Genesis 26, Isaac

We have moved from the story of Abraham to the story of Isaac (and his young family, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob.)  The book of Genesis covers the life of Abram/Abraham in 13 chapters, chapters 12 to 24.  In chapter 25 we transition over to the life of Isaac and the main character of this chapter is Isaac.  But by the end of chapter 27 we have moved on to the story of Isaac's son, Jacob.  I find it interesting that of the three patriarchal heroes of the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we really learn very little about Isaac!

Genesis 26:1-6, Famine and promise
Now there was a famine in the land--besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time--and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. 

The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws."

So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

God's covenant with Abraham is renewed with Isaac.

Genesis 26:7-11, Just like his father
When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought, "The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful."

When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, `She is my sister'?" 

Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her."

Then Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us." So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: "Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."

Isaac, like his father Abraham, pretends his wife is his sister!  But Abimelech catches Isaac "caressing" Rebekah, obviously in a sexual manner.  (The old King James translated this "sporting with...")

Genesis 26: 12-17, Isaac leaves Abimelech

Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth. 

Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us." So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.

Isaac is forced to leave, due to his prosperity!

Genesis 26: 18-22, Dispute with the herdsmen of Gerar
Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.

But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land."

They are quarreling over wells. This is a land where rain is always a blessing.  Any spring or seep, where water has pooled, is a source of wealth.

NIV footnotes:  Esek means "dispute"; Sitnah means "opposition"; Rehoboth means "room".

Genesis 26: 23-25, God's covenant with Isaac

From there he went up to Beersheba. That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham." Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

God continues His covenant with Isaac.

Genesis 26: 26-33, Agreement with Abimelech

Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?"

They answered, "We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, `There ought to be a sworn agreement between us'--between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD."

Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, "We've found water!" He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.

Abimelech decides he wants to be on Isaac's side!

NIV footnotes: Shibah can mean "oath" or "seven"; Beersheba can mean "well of the oath" or "well of seven". 

Genesis 26: 34-35, Esau

When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

The last verse in this passage hints at a family conflict that will reach its climax in the next chapter.

Genesis 25, Descendants of Abraham

Young Isaac has a wife.  Now we transition from the story of Abraham to the story of Isaac.

Genesis 25:1-4, Abraham's other wife

Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites.  The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.

We now are told that Abraham had another wife (the word translated "took" in verse 1 could also betranslated "had taken".)  We are quickly caught up on this other lineage. From the point of view of the Genesis author, these other lines are not important; the story concentrates on Isaac and Jacob.

Genesis 25:5-11, Death of Abraham
Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.

His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.

After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

The Keturah/concubine line(s) were not nearly as important as that of Isaac. Abraham, after living to 175 (?!!), dies and is "gathered to his people" and is buried in the same place as Sarah.

Genesis 25: 12-18, Ishmael
This is the account of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Sarah's maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps.

Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and 

he was gathered to his people. His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.

Another lineage from Abraham is that of Ishmael.

According to the NIV footnotes, the translation "lived in hostility toward" could be "lived to the east of".

Genesis 25: 19-26, Birth of the twins, Jacob and Esau

This is the account of Abraham's son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.

The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

Notice how quickly the writer of Genesis moves us from Abraham to his grandson Jacob!

From the NIV footnotes: Paddan Aram is Northwest Mesopotamia. Esau may mean "hairy"; he was also called Edom, which means "red". 

Jacob means "he grasps the heel" which has the connotation of tripping people up, of deceiving them.  From birth Jacob will be marked by his willingness to be sneaky and deceptive, and by the fact that he is not the first born.  The first such episode follows immediately....

Genesis 25: 27-34, Esau sells his birthright

The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.)

Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright."

"Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?"

But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." 

So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Jacob takes advantage of Esau's hunger and impetuousness. Esau does not understand what he has done. Both Jacob's scheming and his concerns about his birthright are front and center in this story.

