Sunday, April 14, 2024

Humberto Casanova on Abraham's Intercession in Genesis 18:17-33

  

ABRAHAM’S INTERCESSION: 18:17-33

 

When Abraham departs with the men, Yahve informs him that he’s heading to destroy Sodom (vv. 17-20), adding that he needs to go there to see the situation first hand:

 

21 I must descend to see whether they really have done according to the outcry that has come to me, and if [they have] not, I will know.

22 Then [two of] the men turned away from there, walking towards Sodom, while Abraham stood before Yahve (vv. 21-22).

 

The description is tremendously anthropomorphic. Yahve needs to descend to Sodom to confirm whether the rumor is true. The other two men did not disappear flying but they seem to have let on foot (wayyēlkû). Abraham is let standing “before” Yahve, and they enter into a dialogue which shows clearly that Abraham knows he’s talking with a god (vv. 23-32). The section ends by saying that “Yahveh went his way (wallēlek) . . . and Abraham returned to his place” (v. 33). (Humberto Casanova, Imagining God: Myth and Metaphor [Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2020], 81)

 

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