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 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. Three seahs is probably about 36 pounds (NIV footnotes) or twenty quarts (Walton.) This makes quite a lot of bread! Furthermore, in the ANE culture, meat is a luxury. Abraham intends to greatly honor his guests.

Once again, 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!

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. Like Abraham in the previous chapter (17:17), Sarah laughs in surprise and doubt.

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! In the New Testament, Sarah's actions here are mentioned as an example of faith (in Hebrews 11:11)!

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 negotiation at an agreement on ten righteous people; surely Lot and his family would account for most of the ten. Later Jewish practice will require ten men (a minyan) as a minimum to form a synagogue.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is adon, a masculine singular noun

אָדוֹן

meaning lord, master. It appears in verse 3 in Abraham's address to the three strangers. The word need not refer to supernatural beings; Sarah uses the word in verse 12 to describe her husband.

Some Random Thoughts

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 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 (sanitize) earlier texts because they were uncomfortable with "YHWH standing before Abraham"?

Not only does YHWH appear to stand before Abraham (as one of the three men?) but earlier He disputes with Sarah, as if He were teasing her about her upcoming joy of having a son. Neither image is that of a scary angry God, but instead a being Who is indeed a friend of the frail human, Abraham, and his wife.

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First published Jan 21, 2023; updated Jan 21, 2026

Genesis 17, Covenant Circumcision

Abram's maid, Hagar, has borne a child for Abram.  God had promised Abram an heir but had said nothing about the mother of the heir. Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael, that changes.

Genesis 17:1-8, Covenant renewed

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." 

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."

God appears to Abram and repeats his covenant. This time it includes a slight alteration in Abram's name. "God Almighty" is literally Hebrew "El-Shaddai". The name"Abram" begins with the Hebrew noun ab, meaning father; apparently "Abram" means "exalted father" while "Abraham" means "father of many."  

Ishmael is about 13 years old when this event occurs.

We are not told how God appears to Abram here. In the next chapter God's appearance (or that of His messengers) is in the form of three visitors.

Genesis 17:9-14, Circumcision
Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: 

Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner--those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

The sign of the covenant is a strange one -- males are to be circumcised, to have the foreskin of their penis removed.  Although circumcision was practiced at times in the ANE, especially as a rite at the onset of puberty, here it is a physical sign of the covenant with YHWH. 

Circumcision has obvious sexual/reproductive effects.  There probably was a direct connection (understood in that patriarchal culture?) between (1) cutting the male organ used for reproduction and (2) the promise that men of this covenant will reproduce often enough that their descendants will "be like the stars of the sky" (Genesis 15:5.)

Genesis 17:15-16, Sarai becomes Sarah
God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

There is a promise to Sarai also, as she will be the mother ancestor of these tribes. The name changes, for both Abraham and Sarah, seem to be relatively small.

The names Sarai and Sarah are both based on the Hebrew sar (שַׂר), a masculine noun meaning "chief", "governor" or "ruler." By adding the feminine ending ה, one gets a word meaning "female chief" or "princess".  Clearly this Sarah is to be the (female) chief of many people. (The name Sarai also appears to be a feminine version of sar; it is not clear to me the difference in meaning between Sarai and Sarah.)

Genesis 17:17-22, Abraham laughs
Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!"

Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."

When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

God answers Abram's request about Ishmael, but insists that the promised tribe will come through a son named Isaac, "he laughs."

The Hebrew verb "to laugh" is tsachaq (צְחַק.) Prefixing the verb with יִ (ye, indicating the pronoun "he"), one arrives at the name יִצְחָק, Yitschaq (Isaac.)

Genesis 17:23-27, Males circumcised
On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen; Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Abram follows the covenant instructions about circumcision. in some cultures male circumcision occurred at puberty and this event, the circumcision of the entire household, occurs just as Ishmael is entering puberty.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is sar 

שַׂר

a masculine noun meaning "chief", "governor" or "ruler." By adding the feminine ending ה, one obtains the word sarah (שָׂרָה) meaning "female chief" or "princess". That word is used in 1 Kings 11:3 to describe the 700 wives of Solomon and in Esther 1:18 to describe the noble ladies of Persia who might be led astray by Queen Vashti's insolence.

