Genesis 18:5

The passage opens with God’s action: “And the LORD appeared unto him.” The name is Yᵉhôvâh, God’s personal covenant name, which is tied to the Hebrew verb “to be”, hâyâh, and speaks of the God who is, eternal and unchanging. The God who made the covenant with Abraham is the one who now comes to him. “Appeared” is the verb râʼâh, the usual word for seeing, in a form (vayyera) that means “he was seen” or “he let himself be seen”. God makes himself visible to a man who is wide awake in broad daylight, and the meal that follows shows how real the meeting was.

God takes the first step here, as he has all through Abraham’s life. He called Abram out of his own country (Genesis 12:1–3), and he appeared to him at Shechem (Genesis 12:7). This time Abraham is simply resting when the LORD comes.

The place is Mamre, near Hebron, where Abraham had settled and built an altar to the LORD (Genesis 13:18). The KJV’s “plains” translates ʼêlôwn, which other translations give as “oaks” or terebinths, so the tree of verses 4 and 8 is probably one of them. Abraham “sat”, yâshab, a verb that means to sit down and also to dwell or remain. He is at the “tent door”, where ʼôhel is the tent that was the home of a people who moved with their flocks, and pethach is its opening or entrance. The entrance was a common place for the head of a household to sit, because from there he could see who was coming and welcome them. The “heat”, chôm, is the midday heat, the hour when work stopped and people looked for shade.

The chapter itself shows that one of the three is the LORD and the other two are angels. Verse 1 says that the LORD appeared, the LORD speaks to Abraham by name of Sarah’s laughter later in the visit (Genesis 18:13), and two angels arrive at Sodom that evening (Genesis 19:1–3). Verse 2 calls them “men”, ʼĕnôwsh, an ordinary word for men, because that is how they looked to Abraham as he raised his eyes. The little word “lo”, hinneh, draws attention to how suddenly they are there, standing close by him.

Believers differ on how the LORD was present in this visitor. Many hold that this is the Son of God appearing before he took flesh. Some hold that an angel stands for God and speaks for him, and others that the passage tells us simply that God himself took a visible form. All agree that it was truly the LORD who came to Abraham’s tent.

Abraham “lift up his eyes”, where nâsâʼ means to lift, and the moment he sees the men he runs to them. He is ninety-nine years old (Genesis 17:1), it is the hottest part of the day, and he has servants he could send, yet he goes himself and goes quickly.

His words are as humble as his bow. “If now I have found favour in thy sight” uses chên, which means graciousness or favour. Abraham asks for their company as a kindness done to him, as though he were the one receiving the gift. “Pass not away” uses ʻâbar, a very common verb meaning to cross over or pass by, so he is asking them to stop at his tent before they travel on. He calls himself “thy servant”, ʻebed, and he says it again in verse 5. A wealthy and respected man takes the place of one who waits on others.

In the lands where the patriarchs lived, travel was hard and dangerous, inns were rare, and a traveller depended on the people he met for water, food and shelter. Welcoming a stranger was held to be a sacred duty and a matter of honour, and turning one away was a grave offence. Abraham does all that custom asked and then a great deal besides.

He begins with what a traveller needed first. “Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched” is a polite request, with “I pray you” standing where we would say “please”. Water, mayim, was precious in a dry land. The verb behind “fetched” is lâqach, a broad word meaning to take, bring or get, and it comes back in verse 5 (“I will fetch”), in verse 7 (“fetcht”) and in verse 8 (“took”), so that the passage keeps showing Abraham going to get things for his guests. People walked in open sandals on dusty roads, so water for the feet was the first act of welcome and usually came before any meal or conversation. Then he offers rest: “rest yourselves under the tree”. The verb shâʻan means to lean or to support oneself, and it pictures tired men settling back in the shade while the midday sun is at its worst.

Abraham offers “a morsel of bread”, in Hebrew pat lechem. This was the modest way a host began. He named something small so that his guests could accept easily and feel under little obligation, and then he gave far above what he had named. “Comfort ye your hearts” uses çâʻad, to support, strengthen or refresh, and “hearts” is lêb, which in Hebrew covers the whole inner person, the mind and will as well as the feelings. Abraham wants his guests fully restored before they go on. He adds, “for therefore are ye come to your servant”, treating their arrival at his tent as an opportunity given to him to serve them. The visitors answer simply, “So do, as thou hast said.”

