A Look Back at the Three "Men" Who Visited Abraham

In Genesis 18, we read that the Lord appeared to Abraham in Mamre, and also, in the same verse, that three “men” visited him.  This has to be one of the most debated scriptural passages of all time.  The big question is whether these three were divine beings (and if one of the three was the Lord, Yahweh), and if so, why are they described in these verses as “men” engaging in very human activities such as washing their feet and eating regular food (Gen. 18:4-8)? This is a very complicated matter, especially because the text is so vague, not providing the details that we would need to sort this out.  In fact, it is really impossible to come to a conclusion based on the biblical text. So why do I bother? Because divine theophanies are a serious matter and a correct understanding (or as close as we can get to it) of these narratives helps us understand the early Israelite beliefs concerning the nature of God.

This is a re-post of one of the most popular blog posts on Heavenly Ascents.  I am resurrecting it because I always like to hear people’s opinions on this topic and how we can best understand it. The solution offered here is definitely speculative, but hopefully something that will make you think — I would love to hear whether you agree or disagree or what your theory is. 

Back to the question of who visited Abraham — we are specifically told in Gen. 18:1 that the Lord (YHWH) appeared to him (Abraham) near the trees/oaks of Mamre.  The Hebrew makes it perfectly clear that Yahweh himself appeared, at least at some point in the story. The Greek translators confirm, albeit somewhat more generically, that it was God (ho theos) that appeared.

This seemingly random appearance of Yahweh to Abraham was not an isolated occurrence. God had appeared to him a number of times previously (see Gen. 12:7; Gen. 17:1-3, 22).  These theophanies are not described in any detail, but relate in a rather nonchalant fashion the idea that Yahweh descended from heaven to speak with Abraham (and then “went up” from him, Gen. 17:22).

So, in chapter 18, we are informed of another appearance of Yahweh to Abraham.  Many commentators make a point to distinguish this appearance from that of chapter 17.  The open (blank) space in the Hebrew text between the two chapters is an indicator that we are starting a new, unrelated narrative.  Some commentators identify this first clause of verse 1 as an introduction to the following chapters, which are characterized by their narrative of divine contact with mortals.  Although this may indicate that we should understand this line apart from the following verses — that perhaps this is just the “heading” and not the actual beginning of the story–we will have to answer more questions before coming to any conclusion.

After these words of introduction, we are told that Abraham, while sitting in his tent, looks up and beheld three “men” approaching. Neither the Hebrew nor the Greek call them “angels” here, but use common words for mortal men.  However, in the next chapter, Gen. 19:1, two of the “men” are called angels (or “messengers”, in both Hebrew and Greek). If two of them leave for Sodom, then apparently the third is left behind. The way the narrative comes to us, the third visitor would seem to be the Lord, who is left by the other two and remains speaking to Abraham in the last part of chapter 18.

Many early Christians believed that this was an appearance of the Son of God with two angels.  Many argued in their apologetics (see, e.g. Justin’s dialogue with Trypho) that this must have been a pre-mortal appearance of Jesus Christ, since they believed that the Father did not visit people in this way.

More on Melchizedek and Abraham and More Old Testament Resources

Sorry about the odd title, but I just wanted to post some further musings I had on the hypothesis that Melchizedek, as a translated being, could have been (along with two others) the visitor to Abraham at Mamre. I would also like to alert you to some great resources that I have found to augment your study of the Old Testament.

In my last post, on (LDS) Old Testament Lesson 8, I speculated that perhaps, as a way of mediating the problem of Abraham’s angelic visitors performing physical acts (eating, getting their feet washed), we should consider the possibility that they were translated beings, who, as Joseph Smith taught, could be called as “ministering angels.” I wanted to expound further on this idea.

Before I continue, I would like to add to the discussion the fact, as was recalled to my attention by my friend Pierre Arnaudin, that the author of Hebrews seems to refer to Abraham’s visitors when he says that “some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13:2).  If this is indeed one of the episodes he is thinking of, this is quite an authoritative statement that Abraham’s visitors were angels.  We should take into account, however, that the author was likely reading from the Greek, which would have read aggelos in Gen. 19, a word which, as we discussed, does not distinguish between human and divine “messengers.” It is interesting to note that in the LDS edition of the Bible, footnote c (on the word “angels”) to Heb. 13:2 refers readers to the subject “Translated Beings” in the topical guide!

Anyways, as we were studying chapter 18 in Sunday School this last Sunday, it struck me that there were a number of other passages in Gen. 18 that could be seen as supporting this idea that the three visitors, including even the one addressed as the Lord, were translated beings.  First of all, there are the “physical activities” they engage in, that I discussed in my last post: such as letting their feet be washed, eating, etc. These actions are performed only by mortals, translated beings, and resurrected beings — and not by spirits, as the resurrected Jesus informed his apostles (Luke 24:39).

The Three Men Who Appeared to Abraham: The Godhead, Angels, or Human Beings? (Old Testament Lesson 8)

In Genesis 18, we read that the Lord appeared to Abraham in Mamre, and also, in the same verse, that three “men” visited him.  This has to be one of the most debated passages of all time.  The big question is whether these three were divine beings (and if one of the three was the Lord, Yahweh), and if so, why are they described in these verses as “men” engaging in very human activities such as washing their feet and eating regular food (Gen. 18:4-8)? This is a very complicated matter, especially because the text is so vague, not providing the details that we would need to sort this out.  In fact, it is really impossible to come to a conclusion based on the biblical text. So why do I bother? Because divine theophanies are a serious matter and a correct understanding (or as close as we can get to it) of these narratives helps us understand the early Israelite beliefs concerning the nature of God.

But before I get into that, I want to point out that the blog Joel’s Monastery (which I’ve mentioned  here recently) has a great in-depth commentary on the scriptural passages covered in this Old Testament Lesson #8.  He does a good job of covering the material for the entire lesson, including a treatment of the Melchizedek tradition that is quite comprehensive.  My post is necessarily more limited, but, if you would like, please see some of my previous posts on Melchizedek as well:

Melchizedek: Priest, King, and God

Joseph Smith and the Genealogy of Melchizedek

Back to the question of who visited Abraham — we are specifically told in Gen. 18:1 that the Lord (YHWH) appeared to him (Abraham) near the trees/oaks of Mamre.  The Hebrew makes it perfectly clear that Yahweh himself appeared, at least at some point in the story. The Greek translators confirm, albeit somewhat more generically, that it was God (ho theos) that appeared.

This seemingly random appearance of Yahweh to Abraham was not an isolated occurrence. God had appeared to him a number of times previously (see Gen. 12:7; Gen. 17:1-3, 22).  These theophanies are not described with any detail, but relate in a rather nonchalant, non-spectacular fashion the idea that Yahweh descended from heaven to speak with Abraham (and then “went up” from him, Gen. 17:22).

So, in chapter 18, we are informed of another appearance of Yahweh to Abraham.  Many commentators make a point distinguish this appearance from that of chapter 17.  The open (blank) space in the Hebrew text between the two chapters is an indicator that we are starting a new, unrelated narrative.  Some commentators identify this first clause of verse 1 as an introduction to the following chapters, which are characterized by their narrative of divine contact with mortals.  Although this may indicate that we should understand this line apart from the following verses — that perhaps this is just the “heading” and not the actual beginning of the story–we will have to answer more questions before coming to any conclusion.