Sodom, Promise to Abraham, Ishmael, Hagar, Isaac, Akeida…Gaza

Genesis 18-22, covers a lot of ground. There is probably enough material for a book on any of the topics recorded in these four chapters.

Angels’ Visit to Abraham:

In Genesis 18, YHVH appears to Abraham, and he sees three figures pass by the tent while he is sitting in the entrance in the “heat of the day”. Genesis 17 tells of Abraham circumcising himself, Ishmael and all the males of his household. Chapter 18 follows with Abraham sitting at the door of his tent. Many commentaries say that Abraham was still in the pain of the circumcision when the visitors came to him. This is not clear from the plain reading of the text.

In chapter 17:26 we read: “Thus Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on that very day;” From the context it seems that Abraham circumcised both himself and Ishmael on the very day that he received the command to do so. The rest of the servants and staff of his household are mentioned afterwards and thus may have been circumcised a little later. It is not clear that they were all circumcised on the same day, nor is it clear that Abraham was sitting in the “heat” (“heat” according to rabbinic commentaries meaning maximum pain) on the 3rd day when the Heavenly visitors came. There is no mention of the 3rd day here.

 “Babylonian Talmud (Bava Metzia 86b), interprets “in the heat of the day” as a reference to the third day after Abraham was circumcised at the age of 99.”

What is a possible understanding of a text is not necessarily fact, as we often see when reading biblical texts and their commentaries. If we stay true to Biblical text, there will be unanswered questions which must be explored or accepted as unanswered. What would be the motive for saying that YHVH visited Abraham on the 3rd day when he was in extreme pain? 

The text shows Abraham running to meet the three visitors. How could he do this in the pain after circumcision?

 “And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.” My Lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.”

Why does Abraham address the three men as “my Lord” in the singular (Master–Adonai in Hebrew)? The first verse of chapter 18 says: 

“Then YHVH appeared to Abraham by the Oaksa of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.” 18:1

Does Abraham address YHVH or the three men since it is written in the singular? Does he recognize one of them as YHVH and the other two as angels? 

Later, after two of the men leave, YHVH stays with Abraham to bargain for the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. It would appear that Abraham knows whom he must speak to. 

We see Abraham with typical Middle Eastern hospitality, send his servant to prepare a calf and his wife to make three portions of flour into bread to set before his guests. What was set before the guests in this meal? 

Milk and Meat:

“Then Abraham brought curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and he set them before the men and stood by them under the tree as they ate.” 18:8

Why does Abraham serve milk, curds and a calf at the same meal? It is clear that the meat was prepared separately from the milk, (it was not boiled in the milk). But in Modern Judaism, dishes made with milk are never allowed at a meal where meat is consumed. How has this bottom line rule of Modern Judaism evolved from a clearly written passage that apparently Abraham understood? (By the way the law was written three times in the Torah so we wouldn’t get it wrong. (Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21). 

Is it possible that the law about boiling a kid in its mother’s milk was not known by Abraham? It is pretty clear that he did not boil anything, so when Genesis 26 says that Abraham knew the laws of the Torah, it must mean he had a better idea of what it meant than what is known as Torah today. So how did this law evolve to what it is today? 

Did Abraham keep the Torah?

26:5  עֵקֶב אֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַע אַבְרָהָם בְּקֹלִי וַיִּשְׁמֹר מִשְׁמַרְתִּי מִצְוֺתַי חֻקּוֹתַי וְתוֹרֹתָי׃

Gen 26: “5 because that Abraham hearkened to my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” (The Hebrew for ” law” is Torah).

After the meal the two men with YHVH got up to journey to Sodom and YHVH stayed to speak more with Abraham about His plans to destroy the wicked city. Abraham bargains for the salvation of the city from 50 innocent, down to 10, that the judge of the earth be merciful–not slaying the righteous with the wicked (verse 23). And then YHVH left. 

