Génesis 18

VBL · Chapter 18/50

¹El Señor se le apareció a Abraham en medio de los robles de Mamré. Abraham estaba sentado a la entrada de su tienda, pues hacía mucho calor ese día.

²Abraham levantó la vista y de repente vio a tres hombres en pie. Al verlos, corrió a su encuentro y se inclinó hasta el suelo.

³Entonces les dijo: “Señor, si le parece bien, no siga su camino sin antes hospedarse conmigo, en la casa de su siervo.

⁴Permítanme traerles agua para lavarse sus pies, y para que descansen junto al árbol.

⁵También permítanme traerles algo de comer para que puedan recobrar sus fuerzas cuando sigan el camino, ahora que ha venido a visitarme”.

⁶Abraham se apresuró a la tienda y le dijo a Sara: “¡Apresúrate! Prepara pan con tres medidas grandes de la mejor harina. Amasa la masa y prepara el pan”.

⁷Entonces Abraham corrió hasta donde estaba el ganado y eligió un becerro bueno y joven, y se lo dio a su siervo, quien lo mató y lo cocinó rápidamente.

⁸Entonces Abraham tomó un poco de yogurt yleche, y cocinó la carne. Luego trajo la comida delante de los tres hombres y se quedó cerca junto a un árbol mientras ellos comían.

⁹“¿Dónde está tu esposa Sara?” le preguntaron.

¹⁰Entonces uno de ellos le dijo: “Te prometo que el próximo año volveré a visitarte por estos días, y tu esposa Sara tendrá un hijo”.Y Sara estaba escuchando mientras se ocultaba a la entrada de la tienda, detrás de él.

¹¹Abraham y Sara ya estaban viejos y eran de edad avanzada. Y Sara ya había pasado su edad fértil.

¹²Sara se estaba riendo dentro de la tienda, y decía para sí: “¿Cómo podría experimentar placer alguno ahora que estoy vieja y cansada? ¡Mi esposo también está viejo!”

¹³Entonces el Señor le preguntó a Abraham: “¿Por qué Sara se rió, y preguntó ‘¿cómo podré tener un hijo ahora que estoy tan vieja?’

¹⁴¿Acaso hay algo difícil para el Señor? Volveré el próximo año durante la primavera, tal como te lo dije, y para entonces Sara tendrá un hijo”.

¹⁵Entonces Sara tuvo temor y negó el hecho, diciendo: “Yo no me reí”.

¹⁶Entonces los hombres se fueron. Miraron en dirección a Sodoma y se dirigieron hacia allá. Y Abraham los acompañó parte del camino.

¹⁷Entonces el Señor dijo: “¿Debería ocultarle a Abraham lo que voy a hacer?

¹⁸Abraham sin duda será una nación grande y ponderosa, y todas las naciones de la tierra serán benditas a través de él.

¹⁹Yo lo he elegido para que le enseñe a sus hijos y a su familia a seguir el camino del Señor haciendo lo que es bueno, a fin de que yo, el Señor, pueda cumplir lo que le he prometido a Abraham”.

²⁰Entonces el Señor continuó diciendo: “Hay muchas quejas expresadas contra Sodoma y Gomorra a causa de su pecado descarado.

²¹Voy a ver si estas quejas son ciertas. Si no lo son, de seguro lo sabré”.

²²Los dos hombres se dieron la vuelta y se dirigieron a Sodoma, pero el Señor se quedó con Abraham.

²³Entonces Abraham se le acercó y le preguntó: “¿En serio vas a destruir a las personas buenas junto con las malvadas?

²⁴¿Qué pasa si hay cincuenta buenas personas en la ciudad? ¿Vas a destruir la ciudad a pesar de que haya cincuenta personas buenas allí?

²⁵¡No puedes hacer algo así! No puedes matar a las personas buenas junto con las malvadas, pues estarías tratando a buenos y malos del mismo modo. ¡No puedes actuar así! ¿No actuará con justicia el Juez de toda la tierra?”

