughters; for the Lord had mercy upon him; and they brought him forth, andset him without the city. And it was when he had brought them without, he said,Be merciful on thy life, look not behind thee, and stand not in all the plain,escape to the mountain for deliverance, lest thou perish. And Lot said to them,Be entreated, O Lord; behold now, Thy servant hath found mercy before Thee, andThou hast magnified Thy goodness which Thou hast shown me in saving my life,and I cannot take refuge in the mountain, lest evil befall me, and I die.Behold now, this city is nigh, to flee there; and it is (but) small; let me nowescape thither. Is it not small? and my life shall be sustained. And He said tohim, Behold, I have accepted thee[5] <\l > in this thing also, in that I willnot overthrow the city for which thou hast prayed. Haste, escape thither; for Icannot do anything until thou be come thither. Therefore be called the name ofthe city Zoar.[6] <\l > The sun had come forth upon theearth, and Lot entered Zoar. And the Lord rained upon Sedom and upon Amorahsulphur and fire from before the Lord from the heavens, and destroyed thosecities and all the plain, and all the dwellers in the cities and the herbage ofthe earth. And his wife looked behind her, and she became astatue of salt. And Abraham ascended in the morning[7] <\l > to theplace where he had ministered in prayer before the Lord; and he looked towardSedom and Amorah, and upon all the place of the plain land, and saw, and,behold, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it waswhen the Lord destroyed the cities of the plain, that the Lord rememberedAbraham, and sent Lot from the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew thecities in which Lot dwelt. And Lot went up from Zoar, and dwelt in themountain, and his two daughters with him: for he feared to dwell in Zoar; andhe dwelt in a cavern, he and his two daughters. And the elder said to the younger,Our father is aged, and there is no man in the earth to go in unto us accordingto the way of all the earth. Come, we will pour father wine, and will lie withhim, and raise up sons[8] <\l > from our father. And they pouredtheir father wine in that night; and the elder went in and lay with her father;and he knew not, in her lying down nor in her rising up. And it was in the daywhich followed that the elder said to the younger, Behold, I lay yesterday withthe father: let us give wine also in the night, and go thou in, lie with him,and we will raise up sons from our father. And they gave that night also wineto their father, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he knew not, inher lying down nor in her rising up. And the two daughters of Lot conceived fromtheir father; and the elder brought forth a son, and called his name Moab: heis the father of the Moabaee unto this day. And the younger also brought fortha son, and she called his name Bar Ammi: heis the father of the B’ni Ammon unto this day.
XX. And Abraham migrated from thence to the southern land, and dweltbetween Rekam and Hagra;[9] <\l > and he sojourned in Gerar.[10] <\l >And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelek, king ofGerar,[11] <\l > sent and took Sarah. And the wordcame from the presence of the Lord to Abimelek in a dream of the night, andsaid to him, Behold, thou diest, on account of the woman whom thou hast taken,and she a man’s wife. But Abimelek had not come nigh her. And he said, Lord,wilt Thou also kill the innocent people? Did he not say to me, She is mysister? And she also said, He is my brother. In the rectitude of my heart, andthe cleanness of my bands, have I done this. And the Lord said to him in adream, It is also manifest to Me that in the integrity of thy heart thou hastdone this, and I have also restrained thee from sinning before Me;[12] <\l >therefore I have not permitted thee to approach to her. And now return themares wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for thee, and thou shaltlive. But if thou wilt not return (her), know that dying thou shalt die,[13] <\l >thou, and ail who are thine. And Abimelek arose in the morning, and called allhis servants, and spake all these words before them; and the men fearedgreatly. And Abimelek called Abraham, and said to him, What hast thou done tous, and in what have I sinned against thee, that thou shouldst have broughtupon me and upon my kingdom a great sin?[14] <\l > Works which are notworthy to be done hast thou done with me. And Abimelek said to Abraham, Whatsawest thou, that thou didst thisthing? And Abraham spake, Because I said, Perhaps the fear of the Lord is notin this place, and they will kill me on account of my wife. Nevertheless,in truth she is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter ofmy mother; and she became my wife. And it was, when the people erred after theworks of their hands, the Lord did bring me near to the fear of Himself, from(among) the house[15] <\l > of my father. And I said to her,This is thy favour which thou canst do for me; in every place through which wepass, say of me, He is my brother. And Abimelek took sheep, and oxen, andservants, and handmaidens, and gave to Abraham, and returned to him Sarah hiswife. And Abimelek said, Behold, my land is before thee: where it is pleasant inthine eyes, dwell. And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given a thousand seleenof silver to thy brother; behold, that is to thee a veil[16] <\l > ofhonour, for my having sent to take thee, and to see thee, and all that is withthee; and concerning all whatever thou hast spoken thou art reproved. AndAbraham prayed before the Lord, and the Lord healed Abimelek, and his wife, andhis handmaids, and they were revived: for the Lord had shut all the wombs ofthe house of Abimelek, on account of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.
