Vayera (Part 3) - Genesis 18:1-22:24

Preface

As I noted in the previous post, there is a story in the Book of Genesis (chapter 18) about Abraham being visited by three men. Somehow, this transformed into three angels, and for Christians, the Holy Trinity.

I have also mentioned in a previous blog, the Torah is an anthology, a collection of short stories, some of which are fragmented. And these fragments have been put together in a way that is often non-linear. In the previous example (an introduction to the "binding of Isaac"), a fragment, which referred to something for which there was no previous narrative, started a chapter.

In this post, I will introduce a story that has a different type of fragmentation. Although, like that other example, it too demands that the beginning of the story be rewritten in order to connect to the chapter that follows it.

An Overview of the First Fragment

The story in Genesis 18:1-16 goes like this:

After having cut his own genitals and those of his family and workers/slaves, Abraham was trying to keep out of the sun, sitting down and recovering in his tent. It is then that YHVH was seen by Abraham. (The Rambam wrote that this teaches us the importance of visiting the sick).

It is at this point that a sitting down Abraham saw three men ("enoshim") standing/positioned right in front of him (most translations incorrectly say "above him" when it should be "very close to him" as in "almost upon him".

This gives us YHVH, those three men, and Abraham as a group. 

These men were likely known by Abraham, since he calls one of them "my lord", which is a a form of "sir" that is also used in modern Hebrew when addressing a man.

Note: The problem with translating YHVH as "LORD" is that every time one sees "lord", one may confuse it with YHVH. "My lord" is used throughout the Tanach between humans as a mark of respect. For example, those who knew Abraham called him "my lord"- see Genesis 23:6). 

Abraham then hurries to get water and appetizers for these three men, who them begin to eat. (YHVH abstains).  Abraham then orders Sarah to make some bread and gave a young man a live calf to prepare for a feast. (This indicates that they were there for a long time!)

The three guests then ask (in the plural) about Sarah "Where is she?" Remember, this is the woman that he was ordering just a few moments before. Abraham tells them that she's in the nearby tent. (This explains why they didn't see her).

Then, in the singular, one male of the group (YHVH, the men, or Abraham) says that He will return in a year, by which time, Sarah will give you a son. (Since none of the three men returns when Sarah gives birth, we can assume that "He" is YHVH, who has been standing nearby all of this time).

Sarah laughs, thinking that Abraham was too old, and YHVH questions Abraham about her lack of faith, changes what Sarah said (a common occurrence in the Torah), and reiterates that when He returns in a year, there will be a son.

Sarah then lies to YHVH, saying "I didn't laugh", and YHVH tells her that she did. (Apparently the idea of an omniscient God was still foreign to them.) It should be noted that YHVH was right there with the three guests, Abraham, Sarah, and their retinue. He was not in the heavens watching this, and was actually seen. This is an important point.

The story ends with the three guests leaving and Abraham escorting them like any proper host does to ensure their safety.

End of story.

The Second Fragment

In the next verse, we have YHVH in the heavens, wondering if he should tell Abraham what he is going to do, and decides to descend and see what is going on is Sodom and Gomorrah. It is outside of the town that he meets Abraham who had sent the men to Sodom. Abraham was standing before YHVH. Again, this is a physical interaction between these two.

YHVH then tells Abraham of his plan to destroy the place where Abraham's nephew lives, and Abraham tries to haggle with YHVH, whittling down His requirements. In the end, YHVH stood firm on what He was going to do, and left (presumably he flew back upward to the heavens). And Abraham went back home.

End of story.

The Angels

It is only at the beginning of the next chapter (19:1) that we read of "And the two angels came to Sodom...". 

This is a completely different story. 

The most generic Apologetics on this verse is that the three men who ate with Abraham were really angels who didn't need to eat, but that they were just being nice guests. And that the each of the three of them had a separate mission, and one of them, Raphael (the angel of healing), had fixed up Abraham and so he went back to the heavens, leaving only two. Christianity has a different take, since they saw the three men as the Holy Trinity becoming the Holy Duality.

Of course, the text says none of this. In fact, because it starts with "and the two angels came...", it should indicate that we would have been told about these two angels before. But like the beginning of the "binding of Isaac" story, there is a lost part of the story that was never included. To recover from this, the apologist will say that these are two of the three, and therefore the three were actually always angels (or the Holy Trinity).

Conclusion

When trying to turn a collection of short stories into a long serial dialogue, one needs to be inventive and insert narrative where is did not exist, and to change existing narrative to fit with the unconnected one.

That is not learning the text.

That is called apologetics.