the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
Click here to learn more!
Read the Bible
Amplified Bible
Genesis 18:8
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they ate.
Abraham gave the three men the calf that had been cooked and milk curds and milk. While they ate, he stood under the tree near them.
Abraham then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food before them. They ate while he was standing near them under a tree.
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set [it] before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they ate.
He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.
and he took botere, and mylk, and the calf which he hadde sode, and settide bifore hem; forsothe Abraham stood bisidis hem vndur the tre.
and he taketh butter and milk, and the son of the herd which he hath prepared, and setteth before them; and he is standing by them under the tree, and they do eat.
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.
He then served his guests some yogurt and milk together with the meat. While they were eating, he stood near them under the trees,
Then he took curds, milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it all before the men; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
And he took butter and milk and the young ox which he had made ready and put it before them, waiting by them under the tree while they took food.
And he toke butter and mylke, and the calfe which he had prepared, and set it before them, and stoode hym selfe by them vnder the tree: & they dyd eate.
And he took thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set [it] before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate.
Abraham brought the meat and some milk and cheese and set them down in front of the three men. Then he stood near the men, ready to serve them while they sat under the tree and ate.
And he took curd, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
And he tooke butter, and milke, and the calfe which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them vnder the tree: and they did eate.
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
He took milk and cheese and the meat which he had made ready, and set it in front of them. He stood by them under the tree while they ate.
Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
And he took butter and milk and the calf that he had made ready, and set before them, - while, he, was standing near them under the tree, they did eat.
And he tooke butter and milke, and the calfe, which he had prepared, and set before them, and stoode himselfe by them vnder the tree, and they did eate.
And he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set them before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they ate.
He took some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the food before the men. There under the tree he served them himself, and they ate.
He took also butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled, and set before them: but he stood by them under the tree.
Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had dressed; and he set them before them, and they did eat, and he stood by them under the tree.
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
Then Abraham took curds and milk, as well as the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served them as they ate under the tree.
He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.
Then he took curds and milk, and the calf which he prepared, and set it before them. And he was standing by them under the tree while they ate.
And he took curds and milk and the son of the herd which he had prepared, and he set before them. And he stood by them under the tree. And they ate.
And he toke butter and mylke and of the calfe that he had prepared, and set it before the, stode him self by them vnder the tre, & they ate.
He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.
So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
When the food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them in the shade of the trees.
He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.
Then he took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree, and they ate.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
he took: Genesis 19:3, Deuteronomy 32:14, Judges 5:25
stood: Nehemiah 12:44, Luke 12:37, Luke 17:8, John 12:2, Galatians 5:13, Revelation 3:20
and they: Genesis 19:3, Judges 13:15, Luke 24:30, Luke 24:43, Acts 10:41
Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 28:24 - a fat calf
Cross-References
However, Lot strongly urged them, so they turned aside and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them [with wine], and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Butter and curds of cows, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the finest of the wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of grapes.
"Sisera asked for water and she gave him milk; She brought him curds in a magnificent bowl.
Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain you and let us prepare a young goat for you [to eat]."
On that day men were appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions required by the law for the priests and the Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who served.
"Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) are those servants whom the master finds awake and watching when he arrives. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will prepare himself to serve, and will have them recline at the table, and will come and wait on them.
"Will he not instead say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, and appropriately clothe yourself [for service] and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you may eat and drink?'
And it happened that as He reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.
and He took it and ate it in front of them.
So they gave a supper for Him there. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And he took butter and milk,.... Jarchi says, it was the fat of the milk gathered from the top of it, he means cream, and is different both from butter and from milk: this was either Abraham himself, who took and brought these, as Sarah or her maidens might bring the cakes when baked; or else Abraham's young man, since it follows:
and the calf which he had dressed; either the whole of it, or some principal parts of it, reckoned the finest and choicest; though by what follows it seems to be Abraham himself, who may be said to dress the calf, it being done by his orders:
and set [it] before them; a table being placed under the tree, he set, or ordered to be set, all those provisions before the three men, to feed upon, the cakes and butter, the milk and fatted calf:
and he stood by them under the tree; not only to bid them welcome, but to minister to them; nor will this seem strange, or that the above several things were chiefly done by Abraham and Sarah, when it is observed that the greatest personages in the eastern countries, in early times, used to perform such services, and still do to this day, as a late traveller r informs us:
"it is here (says he) no disgrace for persons of the highest character to busy themselves in what we should reckon menial employments; the greatest prince assists in the most laborious actions of husbandry; neither is he ashamed to fetch a lamb from his herd and kill it, while the princess his wife is impatient till she has prepared her fire and her kettle to seethe and dress it: the custom that still continues of walking either barefoot or with slippers requires the ancient compliment of bringing water upon the arrival of a stranger to wash his feet; and who is the person that presents himself first to do this office, and to give the "mar habbeh", or welcome, but the master of the family himself? who always distinguishes himself by being the most officious; and, after his entertainment is prepared, accounts it a breach of respect to sit down with his guests, but stands up all the time and serves them.''
