1 Apparuit autem ei Dominus in convalle Mambre sedenti in ostio tabernaculi sui in ipso fervore diei.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 But let us see what this tree represents, under which Abraham stood and provided a meal for the Lord and the angels. "Under the tree of Mamre" the text says. Mamre in our language is translated "vision" or "sharpness of sight." Do you see what kind of place it is where the Lord can have a meal? Abraham's vision and sharpness of sight pleased the Lord.
Jerome · AD 420 [Daniel 8:15] "And it came to pass that when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it." He beheld the vision by way of a picture or likeness, and he failed to understand it.
Bede · AD 735 The Lord appeared to him in the valley of Mamre as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day, etc. This appearance of the Lord is considered to be more sacred than all the previous ones, in which He was seen so many times by the blessed Abraham.
2 Cumque elevasset oculos, apparuerunt ei tres viri stantes prope eum: quos cum vidisset, cucurrit in occursum eorum de ostio tabernaculi, et adoravit in terram.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 Now let us see how each man receives his guests. "Abraham saw," the text says, "and ran to meet them." Notice that Abraham immediately is energetic and eager in his duties.
Caesarius of Arles · AD 542 "Three men came to Abraham and stood over him." Observe how it is that they come upon him but not against him. He had subjected himself to God's will, and for this reason God is said to stand over him. "They stood over him," not against him to repulse him but over him for protection.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 The other way of anagogy is above the skies, as in the case of Abraham who saw three men and worshiped one, for the Trinity appeared in these three; and in the case of the two angels who were sent to Sodom, the Son and the Holy Spirit who are sent by the Father; and because the Father is never sent, He was not seen there, but He was seen in the case of the three men, for here H…
3 Et dixit: Domine, si inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, ne transeas servum tuum:
4 sed afferam pauxillum aquæ, et lavate pedes vestros, et requiescite sub arbore.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 But how does he continue again as if speaking to men: "Let water be received," the text says, "and your feet be washed"?Abraham, the father and teacher of nations, is indeed teaching you by these things how you ought to receive guests and that you should wash the feet of guests. Nevertheless even this is said mysteriously.
Caesarius of Arles · AD 542 Moreover he adds, as though speaking to the men, "I will bring water, that you may wash your feet." Learn from blessed Abraham, brothers, to receive strangers gladly and to wash their feet with humility and piety. Wash, I repeat, the feet of pious strangers, lest there remain in them some dust that they will be able to shake off of their feet to your judgment.
5 Ponamque buccellam panis, et confortate cor vestrum: postea transibitis: idcirco enim declinastis ad servum vestrum. Qui dixerunt: Fac ut locutus es.
Bede · AD 735 He refreshed them with the feasts that were prepared because he understood that from his seed would be born the one who, although he is God before the ages, consubstantial with the Father, appearing at the end of the ages as a true man, would truly dwell among men; the food with which he refreshed them is also full of spiritual sacraments, of which it is thus remembered:
6 Festinavit Abraham in tabernaculum ad Saram, dixitque ei: Accelera, tria sata similæ commisce, et fac subcinericios panes.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 He serves therefore bread mixed "with three measures of fine wheat flour." He received three men; he mixed the bread "with three measures of fine wheat flour." Everything he does is mystical; everything is filled with mystery.
Jerome · AD 420 (Chapter 18, Verse 6) And he said to him: Hurry, mix three measures of wheat flour. Because three measures are explicitly mentioned here, and the measure is uncertain: therefore I added that in Hebrew it has three sata, that is, three amphoras: so that we may understand the same mystery here and in the Gospel, where a woman is said to have fermented three measures of wheat flou…
Bede · AD 735 Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said to her: "Hurry, mix three measures of fine meal, and make cakes upon the hearth." And he himself ran to the herd, and took a tender and good calf and gave it to the servant, who hastened and cooked it.
7 Ipse vero ad armentum cucurrit, et tulit inde vitulum tenerrimum et optimum, deditque puero: qui festinavit et coxit illum.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 "But he ran," the text says, "to the cattle and took a calf." What kind of calf? Perhaps the first one he encountered? Not at all, but "a good and tender" calf. And although he would hasten in all things, nevertheless he knows that what is excellent and great should be offered to the Lord or to angels.
Philoxenus of Mabbug · AD 523 Now although this meat is a burden unto the wise and prudent, yet was it given by promise unto Noah, and it was sent unto Elijah in a gift, and Abraham received God and His angels thereby, and Isaac was pleased to pour out blessings upon Jacob thereby, and Samuel offered this gift beforehand to Saul as to a king, and David and all the righteous kings made use of such meat, and…
Bede · AD 735 The tender and excellent calf that Abraham took from the herd signifies the Mediator between God and humans, whom the most merciful Father killed for his returning younger son, that is, the Gentile people, according to the parable of the Gospel.
