Genesis 18 · WEB
The Three Visitors and Abraham's Intercession
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Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
2He 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,
3and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don't go away from your servant.
4Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
5I 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."
6Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly prepare three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."
7Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to prepare it.
8He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.
9They asked him, "Where is Sarah, your wife?" He said, "There, in the tent."
10He said, "I will certainly return to you when the season comes around. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.
11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
12Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
13Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Will I really bear a child, now that I am old?'
14Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you, when the season comes around, and Sarah will have a son."
15Then Sarah denied it, saying, "I didn't laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."
16The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.
17Yahweh said, "Will I hide from Abraham what I am doing,
18since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him?
19For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him."
20Yahweh said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,
21I 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."
22The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh.
23Abraham came near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?
24What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?
25Be it 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?"
26Yahweh said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake."
27Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.
28What if there are five fewer than 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."
29He 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."
30He 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."
31He 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."
32He 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."
33Yahweh went his way as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
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Summary
God appears to Abraham as one of three visitors, confirming that Sarah will have a son within a year. Sarah laughs at the impossibility, and God challenges her with the question "Is anything too hard for Yahweh?" The three visitors then move toward Sodom, and God reveals his plan to judge the city to Abraham. Abraham boldly intercedes for Sodom, negotiating down from fifty righteous people to ten, revealing both the depth of his intercession and the wickedness of Sodom (not even ten righteous found there).
Themes
- Hospitality as a sacred duty in the ancient world
- God's power over biological impossibility
- Bold, persistent intercessory prayer
- God as the just Judge of all the earth
- The relationship between knowing God and doing justice
Key verses
- Gen 18:14 — “Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you, when the season comes around, and Sarah will have a son.”
- Gen 18:19 — “For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice.”
- Gen 18:25 — “Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Context & background
The three visitors are a remarkable theophany (divine appearance) — one is Yahweh himself, accompanied by two angels. Abraham's hospitality is extravagant by any standard — he kills a calf, prepares bread, and serves personally. This is a key model of hospitality in biblical ethics (referenced in Hebrews 13:2). Abraham's intercession for Sodom is one of the most dramatic prayer dialogues in Scripture, demonstrating that God invites persistent, reasoned prayer. The theological question "Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?" becomes a touchstone for biblical theodicy — the question of God's justice.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 13:2 — do not neglect hospitality, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it
- James 5:16 — the prayer of a righteous person is powerful, echoing Abraham's intercession
- John 15:15 — Jesus calls disciples friends, as God shared his plans with Abraham (v. 17)
- Luke 18:1-8 — Jesus teaches persistent prayer, as Abraham models here
- Romans 3:26 — God is just and the justifier — echoing "the Judge of all the earth"