Some Random Thoughts

Note the strong emphasis on giving each child (or grown adult!) a name with meaning. In two chapters we have been given names and meanings for Ishmael, Abraham, Sarah and Isaac. In the ANE culture, it was the mother who named the child -- watch for this throughout our study in Genesis.

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First published Jan 20, 2023; updated Jan 20, 2026

Genesis 16, Hagar's Child

God has made promises to Abram and his descendants. But Abram is bothered by this, for he has NO children! In the culture of the ANE (ancient Near East) there are a number of acceptable ways to father children....

Genesis 16:1-4, An heir through Hagar
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

Since Sarai has been unable to bear children, she suggests a possible substitute mother, her maid, Hagar. Although this seems wrong to us, this would have been acceptable in the patriarchal culture of the ANE. Indeed, Hagar probably considered this an honor, a promotion. She certainly is proud, later, that she is the mother of Abram's heir.

Genesis 16:5-6, "Hagar despises me!"

Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."

"Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." 

Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

Abram is accused by Sarai of doing exactly what Sarai had told him to do! The Hebrew word cheq (חֵיק), translated "[into your] arms" here, is a masculine noun from a root that probably meant "to inclose". (A sexual image is implied.) Various translations render the word as "bosom", "lap", "arms", depending on the context. 

Despite fathering the child, Abram washes his hands of Hagar.  "Not my responsibility," he says.  So Sarai coldly sends Hagar and her child away.

Genesis 16:7-14, Don't leave!
The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?"

"I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered.

Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her."  The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."

The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward  all his brothers."

She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."

That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

Hagar runs from Abram and Sarai. She is headed home to Egypt and is on the road to Shur (on the Egyptian border) when the "angel of Yahweh" intervenes and tells her to return to Abram. The messenger assures her that she too will have descendants too numerous to count.

The name "Ishmael", meaning "God hears", is built on the verb shama (שָׁמַע), "to hear" or "to listen". In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, we have the famous "Shema Israel" ("Hear, Oh Israel!"), the call to devote oneself fully to YHWH and the Mosaic Covenant. By adding the prefix יִ (ye, indicating the pronoun "he"), and the suffix אל (-el, meaning "god") one obtains יִשְׁמָעֵאל. The name of the young boy is then Ye-Shema-El, literally "he - hear - God," or in the English grammatical structure, "God, he hears."

 

"Beer Lahai Roi" means "well of the Living One who sees me." Hagar names her son after the God who hears her cry and names the well after the One who saw her suffering.  In a later chapter she will still need to lean on the One who hears and sees.

Genesis 16:15-16, Ishmael stays
So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Here we are told that Abram names the child, apparently following Hagar's wishes. Ishmael will stay in the tribe of Abram, for the time being. Indeed, he will remain their thirteen years and is probably viewed, during that time, as Abram's heir.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is qol, voice, sound.

קוֹל

The word appears in verse 2, as Abram listens to the voice of Sarai.

Some Random Thoughts

The ancient story of Hagar and her son recently led an Indonesian father to examine how he brings up his own "strawberry" children in a modern world. The father's essay is here at Christianity Today.

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First published Jan 19, 2023; updated Jan 19, 2026

The Bible and Science

At various times I have been asked to speak to campus Christian groups on Faith & Science.  As we investigate Genesis, it is appropriate to ask, How does our study in Genesis related to modern science?  That question is part of a broader question on the Bible's perspective on "science".

The Bible's Perspective on "Science"

Modern science has a culture all its own; it is a modern concept that emphasizes understanding material structure (atoms, molecules) and emphasizes the physical laws of matter and energy.  It is not a concept that, in its modern form, appears in Scripture.  This does not mean that scientific concepts do not appear in Scripture but that the modern cultural viewpoint is not there.

In Genesis 1 we see each part of the universe created deliberately as an act of God, as beautiful and good. The passage describes the earth "teeming" with life, and describes all of nature as created by God's pleasure in an orderly fashion.