²⁶“Si encuentro a cincuenta personas buenas en Sodoma, perdonaré a toda la ciudad por causa de ellos”, respondió el Señor.

²⁷“Como ya comencé, permíteme seguir hablando con mi Señor, aunque no soy nadie sino apenas polvo y cenizas”, continuó Abraham.

²⁸“¿Qué si hay cuarenta y cinco personas buenas – solo cinco menos – ¿Aun así vas a destruir toda la ciudad solo porque son menos personas buenas?”

²⁹Entonces Abraham habló nuevamente y le preguntó al Señor: “¿Qué pasaría y solo hay cuarenta?”

³⁰“Mi Señor, no te enojes conmigo”, continuó Abraham. “Pero permíteme preguntarte esto: ¿Qué pasaría si hay treinta?”

³¹“Debo admitir que he sido osado en hablar de esta manera con mi Señor”, dijo Abraham. “¿Qué sucedería si solo hubiera veinte personas buenas?”

³²“Por favor, no te enojes conmigo, mi Señor”, dijo Abraham. “Solo permíteme preguntar una cosa más. ¿Qué pasaría si hay solamente diez personas buenas?”

³³Entonces el Señor se fue cuando terminó de hablar con Abraham, y Abraham se fue a casa.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Three visitors (the LORD and two angels) appear to Abraham at Mamre and announce that Sarah will have a son; God reveals his plan to judge Sodom, and Abraham intercedes, asking that the city be spared if righteous people are found in it.

Explanation

This chapter shows two complementary sides of God: his welcoming closeness, as he accepts Abraham's simple hospitality under the trees of Mamre, and his justice, as he announces that he will investigate the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sarah laughs on hearing the promise of a son, revealing the human difficulty of believing the impossible even in the presence of divine messengers. The most remarkable part of the chapter is Abraham's bold intercession, negotiating directly with God, repeatedly asking that the city be spared for the sake of an ever-smaller number of righteous people, down to just ten. This dialogue reveals a God who listens to and converses with those who approach him with humility and concern for others, and shows the power of intercession on behalf of people who may not, in themselves, deserve the mercy requested.