Ten Men

From this passage which shows ten people as being the limit to God’s mercy, we have the declaration that an Orthodox minyan requires 10 men to intercede with the Eternal on important matters such as reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish or Yahrzeit or Wedding blessings. If we look at the passage in Genesis, the 10 referred to righteous persons not necessarily, men. And another question arises, is it always necessary to have 10 persons pray to YHVH on important matters? Certainly, from the standpoint of numbers the more righteous people pray the more they will be heard. But what about when Elijah called down fire from heaven? He was a lone voice. Are there other times when God answers prayers without a minyan? 

Isaac

In chapter 21 the promise to Sarah is fulfilled. She gives birth to Isaac. His name means laughter. Isn’t it interesting that both Abraham and Sarah laughed when the promise was first given to them? Isaac’s name was given by YHVH in advance of his birth. When Abraham laughed (Chapter 17:17), he asked how it might be that a man at 100 and Sarah at 90 could have a son? In chapter 18 when the three Strangers visited Abraham, it was Sarah’s turn to laugh (Chapter 18:12) but she was afraid and lied that she had not laughed. She asked how she having passed her child bearing age and her husband so old, should finally find enjoyment. 

Angels visit Lot

In chapter 19, the two angel messengers arrive at Sodom and are urged to stay with Lot. In the evening, the town’s people want to defile them, and Lot offers to surrender his two virgin daughters for the town to do as they wished. The angels then saved Lot from this harrowing encounter with the townsfolk by striking blindness upon those gathered outside. 

Why would this be right for a father to say if he stands as the protector of the family? Later, Lot did not seek husbands for his daughters, and they chose the path of incest with their father to be able to produce offspring. Some say they were so isolated that they didn’t ever encounter men available to marry. Maybe they were afraid to marry any of the inhabitants of the land.

Looking back at the escape from Sodom: when in the morning Lot, his wife and daughters were hurried out of the city, they were warned to hurry and not look back. Lot’s wife turned to a pillar of salt when she disobeyed. What does this mean? Was it a literal pillar, or was it a lesson in not having bitterness about leaving the past behind? Was she unwilling to leave and got caught by the fire that was falling? Did she lag behind when the rest of them were hurrying to safety? Why did she look back? 

Casting out Ishmael

In chapter 21, when Isaac is born and is circumcised, we see Sarah asking to have Ishmael cast out with his mother, so that he would not inherit anything that belonged rightfully to Isaac. But if we remember, it was at Sarah’s insistence that Hagar be taken to produce a son for Abraham. Now that she has a child of her own, she turns on Hagar who is extradited at God’s command and sent to wander with her son in the desert. The boy was more than 13, given the timeline of what had happened previously. Abraham and Ishmael are circumcised when Ishmael is 13, then the next year Sarah gives birth to Isaac, Ishmael is playing, perhaps mocking Isaac and Sarah tells Abraham to send them away. Ishmael, strangely is shown to be a child in the verses that follow. His mother lays him down under a bush to die. How is this possible, if he is a strapping lad of 14 or more? Was he in grief so overbearing that he wanted to die and thus lay down himself? When the angel found Hagar, he said that God had heard Ishmael’s prayer (21:17). He also gave her the promise that Ishmael would be blessed and grow to a great nation. 

Not many years hence it was the Ishmaelites that bought Joseph when his brothers decided to sell him. Only 2 generations had passed, and there was already animosity enough to sell their kinsman as a slave. 

Why the test of Akeida

We see Abraham making an alliance with Abimelech which later seems to have brought about the test of all time, the call for the Akeida on Mt. Moriah. God tested Abraham with an almost unimaginable test after making a covenant with a foreign power. The land was not to be bartered off. The land was given to Abraham, so why did he make a covenant with Abimelech? Looking back on this with knowledge of Israel’s struggles with alliances seems to reveal a that God was showing Abraham that if he gave the land away, he might as well not have descendants, and we see that happening all around us today. Curiously Abimelech returned to the land of the Philistines which was Gaza. 

“And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines a long time.” (21:34)

Why are we still having trouble with Gaza? Was all this started with a wrongful covenant that Abraham made with Abimelech?

Shabbat Shalom!

Ariella