XXI. And the Lord remembered Sarah as He had said; and the Lord did untoSarah according as He had spoken. And Sarah conceived and bare unto Abraham ason in his old age, in the time of which the Lord had told him. And Abrahamcalled the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bare to him, Izhak.And Abraham circumcised Izhak his son (when) the son of eight days, as the Lordhad commanded him. And Abraham was the son of a hundred years when Izhak hisson was born to him. And Sarah said, The Lord hath made me to have gladness;every one who heareth will give me joy. And she said, Faithful is He who spakeunto Abraham, and certified that Sarah should suckle children; for she hathborn a son in his old age. And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham madea great feast in the day when Izhak was weaned.[17] <\l > AndSarah observed the son of Hagar the Mizritha, whom she bare to Abraham,deriding. And she said, Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of thehandmaid shall not inherit with my son, with Izhak. And the word was evilexceedingly in the eyes of Abraham, on account of his son. And the Lord said toAbraham, Let it not be evil in thine eyes concerning the youth and concerningthine handmaid. All that Sarah saith to thee receive from her, because in Izhakshall thy sons be called to thee. And also the son of the handmaid will I setfor a people, because he is thy son. And Abraham rose up in the morning, andtook bread and a skin of water, and gave to Hagar, setting upon her shoulder, andthe youth,[18] <\l > and dismissed her. And she went, andwandered in the desert of the well of Shava (Beara de Shava). And the water wasfinished from the skin; and she laid the youth under one of the trees, and wentand sat over against, as far off as a bow flight: for she said, I cannot seethe death of the child . . . . And she sat over against, and lifted up hervoice and wept. And the voice of the youth was heard before the Lord; and theAngel of the Lord called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What tothee, Hagar? Fear not, for the voice of the youth is heard before the Lord inthe place where he is. Arise, take up the youth and strengthen thine hand inhim,[19] <\l > because for a great people have Iappointed him. And the Lord opened[20] <\l > her eyes, and she saw the well ofwaters, and went and filled the skin with water, and gave the youth to drink.And the Word of the Lord was the Helper of the youth, and he grew and dwelt inthe wilderness, and became a master of the bow. And he dwelt in the wildernessof Paran, and his mother took for him a wife from the land of Mizraim. And it was in that time that Abimelek and Phikol, chief of his host, spaketo Abraham, saying, The Word of the Lord is thy Helper in everything thoudoest; and now swear to me here, by the Word of the Lord, that thou wilt not befalse with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son; and that according tothe good which I have done to thee thou wilt do with me and with the land inwhich thou art a sojourner. And Abraham said, I will swear. And Abrahamreproved Abimelek, on account of the well of waters which the servants ofAbimelek had taken by force.[21] <\l > And Abimelek said, I knew not ifthis thing had been done, and thou also hadst not shown me, nor have I heard,but this day. And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave to Abimelek, and theystruck both of them a covenant. And Abraham made seven lambs stand apart; andAbimelek said to Abraham, What are these seven lambs which thou hast made tostand apart? And he said, That thou mayest take the seven lambs seven lambsfrom my hand, to testify for me that I have digged that well. Therefore hecalled that place Beer Shava, because there they sware together. And theystruck a covenant at Beer Shava. And Abimelek and Phikol,[22] <\l > thechief of his host, arose, and returned to the land of the Phelishtaee. And heplanted a tree[23] <\l > in Beer Shava, and prayed there inthe name of the Lord, the Most High God.[24] <\l > And Abraham sojournedin the land of the Phelislitaee many days.