It is reasonable to believe that the Creator of the universe, a universe with physical laws, uses those laws and processes to do his will.  The ancient scriptures view Creation and the Creator in a way difference from our modern culture. We need to be careful to not impose on Scripture our cultural viewpoints; as John Walton says, in his commentary on Genesis, that in reading the Old Testament, we must avoid "intellectual imperialism".  Let me give several examples.

Beginning in Job 38 and continuing for four chapters, God challenges Job to "step to the blackboard" and explain, even control, a variety of natural phenomena. Here are verses 4-11 at the beginning of that passage:

"Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?

Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its place, 

that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out it?"

Verse 22 of that passage continues

"Have you entered the storehouses of snow 

or seen the storehouses of the hail...?"

This passage is not a scientific passage, but a passage about God's challenge to Job.  If one insists that this passage teaches that stars sing and that the sea has physical doors, that the earth has edges or that hail is stored in some barn somewhere, then one is imposing one's own cultural views on this ancient book.  This does not mean that the passage is in error, but that its message is not a scientific one.  

The modern reader often responds by saying, "Well, this is poetry, with poetic images", but that distinction is an oversimplification.  According to Walton, the ancient viewpoint emphasized processes, domains of functions and power.  It would not have asked about molecules and atoms and quantities of matter and energy.  The storehouses for the hail were processes God had for making hail.  Does Job have the power to make hail?  Obviously not.

This does not mean there is no "science" in Scripture, but that the science that occurs is on the level of the knowledge of the culture.  In the book of Acts, written by Luke -- who is elsewhere identified as a doctor -- we see an account of the death of Herod.  This occurred shortly after Herod allowed the people to call him a god:

Acts 12:23 on Herod's death:
"Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died."

There are two explanations here for Herod's death.  Which is correct? Did an angel strike him down or was he was eaten by worms?  I suspect that Luke would not have seen the distinction.  The doctor is suggesting the process of God's action: An angel struck Herod with a disease identified as "eaten by worms".

Still, nature (or "science"), whatever our perceptions of it, are witnesses of God's work.  Here are some sample passages:

Romans 1:20 --
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."
Psalm 8 begins

"Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens...."

Psalm 19: 1-4 says

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun."

In all these passages, we see YHWH as the Creator of the universe, as the one who created all things and continues to maintain all things.

Common Myths about Faith and Science

In conversations with a variety of students, friends and colleagues, I have often run into a number of popular myths about either Christian faith or science.  These myths, at times, obstruct discussions on faith or science.  I give short versions of the most popular ones here, without much elaboration....

1. The Bible is a science textbook. (This belief, not supported by Scripture, leads to false assumptions by Christians about the world we live in. No, the earth is not flat....)

2. Hebrew scholars insist that creation must have been in six 24-hour days. (Considerable disagreement exists among Hebrew scholars and there are good contextual arguments against this claim.)

3. Faith is "blind faith", without any justification. (No, a better word might be "trust".  A Christian lives by "trust", relying on an invisible God whose actions may not always be seen.)

4. A naturalistic world view is completely rational and logical. (The argument used to justify naturalism is circular: "I dismiss anything outside the naturalistic world because there is nothing outside the naturalistic world.")

5. Science is a monolithic structure opposed to any debate or change. When confronted with evidence they don't like, scientists conspire to hide the truth. (I've lived and worked with scientists for almost five decades now.  They can indeed be arrogant, prideful, obnoxious, elitist... but there is significant -- sometimes raucous -- debate within the scientific community!)

Since I have only touched on five concepts, one or two which may generate some controversy, feel free to contact me further by email for more serious discussions.  My email address is a gmail: KenWSmith54.

On Young Earth Creationism

When I was eighteen, in 1972, I attended Moody Bible Institute in downtown Chicago.  (I lived on the ninth floor of Culbertson Hall, with all of the City out my window!) In our Old Testament Synthesis class, the instructor suggested four possible interpretations for the timeline of Creation.  Three of those interpretations (held by leading evangelicals and fundamentalists) allowed an "old earth", an earth that was possibly billions of years old. One interpretation required a "young earth", an earth six to ten thousand years old. 