Imago Dei

A recent small group conversation discussed legalism in Christianity and other religions.  A friend (Coralee) asked, "What is it about us that makes us want to make Rules?"  My wife, Jan, later generalized this question to me as, "Is human rule-making due to our being made in the image of God? What human characteristics are due to us being in God's image?"

Genesis 1:27 says that God made mankind, male and female, in His image. If we are in the image of God, how does that manifest itself in our life and culture? And, recognizing the fall, what aspects of our life and culture are due to the fall,  not to being in God's image?

As Jan and I discussed this, it is clear that some things do follow from God's image, as they are characteristics of both God and humans.  Our desire for community is inherited from God; God desires our communion with Him and in Genesis 2 recognizes that Adam cannot be alone. Indeed, loneliness is torture to many of us; we all want to be part of a small commune!

Our creative desires come from God, the Creator.  Our love of Beauty follows from the One who looked on His creation and said, "It is good."  Indeed, most forms of art can be traced to our desire to Create Beauty.

In Genesis 1, God creates Structure out of Chaos; He organize the earth and nature, separating light from darkness, sky from sea.  In my experiences in math and science, it is a natural human desire to classify and organize the world around us. It is from this structure that we put objects in boxes and create rules.

In Genesis 2: 19-20, God bring the animals to Adam and he names them.  The Old Testament concept of "naming" implied some type of understanding or prediction about the object -- notice how Eve and other mothers name their sons! -- and so we see there the first step in cataloguing the world around us. Some might even argue that the biological process of taxonomy flows out of our image of God. (For example, see Taxonomic Theology: An Interdisciplinary Approach to a Biblical and Biological Theology of Naming by professors Stovell and Morris.)

Mankind's desire for justice come from God's Righteousness and from our recognition that people made in the image of God are invested with value and significance. 

This video at the Bible Project argues that the prohibitions against idolatry (pervasive in the Old Testament) come from the fact that we are God's image!  God has already made special images of Himself and it is us!

Wikipedia has an article in the Image of God.  There it suggests three slightly different views of this concept: the Substantive, Relational and Functional.  These are described there as: 

"The Substantive view locates the image of God in shared characteristics between God and humanity such as rationality or morality. A Relational understanding argues that the image is found in human relationships with God and each other. A Functional view interprets the image of God as a role or function whereby humans act on God’s behalf and serve to represent God in the created order."

I argue that all three views are correct -- we receive rationality and morality (and creativity) from God and our desire for justice and community comes out of human relationships and our desire to represent God in these relationships.

In mathematics we describe functions as mapping one set into another; the elements in the second set, the range of the function, are the images of the first set. God has created a mapping into the brains (the intellect, soul, heart) of these little human beings so that we react in various ways that display that image.  This mapping is not one-to-one; much is lost in that mapping, but in many ways our thoughts, our joys and creativity, our desire for justice, are all shadows of the mind of God!  

A day will come when we leave these Shadowlands... but it is not yet.

Genesis 24, A Wife for Isaac

Now that Sarah has died and Abraham is very old, it is time for Isaac to find a wife.

Genesis 24:1-4, Isaac needs a wife
Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac."

Abraham forces his (unnamed) servant to make a strong promise ("cross your heart".)

Genesis 24: 5-9, Isaac needs a wife
The servant asked him, "What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?"

"Make sure that you do not take my son back there," Abraham said. "The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, `To your offspring I will give this land'--he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.

"If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there."

So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

Abraham will not retreat from this new land.

Genesis 24:10-14, The servant visits Nahor
Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, `Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, `Drink, and I'll water your camels too'--let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."

Aram Naharaim is northwest Mesopotamia.

The servant makes a very specific prayer. Many call this "laying down a fleece", after the story of Gideon's fleece, from the book of Judges. The request not only asks for God's intervention, but also asks for a certain generosity in the woman's character.

Genesis 24: 15-16, Beautiful Rebekah
Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

Here is an eligible young woman....

Genesis 24: 17-20, "I will water your camels also"

The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."

"Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking." So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.

Rebekah offers to also water the camels, an act of generosity that also meets the servant's prayer. This energetic and kind young woman quickly impresses the servant.