XXII. And it was after these things that the Lord tempted Abraham; and Hesaid to him, Abraham! And he said, Behold, I am. And He said, Take now thy son,thy only, whom thou lovest, Izhak, and go into the land of worship, and offerhim before Me there, a burnt offering, upon one of the mountains which I willtell thee. And Abraham arose in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took twoof his young men with him, and Izhak his son, and clave the wood for the burntoffering, and arose and went to the place of which the Lord had spoken to him.And in the third day Abraham lifted, up his eyes, and saw the place from afar.And Abraham said to his young men, Wait you here with the ass, and I and theyoung man will ascend yonder and worship, and return to you. And Abraham tookthe wood of the burnt offering, and laid on Izhak his son; and he took in hishand the fire and the knife, and they went both of them as one. And Izhak spaketo Abraham his father, and said, Father! And he said, Behold, I am, my son. Andhe said, Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for the burntoffering? And Abraham said, The lamb for the burnt offering is revealed beforethe Lord, my son. And they went, both of them, as one. And they came to theplace of which the Lord had told him. And Abraham builded there the altar, andset in order the woods, and bound Izhak his son, and laid him upon the altarabove the woods. And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to cutoff his son. And the Angel of the Lord called to him from the heavens, and said,Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Behold, I am. And he said to him, Stretch notout thy hand upon the youth, neither do any thing to him: for now I know thatthou fearest the Lord, and that thou hast not spared thy only son[25] <\l >for Me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes after these (words), and saw, andbehold, one ram, holden in the bush by his horns. And Abraham went and took theram, and offered him for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abrahamworshipped and prayed there in that place, and said before the Lord, Here shallgenerations worship: wherefore it shall be paid in that day, In this mountainAbraham worshipped before the Lord.[26] <\l > And the Angel of the Lord called toAbraham the second time from the heavens, and said, By my Word have I sworn,saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy onlyson, therefore, blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thysons as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the sea shore; and thysons shall inherit the cities of their enemies. And all the peoples of theearth shall be blessed through thy son: forasmuch as thou hast received Myword. And Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went togetherunto Beer Shava, and Abraham dwelt in Beer Shava. And it was after these things it was shown to Abraham, saying, Behold,Milcha, also, hath born sons to Nachor, thy brother: Uts his first-born,and Booz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, and Kesed, and Chazu, andPhildash, and Yedlaph, and Bethuel. And Bethuel begat Revekah. These eight bareMilcha to Nahor, brother of Abraham. And his concubine, whose name was Reuma,she also bare Tebach, and Gacham, and Tachash, and Maaka.
[1]Kebelath.
[1] Sam. Vers. "I will tolerate all theplace."
[1] "Under the shadow of myfamily." --Sam. Vers.
[1] Or, "with diziziness of theeyes." Shabriria, which Casteldefines, "Scotomata, subita oculum tenebra cum vertigine."
[1] "Accepted thy face."
[1] Little.
[1] Sam. Vers. beshelu shoker, "in the stillness of the morning."
[1] Sam. Vers. "and we shall live in thesons of our father."
[1] Heb. "between Kadesh and Shur."
[1] Sam. Vers. "Askelon."
[1] Sam. Vers. "Shultan ofAskelon."
[1] Sam. Vers. "from becoming uncleanberfore Me."
[1] Sam. Vers. "perishing thou shaltperish."
[1] Sam. Vers. "a great pollution."
[1] Sam. Vers. "tabernacle."
[1] Or, "covering of the eyes."
[1] Sam. Vers. "in the day of the (pelututh) liberation of his son."
[1]Rabia,"a growing child."
[1] Or, "on him;" "hold himfirmly." So the Latin Apprenhende manu tua eum. The Samaritan Version has, "Take the youth,and fortify thy hand in him."
[1] Or, "illuminated."
[1] Sam. Vers. "had takenfraudulently."
[1] Sam. Vers. "Pumkol," a namemeaning as the Hebrew form.
[1] Sam. Vers. "a paradise."
[1] Sam. Vers. "vision."
[1] Sam. Vers. "the son of thyheart."
[1] Sam. Vers. "In the mountain the Lordwill see, will multiply."
[1] <\l >Kebelath.
[2] <\l > Sam. Vers. "I will tolerate allthe place."
[3] <\l > "Under the shadow of myfamily." --Sam. Vers.
[4] <\l > Or, "with diziziness of theeyes." Shabriria, which Casteldefines, "Scotomata, subita oculum tenebra cum vertigine."
[5] <\l > "Accepted thy face."
[6] <\l > Little.
[7] <\l > Sam. Vers. beshelu shoker, "in the stillness of the morning."
[8] <\l > Sam. Vers. "and we shall live inthe sons of our father."
[9] <\l > Heb. "between Kadesh andShur."
[10] <\l > Sam. Vers. "Askelon."
[11] <\l > Sam. Vers. "Shultan ofAskelon."
[12] <\l > Sam. Vers. "from becomingunclean berfore Me."
[13] <\l > Sam. Vers. "perishing thoushalt perish."
[14] <\l > Sam. Vers. "a greatpollution."
[15] <\l > Sam. Vers. "tabernacle."
[16] <\l > Or, "covering of theeyes."
[17] <\l > Sam. Vers. "in the day of the (pelututh) liberation of his son."
[18] <\l >Rabia, "a growing child."
[19] <\l > Or, "on him;" "holdhim firmly." So the Latin Apprenhende manu tua eum. The Samaritan Version has, "Take the youth,and fortify thy hand in him."
[20] <\l > Or, "illuminated."
[21] <\l > Sam. Vers. "had takenfraudulently."
[22] <\l > Sam. Vers. "Pumkol," aname meaning as the Hebrew form.
[23] <\l > Sam. Vers. "a paradise."
[24] <\l > Sam. Vers. "vision."
[25] <\l > Sam. Vers. "the son of thyheart."
[26] <\l > Sam. Vers. "In the mountain theLord will see, will multiply."