who is adonai

[good samaritan]

"Genesis 18:1 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre:and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And 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, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:"

I have have always understood that Abraham was speaking to the three men when he says "my Lord". I heard a podcast today that was interesting. The speaker said that there is a Jewish tradition that Abraham left communing with the LORD to attend to these three visitors. Abraham takes a break in his encounter with God and asks, "My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant" IOW, he asks God to wait a minute while he cares for these three guests. Has anyone else ever heard of this?

[good samaritan]

Since Abraham interrupts a revelation from God to welcome them, the rabbis comment, “Hospitality to wayfarers is greater than welcoming the Divine Presence” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 127a).

[diakonos]

Talmud

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by good samaritan

"Genesis 18:1 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre:and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And 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, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:"

I have have always understood that Abraham was speaking to the three men when he says "my Lord". I heard a podcast today that was interesting. The speaker said that there is a Jewish tradition that Abraham left communing with the LORD to attend to these three visitors. Abraham takes a break in his encounter with God and asks, "My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant" IOW, he asks God to wait a minute while he cares for these three guests. Has anyone else ever heard of this?

Titus 1:14 KJV
Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.

[good samaritan]

Originally Posted by diakonos

Talmud

I just found it interesting. I don’t agree that hospitality trumps Gods divine presence. Although I do agree with the principle of treating people as neighbors. Even the people who we don’t feel fit the bill.

[jediwill83]

What Im seeing taking into acocunt of what is being said is that there are 3 that show up close to Abraham in the heat of the day while he is sitting in the door of his tent.


It would seem from the suddenness of his action that they may have caught him by surprise due to his



1. Age
2. Appearing suddenly due to supernatural means
3. Maybe he was napping.



If the men are human, then they are making a crude comment about Sarah having a child and if so and she laughs, why would God hijack a perverted insult to announce His blessing of Abraham and Sarah?


We have the announcement of Gods intentions towards Sodom etc, two of the *men* turn and head out while Abraham is clearly still talking to Abraham and we have only two not three show up at Lots house and they state that God sent them to destroy it.


Notice that when they approach Lot in the gate that He calls them lords while when the 3 approach Abraham it seems as if he is able to discern some rank as who of the 3 are in charge.


Im thinking when Lot sees the two with there being no comparison to be seen with the Almighty in human form, he automatically calls the two angels Lords while Abraham uses Lord in the singular.


Just some spitball thoughts on lunch break

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by jediwill83

What Im seeing taking into acocunt of what is being said is that there are 3 that show up close to Abraham in the heat of the day while he is sitting in the door of his tent.


It would seem from the suddenness of his action that they may have caught him by surprise due to his



1. Age
2. Appearing suddenly due to supernatural means
3. Maybe he was napping.



If the men are human, then they are making a crude comment about Sarah having a child and if so and she laughs, why would God hijack a perverted insult to announce His blessing of Abraham and Sarah?


We have the announcement of Gods intentions towards Sodom etc, two of the *men* turn and head out while Abraham is clearly still talking to Abraham and we have only two not three show up at Lots house and they state that God sent them to destroy it.


Notice that when they approach Lot in the gate that He calls them lords while when the 3 approach Abraham it seems as if he is able to discern some rank as who of the 3 are in charge.


Im thinking when Lot sees the two with there being no comparison to be seen with the Almighty in human form, he automatically calls the two angels Lords while Abraham uses Lord in the singular.


Just some spitball thoughts on lunch break

That was a VERY good lunch break.

[jediwill83]

Originally Posted by Esaias

That was a VERY good lunch break.

One does what one can.

[votivesoul]

Originally Posted by good samaritan

"Genesis 18:1 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre:and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And 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, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:"

I have have always understood that Abraham was speaking to the three men when he says "my Lord". I heard a podcast today that was interesting. The speaker said that there is a Jewish tradition that Abraham left communing with the LORD to attend to these three visitors. Abraham takes a break in his encounter with God and asks, "My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant" IOW, he asks God to wait a minute while he cares for these three guests. Has anyone else ever heard of this?

Abraham directed his words toward the trio, but only addressed one of the men, that is, the theophany of YHVH, likely the Angel of His Presence.

The Hebrew is pretty clear.

It's not that YHVH appeared to Abraham, and then, subsequently to that appearance, the three men showed up, and Abraham ditched Jehovah to go see to the trio.

Genesis 18:1 is an overview that introduces the story. Verse 2 on is the story playing out in real time.

The Jewish tradition has to do with YHVH not being a man and so, not condescending to appear as one. It is from Maimonides, who held a view commonly called "divine incorporeality".

[good samaritan]

Originally Posted by votivesoul

Abraham directed his words toward the trio, but only addressed one of the men, that is, the theophany of YHVH, likely the Angel of His Presence.

The Hebrew is pretty clear.

It's not that YHVH appeared to Abraham, and then, subsequently to that appearance, the three men showed up, and Abraham ditched Jehovah to go see to the trio.

Genesis 18:1 is an overview that introduces the story. Verse 2 on is the story playing out in real time.

The Jewish tradition has to do with YHVH not being a man and so, not condescending to appear as one. It is from Maimonides, who held a view commonly called "divine incorporeality".

I agree and that is how I interpret the passage as well. I just felt that their interpretation was interesting. Also the focus that is placed upon hospitality is good. It should not be made at the expense of manipulating the passage though.

There are some things I wonder about.
*how did Abraham recognize one of the men as Yahweh
*is there some missing interaction between Abraham and the men (it is strange to run up and bow before three strangers that you seen from a distance)
*Was one of the men or all three of the men a theophany, or where they refered to as Yahweh only because they come as his representatives.

Some trinitarian scholars use this to advocate God in three persons. Although some Jewish teachers misinterpret the passage, it is interesting how they interpret in a way that rejects the trinitarian view.