At that time, the writings of Henry Morris were not widely known.  Morris published a book, The Genesis Flood, claiming that the earth is "young" (six to ten thousand years old) and that a universal flood explains the "errors" in the popular geological dates of the time.  Morris then founded the Creation Research Society and eventually the Institute for Creation Research. More recent versions of Young Earth Creationism (YEC) include Answers in Genesis (led by Ken Ham) and Creation Ministries International. 

I have read YEC materials for many decades now and I believe that they seriously misinterpret Genesis 1.  Debating the merits and errors of YEC will lead us too far afield in our attempts to read the Old Testament, but I am aware that many American Christians view YEC as "biblical". However, many evangelical and fundamentalist leaders, including Hebrew scholars, disagree.  (See this article by Norman Geisler, for example. Or this article by Dick Fischer. Or this video by Gavin Ortlund.) Fortunately these disagreements are over a minor doctrine, a place where Christians may practice grace with those who disagree with us.

Some Resources that I recommend

I emphasize that there is considerable speculation (and disagreement) on the correct interpretations of the Bible's statements about nature, especially as they relate to the Creation account of Genesis 1.  There are a number of different Christian groups, made up of professional scientists, who have weighed in on the importance of Christians engaging with Science.  Here are some I recommend.

1. American Scientific Affiliation (The ASA is an organization of scientists who are Christians.  I am a member of the ASA.)
2. BioLogos (started by Francis Collins) focuses on Evolution and Science. The organization is led by biologists who are Christians. BioLogos defends evolution from a Biblical Christian viewpoint.
3. Reasons to Believe (founded by Hugh Ross) focuses on scientific arguments for Christianity. RTB argues for progressive creation of some type (the universe is billions of years old) but does not endorse evolution.
4. Naturalis Historia, by professor R. Joel Duff, is a blog that looks at Natural History and, at times, critiques claims made by Young Earth Creationists.

I especially enjoy the thoughtful blog, Musings on Science and Theology, by "RJS" (a chemistry professor at a major research university). She writes an excellent blog which covers a variety of issues of science and faith, especially as they relate to biology. Among her many posts on Science and Theology, I suggest reading:

1. Who Wrote Genesis?
2. Of Nations and Languages
3. On Reading Genesis 1-11

The author of that blog has many other thoughtful reactions, as a Christian and scientist, to Genesis and related topics.

The following books are in my personal library. (I have another dozen books or more in my personal library, but these are my favorites.)

1. "Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy" (a guide for educators from the American Scientific Affiliation) -- email me for a pdf copy of this.
2. "Creation or Evolution?" by Charles Hummel, an Intervarsity pamphlet summarizing the issues. A review appears here.
3. Science and its Limits, by Del Ratzsch, an excellent examination of what science can and cannot do.
4. The Language of God, by Francis Collins (former head of the NIH), explains why Collins sees science as providing evidence for God.
5. The Fingerprint of God, by Hugh Ross, explains why Ross sees science as providing evidence for God.
6. The Fourth Day, by Howard Van Till. Subtitle: "What the Bible and the Heavens are telling us about Creation".  The viewpoint is that of an astronomer.
7. Science Held Hostage, by Van Till, Young, Menninga.  Subtitle: "What Wrong with Creation Science AND Evolutionism."
8. Evolution, Nature & Scripture in Conflict? by Pattle P. T. Pun. This a favorite of mine, as Pun aggressively dismantles the arguments for Young-Earth Creationism while carefully explaining what we know about biology and evolution... and scripture.
9. (Mis)interpreting Genesis: How the Creation Museum Misunderstands the Ancient Near Eastern Context of the Bible, by Ben Stanhope. This book was recommended by friends and I am currently working through it.

On Beauty

Some years ago I was in a public debate on Christianity and Atheism at Central Michigan University.  I agreed to the debate on the condition that I and my opponents meet afterwards at a local pub for casual conversation.  There, over a few beers with two professors, I asked this question, 

"If at 3 AM you wake up and think, 'Gosh, maybe I am wrong', 

what would be the one thing that would be challenging your belief system?"  