All which serves greatly to illustrate this passage; and the same learned author observes, that in this manner we find Achilles and Patroclus employed, as described by Homer s, in providing an entertainment:
and they did eat; or seemed to eat, as the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi; though as they assumed bodies so animated as to be capable of talking and walking, why not of eating and drinking? and there must have been a consumption of food some way or other, or Abraham would have known they had not eaten: we read of angels' food, Psalms 78:25; our English poet had a notion of angels eating, and represents Eve providing a repast for the angel, which he owns to be no ungrateful food t.
r Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 237, 238. Ed. 2. s Iliad. 9. ver. 205. t Milton's Paradise Lost, B. 5. ver. 412, &c.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- The Visit of the Lord to Abraham
2. השׂתחיה vayı̂śtachû “bow,” or bend the body in token of respect to God or man. The attitude varies from a slight inclination of the body to entire prostration with the forehead touching the ground.
6. סאה se'ah a “seah,” about an English peck, the third part of an ephah. The ephah contained ten omers. The omer held about five pints.
This chapter describes Abraham’s fellowship with God. On the gracious assurance of the Redeemer and Vindicator, “Fear not, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward,” he ceased to fear, and believed. On the solemn announcement of the Conqueror of evil and the Quickener of the dead, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be perfect,” he began anew to walk with God in holiness and truth. The next step is, that God enters into communion with him as a man with his friend Isaiah 41:8; John 14:23. Hitherto he has appeared to him as God offering grace and inclining the will to receive it. Now, as God who has bestowed grace, he appears to him who has accepted it and is admitted into a covenant of peace. He visits him for the twofold purpose of drawing out and completing the faith of Sarah, and of communing with Abraham concerning the destruction of Sodom.
Genesis 18:1-15
The Lord visits Abraham and assures Sarah of the birth of a son. Abraham is sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day, reposing. “Three men stood before him.” Whenever visitants from the celestial world appear to men, they have the form of man. This is the only form of a rational being known to us. It is not the design of God in revealing his mercy to us to make us acquainted with the whole of the nature of things. The science of things visible or invisible he leaves to our natural faculties to explore, as far as occasion allows. Hence, we conclude that the celestial visitant is a real being, and that the form is a real form. But we are not entitled to infer that the human is the only or the proper form of such beings, or that they have any ordinary or constant form open to sense. We only discern that they are intelligent beings like ourselves, and, in order to manifest themselves to us as such, put on that form of intelligent creatures with which we are familiar, and in which they can intelligibly confer with us. For the same reason they speak the language of the party addressed, though, for ought we know, spiritual beings use none of the many languages of humanity, and have quite a different mode of communicating with one another. Other human acts follow on the occasion. They accept the hospitality of Abraham and partake of human food. This, also, was a real act. It does not imply, however, that food is necessary to spiritual beings. The whole is a typical act representing communion between God and Abraham. The giving and receiving of a meal was the ground of a perpetual or inviolable friendship.
He ran to meet him. - This indicates the genuine warmth of unsophisticated nature. “Bowed himself to the earth.” This indicates a low bow, in which the body becomes horizontal, and the head droops. This gesture is employed both in worship and doing obeisance.
Genesis 18:3-5
O Lord. - Abraham uses the word אדני 'adonāy denoting one having authority, whether divine or not. This the Masorites mark as sacred, and apply the vowel points proper to the word when it signifies God. These men in some way represent God; for “the Lord” on this occasion appeared unto Abraham Genesis 18:1. The number is in this respect notable. Abraham addresses himself first to one person Genesis 18:3, then to more than one Genesis 18:4-5. It is stated that “‘they’ said, So do Genesis 18:5, ‘they’ did eat Genesis 18:8, ‘ they’ said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife” Genesis 18:9. Then the singular number is resumed in the phrase “‘and he said’” Genesis 18:10, and at length, “The Lord said unto Abraham” Genesis 18:13, and then, “and he said” Genesis 18:15. Then we are told “‘the men’ rose up, and Abraham went with them” Genesis 18:16. Then we have “The Lord said” twice Genesis 18:17, Genesis 18:20. And lastly, it is said Genesis 18:22 “‘the men’ turned their faces and went toward Sodom, and Abraham was yet standing before the Lord.” From this it appears that of the three men one, at all events, was the Lord, who, when the other two went toward Sodom, remained with Abraham while he made his intercession for Sodom, and afterward he also went his way. The other two will come before us again in the next chapter. Meanwhile, we have here the first explicit instance of the Lord appearing as man to man, and holding familiar conversation with him.