8 Tulit quoque butyrum et lac, et vitulum quem coxerat, et posuit coram eis: ipse vero stabat juxta eos sub arbore.
Philoxenus of Mabbug · AD 523 But thou wilt not be able to stand in the freedom of spiritual beings until thou hast cast away entirely the bondage of carnal beings, for when thou hast cast away this bondage like a spiritual being and freeman thou mayest eat of every thing blamelessly, without making thy heart gross by the eating of flesh, and the drinking of wine will not cloud thy thoughts, even as it is w…
Bede · AD 735 But he himself stood by them under the tree, because certainly we should so feed the Lord with the feasts of faith and virtues by good living, that is, delight Him, so that we always remember to stand in His presence, according to the saying of Blessed Elijah: "The Lord lives, in whose sight I stand" (3 Kings 17:1).
9 Cumque comedissent, dixerunt ad eum: Ubi est Sara uxor tua? Ille respondit: Ecce in tabernaculo est.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 What then does the Lord say to Abraham? "Where," the text reads, "is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "Lo, she is in the tent." But the Lord said, "I will certainly come to you at this time in due season, and Sarah your wife will have a son." But Sarah, standing behind the door of the tent behind Abraham, heard.Let the wives learn from the examples of the patriarchs; let the wive…
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 After they had eaten, "they inquired about Sarah." She, who even in her old age had preserved her modesty, came out from inside the tent to the door of the tent.
Bede · AD 735 And when they had eaten, they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" He answered, "Behold, she is in the tent." Then he said, "I will return to you at this time next year, if life be with us, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." Both indeed the lords of the house, and evidently Abraham and Sarah, prepared with the utmost haste a meal; but as if in a well-ordered house, Abra…
10 Cui dixit: Revertens veniam ad te tempore isto, vita comite, et habebit filium Sara uxor tua. Quo audito, Sara risit post ostium tabernaculi.
Romans · AD 56 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 10) However, he said, 'Returning, I will come to you at this time and in this hour, and Sarah will have a son.' For 'hour,' we read 'life' in Hebrew, so that the order or sense is: I will return to you in the time of life, as if he were saying, if I live, if life accompanies me. This, however, is anthropopathically expressed, like other things.
11 Erant autem ambo senes, provectæque ætatis, et desierant Saræ fieri muliebria.
Bede · AD 735 They were both old and advanced in years, and it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. To highlight the growth of heavenly power, he says that both were old, and moreover that Sarah, having been barren, was now also deprived of her menstrual blood, because of which she could no longer conceive, even if she had not been barren.
12 Quæ risit occulte dicens: Postquam consenui, et dominus meus vetulus est, voluptati operam dabo?
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 12.) But Sarah laughed within herself, saying: After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure? It is much differently read in Hebrew: And Sarah laughed within herself, saying: After I have withered, shall I have pleasure? Also note that where we have translated as pleasure, it is written as delight in Hebrew.
Bede · AD 735 Why did Sarah laugh, saying: "Shall I indeed bear a child, old as I am?" It remains to be understood that when she heard that Sarah would bear a son, Abraham had previously laughed in wonder with joy, and Sarah herself subsequently doubted in joy; whose doubt, nevertheless, was immediately removed when the reason for divine power was given, as the angel said to him:
13 Dixit autem Dominus ad Abraham: Quare risit Sara, dicens: Num vere paritura sum anus?
14 Numquid Deo quidquam est difficile? juxta condictum revertar ad te hoc eodem tempore, vita comite, et habebit Sara filium.
Bede · AD 735 "Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son." With this statement heard, all doubt was so removed, and her faith so confirmed, that the Apostle rightly says of her: "By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive." But when he says "I will return to you," and added "with life as a…
15 Negavit Sara, dicens: Non risi, timore perterrita. Dominus autem: Non est, inquit, ita: sed risisti.
16 Cum ergo surrexissent inde viri, direxerunt oculos contra Sodomam: et Abraham simul gradiebatur, deducens eos.
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 After the three men promised Sarah fruit, "they arose, and they looked toward Sodom." It was not revealed to Sarah that they were going to Sodom lest, on the same day that they had given her joy in the promise that a son was to be hers, she be grieving over her brother on account of that sentence of wrath decreed on Sodom and the nearby villages.
Bede · AD 735 When the men got up from there, they directed their eyes toward Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way. When it is said that the men got up from there, it is shown that while they were sitting, Abraham was standing and ministering to them, although he had initially seen them standing.
17 Dixitque Dominus: Num celare potero Abraham quæ gesturus sum:
18 cum futurus sit in gentem magnam, ac robustissimam, et benedicendæ sint in illo omnes nationes terræ?
19 Scio enim quod præcepturus sit filiis suis, et domui suæ post se ut custodiant viam Domini, et faciant judicium et justitiam: ut adducat Dominus propter Abraham omnia quæ locutus est ad eum.
20 Dixit itaque Dominus: Clamor Sodomorum et Gomorrhæ multiplicatus est, et peccatum eorum aggravatum est nimis.
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 It was not that God, who had just said, "their sins were very grave," did not know that they had sinned. This was an example to judges not to prejudge a case, even based on very reliable hearsay.