I gave my answer: The Existence of Evil (see the book of Job, see Christ's cry on the cross in Matthew 27: 46.) My atheist/agnostic colleagues responded almost simultaneously, "Beauty", "Design". The universe seems to be wonderfully complex and beautiful, it appears to be designed.  If one does not believe in a Creator, then one must claim that this beauty is an illusion, possibly caused by an evolutionary need to feel significant.

But if we are here as the result of a Creator, the Creator who challenges Job to "give order to the morning", then our response must be 

"Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory in the heavens!"

We will return to reading Genesis tomorrow.

First published Jan 15, 2023; updated Jan 18, 2026

Genesis 15, Count the Stars!

Abram has just won a battle with four kings, rescuing Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah.

Genesis 15:1-6, Covenant
After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."

But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir."  He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

God repeats His plans to bless Abram and provide an eternal heritage. Obviously it will be hard for Abram to have descendants like the stars if he has NO children! Apparently in the ANE (says Walton) it was customary for a childless couple to adopt a son to care for them and to inherit their estate. Eliezer of Damascus is identified in this role. God promises Abram that this will not be Eliezer's role but that Abram wil have a true son.

Abram's belief that YHWH will give him a son makes Abram "righteous" in God's eyes. In the New Testament, the missionary Paul uses verse 6 to argue that righteousness came to Abram long before the Mosaic Law given on Mt. Sinai. Thus says Paul (Romans 4:1-3, Galatians 3:5-9) righteousness is given by one's faith in YHWH, not by one's obedience to the Law, This raises some basic questions: What does Abram believe? What does it mean to be righteous in this environment? Walton cautions against reading into Abram's actions a full blown theory of salvation.

Genesis 15:7-11, Covenant ratified
He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."

But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"

So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."

Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

Abram, already identified as believing God's promise, insists on ratifying the covenant with a sacrifice. Alter says the arraignment of cut-up animals was a standard way of sealing a covenant in the Ancient Near East -- the parties walked between the animal pieces and the bloody pieces served as a symbol of what would happen to the two parties if they broke the agreement.

Genesis 15:12-16, Prophesy about the Exodus
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.  Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age."

"In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

The descendants of Abraham will eventually leave for the land for Egypt, be captives there, and return. The length of time in Egypt is given as both four centuries and four "generations".  Some argue that the Hebrew word dor (דּוֹר), translated "generations" in verse 15, could be mean "lifespan", in which case it meshes better with the "four hundred years" of verse 13.

This vision, as part of a deep sleep, includes an aura of darkness and fear.

Genesis 15:17-21, A promise of the Promised Land
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-- the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

What a strange image, the torch and firepot moving between the animal halves!  God (YHWH, Yahweh) repeats His covenant promises about the land of Canaan. The torch and smoking firepot pass between the pieces of animals, symbolizing God's commitment to the covenant. Abram does not pass between the animal pieces --he is asleep -- at this time the covenant does not place conditions on him.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is tsedaqah, 

צְדָקָה

a feminine noun meaning justice, righteousness. It appears in verse 6, describing Abram after his belief in God's promise.

Some Random Thoughts

What were Abram's religious beliefs? And what did this covenant mean?

It is easy, given the later Mosaic Covenant, the book of Deuteronomy and other Old Testament writings, to read back into Abram the Jewish belief system. But little of that appears here. Abram is aware that the One God has chosen him and that presumably there are certain expectations of him. But those expectations are not spelled out. Abram is to trust YHWH to plan out his descendants. And presumably there is an emphasis on worshipping only YHWH and not a pantheon of gods. Indeed, if the tower of Babel was an ancient ziggurat, a staircase for the gods, and if Ur was a city with a famous ziggurat, then chapter 11 of Genesis describes Abram leaving a culture that worshipped many gods, to create a tribe that only worshiped the One God, the Creator, YHWH. 

In setting up the covenant, YHWH initiates a process in which He slowly reveals Himself to a family of peoples. Later, in chapter 17 of Genesis, covenant expectations will be extended. But at this time, Abram's job is to just trust this supernatural entity and hang on! 