Genesis 24; 21-25, The servant is invited to stay the night

Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?"

She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor." And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night."

Rebekah is the grandson of Nahor, Abraham's cousin.  Her father Bethuel is then a cousin of Isaac.

NIV footnotes: A beka is about 1/5 ounce (about 5.5 grams) and ten shekels is about 4 ounces (about 110 grams.)

Genesis 24: 26-28, The servant worships

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, saying, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives."

The girl ran and told her mother's household about these things.

Abraham's servant praises God for leading him to the right place.  Meanwhile the girl runs to talk to her mother.

Genesis 24: 29-33, Welcomed
Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. "Come, you who are blessed by the LORD," he said. "Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels."

So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. Then food was set before him, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say." 

"Then tell us," [Laban] said.

Laban welcomes the servant and asks for the details of the visit (and proposal.)

Genesis 24: 34-49, Proposal

So he said, "I am Abraham's servant. The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys.

My master's wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. And my master made me swear an oath, and said, `You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, but go to my father's family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.'

"Then I asked my master, `What if the woman will not come back with me?'

"He replied, `The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father's family. Then, when you go to my clan, you will be released from my oath even if they refuse to give her to you--you will be released from my oath.'

"When I came to the spring today, I said, `O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar," and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too," let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master's son.'

"Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, `Please give me a drink.' She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, `Drink, and I'll water your camels too.' So I drank, and she watered the camels also.

"I asked her, `Whose daughter are you?' "She said, `The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.' "Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.

"Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn."

The servant tells his story. His prayer, right before meeting Rebekah, is reported as "in my heart", that is, it was not said out loud.

Genesis 24: 50-54 Proposal accepted
Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has directed."

When Abraham's servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD. Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, "Send me on my way to my master."

The family agree to the marriage proposal and acknowledge the proposal as a response to divine action.

Genesis 24: 55-61, Rebekah will leave her mother now
But her brother and her mother replied, "Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you may go."

But he said to them, "Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master."

Then they said, "Let's call the girl and ask her about it."

So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Will you go with this man?" 

"I will go," she said.

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies." Then Rebekah and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

This must all be scary for Rebekah!

Genesis 24: 62-67, Isaac meets Rebekah

Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, "Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?" 

"He is my master," the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 

Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

NIV footnotes: the meaning of the Hebrew translated "meditate" in verse 63 is uncertain.

Rebekah will be the woman Isaac needs and will be the new mother in a tribe.

Genesis 23, The Death of Sarah

God has reconfirmed His covenant with Abraham.  His son Isaac is reaching adulthood.

Genesis 23:1-2, Sarah dies

Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

We move quickly to the death of Sarah, almost thirty years after the birth of Isaac.

Genesis 23:3-9, Abraham negotiates for a burial cave

Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, "I am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead."

The Hittites replied to Abraham, "Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead."

Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. He said to them, "If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you."

Abraham negotiates for a place to bury Sarah.  From the NIV footnotes: The term translated "Hittites" could mean "the sons of Heth".

Genesis 23: 10-16, Ephron the Hittite sells his field and cave
Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. "No, my lord," he said. "Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead."

Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land and he said to Ephron in their hearing, "Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there."

Ephron answered Abraham, "Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between me and you? Bury your dead."

Abraham agreed to Ephron's terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.

A Hittite named Ephron steps forward to arrange the purchase of a field. We see here a heavily cultural negotiation, with flattery, encouragement, praise, while a price is worked out.

Genesis 23: 17-20, Abraham buries Sarah
So Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre--both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field--was deeded to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city.

Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.

This chapter closes the account of Sarah's death and burial.  I note that the burial is near Mamre, where thirty years before three "men" visited Abram and Sarai in Genesis 18 and announced that Sarai would soon be pregnant.

Genesis 22, Abraham is Tested

Abraham has finally had his promised son through Sarah, and is now living in Beersheba.  The long running story of the promised son is not over.