What follows is all haste. “Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah”, where mâhar means to hurry, and he tells her to “make ready quickly”. The same hurry returns when the young man “hasted” to dress the calf. Sarah is to use “fine meal”, çôleth, the fine flour that the law later names for the grain offering (Leviticus 2:1). The amount is “three measures” (the measure is the çᵉʼâh), which comes to about 22 litres of flour, far too much for three guests and a sign of the honour Abraham wants to show them. She is to “knead it”, lûwsh, and make “cakes”, ʻuggâh, which were round flat loaves baked quickly on hot stones or embers. Husband and wife work together, each at a part of the welcome.

Then “Abraham ran unto the herd”. The verb is rûwts, to run, and again he goes in person. He chooses a calf “tender and good” (rak v’tov), where ṭôwb is the broad Hebrew word for what is good, pleasant and of fine quality, so this is a choice young animal. He hands it to “a young man”, one of his servants, to prepare.

Last come “butter, and milk”. The word for butter, chemʼâh, means curds, butter or cream, a rich and choice food served here beside fresh milk. The calf in the Hebrew of verse 8 is bên bâqâr, “a son of the herd”, from bên, son, and bâqâr, cattle. Fresh bread, curds, milk and a fatted calf make up the “morsel” Abraham promised.

The New Testament has this scene in view when it says, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). Paul lists the same habit among the marks of a Christian: “Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality” (Romans 12:13). Jesus goes further and receives such kindness as done to himself: “I was a stranger, and ye took me in”, and “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:35–40).

Genesis sets a second welcome beside Abraham’s when Lot receives the two angels at Sodom (Genesis 19:1–3). On the road to Emmaus two disciples pressed a stranger to stay with them, and at the table they knew him to be Jesus (Luke 24:28–31). Abraham’s welcome is also his faith at work, for “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). And the gladness with which he gives matches what Paul writes, that “God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

At Mamre the LORD came for a meal. In Jesus “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), and he is called Emmanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). The God who let himself be seen at the tent door is seen fully in his Son, who told Philip that whoever has seen him has seen the Father (John 14:9). To come among us, Christ “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7–8).

What Abraham did for his guests, Jesus does for his people in a greater way. Abraham sent for water so that feet could be washed, and Jesus knelt and washed his disciples’ feet himself (John 13:5). Abraham offered a little water and rest under a tree, and Jesus offers living water (John 4:10–14) and says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Abraham gave bread and his best calf, and Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35), who gives his flesh for the life of the world (John 6:51) in a sacrifice offered once for all (Hebrews 10:10).

So the guest at Abraham’s table becomes the host. Christ welcomes all who come to him (John 6:37), and he prepares a place for his people in his Father’s house (John 14:2–3). He promises that God will make his home with the one who loves him (John 14:23), and he stands at the door and knocks, ready to come in and eat with anyone who opens (Revelation 3:20). The LORD prepares a table for his own (Psalm 23:5), Jesus promises his disciples that they will eat and drink at his table in his kingdom (Luke 22:30), and Scripture ends with the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). The son promised straight after this meal points to Christ as well, for Paul says that the promised seed of Abraham is Christ (Galatians 3:16).

This passage shows us a God who comes to his people. He came to Abraham on a hot, ordinary day, at home, in an hour of rest, and he came by his own choice. The God we worship is the same LORD, and he is free to meet us in the middle of a working week as surely as in a place of worship.

It also shows us what God is pleased to receive. He sat under Abraham’s tree and ate bread, curds and meat that a household had hurried to prepare. Simple acts such as carrying water, baking and serving a meal were done that day for God himself, and Jesus tells us that kindness shown to the least of his brethren is still received by him.

And it shows us the spirit of a true welcome. Abraham ran, gave his best, promised little and gave much, and then stood by as a servant at his own table. In that he is a small likeness of the Lord Jesus, who serves us and who has prepared a table for all who come to him.