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And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
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,
And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
And 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.
And 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.
And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf ° tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
And 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.
And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
And 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.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
Is 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.
Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

18:1 the LORD appeared. This remarkable theophany is highly instructive. The Lord Jesus in pre-incarnate form and two of His angels all appeared in the form of three men, even eating with Abraham. The writer of Hebrews refers to this event when he says that “some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). Later the two angels move on to communicate with Lot in Sodom (Genesis 18:22) while the Lord remained to talk further with Abraham. Thus both the angels and God Himself can, when necessary, assume fully human bodies. Similarly, in His resurrection body, Christ “did eat before them” (Luke 24:43) and He said that, in the resurrection, all believers will be “as the angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). Our immortal bodies will be fully physical bodies, but, like the angels, not subject to the gravitational and electro-magnetic forces which govern our present bodies.


18:8 did eat. It is significant that not only Abraham, but also the three visitors–two of whom were angels, the other being Christ Himself in a theophany–all ate the meat prepared by Sarah and the servant. Whatever nutritional merits vegetarian diets might or might not have, they are not required by Biblical commandment. Note Genesis 9:3,4; I Timothy 4:3-4.


18:14 hard. “Hard” is the same word as “wonderful,” one of the terms used to describe the coming Messiah in Isaiah 9:6. God gave Sarah the faith to believe He could accomplish this wonderful miracle of rejuvenating her body, partly by letting her know He could hear her laugh even when she was out of His sight, and only laughed “within herself” (Genesis 18:12).


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