Genesis 18

Chap. XVIII. Ver. 1—16. Abraham entertaineth three angels.—St. Paul exhorts to hospitality, on the consideration that “thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” ((Hebrews 13:2).) This probably refers to the instances of Abraham and Lot, in this and the following narrative. The chapter before us gives us a fine specimen of patriarchal simplicity and hospitality, which, it appears, still exist in many parts of the East. ‘Nothing is more common in India, (says Ward,) than to see travellers and guests eating under the shade of trees.”—“On my return to the boat, (says Belzoni,) I found the Aga, and all his retinue, seated on a mat, under a cluster of palm-trees; close to the water.

The sun was then setting, and the shades of the western mountains had reached across the Nile and covered the town.” So another traveller in Egypt (Light) tells us—“The Aga having prepared a dinner for me, invited several of the natives to sit down. Water was brought in a skin by an attendant to wash our hands. Two fowls roasted were served up on wheaten cakes, in a wooden bowl, covered with a small mat, and a number of the same cakes in another: in the centre of these were liquid butter and preserved dates.” Similar to these was the entertainment Abraham here prepared for these strangers; and though, in the first instance, he seems not to have been aware of the character of his visiters, he soon perceived a superiority in one of them, who, indeed, disclosed his real character by his language.

The courtesy of Abraham in his address must not be passed over, and the language of the original (as noted in the margin) is still more striking than the version of the text—“Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and stay ye your hearts: after that ye shall pass on: for therefore you have passed to your servant.” During the preparation of this feast, probably, Sarah is inquired for, who was within the tent preparing for the reception of her husband’s guests; and, at the same time, listening to the conversation without, when she heard one of them say, “I will certainly return unto thee…. and Sarah shall have a son;”

whereat she laughed within herself. Of this, one of the three, who is now announced as the Lord Jehovah, inquired, “Wherefore did Sarah laugh? Is any thing too hard for Jehovah?” And then the promise is repeated. Sarah, however, at first denied the fact from fear, not considering it was as vain to attempt to deceive the Lord, as it was foolish to dispute his power and that in both she discovered her unbelief as well as folly. The men (as they appeared to be) now looked toward Sodom, and “set their faces” as if they would go thither: Abraham, therefore, with the same courteousness as he received them went with them to help them on their way. “So when angelic forms to Syria sent, Sat in the cedar shades, by Abraham’s tent, A spacious bowl th’ admiring patriarch fills, With dulcet water from the scanty rills; Sweet fruits and kernels gathers from his hoard, With milk and butter piles the plenteous board; While on the heated hearth his consort bakes Fine flour, well kneaded, in unleavened cakes; The guests ethereal quaff the lucid flood, Smile on their hosts, and taste terrestrial food; And while from Seraph lips sweet converse springs, They lave their feet, and close their silver wings.”—Darwin.

Ver. 17—33. Abraham pleads for Sodom.—Jehovah is now represented rather as reasoning with himself, than as consulting with his attendants, with whom no conversation is recorded. But we must not omit to notice the honourable testimony here borne to Abraham’s character: “I know him, that he will command his children, and his household after him.” Abraham, being blessed himself, was anxious to procure a blessing on his household and descendants; and it is certainly the duty of all who fear God, to teach their children and servants to fear him also. Family instruction and devotion are the duty of every master of a family. ‘And the Lord said’—to Abraham doubtless, or at least within his hearing—“‘I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry which is come

unto me.” Observe, though blood has a loud voice, and cries to heaven, there are other sins which also cry to heaven for vengeance. And the men, that is, the men who were commissioned to destroy Sodom, went forward, while Abraham stood yet before the one Jehovah, that is, the Son of God in human form, and pleaded for mercy on the behalf of Sodom; and herein he has afforded us an example of this duty. 1. His prayer was offered with great reverence: “‘Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.” 2. It was importunate: he pleads, first, if there were but fifty righteous, that the city might be spared; and then he comes gradually down to ten. “Peradventure there shall be ten there;”

and the Lord said, “I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.” 3. It may be remarked, that Abraham says nothing about Lot and his family; from which it may be reasonably inferred, that the angels had information that they had a commission to rescue them. Lastly, to what the inhabitants of this city have arisen, that, notwithstanding the residence of Lot so long among them, and the rescue of their country by the hands of Abraham, still their sins cried to heaven, and brought upon them the vengeance of the Almighty. Some readers may, perhaps, be surprised to find, in this and the following chapters, angels (and even Jehovah himself) appearing in human form; travelling and resting, eating and drinking, as real men, when we are taught in other parts of Scripture to consider them as pure spirits, the inhabitants of another world.

