The LORD appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre - Terebinth trees are in the cashew family and are native to the Mediterranean. They are one of a very plants that have separate male and female plants. Historically terebinths were often seen as holy trees with spiritual powers, but this is especially likely with the terebinths of Mamre (for which we have evidence that this site was used for religious purposes for some time) so it is likely that Abraham is engaged in some kind of divination ritual at these trees.

Who are these three men? - The text simply refers to them as "men" but tradition says they were angelic messengers in a human form.

Abraham and Sarah's Hospitality - Hospitality is often a cultural virtue in areas of the world with inhospitable terrain (I am reminded by what a friend who used to live in Northern Canada said--- you never drive by a person walking down the highway without stopping, when it is -40 F), but I can't help but think that Abraham and Sarah went above and beyond normal cultural norms with this feast.

"Am I to have enjoyment" - (from the 12th century CE) said that the word ednah used here means pleasure and enjoyment, but the JPS Tanakh commentary says that:ʿednah is now known to mean “abundant moisture” and is an exact antonym of “withered. I personally love the delightfully frank sexual nature of this verse.

Sarah's laughter - Sarah may have laughed (and let's be frank, the conversational interchange between YHVH and Sarah is hysterical here), but Abraham laughed first (see 17:19).

Who is doing the talking here? - One confusing part of this story is trying to figure out who exactly is talking here. At places it is unclear if it is the three men/angels or YHVH who is talking with Abraham and Sarah.

Abraham sees the three men out, even walking with them for a bit - Abraham is again being shown as the epitome of hospitality and graciousness.

"Shall I hide..." This is a curious bit of YHVH's internal dialogue being shared with the reader, but also important as it is a recognition that Abraham is a prophet.

"The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah" - Debates have long centered on what the "outrage" was really about. Some argue that it is about sexual depravity, others argue that it is oppression and a lack of hospitality, mostly focusing on the interpretation of the story found in Ezekiel 16:48-50.

I would argue that it might be possible to synthesize these two theories, particularly if one looks deeper at the issue of consent in the context of sexuality in the story (as will be discussed below), since both sexual and economic relationships are areas of human living which often become poisoned through domination and coercion.

The three men depart and go to Sodom while "Abraham remained standing before the LORD" - The picture we have here is that the three messengers depart and go to Sodom (we will learn later that only two arrive in Sodom), but that Abraham remained behind speaking to YHVH. It is not clear if Abraham is speaking in a conversational way with an embodied deity, whether he is praying internally and hearing the response in his own mind, whether he is doing another divination ritual, or something else.

What is clear, is that authors/compilers of the text want the reader to see that Abraham has the ability to directly engage with YHVH.

Abraham the negotiator- As an attorney, I found this entire passage to be fascinating and a great depiction of effective strategy in negotiation from a place of relative weakness. Instead of condemning YHVH directly for his plans of destruction, Abraham takes a more tactful approach and instead calls upon YHVH to act in accordance with YHVH's own personal character of justice. And then as YHVH concedes to his requests, Abraham keeps asks for a little bit more, and a little bit more. YHVH interestingly never says no to Abraham's overtures, which raises the question --- why did Abraham stop at 10? If he had said, "what if there were 4 righteous people..." could Sodom have been saved?

Two angels? - Midrash provides some creative explanations on what happened to angel #3, but we are given no explanation in the text itself.

Lot's hospitality - Like uncle Abraham, Lot was a man of hospitality, but his hospitality at least initially was more limited than Abraham's extravagant hospitality. There is no meat or cheese offered, only matzah (unleavened bread). But as we'll see in a few verses, Lot was still very focused on the safety and security of his guests.

The issue of "sodomy" - This text has been unfortunately been used as one of the most notorious of "clobber passages" that have been weaponized against LGBTQ+ people. Many others have written about this passage at length, so I will simply note what should be obvious: that this passage has nothing to say on the subject of consensual adult same-sex relations, rather this is a scene of attempted gang rape.

Lot and his daughters - There is no valid modern rationalization for Lot's evil decision to offer of his daughters to the mob outside his home, but he was being consistent with the norms of the patriarchal world, one in which women (even wive and daughters) were treated as property rather than as people, as we can see from his uncle Abraham's decision to prostitute his wife on two separate occasions for personal gain.

To say it another way --- Lot felt it more important to protect the dignity of his guests than to protect his daughters. Few would dispute the importance of protecting others, but surely not at the expensive of others. This story reminds me of a famous case that one of my classes discussed in law school, the Queen v. Dudley and Stephens. The short version of the story is as follows: Four shipwrecked men were lost at sea on a small lifeboat with no food or water. The three oldest ended up killing and eating the youngest and weakest (the cabin boy) because they believed it was their only chance of survival, but they ended up being rescued three days later. The three survivors were later tried for murder. The defendants sought to raise the necessity defense but were shot down by the court, and then the three survivors were predictably executed.

While the subsequent execution of the three survivors seems ridiculously excessive to me (surely the extreme circumstances and mental states of the survivors should have served as mitigation), the overall principle is clear: it is never right to kill an innocent person (especially a vulnerable person) for the sake of protecting another. Hence, I would argue that Lot's behavior was also wrong, even more so since he also had an obligation as a father to protect his daughters.

