Philosophy 1730 Final Study Guide BIBLE BOOK OF GENESIS CHAPTERS 18 22 Chapter 18 All About Abe o The Lord appears to Abraham at the hottest part of the day while Abraham s chilling on his porch o But Abraham sees three men The three men switch in and out with God throughout this story What are the implications of this regarding the modes of divine epiphany o Abraham shows some hospitality bowing to them as a sign of respect begging them to honor him with their presence and serving up a feast o While they re eating the three guests ask where his wife Sarah is Abraham points to her tent o Then one of the guests declares that she will have a son Sarah eavesdrops on the conversation and chuckles to herself because we mean she s already gone through menopause Abraham laughed about this too but he wasn t quite as discreet as Sarah o The Lord won t let it go He interrogates Abraham for Sarah s laughter Sarah lies about laughing but the Lord catches her in the lie o The three men set out toward Sodom and Abraham walks with them as he says goodbye o The Lord tells Abraham that the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is very loud which means their wickedness is serious o The Lord is going to check it out and if things are as bad as they sound there s going to be trouble o Abraham turns philosophical and starts questioning the nature of justice He asks a fair question will God destroy the righteous with the wicked Even if there are fifty good people isn t it unfair to destroy everyone God should distinguish between the innocent and the guilty He is after all the Judge of all the earth 18 26 Doesn t that mean he should act justly The Lord thinks Abraham has a good point The deity didn t cut a bunch of deals with this guy for nothing Abraham pushes harder and asks whether this holds true for forty five innocent people He prefaces his remark by humbly admitting he is but dust and ashes That s a smart thing to do when talking to authority figures God agrees God will not destroy the cities if there are forty five righteous people there This continues until Abraham whittles the Lord down from fifty to ten righteous people o Abraham is bargaining with God Chapter 19 1 28 Sodom s Inhospitality o Two messengers arrive at Sodom and Lot shows them great respect and hospitality just like Abraham did in 18 1 3 o But the rest of Sodom is not so hospitable Basically the people of Sodom want to sex them up o Lot steps out of the house and asks the mob to knock it off He offers his two virgin daughters to the mob instead Lot offers them with the stipulation that the mob can do what them what they please but that the male guests are off limits The mob isn t happy After all Lot is really a foreigner in their land They threaten to rape Lot and then the guests but the guests grab Lot and bring him inside blinding the men outside with a bright light so non of them can find the door o His guests tell Lot to split with his family because they are going to take this city down And sure enough the Lord rains brimstone and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah Everything is wiped out the cities all the inhabitants except Lot and even what is growing in the soil o The messenger instructed the not to look back but Lot s wife can t resist Consequently she is turned into a pillar of salt o In the morning Abraham proceeds to the place where he earlier debated with God over the cities ate All he sees is the land is sizzling The cities did not have ten good people o Only Lot is innocent and God sends Lot out remembering Abraham s principle that God should not destroy the innocent along with the guilty Chapters 19 30 20 17 An Incestuous Interlude o Lot heads off and settles in the hills in a cave with his two daughters o The daughters are worried that they re going to be old unmarried hags so they hatch a plan to get their father drunk and lie with him in order to preserve their lineage o Sure enough they get him drunk and they both manage to have sex with him without him noticing o They both become pregnant The elder s son is named Moab which means something like from father The younger s son is named Benammi which means something like son of my own folk These guys turn out to be Israel s enemies o Abraham pulls a repeat of the sister wife trick this time with Abimelech Chapter 21 Sarah Gives Birth and Hagar Gets the Boot o Sarah gets pregnant and gives birth to a son The narrator emphasizes that this is in accordance with what the deity has been saying all along o Abraham names his son Isaac which in Hebrew means one who laughs o Abraham circumcises Isaac when he s eight days old as per agreement with God and he celebrates Isaac s weaning with a party o Sarah sees Ishmael who is not named here but called the son of Hagar the Egyptian whom she had borne to Abraham These epithets in the place of the name help us understand why Sarah is so upset Ishmael is playing or mocking or simply laughing The real point is that the verb used is formed from the same root as Isaac s name and means to laugh o Sarah tells Abraham to eject this slave girl with her son Still no proper names being used o God tells Abraham to listen to Sarah and not to worry o Abraham sends Hagar away and she and Ishmael wander through the wilderness of Beersheba o The water Abraham gave them doesn t go very far and they soon run out Hagar is worried and casts Ishmael under a bush God s messenger comes to comfort Hagar Ishmael s descendants will be a great nation God opens Hagar s eyes and she sees a well of water and gives Ishmael a drink He gets married and does fine o Abraham and Abimelech make treaties Chapter 22 The Binding of Isaac o God is about to test Abraham Abraham is ordered to sacrifice his only son Isaac God of course recognizes that Abraham loves Isaac but he commands Abraham This time God is commanding him to go to the land of Moriah and offer Isaac as a burnt offering This is shocking given all the attention focused on Sarah s need to bear a son and his priority over Ishmael o Abraham gets up extra early prepares a donkey and orders two servants to go along He also splits the wood he ll need for the offering and finally starts on his way o The narrator pays lots of attention to …