The fact is, we live under a dispensation so different, and in a period so remote from the age of miracles, that it is difficult for us to form a tolerable idea of these events; and many impertinent questions have been asked, to which the Scriptures furnish no answer, and therefore it is our wisdom to be silent. Thus far we know, that the Deity is capable of assuming any created form, and of communicating any form to creatures, either permanent or temporary. We here follow the inspired narrative implicitly; as we proceed through the Bible, we shall not fail to mark the passages which throw any new light on the doctrine of “the ministration of angels,” which pervades the whole of the Bible, and cannot be given up, without giving up the Scriptures altogether.

Notes on the verses

Zoar: “* At what time a man is sealed with the holy seal of this sign, (circumcision,) thenceforth he seeth the blessed God properly, and the holy soul is united with him.”’—Ainsworth. Ver. 19. Isaac.—{Yitzchak, which we change into Isaac, signifies laughter} so called in allusion to Abraham’s laughing, as related in verse 17. By this Abraham did not express his unbelief or weakness of faith, but his joy at the prospect of the fulfilment of so glorious a promise; and to this our Lord evidently alludes, (John 8:58).|—Bagster. Ver. 25. Thirteen years.—{Not only the Jews, but the Arabs, who are the descendants of Ishmael, retain the rite of circumcision to this day; and the latter perform it, as the other Mahometans also do, at the age of thirteen}—Chap.

XVII. Ver. 1. Sat in the tent door.—{In these verses, we have a delightful picture of genuine and primitive hospitality: a venerable father sits at the tent door, not only to enjoy the current of refreshing air, but that if he saw any weary and exhausted travellers, he might invite them to rest and refresh themselves during the heat of the day. In the same manner Homer describes the hospitable Axylus; and the same custom still obtains in the East. It was not the custom, nor was there any necessity, for strangers to knock at the door, or to speak first, but to stand till they were invited; as Minerva is represented in the Odyssey as standing among the common people of Ithaca, near the porch of Ulysses.}—Bagster. Ver. 2. And lo! three men stood by him.—Some expositors have represented these three men as the three persons of the Trinity, but we conceive without authority or propriety; for of the two men who went to Sodom, we find nothing said that intimates divinity; and our Lord has told us that “no man has seen the Father.” ((John 5:37).) The Christian fathers generally refer all the appearances of God in human form to the Son only, whose “delights” were of old with the sons of men. ((Proverbs 8:31).) So Ainsworth, Scott, and Fuller. Ver. 4. Wash your feet—{In those ancient times, shoes, such as ours, were not in use; and the foot was protected only with sandals or soles, fastened round the foot with straps.

It was, therefore, not only necessary, from motives of cleanliness, but also a very great refreshment, in so hot a country, to get the feet washed at the end of a day’s journey; and this is the first thing that Abraham proposes.}—Bagster. Ver. 17. Shall I hide from Abraham, &c.—When God made man; when he excluded him from paradise; and when he came down to view the tower of Babel, he is represented as holding a council, as it were, on those occasions: “Let us make man;”—“Behold, the man is become as one of us;”—“Let us go down and confound their language;” but here the language is materially different. ‘And the Lord said,” as if debating with himself, “Shall I hide from Abraham,” &c.

Ver. 21. I will go down.—[This is spoken figuratively; and as the Jewish writers speak, according to the language of men. So eyes, ears, hands, and other members of the body, are attributed to God, for effecting those things which men cannot accomplish without these members.]—Bagster.