Genesis 18:19 | 39 for Ish ma el , I have heard you : I will sure ly bless him ; I will make him fruit ful and will great ly in crease his num bers . He will be the fa ther of twelve rul ers , and I will make him into a great na tion . 21 But my cov enant I will es tab lish with Isaac , whom Sar ah will bear to you by this time next year .” 22 When he had fin ished speak ing with Abra ham , God went up from him .
23
On that very day Abra ham took his son Ishma el and all those born in his house hold or bought with his mon ey , ev ery male in his house hold , and cir cum cised them , as God told him . 24 Abra ham was nine ty-nine years old when he was cir cum cised ,
25 and his son Ish ma el was thir teen ; 26 Abra ham and his son Ish ma el were both cir cum cised on that very day . 27 And ev ery male in Abra ham ’ s house hold , in clud ing those born in his house hold or bought from a for eign er , was cir cum cised with him .
The Three Visitors
The Lord ap peared to Abra ham near the
18 great trees of Mam re while he was sit ting at the en trance to his tent in the heat of the day .
2
Abra ham looked up and saw three men stand ing near by . When he saw them , he hur ried from the en trance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground .
3
He said , “ If I have found fa vor in your eyes , my lord , a do not pass your ser vant by . 4 Let a little wa ter be brought , and then you may all wash your feet and rest un der this tree . 5 Let me get you some thing to eat , so you can be re freshed and then go on your way — now that you have come to your ser vant .” “ Very well ,” they an swered , “ do as you say .”
6
So Abra ham hur ried into the tent to Sar ah . “ Quick ,” he said , “ get three se ahs b of the fin est flour and knead it and bake some bread .”
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Then he ran to the herd and se lect ed a choice , ten der calf and gave it to a ser vant , who hur ried to pre pare it . 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been pre pared , and set these be fore them . While they ate , he stood near them un der a tree .
9
“ Where is your wife Sar ah ?” they asked him . “ There , in the tent ,” he said .
10
Then one of them said , “ I will sure ly re turn to you about this time next year , and Sar ah your wife will have a son .”
Now Sar ah was lis ten ing at the en trance to the tent , which was be hind him . 11 Abra ham and Sar ah were al ready very old , and Sar ah was past the age of child bear ing . 12 So Sar ah laughed to her self as she thought , “ Af ter I am worn out and my lord is old , will I now have this plea sure ?”
13
Then the Lord said to Abra ham , “ Why did Sar ah laugh and say , ‘ Will I real ly have a child , now that I am old ?’ 14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord ? I will re turn to you at the ap point ed time next year , and Sar ah will have a son .”
15
Sar ah was afraid , so she lied and said , “ I did not laugh .”
But he said , “ Yes , you did laugh .”
Abraham Pleads for Sodom
16
When the men got up to leave , they looked down to ward Sod om , and Abra ham walked along with them to see them on their way . 17 Then the Lord said , “ Shall I hide from Abra ham what I am about to do ? 18 Abra ham will sure ly be come a great and pow er ful na tion , and all na tions on earth will be blessed through him . c 19 For I have
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a
3 Or eyes , Lord
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b
6 That is , probably about 36 pounds or
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about 16 kilograms |
c
18 Or will use his name in blessings
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( see 48:20 ) |
of Israel ( also from Abraham ), the 12 Ishmaelite princes ( or rulers ) are listed in 25:12 – 16 .
17:23 – 27 Abraham obeys the covenant rite of circumcision in complete detail . He , Ishmael and every other male in his household are circumcised .
18:1 – 15 After God repeats his promise to Abraham ( 17:15 – 27 ), Abraham is visited by three men . These men restate that Sarah will have a son within a year ( v . 10 ; compare 17:19 – 21 ). This time Sarah reacts with laughter , just as Abraham did earlier ( v . 12 ; compare 17:17 ). Abraham and Sarah ’ s reactions highlight just how surprising and implausible it seems that they will produce a son .
18:1 appeared to Abraham In parallel with earlier events , Yahweh is visibly present with Abraham during this conversation ( see 12:7 and note ; 15:1 and note ; 17:1 ). 18:2 three men standing This indicates that these figures were embodied . Genesis 18:1 indicates that one of the men is Yahweh ( compare v . 13 ). 18:3 my lord It could be that Abraham does not know he is speaking to Yahweh , but this is unlikely . The Hebrew verbs used in this verse are singular , indicating that Abraham addresses only one of the individuals — Yahweh — as adonay ( meaning “ my lord ”). The same form of address occurs later in v . 27 , when Abraham notes that he has spoken boldly with the Lord ( adonay ). In vv . 4 – 5 , the Hebrew verbs are plural as Abraham includes the other two figures in his invitation . 18:4 rest Abraham fulfills the duties of an ancient Near Eastern host . Besides feeding the men , he ensures that they are rested and refreshed . 18:6 three seahs This amount would produce more than enough bread for the visitors .
18:16 – 22 As the three visitors leave , Yahweh considers telling Abraham about his plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah . Yahweh then reflects on his promise to Abraham ( see v . 18 ). Here , for the first time , Yahweh mentions an additional reason for choosing Abraham ( v . 19 ). Yahweh ultimately reveals his plan to Abraham ( vv . 20 – 21 ).
18:19 I have chosen him The Hebrew verb used here , yada ’, is often used to refer to acknowledging something , knowing something or understanding something — the idea seems to be that Yahweh knows Abraham . Yahweh here also seems to refer to his election of Abraham