(The website gotquestions.org has this article on the Abrahamic Covenant.)

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First published Jan 18, 2023; updated Jan 17, 2026

Genesis 14, War in the Valley of Siddim

Abraham and Lot have parted ways. An overly confident Lot will soon need Abram's help.

Genesis 14:1-10, War in the Valley of Siddim

At this time Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea).

For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar--four kings against five.

Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills.

Shinar is Babylonia; the Salt Sea is the Dead Sea. The Valley of Siddim is the valley around the Dead Sea.

This is an impressive array of kings.  After initial victories by Kedorlaomer, five kings ally themselves to stand up to Kedorlaomer at the Valley of Siddim.

Genesis 14:11-16, Lot, a victim
The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

The four kings (presumably led by Kedorlaomer) plunder Sodom and Gomorrah, capturing Lot and his family. Abraham organizes a successful rescue against these powerful kings.

In this passage, Abram, is called "the Hebrew". This is the first occurrence of this term in the Torah.  It is not clear where this name comes from.  There are a number of ideas. (See Wikipedia for a summary.)

There is considerable speculation over the identification of these kings. Wikipedia has an article on the Battle of Siddim that is an attempt to put this into modern views of ancient timelines. It consists of considerable speculation.

It is strange that we have such a precise number of men -- 318!

Genesis 14:17-24, Melchizedek
After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). 

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." 

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself."

But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, `I made Abram rich.' I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me--to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share."

Melchizedek is a strange individual, showing up in Hebrew lore and in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews. (And also in Psalm 110.) The name apparently translates as "Righteous King".

Salem is present day Jerusalem. So Melchizedek, king of ancient Jerusalem, will play a certain role in Jewish legends and take on a mystical character. Josephus mentions him in The Antiquities of the Jews, chapter 10, paragraph 2. In the New Testament, the authors of the Letter to the Hebrews will see Melchizedek as a foreshadowing type of Jesus (Hebrews 7.)

Abram has sworn an oath regarding integrity.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is melek, ruler, masculine noun

מֶלֶךְ

The word will be given a feminine ending, adding a ה, to mean queen: malkah ( מַלְכָּה.)

Some Random Thoughts

An interesting question raised by reading early chapters of Genesis is, What is the moral code of the ANE culture? (What does it mean to be righteous?) We will investigate Abraham's religion in the next chapter but here we see that the culture of the ANE had a significant emphasis on oaths and integrity.

First published Jan 17, 2023; updated Jan 16, 2026

Genesis 13, Separation of Abram and Lot

God has sent Abram into Canaan, with a side trip to Egypt.

Genesis 13:1-4, Abram goes to the Negev and then to Bethel

So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

Abram travels from Egypt into the Negev (now southern Israel -- see this Wikipedia article.) He returns to Bethel (mentioned in the previous chapter) and stops there to worship YHWH. 

The passage repeats previous descriptions of Abram's wealth.

Genesis 13:5-13, Separation from Lot

Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."

Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.

Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD. 

The wealth of Abram and Lot, and the richness of the land, lead to quarrels. Abram suggests a solution and lets Lot choose. The passage records that Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan and hints at problems to come, as Lot "pitched his tents near Sodom."

Alter notes that between Bethel and Ai is a viewpoint where one could easily to look out over the land. Lot sees the land to the east as "like the garden of the LORD" (that is, Eden) even though it has wicked men living in it. Lot then settles east of the Jordan while Abram settles west of the Jordan, in Canaan.

Genesis 13:14-18, God's promise of eternal land, eternal offspring

The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you." So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

God will bless Abram regardless of his choices; any choice is apparently a good one with God on his side! 

Abram is to envision all the land before him as belonging to him and his offspring (despite the fact that, at this time, he has no chidren.) He is to claim the land by walking through it. Alter says that walking around the boundary of property was part of a legal ritual in the Ancient Near East.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is ayin, eye, appearance, spring.

עַיִן

This word appears in verses 10 and 13 in this chapter, as Abraham lifts up his eyes and looks at the land.

