This week’s Torah portion is called Vayera, which means “And he appeared.” It is named for God’s appearance to Abraham and it covers Genesis 18:1–22:24. The narrative opens with the arrival of three visitors at the entrance to Abraham’s tent. The text states, “The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them and bowed down to the ground” (Gen. 18:1-3).
The identity of these three men is bathed in mystery. Jewish tradition interprets the three “men” as three distinct angels—Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael—each sent on a specific mission. Christian tradition interprets the third figure—the one identified as “Lord”—as a Christophany, a visible manifestation of the pre-incarnate Christ. The visitor apparently had a human form, as he ate and drank the meal Abraham had prepared. Yet, he also spoke with divine authority and knew Sarah’s hidden thoughts. Both Jewish and Christian traditions praise Abraham’s elaborate hospitality to these strangers. The author of Hebrews uses Abraham’s interaction in Genesis 18 as the highest standard for showing hospitality, stating, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb. 13:2). It is during this visitation that the divine messenger delivers a crucial promise: even though the couple was advanced in years, Sarah would finally conceive a son. The announcement is naturally met with disbelief and a laugh from Sarah. The Lord acknowledges her reaction by posing the rhetorical question, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14).
Abraham’s Intercession and Divine Justice
Genesis has a pattern of alternating stories of creation with episodes of decreation. In line with that, immediately after the divine visitor promised Isaac’s birth, he also revealed the plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. The visitors talked among themselves, with one asking, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (Gen. 18:17). This elevates Abraham from heir to God’s confidant. It was important to God that Abraham view this impending punishment as founded on righteousness and justice.
Notably, when God announced his intention to flood the Earth, Noah offered no appeal; he built the ark in silence. Abraham, however, is granted the right to debate with God. He steps forward as an intercessor, advocating for humanity and pleading for the innocent with the challenge, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (Gen. 18:23). The premise of his argument is that God is a God of justice who does not operate arbitrarily. This exchange signals a working partnership between God and the chosen progenitor of a nation committed to the ethical way of the Lord. Abraham’s faith gives him the confidence to pose direct questions and negotiate for the lives of the innocent. He begins his appeal at fifty righteous individuals and systematically barters down to ten, ceasing only when he likely recognized that even ten righteous people were not present. This dialogue reveals a God who is attentive and responsive to the appeals of his people. It cements Abraham’s role as the first significant intercessor recorded in the Bible.
Regarding God’s decision to verify the cities’ sins, Genesis records God declaring: “I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know” (Gen. 18:21). Commentaries agree this statement is not an admission of divine ignorance but a powerful model of righteous judicial due process for humanity. The Hebrew word for “outcry,” צְעָקָה (Tze’akah), is highly significant because it is the very same word God used when he told Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people… and have heard their cry ” (Exodus 3:7). This parallel demonstrates a consistent biblical theme: God is a righteous Judge who validates and investigates the Tze’akah—the cry of the oppressed and victimize.
The swift and total destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah with “sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven” (Gen. 19:24) is understood by Jewish tradition and later biblical prophets as a decisive judgment against systemic ethical failure. The attempted violent degradation of the angelic visitors (Gen. 19:5) highlights their capacity for cruelty. According to the prophet Ezekiel, their sin was also rooted in proud arrogance, excess materialism, and a refusal to “aid the poor and needy” (Ezek. 16:49-50).
The Ultimate Test: The Akedah
The culmination of Vayera is the narrative known as the Binding of Isaac (Akedah). After a long wait and the fulfillment of the promise, God commands Abraham to take his son, his only son, the son he loves, and offer him as a burnt sacrifice. The narration is intentionally sparse. It omits any detail of Abraham’s internal struggle, unlike the previous episode concerning Sodom. Abraham rises early the next morning, prepares his donkey, and proceeds. His faith is complete; he voices no argument or complaint. As he and Isaac ascend the mountain, Isaac voices a heart-rending question: “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Gen. 22:7). Abraham responds, “God will see to the provision of the lamb for the offering, my son” (Gen. 22:8). This is not simply a hopeful expression; it is a declaration of committed faith—a certainty that the same God who miraculously brought life from a barren woman will also provide for this impossible demand. This moment is the high point of his journey of faith. Abraham evolves from a man who left his homeland in obedience to one who entrusts God with his most valued possession—the very continuation of the covenant.
Jewish and Christian Interpretations of the Akedah
The story compels a consideration of difficult questions: Does God demand human sacrifice? What is the purpose of this test? Jewish tradition views the Akedah as the ultimate expression of Abraham’s absolute devotion. The focus rests not on a God seeking child sacrifice, but on a man whose love for God is so great that he is prepared to relinquish the one thing he holds most dear.
Biblical scholars take the episode in context of the whole Bible, arguing that the binding of Isaac was, in fact, a divine repudiation of human sacrifice. God’s intervention to stop the sacrifice was a pivotal ethical turning point. In the surrounding Ancient Near East, sacrificing children was a practice done to placate or curry favor with powerful gods. By commanding the sacrifice and then instantly intervening with the ram caught in the thicket, God definitively showed Abraham and all subsequent generations that he does not desire, accept, or command human blood to be spilled as a means of worship. The true ultimate act of faith is not the destruction of a life, but complete trust in God’s provision and promise. This interpretation is strongly supported because later instances of Israelites engaging in child sacrifice to the pagan deity Molech are condemned by the prophets and writers of the Bible in the harshest possible terms. God repeatedly expresses absolute abhorrence for such acts, declaring them things “which i did not command, nor did it come into my mind” (Jer. 19:5). Thus, the Akedah is understood as a transformative narrative that cleanses Judaism at its very start from this horrifying pagan custom. Scholar James Carroll champions this view in his book Jerusalem, Jerusalem. He argues that the story is meant to reveal a God who will not permit child sacrifice, establishing a revolutionary message. Devotion to the one true God requires ethical obedience and faith, not human victims.
The Christian interpretation of the Akedah roots the divine paradox in the contrast between God’s command and his ultimate provision. This interpretation employs typology to see the event as a powerful foreshadowing of Jesus Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. The paradox is that while God spared Abraham from having to surrender his beloved son, God himself would ultimately not withhold his own Son. Key elements are seen as parallels: Isaac carrying the wood up Mount Moriah prefigures Jesus carrying the cross to Calvary; and the ram provided by God as a perfect substitute for Isaac directly points to Jesus as the “Lamb of God” who is sacrificed to redeem humanity. The Akedah illustrates God’s love and justice by showing he would fulfill the sacrificial requirement not through human obedience but through his own divine provision.
That’s it for this week. Join me next week as we read Chayei Sarah, which covers Genesis 23:1–25:18.
Shabbat Shalom and Am Yisrael Chai.