Fun facts

The hospitality Abraham offered the three travelers (water for their feet, rest in the shade, a hastily prepared feast) reflects the strict hospitality codes of the ancient Near East, where receiving a stranger well was considered a sacred duty.
This episode is cited in Hebrews 13:2 ('be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares'), becoming a classic reference on welcoming strangers with generosity.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Génesis 18:1The “three men” who appear to Abraham are treated throughout the chapter sometimes as ordinary travelers, sometimes as direct representatives of the LORD—the text doesn’t make it entirely clear who is who, which is why there’s more than one reading of how many were angels and which one spoke for God. What is clear is that Abraham receives them with all the hospitality expected of a good host in that culture.
Génesis 18:2Abraham sees three men suddenly appear near the tent and runs to meet them, bowing to the ground—an immediate gesture of hospitality, typical of the culture of the time toward unknown travelers.
Génesis 18:3Abraham asks them not to pass by, treating them with the respect reserved for important guests, even without yet knowing who they really were.
Génesis 18:4He offers the basics of hospitality at the time: water to wash their feet, tired from the journey, and shade to rest under a tree.
Génesis 18:5He promises a bit of food to refresh them before they continue their journey—the visitors accept the offer, and what begins as “a morsel of bread” turns into a full banquet in the verses that follow.
Génesis 18:6A “measure” of flour was an ancient unit of volume, and “three measures” was already a large amount—Abraham has far more food prepared than three travelers could eat on their own. It’s a gesture of generous, almost extravagant hospitality, to welcome the visitors well.
Génesis 18:7Abraham also has meat prepared, personally choosing a good, tender calf—the simple offer of bread turns into a generous meal, reinforcing how much he wanted to welcome the visitors well.
Génesis 18:8He serves everything that was prepared—butter, milk, and the meat—and stands near them while they eat, in the role of an attentive host, not a guest at the table.
Génesis 18:9The visitors ask about Sarah, showing that they already knew of her existence even without having been introduced—a first sign that these were no ordinary travelers.
Génesis 18:10One of the visitors promises that, within a year, Sarah will have a son—she listens from behind the tent door, without the men knowing she can hear them.
Génesis 18:11The text explains why the news seemed impossible: Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and she had already passed the age of having children.
Génesis 18:12Sarah laughs to herself on hearing that she would have a son at that age—the same reaction Abraham had already had in the previous chapter. Her laughter reinforces, once again, the reason behind the name the child will receive: Isaac, “he laughs.”
Génesis 18:13The LORD asks directly why Sarah laughed, showing that He knew of her reaction even though she hadn’t said anything out loud—further confirmation that whoever was speaking was no ordinary traveler.
Génesis 18:14The rhetorical question about whether anything is too hard for the LORD sums up the central point of the scene: the couple’s advanced age is no obstacle at all to the promise being fulfilled.
Génesis 18:15Sarah denies having laughed, afraid of the reaction, but is corrected directly—the text doesn’t let the lie slide, even though it’s an understandable reaction born of nervousness.
Génesis 18:16The visitors get up and look toward Sodom, and Abraham walks with them part of the way—the scene shifts from the promise of a son to the fate of Lot’s city.
Génesis 18:17The LORD ponders whether or not to tell Abraham what He is about to do—a pause that introduces the reason He decides to reveal the plan concerning Sodom.
Génesis 18:18Explains why God decides to include Abraham in the conversation: He had already promised that all nations would be blessed through him, and that promise weighs on the decision to be transparent with him.
Génesis 18:19God also mentions that He chose Abraham precisely because He trusts him to teach his own family to live with justice—a reason tied to Abraham’s character, not only to the promise made earlier.
Génesis 18:20The LORD explains the reason for the visit to Sodom: the outcry against the city’s wickedness had grown too great to ignore.
Génesis 18:21Saying He will “go down…and see” is a way of expressing that the decision about destroying the city will be made based on investigation, not on rushed judgment.
Génesis 18:22Two of the visitors head toward Sodom, but Abraham remains standing before the LORD—this is where the long negotiation told through the rest of the chapter begins.
Génesis 18:23Abraham asks the central question of the whole negotiation: would it be right to destroy the innocent along with the guilty of the city?
Génesis 18:24Abraham opens the negotiation by proposing a specific number: would fifty righteous people be enough to spare the entire city?
Génesis 18:25Abraham asks directly whether God will treat the righteous and the guilty the same way in destroying the city—a bold question, almost confrontational, coming from a human being toward “the Judge of all the earth.” It’s reasoning about justice, not an accusation: he’s asking God to act according to what He Himself understands to be just.
Génesis 18:26The LORD accepts Abraham’s proposal: if there are fifty righteous people in Sodom, the whole city will be spared for their sake.
Génesis 18:27Abraham acknowledges the boldness of continuing to negotiate with God, describing himself as “dust and ashes”—an expression of humility before lowering the number requested.
Génesis 18:28Abraham lowers the number to 45, and the LORD agrees again—the negotiation continues, each time with a smaller number.
Génesis 18:29Abraham keeps lowering the number, now to 40, and receives the same positive answer.
Génesis 18:30Abraham asks the LORD not to be angry at his persistence, and lowers the number to 30—the pattern of careful negotiation continues here.
Génesis 18:31Abraham again acknowledges his own boldness and lowers the number to 20, receiving the same answer that the city would be spared.
Génesis 18:32Abraham’s negotiation goes from fifty righteous people down to ten, and stops there—the text doesn’t explain why he doesn’t keep going down to just one. It was enough to show that, in the end, not even ten righteous people would be found in Sodom, which sets the stage for what happens in the next chapter.
Génesis 18:33After accepting the final number of ten, the LORD withdraws, and Abraham goes back home—the negotiation ends without yet knowing whether that minimum number will be found, which only the next chapter reveals.