The two angels and their mission - The true identity of the men is now clear. They are angels who apparently have significant powers of destruction, but first have a preliminary mission to accomplish: to remove Lot and "his" people from the city prior to the state of the destruction. Sadly the angels and Lot are unsuccessful in getting any of his relations (which were likely extensive given the talk of sons-in-law) to take the need for departure seriously, other than his wife and two unmarried daughters.

Lot's reluctance to leave Sodom - The angels actually have to quit using their verbal powers of persuasion and instead must physically force Lot, his wife and two of his daughters to depart, which raises an important question: why was Lot so reluctant to leave?

Surely he knew very clearly how evil the city had become and how dangerous the place was for him and his family, but presumably he was still consumed by the same greed that motivated him to choose to live in Sodom in the first place. Sodom was a city of wealth and prosperity, much like our great capitalist meccas of today. Leaving Sodom was hard for Lot, because it meant giving up his dreams of wealth.

Zoar - Lot, like his uncle Abraham was willing to bargain, but he wasn't nearly as audacious in his request, so only the smaller city of Zoar would end up being spared from destruction.

Sulphurous fire from heaven - There are several possible naturalistic explanations for this story, most notably volcanic eruption but also possibly a meteor strike. Viewed from a humanistic perspective, this story reads like another ancient mythology to explain why things are, the way they are.

God was mindful of Abraham - Note that the text says that Lot was saved on account of Abraham, not because of Lot's own personal righteousness, which is clearly found lacking.

Incest and/or rape? - This disturbing incident might best be understood as the natural consequence of abusive family dynamics. Lot the father was willing to offer his daughters to be gang-raped by the mob in Sodom, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that these daughters were now willing to rape their father (and yes--- having sex with someone who is too intoxicated to consent is rape) to become pregnant.

Moabites and Ammonites - Describing the two later enemies of Israel as having questionable lineage is a common approach taken in the ancient world of insulting enemies, however, Jewish scriptures always have complexity and hence we later find that a widow of Moab (Ruth) would later marry into the family from which the great King David would arise, and that an Ammonite by the name of Naamah would be the wife of Solomon who would be the mother of the future King Rehoboam.

Abimelech of Gerar - This is the same king that Isaac (son of Abraham and Sarah) would later encounter and play the same sister-wife scam on.

Gerar - a Philistine town and district in what is today south central Israel

God came to Abimelech in a dream - Note that the deity referred to here as "God" is Elohim, not YHVH, which means (from a Source Criticism perspective) that this text is Elohist (E) in nature.

"Will you slay people even though innocent" - Note the use of the same logical argument that Abraham used in arguing with YHVH, except here Abimelech is arguing with Elohim."

"he is a prophet" - This is significant because we now see the role of prophecy being elevated in the text, but also because it shows that the office of a prophet was a common phenomenon throughout the region. Abimelech didn't need further explanation of what it meant that Abraham was a prophet, likely because he had encountered other prophets of other traditions in the area, and may have even had his own prophets on retainer as part of his court.

Abimelech says "... you have done things that should not have been done" - This kind of comic inversion is one of my favorite elements of the Jewish scriptures, a classic reversal of from whom one expects to hear moral criticism. Abraham the prophet is being called on the carpet by a gentile King, and rightly so.

Abraham profits --- Of course he did. Just like the last time he pulled the "my wife is my sister" scheme, Abraham is paid off handsomely, not only with livestock and treasure, but also with male and female slaves and a land to settle on. Given the curse of infertility that had been placed on the house of Abimlech (verse 18), it might be best to say that Abraham is a skilled extortionist.

Issac - יִצְחָק (Yizchak), lit. "laughter." Ugaratic texts speak of the laughter of the deity El, but in the Biblical text the laughter is referring to Abraham's laughter (17:17) and Sarah's laughter (18:12)

Circumcision at 8 days old - Gen. 17:12 established the rule of circumcising male newborn's on the 8th day, but this is the first reference to the actual practice.

Sarah saw Ishamel playing? - Most rabbinic commentaries I have looked at (including Rashi, Ibn Ezara, Ramban, and Sforno) speak of Ishmael "making sport," which they interpreted as meaning some kind of mocking in his play. The modern commentaries I looked (see bibliography) present this as one possible reading, but indicating that the plain read of the text is that Ishmael was simply playing, without any kind of ill intent.

Abraham's distress and God's response - Abraham's initial response of horror was completely justified and appropriate. Elohim's response was not. While Elohim did make the promise that Ishmael would become a great nation, Elohim also said that Abraham should do what Sarah wanted (and we know that Sarah had already been abusive to Hagar), which meant that Elohim was an enabler of domestic abuse.

Why the small amount of provisions for Hagar & Ishmael? - The meager provisions are inexcusable, and more evidence of the fundamentally abusive nature of the relationship between Sarah and Hagar.