Genesis 22: 1-2, Go to Moriah
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

God suddenly tells Abraham to sacrifice his son. We have no idea of Abraham's internal response to this.

Abraham will go to a mountain in "the region of Moriah." Centuries later Mount Moriah will be within the boundaries of the city of Jerusalem and the nation will build the temple there (2 Chronicles 3:1.)

Genesis 22: 3-8, Abraham travels to Moriah

Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" 

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. 

"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." 

And the two of them went on together.

Abraham tells the servants that he will return with Isaac.  Does he mean that?  Does he mean what he says in response to Isaac's basic question? Does Abraham really believe that God will provide the lamb?  

Genesis 22: 9-10, Abraham obeys

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Abraham goes through the sacrificial steps required, including binding Isaac.  (What did Isaac think?)

Genesis 22: 11-14, God intervenes

But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "

Here I am," he replied.

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

This is such a strange story, yet all turns out as Abraham had implied.  (Does Abraham have a clue to any of this?  Or is he merely obedient and hopeful.)

The NIV footnotes says that most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text" say Abraham saw a ram "behind him", apparently adding that phrase. Other ancient texts do not include it.

Genesis 22: 15-19, Covenant repeated
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

God reaffirms his commitment to Abraham and his descendants.

Genesis 22: 20-24, Children of Nahor
Some time later Abraham was told, "Milcah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel."

Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham's brother Nahor. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.

We are updated on the descendants of Abraham's brother.  This will be important when we look for a wife for Isaac.

Genesis 21, Laughter

God has promised Abraham a son.  But that was some time ago....

Genesis 21: 1-5, The birth of Isaac
Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.

When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

"Isaac" means "he laughs".  Sarah finally has the child she had long wanted.

The chapter divisions in our Bible are artificial, created in medieval times.  If one were reading this in an old Hebrew scroll, the story of the infertility of Abimelech's harem would continue into this chapter without pause, sharply contrasted by the story of Sarah's pregnancy. They are all part of one common story about Sarah and promises of children and descendants.

Genesis 21: 6-8, Laughter comes to Sarah

Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."

The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.

Sarah uses the name Isaac to describe her reaction to her child. She has dreamed of this for decades.

Genesis 21: 9-13, Sarah turns on Hagar

But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac."

The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.

But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring."

Sarah's joyful laughter is ruined by Hagar's mocking laughter.  So Sarah attempts to remove Hagar and Ishmael, even though the birth of Hagar's child was her idea.

Genesis 21: 14-16, Hagar and Ishmael are dismissed
Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, "I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.

The NIV footnote says that the Septuagint (ancient Greek translation) has the child sobbing, not Hagar.  This fits better with the next paragraph.

Genesis 21: 17-21, God intervenes to save Ishmael

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt. 

God intervenes to save Ishmael by pointing out a well of water nearby. God has plans also for Ishmael.

Genesis 21: 22-31, Treaty with Abimelech

At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, "God is with you in everything you do. Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have shown to you."

Abraham said, "I swear it."

Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized. But Abimelech said, "I don't know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today."

So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a treaty. Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, and Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?"

He replied, "Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well."

So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there.

After the interlude about Sarah and Isaac, we return to the story of Abraham and Abimelech.  Abimelech is aware that Abraham is protected by his God and pursues alliances.

The site of the treaty, Beersheba, will continue to appear throughout Old Testament history, eventually becoming one of the southernmost towns in the southern kingdom of Judah. (According to the NIV footnotes, "Beersheba" can mean "well of seven" or "well of the oath".)

Genesis 21: 32-34, Beersheba and the Eternal God

After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

Abraham stays for a time in the land of the Philistines. Here Abraham's worship is identified as calling on Yahweh, "the Eternal God".

Genesis 20, Abraham in Gerar

After Sodom, Abraham moves on. He settles for a time along a riverbed in the Negev desert (part of modern Israel; see this Wikipedia page on Gerar.)

Genesis 20: 1-7, Abraham lies again about Sarah

Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman."

Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, `She is my sister,' and didn't she also say, `He is my brother'? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands."

Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die."

Abraham has done this before, with the Pharaoh of Egypt. Again, God intervenes and we see Abimelech arguing with God in a dream.

Genesis 20: 8-13, Abimelech confronts Abraham

Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said, "What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done."

And Abimelech asked Abraham, "What was your reason for doing this?"

Abraham replied, "I said to myself, `There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.' Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father's household, I said to her, `This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my brother."'"

Abraham claims two things: there is no fear of God in that place -- but there was! -- and that, technically, she is his (half-)sister.  This is the first we hear of this claim.

Genesis 20: 14-18, Abimelech makes amends

Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, "My land is before you; live wherever you like."

To Sarah he said, "I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated."

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech's household because of Abraham's wife Sarah.

According to the NIV footnotes, a thousand shekels of silver is "about 25 pounds (about 11.5 kilograms)", a considerable amount of silver.

This story parallels that of the Egyptian pharaoh from Genesis 12.

Wow, what a rough time for Abimelech!  And Abraham does not look good here (again!) The story of Abraham and Abimelech is not over but will continue in the next chapter, after a brief interruption.  Alter argues that the infertility of Abimelech's harem implies that it is Abimelech who is suddenly impotent.  The question about the "closed wombs" in Abimelech's harem leads naturally to the insertion of a story about Sarah's fertility -- that brief interruption of the Abraham/Abimelech tale starts immediately in the next chapter.

Genesis 19, Judgment on Sodom

Sodom's wickedness has led God to condemn it, even after Abraham negotiates.  Sodom does not have even ten righteous people in it.

Genesis 19: 1-3, Two angels show up at Lot's door

The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." "

No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."

But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.

The word translated "angel" here is really "messenger."  From context we know that these are "divine messengers."  The three "men" in the previous chapter, one of whom apparently represented YHWH, has now reduced to two divine messengers.

Lot knows that the men will not be safe in the city square.

Genesis 18: 4-9, Rape gang at Lot's door
Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

"Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

Lot attempts to negotiate with the gang, offering them his daughters instead!  The gang response is anger and indignation. Lot underestimates both the gang and his visitors.

Genesis 19: 10-13, Angels promise to protect Lot
But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here--sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."

Sodom will be destroyed. Lot needs to leave.  He is told to take with him the ones he loves.

Genesis 19: 14-20, Fleeing Sodom

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.

As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"

But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it--it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."

NIV footnotes: In verse 14, "pledged to marry" could mean "were married to".  The daughters were likely married to local men who had no intention in leaving.

Lot convinces the angels to let him turn aside to a nearby town.  

Genesis 19: 21-26, Destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah (& of Lot's wife)

He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.

But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.)

By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

(Zoar means "small".)

Lot reaches safety in Zoar but Lot's wife does not, disobeying the command to "not look back".

Genesis 19: 27-30, A pillar of smoke

Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave.

Abraham can see that Sodom has been destroyed.

Genesis 19: 31-36, Lot's daughters have sex with him

One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."

That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

In the ancient near eastern culture, a woman's significance was tightly intertwined with her ability to have children.  Lot's daughters no longer have their husbands and so must have children some other way.  They choose to get pregnant by Lot, first getting him drunk. The narrator, as in other incidences, makes no comment on these actions.  (This might be a good place to reference the recent article "What's Up with Weird Bible Sex?" in Christianity Today.)  

Genesis 19: 37-38, The Moabites and Ammonites

The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

This story explains the existence of the Moabites and Ammonites. (NIV footnotes: "Moab "sounds like the Hebrew for "from father"; "Ben-Ammi" means "son of my people.")  The existence of Moabites and Ammonites will be a problem for the future Israelites when they return to Canaan.

Interpretation vs. Explanation (and Other Issues with Translation)

The Tension in Translation

For many of us, the Old Testament is read in English, although originally written in Hebrew.  This means then that we rely on translators to change the Hebrew text into an English text.  

