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The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:12
"Sarah laughed within herself." 1. The incongruity between a Divine promise and the sphere of its fulfillment is temptation to unbelief. 2. A disposition to measure the reality and certainty of the Divine by a human or…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:13
And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh,—a question which must have convinced Abraham of the Speaker's omniscience. Not only had he heard the silent, inaudible, inward cachinnation of Sarah's spirit, b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:14
Is any thing too hard for the Lord? Literally, Is any word too wonderful, i.e. impossible, for Jehovah μὴ ἀδυνατήσει παρὰ τῷ θεῷ ῥῆμα (LXX.), with which may be compared Luke 1:37. At the time appointed I will…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:14
"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" I. TAKE IT AS THE QUESTION WHICH GOD ASKS OF MAN. 1. Remonstrance. The history of Divine manifestations proves that nothing is demanded of faith which is not justified by the bestowm…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:15
Then Sarah (who had overheard the conversation, and the charge preferred against her, and who probably now appeared before the stranger) denied, saying, I laughed not. Sarah's conduct will admit of no other explanation…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 18:16-22
The two who are supposed to have been created angels went toward Sodom. The one who is called Jehovah throughout the chapter, continued with Abraham, and would not hide from him the thing he intended to do. Though God l…
Abraham's Interview with God. (b. c. 1898.)
ABRAHAM'S INTERVIEW WITH GOD. (B. C. 1898.) The messengers from heaven had now despatched one part of their business, which was an errand of grace to Abraham and Sarah, and which they delivered first; but now they have…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:16-33
Abraham's intercession for Sodom. The whole wonderful scene springs out of the theophany. Abraham's faith has given him a special position with the Lord. "Shall I hide from Abraham that thug which I do?" &c. The true pr…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:16-22
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:16
And the men rose up from thence,—Mamre (vide supra, Genesis 18:1)—and looked towards Sodom. Literally, toward the face (Rosenmüller), or towards the plain (Keil), of Sodom, as if intending to proceed thither. And Abraha…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:17
Sodom's doom revealed. I. THE REASON OF THE REVELATION. 1. Abraham's new position. Having been lately taken into covenant with God, allied by the holy tie of a celestial friendship to Jehovah, the patriarch seemed in th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:17
And the Lord said (to himself), Shall I hide from Abraham—the LXX. interpolate, τοῦ παιδός μου; but, as Philo observes, τοῦ φιλοῦ μου would have been a more appropriate designation for the patriarch (cf. 2 Chronicle…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:18
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become (literally, becoming shall become) a great and mighty nation (cf. Genesis 12:2; Genesis 17:4-6), and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? The import of Jehovah's…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:19
God's rule in the family. "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord." The promise to Abraham included— Of these points two at least are not c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:19
Abraham and family training. "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him," &c. Under the shady terebinth celestial visitants partake, or appear to do so, of a meal hastily provided by…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:19
For I know him, that—literally, for I have known (or chosen, יָדַע being—dilexi, as in Amos 3:2) him to the end that, the language expressing the idea that Abraham had been the object of Divine foreknowledge and electio…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:20
And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Literally, the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. Genesis 4:10), because it is (not, it is indeed, Baumgarten, Keil) multiplied; the place of emphasis being…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:21
I will go down now (cf. Genesis 11:5), and see (judicial investigation ever precedes judicial infliction at the Divine tribunal) whether they have done altogether—literally, whether they have made cow, piousness, i.e. c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:22
And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom (i.e. two of the three proceeded on their way towards the Jordan valley, while the third was detained by the patriarch, probably on the heights overlooki…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 18:23-33
Here is the first solemn prayer upon record in the Bible; and it is a prayer for the sparing of Sodom. Abraham prayed earnestly that Sodom might be spared, if but a few righteous persons should be found in it. Come and…
Abraham's Intercession for Sodom. (b. c. 1898.)
ABRAHAM'S INTERCESSION FOR SODOM. (B. C. 1898.) Communion with God is kept up by the word and by prayer. In the word God speaks to us; in prayer we speak to him. God had revealed to Abraham his purposes concerning Sodom…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:23-33
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:23
And Abraham drew near. I.e. to Jehovah; not simply locally, but also spiritually. The religious use of יִגַּשּׁ as a performing religious services to God, or a pious turning of the mind to God, is found in Exodus 30:20;…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 18:23-33
Abraham's intercession. I. THE OBJECT OF HIS INTERCESSION. Not simply the rescue of Lot from the doomed cities, but the salvation of the cities themselves, with their miserable inhabitants. A request evincing— 1. Tender…