God heard the cry of the boy - One significant problem in this story is the question of Ishmael's age. He was likely in his teens, maybe as old as 16 at this point. Yet throughout this story, Ishmael is depicted as a young child (even being carried by his mother at one point). I think the best explanation for this discrepancy is that possibly this story is another telling of the previous departure of Hagar from the family unit (see 16:6, where a pregnant Hagar fled an abusive Sarah), but placed in a different part of the narrative by the compilers of the Torah text.

Angel from heaven - Angels are making a lot appearances in the story now. Sometimes they are messengers, sometimes they are bringers of destruction, but also they are bringers of hope in the midst of desolation.

well of water - Wells will be very important culturally throughout this text, mostly due to their importance in the culture and economics of the region. Controlling wells was effectively controlling wealth.

Ishmael's future - Ishmael would end up living in the wilderness of Paran, an area of Arabia known as Hejaz which would later have great significance in the Islamic tradition, but got his wife from Egypt, the land of his mother.

Abimelech and Abraham make a pact - The JPS Tanakh commentary argues that this text was included not for its sparce factual details, but rather to show that Abraham is now effectively acting as a ruler, making deals with other rulers.

Beer-sheba - The JPS Tanakh commentary says that this could be translated as "well of oath" or "well of seven." The site of the Biblical city is today extensively excavated (known as Tel Be'er Sheva) and is located near the modern city of Beersheba in the Negev.

(Abraham) Planted a tamarisk at Beer-sheba and invoked there the name of the LORD, the everlasting God - We are still seeing evidence of the ancient religious practice of using trees in rituals to invoke the presence of deities. This kind of practice will later be condemned in TANAKH but not at this point.

the land of the Philistines - There has been a lot of academic debate about the reference to the "Philistines" here, with the current consensus leaning towards the idea that the "Philistines" mentioned here may be a different people than those later described as "Philistines."

"your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom who love" - Powerful imagery and description of Abraham's love of his son, which to me calls to mind the way the text would later speak of Jacob/Israel and his love for his favorite sons of Joseph and Benjamin. Parental love in the Hebrew scriptures is often a source of joy, but also of great sorrow, as we'll shortly see in this text.

The land of Moriah - a mountainous region that later Jewish tradition associated with the Temple Mount, but Samaritans associated with Mount Gerazim, while the Muslim tradition says it was close to the Kaaba in Mecca, in Arabia.

"You stay here with the ass. The boy and I will go up there, we will worship and we will return to you" - One has to wonder if Abraham believed his servants would stop him from committing the planned act of child sacrifice, or if he simply wanted to spare them the horror of what he was about to do?

Firestone - This possibly is referring to a piece of flint, used to create sparks and start a fire.

"Where is the sheep?" - An obvious question asked by Isaac, and given the prevalence of child-sacrifice in the area at the time, not an unreasonable question to ask.

Altar - The building of altars features prominently in Genesis/Bereshit.

Binding of Isaac - The story has taken a life of its own, including quite a bit of artistic renditions and contemplations, a recent example being Matisyahu's Akeda album.

"For now I know that you fear God..." - From this line we get the traditional interpretation that this text depicts a divine test of Abraham's loyalty to God.

Adonai-Yireh - Possibly trans. as "Adonai sees"

Angel of the LORD - This speech by an angel, on behalf of YHVH also backs the traditional interpretation of this text as a test of Abraham's faithfulness to YHVH.

Later generations have found other ways to read this text, including seeing it as a decisive teaching against human sacrifice. From this perspective, one could argue that Abraham failed a more important test---would he be willing to tell God no, if God commanded him to do something was truly evil? This reading of the text is much more compatible with humanism.

Covenant - We again see an invocation of the previous covenant, with added blessings of a universal nature. Unfortunately these beautiful words of blessing are said to be due to Abraham's disappointing obedience to an evil divine command to kill his own son.

"Abraham returned to this servants..." - Some commentators have noted the absence of Isaac from the return from the mountain. Rabbi Tzemah Yoreh has even argued that in the oldest version of the story, Abraham actually succeeded in sacrificing Isaac.

Another creative interpretation of the text can be found in the book Unscrolled: 54 Writ­ers and Artists Wrestle with the Torah, in which Abraham is depicted as a criminal defendant having to justify why he attempted to murder his son (because after all, attempted murder is also a crime in most jurisdictions!)

Family tree of Nahor, brother of Abraham - This bit of odd detail is notable primarily for it providing the lineage of Rebekah, Isaac's future-wife.

* JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis (1989 Jewish Publications Society). Accessed via Logos.com

* Frankel, Ellen The Five Books of Miriam (1997)

* Sefaria (see contextual links above)

* Wikipedia (see contextual links above)

* Levenson, Jon D. "Annotations on Genesis" The Jewish Study Bible (2d Edition, 2014)

* "Tzemah Yoreh" Judaism Unbound Podcast

* * Roop, Eugene F. Believers Church Bible Commentary: Genesis (1987 Herald Press). Accessed via Logos.com.

* Fretheim, Terence E. "The Book of Genesis" New Interpreter’s Bible Volume I, Accessed via Logos.com.

* Bennett, Roger (ed.) Unscrolled: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle with the Torah (2013).

* Levenson, Jon D. “Genesis: Introductions and Annotations” The Jewish Study Bible (2nd Ed., 2014)