Gênesis 18

ARC · Chapter 18/50

¹Depois appareceu-lhe o Senhor nos carvalhaes de Mamre, estando elle assentado á porta da tenda, quando tinha aquecido o dia.

²E levantou os seus olhos, e olhou, e eis tres varões estavam em pé junto a elle. E vendo-os, correu da porta da tenda ao seu encontro, e inclinou-se á terra,

³E disse; Meu Senhor, se agora tenho achado graça nos teus olhos, rogo-te que não passes de teu servo,

⁴Que se traga já uma pouca d'agua, e lavae os vossos pés, e recostae-vos debaixo d'esta arvore;

⁵E trarei um bocado de pão, para que esforceis o vosso coração; depois passareis adiante, porquanto por isso chegastes até vosso servo. E disseram: Assim faze como tens dito.

⁶E Abrahão apressou-se em ir ter com Sarah á tenda, e disse-lhe: Amassa depressa tres medidas de flor de farinha, e faze bolos.

⁷E correu Abrahão ás vaccas, e tomou uma vitella tenra e boa, e deu-a ao moço, que se apressou era preparal-a.

⁸E tomou manteiga e leite, e a vitella que tinha preparado, e poz tudo diante d'elles, e elle estava em pé junto a elles debaixo da arvore; e comeram.

⁹E disseram-lhe: Onde está Sarah, tua mulher? E elle disse: Eil-a ahi está na tenda.

¹⁰E disse: Certamente tornarei a ti por este tempo da vida; e eis que Sarah tua mulher terá um filho. E ouviu-o Sarah á porta da tenda, que estava atraz d'elle.

¹¹E eram Abrahão e Sarah já velhos, e adiantados em edade; já a Sarah havia cessado o costume das mulheres.

¹²Assim pois riu-se Sarah comsigo, dizendo: Terei ainda deleite depois de haver envelhecido, sendo tambem o meu senhor já velho?

¹³E disse o Senhor a Abrahão: Porque se riu Sarah, dizendo: Na verdade parirei eu ainda, havendo já envelhecido?

¹⁴Haveria coisa alguma difficil ao Senhor? Ao tempo determinado tornarei a ti por este tempo da vida, e Sarah terá um filho.

¹⁵E Sarah negou, dizendo: Não me ri: porquanto temeu. E elle disse: Não digas isso, porque te riste.

¹⁶E levantaram-se aquelles varões d'ali, e olharam para a banda de Sodoma; e Abrahão ia com elles, acompanhando-os.

¹⁷E disse o Senhor: Occultarei eu a Abrahão o que faço?

¹⁸Visto que Abrahão certamente virá a ser uma grande e poderosa nação, e n'elle serão bemditas todas as nações da terra.

¹⁹Porque eu o tenho conhecido, que elle ha de ordenar a seus filhos e a sua casa depois d'elle, para que guardem o caminho do Senhor, para obrar com justiça e juizo: para que o Senhor faça vir sobre Abrahão o que ácerca d'elle tem fallado.

²⁰Disse mais o Senhor: Porquanto o clamor de Sodoma e Gomorrah se tem multiplicado, e porquanto o seu peccado se tem aggravado muito,

²¹Descerei agora, e verei se com effeito tem praticado segundo o seu clamor, que é vindo até mim; e se não, sabel-o-hei.

²²Então viraram aquelles varões o rosto d'ali, e foram-se para Sodoma; mas Abrahão ficou ainda em pé diante da face do Senhor.

²³E chegou-se Abrahão, dizendo: Destruirás tambem o justo com o impio?

²⁴Se porventura houver cincoenta justos na cidade, destruil-os-has tambem, e não pouparás o logar por causa dos cincoenta justos que estão dentro d'ella?

²⁵Longe de ti que faças tal coisa, que mates o justo com o impio: que o justo seja como o impio, longe de ti seja. Não faria justiça o Juiz de toda a terra?

²⁶Então disse o Senhor: Se eu em Sodoma achar cincoenta justos dentro da cidade, pouparei a todo o logar por amor d'elles.

²⁷E respondeu Abrahão, dizendo: Eis que agora me atrevi a fallar ao Senhor, ainda que sou pó e cinza:

²⁸Porventura faltarão de cincoenta justos cinco; destruirás por aquelles cinco toda a cidade? E disse: Não a destruirei, se eu achar ali quarenta e cinco.

²⁹E continuou ainda a fallar-lhe, e disse: Porventura se acharão ali quarenta. E disse: Não o farei por amor dos quarenta.

³⁰Disse mais: Ora não se ire o Senhor, se eu ainda fallar: Porventura se acharão ali trinta. E disse: Não o farei se achar ali trinta.

³¹E disse: Eis que agora me atrevi a fallar ao Senhor: Porventura se acharão ali vinte. E disse: Não a destruirei por amor dos vinte.

³²Disse mais: Ora não se ire o Senhor, que ainda só mais esta vez fallo: Porventura se acharão ali dez. E disse: Não a destruirei por amor dos dez

³³E foi-se o Senhor, quando acabou de fallar a Abrahão: e Abrahão tornou-se ao seu logar.

📖 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

Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.”
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 18:20The LORD explains the reason for the visit to Sodom: the outcry against the city’s wickedness had grown too great to ignore.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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?
Gênesis 18:24Abraham opens the negotiation by proposing a specific number: would fifty righteous people be enough to spare the entire city?
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 18:26The LORD accepts Abraham’s proposal: if there are fifty righteous people in Sodom, the whole city will be spared for their sake.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 18:28Abraham lowers the number to 45, and the LORD agrees again—the negotiation continues, each time with a smaller number.
Gênesis 18:29Abraham keeps lowering the number, now to 40, and receives the same positive answer.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 18:31Abraham again acknowledges his own boldness and lowers the number to 20, receiving the same answer that the city would be spared.
Gênesis 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.
Gênesis 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.