Genesis 18

KJV · Chapter 18/50

¹And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

²And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

³And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

⁴Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

⁵And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

⁶And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

⁷And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.

⁸And 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.

⁹And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.

¹⁰And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

¹²Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

¹³And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

¹⁴Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

¹⁵Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

¹⁶And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

¹⁷And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;

¹⁸Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

¹⁹For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

²⁰And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

²¹I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

²²And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.

²³And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

²⁵That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

²⁶And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

²⁷And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

²⁸Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

²⁹And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.

³⁰And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

³¹And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.

³²And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

³³And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

📖 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

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