The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 308

EXPOSITION. standing hy him. AJ,d when he eaw them CHAPTER XVIII. (i. e. understood the.1 one of them was Je- Ver. 1.-And the Lord-Jehovah, the hovah, Jarchi rightly explaining that the Divine nnme employed throughout tho pre- wortl translated abovn "looked " i. e. with sent nnd succeeding chapters, ,Thich are the bodily vision, no,v implie~ an act of aecordingly assigned to the JchoTist (Tuch, mental perception), he ran to meet them Bicek, Daridson, Colenso), with the excep- from the tent door, and bowed himself to- tion of eh. xix.. 29, which is commonly re- ward the ground. The expression denotes garded as a f~1cnt of the original Elohist's the complete prostration of the body by first narration (1,'ide i1\fra)-appeared unto him. falling on the knees, and then inclinina the The absence of Abraham's name has been head forwards till it touches. the ~und. thought to favour the idea that the present As this was a mode of salutation practised by chapter should haTe begun at eh. xvii. 23 Orientals towards superiors generally, such (Quarry). That the time of this renewed as kings and princes (2 Sam. ix. 8), but also Divine manifestation 'l"as shortly after the towards equals (eh. xxiii. 7 ;· xxxiii. 6, 7; incidents recorded in the preceding chapter xliL 6 ; xii.ii. 26),' as well 11.'1 towards the is apparent, as also that its object was the Deity (eh. xxii. 6; 1 Sam. i. 3), it is impos- reassurance of the patriarch ·concerning the sible to affirm. with certainty (Keil, Lange) hirth of lsaAc. In the plains of Me.mre. that an act of worship was intended by the Literally, in the oaks of Mamre (vide eh. patriarch, and ·not simply the presentation xiii. 18). And he sat in the tent door. of human and civil honour (Calvin). If Literall_,, in the opening of the tent, a fold Heb. xiii. 2 inclines to countenance the of which was fastened to a post near by to la.tter interpretation, the language in which admit any air that might be stirring. In Ab1·aham immediately addresses one of the the heat of the day. I. e. noontide (cf. 1 three men almost leads to the conclu~ion Sam. xi 11 ), as the cool of the day, or the that already the patriarch had recognised \\ind of the day (eh. iii. 8), means eventide. Jehovah, " The nsnal term for noon is Tsoharim Ver. 3.-And said, My Lord-Adonai, (eh. xli.ii. 16), that is, the time of • double .literally, Lord, as in·ch. XV; 2, q. v. (LXX., or greatest light,' while a more poetical ,cvpu ; Vulgatc, Domine,· Syriac, Onkolos, expression is ' the height of the day' (Prov. Kalisch, Alford, Lango), though the term iv. 18), either because then the sun has may have indicated nothing more than Abra- reached its most exalted position, or because ham's recognition of the superior authority it appears to stand still in the zenith" of the Being addressed (Murphy). The read- (Kalisch). Among the Orientals the hour in~s Adoni, my Lord (A. V.., Dathius, Rosen- of noon is the time of rest (cf. Cant. i. 7) miiller), and AdonlU, my lords (Gesenius), and the time of dinner (eh. xii.i.i. 16, 25). are incorrect-if now I ha.ve found favour In this case the patriarch had probably dined in thy sight - not implying dubiety on and was resting after dinner, since, on the Abraham's part as to his a.cceptance before arrival of his visitors, preparations had to God (Knobel), but rather postulating his be commenced for their entertainment. already conscious enjoyment of the Divine Yer. 2.-Alld he lift up his eyes and favour as the ground of the request nLout looked, and, lo, three men stood by him. to be preferred (Delitzsch, Lange), 'l'hoso :Kot in addition to (Kalisch), but including who regard Abraham as unconscious of the (Keil), Jehovah, whose appearance to the Divinity of him to whom he spake see in his pa tria~ch, having in the previous verse been language nothing but the customary formula arst generally stated, is now minutely de- of Oriental address (Rosenmliller ; cf. eh. scribed. That these three men were not xxx. 27 ; 1 Sam. xx. 29 ; Esther vii. 3)- manifestations of the three persons of the paes not away, I pray thee, from thy eerv&nt. Godh~ad (Justin Martyr, Ambrose, Cyril), The hospitality of the Eastern, a.nd even o~ bnt Jehovah accompanied by two created the Arab, has been frequently remarked by angels (Keil, et alii), may be inferred from travellers, Volney describes the Arab. as eh. xix. 1. When first perceived by the dining at his tent door in order to invit<1 patriarch they were believed to be men, passers-by(' Trav.,' i. p. 314). "The virtuo. itl'llr,gers, who were approaching his tent, of hospitality is 011e of the great redeem and indeed were already close to it, or ing virtues in tho character of the Bedouiu8" ea. XVIII 1-15.J THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 241