Anyone who has learned a second language is aware of some of the inherent difficulties of translation.  A particular word in one language might not have a direct translation in another language -- one word may have a meaning in one language that can only be covered by several different words in the second language. This is complicated further by cultural flavors of a word, the images a word may bring that reflects the thought patterns of the cultural atmosphere.

Examples from our study in Genesis include the Hebrew words zera and nichamti. Robert Alter argues that zera is most literally "seed", but is used in the Torah to mean plant seed, animal seed (semen), or the results of that seed, that is, offspring.  One might always translate zera as "seed" -- the King James Version does that -- or one might reflect the different meanings of that Hebrew word by translating it, in the appropriate places, as "offspring" or "descendants". Alter describes a tension between translation and explanation. This tension occurs in any attempt to translate from one language to another.  At what point do you use terms that are not direct translations but include some aspect of explanation?

The Hebrew word nichamti, translated as "grieved", "was sorry", or regretted" in Genesis 6:6 apparently has a wide variety of meanings, some that have (says Walton) an accounting image: to settle debts, to set right, to balance.  In Genesis 6:6 is God feeling sad and sorrowful? Or is He making a correction or restoring a balance?  

At what point does a translation veer into an explanation that makes assumptions about the text?

There are a variety of ways translators may attack this issue.  In Robert Alter's beautiful translations of the Old Testament, he adds copious footnotes that describe the various historical uses of a particular word.  The Amplified Bible does something similar, replacing one word by a number of synonyms that attempt to pull out the various translation options.

An old and excellent resource for Bible scholars is Strong's Concordance which tracks the uses of a particular Hebrew (or Greek) word throughout the Old (or New) Testament. Originally designed to go with the King James Version of the Bible, it is now available online and documents how ancient words are translated into several different versions of the Bible. For example, here is the Strong's Concordance on zera and here is the Strong's Concordance on nichamti.

Idioms, Rhymes, Rhythm, Puns, Sarcasm

Every culture has idioms and phrases that are deeply embedded in the culture but are difficult to translate.  For example, what does the English phrase "pulling your leg" mean?  Do other languages (say Mandarin) have an equivalent phrase?  

In the cultures of Bible times, there were idioms involving covering/uncovering one's feet. If one wore a robe, then one held or tied the robe up when walking.  Thus to "uncover one's feet" meant "to get to work".  And "covering one's feet" meant to sit down or relax.  In the New Testament an equivalent phrase "gird your loins" meant "tie up your robe and get ready to work!"

Additionally, words in one language might have a certain rhythm or rhyme that was useful in creating a proverb or a memorable phrase.  Alter argues in Genesis 9:6 that the Hebrew would have heard the rhyme of dam and adam in the statement about "blood" and "humankind".

Just as idioms are difficult to translate, so also is wordplay (such as puns) based on the sounds of the ancient words.  In some cases there are euphemisms that may be understood by the ancient culture that have been lost today.  (What was wrong with Ham seeing Noah's nakedness in Genesis 9? Why did Zipporah touch her son's foreskin to Moses's feet in Exodus 4? Did Hebrew girls giggle when they heard the story of Ruth lying at the feet of Boaz in Ruth 3?)

Vivid Storytelling

Alter argues that 

"Modern translations, in their zeal to uncover the meanings of the biblical text... frequently lose sight of how the text intimates its meaning -- the distinctive artfully deployed features of ancient Hebrew prose and poetry that are the instruments for the articulation of all meaning, message, insight, and vision." (The Five Books of Moses, p. xix) and then worries about translations that lose the vividness of the story.  He gives some examples. Here is Alter's translation of Rebekah's energy in Genesis 24 (ibid., p. xxvi; the formatting and italics is mine):

And she came down to the spring 
and filled her jug
and came back up 

and the servant ran toward her 
and said, "Pray, let me sip a bit of water from your jug."
And she said, "Drink, my lord"
and she let him drink his fill 
and said, "Fill your camels, too.  I shall draw water until they drink their fill."
And she hurried
and emptied her jug into the trough
and she ran again to the well to draw water 
and drew water for all his camels.