The narrative affords a pleasing instance of the primitive manners of the East. The hospitality of the pastoral tribes was spontaneous and unreserved. The washing of the feet, which were partly at least uncovered in walking, the reclining under the tree, and the offer of refreshment, are indicative of an unchanging rural simplicity. The phrases “a little water, a morsel of bread,” flow from a thoughtful courtesy. “Therefore are ye come.” In the course of events it has so fallen out, in order that you might be refreshed. The brief reply is a frank and unaffected acceptance of the hospitable invitation.
Genesis 18:6-8
Abraham hastened. - The unvarying customs of Eastern pastoral life here come up before us. There is plenty of flour and of live cattle. But the cakes have to be kneaded and baked on the hearth, and the calf has to be killed and dressed. Abraham personally gives directions, Sarah personally attends to the baking, and the boy or lad - that is, the domestic servant whose business it is - kills and dresses the meat. Abraham himself attends upon his guests. “Three seahs.” About three pecks, and therefore a superabundant supply for three guests. An omer, or three tenths of a seah, was considered sufficient for one man for a day Exodus 16:16. But Abraham had a numerous household, and plentifulness was the character of primitive hospitality. “Hearth cakes,” baked among the coals. “Butter” - seemingly any preparation of milk, cream, curds, or butter, all of which are used in the East.
Genesis 18:9-15
The promise to Sarah. The men now enter upon the business of their visit. “Where is Sarah thy wife?” The jealousy and seclusion of later times had not yet rendered such an inquiry uncourteous. Sarah is within hearing of the conversation. “I will certainly return unto thee.” This is the language of self-determination, and therefore suitable to the sovereign, not to the ambassador. “At the time of life;” literally the living time, seemingly the time of birth, when the child comes to manifest life. “Sarah thy wife shall have a son.” Sarah hears this with incredulous surprise, and laughs with mingled doubt and delight. She knows that in the nature of things she is past child-bearing. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Sarah laughed within herself, within the tent and behind the speaker; yet to her surprise her internal feelings are known to him. She finds there is One present who rises above the sphere of nature. In her confusion and terror she denies that she laughed. But he who sees what is within, insists that she did laugh, at least in the thought of her heart. There is a beautiful simplicity in the whole scene. Sarah now doubtless received faith and strength to conceive.
Verse 16-33
The conference concerning Sodom. The human manner of the interview is carried out to the end. Abraham convoys his departing guests. The Lord then speaks, apparently debating with himself whether he shall reveal his intentions to Abraham. The reasons for doing so are assigned. First. Abraham shall surely become a nation great and mighty, and therefore has the interest of humanity in this act of retribution on Sodom. All that concerns man concerns him. Second. Blessed in him shall be all the nations of the earth. Hence, he is personally and directly concerned with all the dealings of mercy and judgment among the inhabitants of the earth. Third. “I have known him.” The Lord has made himself known to him, has manifested his love to him, has renewed him after his own image; and hence this judgment upon Sodom is to be explained to him, that he may train his household to avoid the sins of this doomed city, “to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; and all this to the further intent that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him.” The awful judgments of the Lord on Sodom, as before on the antediluvian world, are a warning example to all who are spared or hear of them. And those who, notwithstanding these monuments of the divine vengeance, will cease to do justice and judgment, may be certain that they will not continue to enjoy the benefits of the covenant of grace. For all these reasons it is meet that the secret of Lord be with him Psalms 25:11.
Genesis 18:20-22
The Lord now proceeds to unfold his design. There is justice in every step of the divine procedure. He comes down to inquire and act according to the merits of the case. The men now depart on their errand; but Abraham still stands before the Lord.
Genesis 18:23-33
Abraham intercedes for Sodom. His spiritual character is unfolded and exalted more and more. He employs the language of a free-born son with his heavenly Father. He puts forward the plea of justice to the righteous in behalf of the city. He ventures to repeat his intervention six times, every time diminishing the number of the righteous whom he supposes to be in it. The patience of the Lord is no less remarkable than the perseverance of Abraham. In every case he grants his petition. “Dust and ashes.” This may refer to the custom of burning the dead, as then coexistent with that of burying them. Abraham intimates by a homely figure the comparative insignificance of the petitioner. He is dust at first, and ashes at last.
This completes the full and free conversation of God with Abraham. He accepts his hospitable entertainment, renews his promise of a son by Sarah, communicates to him his counsel, and grants all his requests. It is evident that Abraham has now fully entered upon all the privileges of the sons of God. He has become the friend of God James 2:23.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 18:8. And he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. — Nothing is more common in Hindostan than to see travellers and guests eating under the shade of trees. Feasts are scarcely ever held in houses. The house of a Hindoo serves for sleeping and cooking, and for shutting up the women; but is never considered as a sitting or dining room. - Ward.