Some Random Thoughts

In the dry Mediterranean climate of Canaan, a set of large trees is remarkable. In this chapter and the next, the great oaks (or terebinths) of Mamre are identified as a geographical location. The author presumably expects his audience to recognize that site -- and maybe even the trees -- even though one would not expect trees to be permanent.

The site Mamre, where Abram settles for a time, will appear off and on throughout Genesis.

First published Jan 16, 2023; updated Jan 15, 2026

Genesis 12, Abram

Mankind has spread out after the Great Flood and Babel. We have then been given a genealogy leading to Abram.  Abram, who will later be known as Abraham, leaves Ur with his father Terah.  (Encyclopedia Britannica has a good article on Abraham.)

Genesis 12:1-3, God calls Abram

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

God begins a covenant with Abram.  We are given no explanation for His choice of Abram nor (at this time) are we told the real direction for Abram's travels. We will look more carefully at the reason for the covenant when we look at chapter 15.

Genesis 12:4-9, Abram sets out for Canaan

So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 

Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

The Negev is a desert in southern Israel.

The Hebrew word zera (זֶרַע),"seed", appears often in the Old Testament and is translated in a variety of ways. (In verse 7 here it is translated "offspring" by the NIV.) The Hebrew word first shows up in Genesis 1:11 where it means the seed of a plant.  In Genesis 38:9 it means semen. But, naturally enough, it can also mean the results (offspring) of these "seeds". (See discussion here.) Robert Alter uses this word to demonstrate the tension between translation and explanation of a passage.  Do we attempt to always translate the word zera as "seed", even if the expression is unnatural in English? Or do we translate the Hebrew word differently depending on context? Various Bible translations struggle with this tension as they attempt to translate text from one language to another (and from one culture into a different one.)

The altar at Bethel (meaning "House of God") was probably 10-15 miles north of modern Jerusalem. This is the first mention of Bethel -- the name will occur again numerous times in the Old Testament. Bethel shows up again in Genesis 25; both Shechem and Bethel are mentioned in Genesis 35.

Genesis 12:10-16, Detour to Egypt
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, `This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."

When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

This is a strange and rather awkward passage, representing Abram as a deceitful coward... with a beautiful wife. As John Walton points out, there are cultural undertones here that we no longer understand. As Sarai is between 65 and 75 in age, and barren, her beauty is probably not sexual, but that of a certain elegance and regal nature. It is possible that by calling her his sister, Abram retains certain negotiation rights with the Pharaoh as Sarai is added to the Pharaoh's harem. (The creation of a ruler's harem in the ANE often had diplomatic purposes, in addition to reproduction.) Sarai appears to have no say in the decision as to whose man she belongs.

The last word in the Hebrew text of verse 16, gamal (גָּמָל, "camel"), has caused some controversy. Apparently camels were not domesticated in the land of Canaan until after the time of Abraham. An online article, Did Camels Exist in Biblical Times?, published by the Biblical Archaeology Society, suggests, however, that camels existed in Abraham's home country of Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC and may indeed have been domesticated.

Genesis 12:17-20, Pharaoh pays for Abram's lie
But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai.

So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, `She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!"

Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

We are not given a description of the disease nor or we told how this leads Pharaoh to a correct conclusion about Sarai. But God takes care of Abram and greatly enriches him, despite his flaws.  (This is not the only time an Egyptian ruler will have to deal with diseases caused by his actions with the people of Abram!)

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is Mitsrayim, Egypt,

מִצְרַיִם

Some Random Thoughts

The Old Testament writings are awash in the culture of the ANE, a culture that the authors and readers do not see, as they are too immersed in it. In that culture no one considers it unusual that Sarai is moved around by Abram and thd Pharaoh. No explanation is given for Abram's belief (and the Pharaoh's) that "sister" was a safer title. The picture of Abram as a wealthy man is an obvious one (to the original audience) -- he has lots of cattle, many servants, even camels. None of that fits our modern culture. We should then experience a certain culture shock as we study. We will have to adapt to these cultural descriptions throughout our study of these texts, texts covering several thousand years of Israelite history.

First published Jan 14, 2023; updated Jan 14, 2026