Alter argues that the original Hebrew, with its fast-paced repetition of the word "and" is intended to emphasize Rebekah's hurry and energy.  This woman is working very hard!  But modern translations tend to drop the word "and" (it seems rather clumsy) and so lose the vividness of the story.

Other examples include Esau's demand for food in Genesis 25.  Alter translates that passage "Let me gulp down some of this red red stuff".  The Hebrew word Alter translates as "gulp" is an unusual one for eating, a word that in the Talmud usually reserved for stuffing food in the mouth of an animal (ibid., p. xxxi.)  The phrase translated "red red" carries the same hurried image.  The sudden colloquialism conveys (says Alter) that Esau is crude and impatient.

In the same way, Robert Hubbard, in his commentary on the book of Ruth, points out places where the Hebrew provides a vivid story that may be missed by the modern reader.

I will attempt to look for other examples as we continue our exploration of the Old Testament.

Genesis 18, Three Men at Mamre

Abram, newly named Abraham, has had all the males in his family circumcised, in keeping with the new covenant with God.

Genesis 18: 1-8, Three men appear
The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way--now that you have come to your servant." 

"Very well," they answered, "do as you say."

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread." Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

The LORD is somehow identified with the three men. 

Abraham probably follows a common custom: he quickly asks the men to come in and rest, makes humble promises about "something to eat", and then hurries to get a sumptuous banquet prepared.

I find it interesting that the location of this meeting, in an account written for people centuries later, is identified by trees.  Alter translates "great trees" as "Terebinth"; the KJV translates "great trees" as "plain".  The Hebrew word used here is a modification of elah, meaning oak or terebinth; this word will show up again in Genesis 35:4.  Apparently in these desert lands, one might identify a location by the existence of trees.

Three seahs is probably about  36 pounds or 16 kilograms, says the NIV footnotes.

Genesis 18: 9-12, Sarah laughs
"Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. 

"There, in the tent," he said.

Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." 

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?"

In verse 10, the Hebrew is literally "Then he" instead of "then the LORD"; the translators assume the pronoun refers to YHWH.

Sarah has long given up on the "pleasure" of bearing a child.

Genesis 18: 13-15, Don't laugh!

Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, `Will I really have a child, now that I am old?'  Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."

Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh." 

But he said, "Yes, you did laugh."

"The LORD" confronts Sarah and promises to return a year later.  The reporting of dialogue is delightful here.  Dialogue is somewhat rare in this book -- here we have God saying, "You laughed!", Sarah responding, like a child, "Did not!" to which God says, "Did so, did so!" Is YHWH teasing Sarah a little here?  Does she see how silly it is to deny this?  In a year she will be blessed with a young son and will get her own fill of childish behavior!

Genesis 18: 16-21, YHWH looks at Sodom

When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."

Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

God decides to explain His plans to Abraham.  This is portrayed as an internal conflict of God, debating with Himself over whether to tell his friend Abraham of his plans.

One is reminded of the events just before the Great Flood; once again mankind has degenerated into evil and God plans a response.  This time it will not be a flood.

Genesis 18: 22-33, Abraham bargains with God

The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" 

"If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."

Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" 

He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."

Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" 

He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" 

He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."

Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" 

He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."

When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

Abraham argues with God and negotiates for Sodom.  Abraham calls for "righteousness" or "justice" in God's actions.   Abraham stops his negotiotion at an agreement on ten righteous people; surely Lot and his family would account for most of the 10.

In this passage, YHWH comes across as a (very powerful) friend of Abraham, telling Abraham of his plans, promising a son, correcting Sarah's "I did not laugh." In verse 22, ancient texts and ancient Hebrew scribal traditions apparently have the phrase "but the LORD remained standing before Abraham", as if YHWH were the one waiting on Abraham, as if one might wait on a superior.  The NIV follows the Masoretic text which switches the roles, with Abraham standing before YHWH.  (Which is the original?  Did Masorete scribes change earlier texts because they were uncomfortable with "YHWH standing before Abraham"?)