Salvian the Presbyter · AD 500 The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied, he said. Well did he say that sins can cry out. Great surely is the cry of sinners as it mounts from earth to heaven. But why does he say that the sins of people cry out? It is because God says his ears are assaulted by the cries of our sins that the punishment of sinners be not delayed.
Bede · AD 735 The Lord therefore said: "The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has been multiplied, and their sin has become very grave." He calls the outcry of Sodom the reputation or rather the infamy of their crimes, from which the Apostle, admonishing us, says: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and blasphemy, be put away from you, with all malice" (Ephesians 4:31).
21 Descendam, et videbo utrum clamorem qui venit ad me, opere compleverint; an non est ita, ut sciam.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 These are the words of the divine Scripture. Let us see, therefore, now what is fitting to be understood in them. "I have descended," the text says, "to see." When responses are delivered to Abraham, God is not said to descend but to stand before him, as we explained above: "Three men," the text says, "stood before him." But now, because sinners are involved, God is said to des…
Bede · AD 735 "I will go down," he says, "and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know." Therefore, when the Lord said that he would go down to see whether the same outcry was true, he did not show his ignorance, who possesses the knowledge of all things, but instructs our rashness, lest we presume to blame the deeds of other…
22 Converteruntque se inde, et abierunt Sodomam: Abraham vero adhuc stabat coram Domino.
23 Et appropinquans ait: Numquid perdes justum cum impio?
Bede · AD 735 And they turned themselves from there and went towards Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the Lord, and approaching he said: Will you indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? If fifty righteous are in the city, will they perish along with the rest, until he said: If ten are found there; and the Lord said: I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.
24 si fuerint quinquaginta justi in civitate, peribunt simul? et non parces loco illi propter quinquaginta justos, si fuerint in eo?
25 Absit a te ut rem hanc facias, et occidas justum cum impio, fiatque justus sicut impius, non est hoc tuum: qui judicas omnem terram, nequaquam facies judicium hoc.
26 Dixitque Dominus ad eum: Si invenero Sodomis quinquaginta justos in medio civitatis, dimittam omni loco propter eos.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 And in this manner, through a series of questions and answers, even if he finds ten righteous people in the city, he promises impunity to the entire people on account of the righteousness of a few. Where do we learn how great a wall is for our country, a virtuous man, how we should not envy holy men, nor disrespect them lightly.
27 Respondensque Abraham, ait: Quia semel cœpi, loquar ad Dominum meum, cum sim pulvis et cinis.
Clement of Rome · AD 99 Let us be imitators also of those who in goat-skins and sheep-skins [Hebrews 11:37] went about proclaiming the coming of Christ; I mean Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel among the prophets, with those others to whom a like testimony is borne [in Scripture].
Jerome · AD 420 [Daniel 8:27] "And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days. And when I rose from my bed, I performed the king's tasks." This is the same thing as we read in Genesis about Abraham, for after he had heard the Lord speaking to him, he averred that he was but dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27).
Bede · AD 735 Since I have begun, I will speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes. By this word he clearly rebukes our pride, we who are far distant from the height of his merits, far removed from divine conversation due to our slowness and inertia, nevertheless inflated with the pride of arrogance, do not recall that we are destined to be dust and ashes; for blessed Abraham, the clo…
28 Quid si minus quinquaginta justis quinque fuerint? delebis, propter quadraginta quinque, universam urbem? Et ait: Non delebo, si invenero ibi quadraginta quinque.
29 Rursumque locutus est ad eum: Sin autem quadraginta ibi inventi fuerint, quid facies? Ait: Non percutiam propter quadraginta.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 Who could worthily praise the God of all for his marvelous long suffering and considerateness or congratulate the good man for enjoying such great confidence? "He continued to speak," the text goes on.
30 Ne quæso, inquit, indigneris, Domine, si loquar: quid si ibi inventi fuerint triginta? Respondit: Non faciam, si invenero ibi triginta.
31 Quia semel, ait, cœpi loquar ad Dominum meum: quid si ibi inventi fuerint viginti? Ait: Non interficiam propter viginti.
32 Obsecro, inquit, ne irascaris, Domine, si loquar adhuc semel: quid si inventi fuerint ibi decem? Et dixit: Non delebo propter decem.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 Finally, because no one besides Lot is found who would repent, no one would be converted. He alone is known; he alone is delivered from the conflagration. Neither his children, having been admonished, nor his neighbors nor his next of kin followed him. No one wished to know the mercy of God; no one wished to take refuge in his compassion.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 For proof that such persons' good standing is a means of winning long suffering for us, take heed in that very story to what he says to the patriarch: "If I find ten good people, I will not destroy the city." Why do I say ten good people? No one was found there free from lawlessness, except alone the good man Lot and his two daughters.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 32) And he said, 'Is it, Lord, if I speak?' Which is written in Greek, μήτι, Κύριε, ἐὰν λαλήσω. Secondly, Abraham spoke to the Lord, which does not seem to clearly indicate what he is saying.
33 Abiitque Dominus, postquam cessavit loqui ad Abraham: et ille reversus est in locum suum.