Thus the Lord God is said to have appeared as a common man to Abraham while he was seated by the oak of Mamre. But [Abraham] immediately fell down, although he saw a man with his eyes, and worshiped him as God, besought him as Lord and confessed that he was not ignorant as to who he was, using these very words, O Lord, judge of all the earth, will you not judge righteously?^[1] For if it should be unreasonable to suppose that the unbegotten and immutable substance of God the Almighty was changed into the form of man and, in turn, that the eyes of the beholders were deceived by the phantasm of something created and that such things were falsely invented by Scripture, who else could be proclaimed God and the Lord who judges all the earth and judges righteously, appearing in the shape of a man—if it be not proper to call him the first cause of all things—than his preexistent Word alone?

Abraham, who was glad to receive strangers, faithful to God and tireless in his service and prompt in fulfilling his duty, saw the Trinity typified. He added religious devotion to hospitality, for although he beheld three, he adored one, and, while keeping a distinction of the persons, yet he called one Lord, thus giving honor to the three but signifying one power. For not knowledge but grace spoke in him. And he believed better what he had not learned than we who have been taught. No one had falsified the type of truth, and therefore he saw three but worshiped their unity. He brought out three measures of meal but slaughtered one calf, believing one sacrifice was sufficient, but a threefold offering; one victim, but a threefold gift.

God appeared again to Abraham at the oak of Mamre in three men, who it is not to be doubted were angels, although some think that one of them was Christ and assert that he was visible before he put on flesh. Now it belongs to the divine power and invisible, incorporeal and incommunicable nature, without changing itself at all, to appear even to mortals, not by what it is but by what is subject to it. And what is not subject to it? Yet if they try to establish that one of these three was Christ by the fact that although he saw three, he addressed the Lord in the singular, as it is written, He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth and said, ‘My lord, if I have found favor in your sight.’ ^[1] Why do they not refer also to this, that when two of them came to destroy the Sodomites, while Abraham still spoke to one, calling him Lord and interceding that he would not destroy the righteous along with the wicked in Sodom, Lot received these two in such a way that he too in his conversation with them addressed the Lord in the singular? For after saying to them in the plural, My lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your servant’s house,^[2] yet it is afterward said, So [the angels] seized him and his hand, [because] the Lord [was] merciful to him, and they brought him forth and set him outside the city. And when they had brought them forth, they said, ‘Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley; flee to the hills, lest you be consumed.’ And Lot said to them, ‘Oh, no, my lords; behold, your servant has found favor in your sight. . . .’ ^[3] And then after these words the Lord also answered him in the singular, although he was in two angels, saying, Behold, I grant you this favor. . . .^[4] This makes it much more credible that Abraham in the three men and Lot in the two recognized the Lord, addressing him in the singular number, even when they were addressing men; for they received them as they did for no other reason than that they might minister human nourishment to them as men who needed it. Yet there was about them something so excellent that those who showed them hospitality as men could not doubt that God was in them as he was wont to be in the prophets and therefore sometimes addressed them in the plural, and sometimes God in them in the singular. But that they were angels the Scripture testifies, not only in this book of Genesis, in which these transactions are related, but also in the epistle to the Hebrews, where in praising hospitality it is said, For thereby some have entertained angels unawares.^[5]

But let us see what this tree represents, under which Abraham stood and provided a meal for the Lord and the angels. Under the tree of Mamre the text says. Mamre in our language is translated vision or sharpness of sight. Do you see what kind of place it is where the Lord can have a meal? Abraham’s vision and sharpness of sight pleased the Lord. For he was pure in heart so that he could see God.^[1] In such a place, therefore, and in such a heart the Lord can have a meal with his angels. In fact, earlier prophets were called seers.^[2]

Now where did this happen? Near the holm-oak of Mamre, which in Latin is interpreted as vision or discernment. Do you see what kind of a place it is in which the Lord can have a feast? The vision and discernment of Abraham delighted him; he was clean of heart, so that he could see God. Therefore in such a place and in such a heart the Lord can have his feast. Of this vision our Lord spoke to the Jews in the Gospel when he said, Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day. He saw it and was glad.^[1] He saw my day, he says, because he recognized the mystery of the Trinity. He saw the Father as day, the Son as day, the Holy Spirit as day, and in these three one day. Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and these three are one God. For individually each person is complete God, and all three together are one God. Moreover, because of the unity of substance, in those three measures of flour the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not unfittingly understood. However, this can also be taken in another way by understanding Sarah as the church; the three measures of flour then are faith, hope and charity. In these three virtues all the fruits of the church are contained, so that if one merits to possess the three within oneself, one can with security receive the entire Trinity at the banquet of one’s heart.

Let us compare, first of all, if you please, this appearance with that one which Lot experienced. Three men come to Abraham and stand before him; two come to Lot and sit in the street.^[1] See if, in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, these events did not occur as each man deserved. For Lot was far inferior to Abraham. For if he had not been inferior, he would not have been separate from Abraham, nor would Abraham have said to him, If you go to the right, I will go to the left; if you go to the left, I will go to the right.^[2] And if he had not been inferior, the land and habitation of Sodom would not have pleased him.

Three men, therefore, come to Abraham at midday; two come to Lot and in the evening.^[3] For Lot could not receive the magnitude of midday light, but Abraham was capable of receiving the full brightness of the light.

Let us see now how Abraham received those who came and how Lot did, and let us compare each man’s preparation of hospitality. First, however, observe that the Lord also was present with Abraham with two angels, but two angels alone proceed to Lot. And what do they say? The Lord has sent us to consume the city and destroy it.^[4] He therefore received those who would give destruction. He did not receive him who would save. But Abraham received him who saves and those who destroy.

But let us now, meanwhile, pursue what Abraham does with the three men who stood before him. Behold what sort of expression this is itself, that they come before him, not against him. He had, to be sure, subjected himself to the will of God; therefore God is said to stand before him.

Notice, brothers, and see how God appeared to Abraham and how he appeared to Lot. The three men came to Abraham and stood over him; two came to Lot and stayed in the street. Consider, brothers, whether these things did not happen through the dispensation of the Holy Spirit according to their merits. Indeed, Lot was far inferior to Abraham; if he had not been, he would not have merited to be separated from Abraham, nor would the dwelling of Sodom have pleased him. Now the three men came to Abraham at noon, while the other two came to Lot in the evening for this reason: Lot was unable to endure the power of the noonday sun, but Abraham could stand its full brightness.

Three men came to Abraham and stood over him.^[1] Observe how it is that they come upon him but not against him. He had subjected himself to God’s will, and for this reason God is said to stand over him. They stood over him, not against him to repulse him but over him for protection.

Now let us see how each man receives his guests. Abraham saw, the text says, and ran to meet them. Notice that Abraham immediately is energetic and eager in his duties. He runs to meet them, and when he had met them, he hastens back to the tent, the text says, and says to his wife: ‘Hasten to the tent.’ ^[1] Behold in the individual matters how great is his eagerness to receive them. He makes haste in all things; all things are done urgently; nothing is done leisurely.

Although Abraham ran from the tent toward them as if toward strangers, he ran to receive those strangers with love. His love for strangers was thus proved by the haste with which he ran to meet those strangers. Therefore the Lord, who had just appeared to him at the door of the tent, now appeared to Abraham clearly in one of the three. Abraham then fell down and worshiped him, seeking from him in whom majesty dwells that he condescend to enter his house and bless his dwelling. If I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. God did not oppose him, for he said, Do as you have said.^[1] Then Abraham ran to Sarah [telling her] to make three measures of wheat, and then he ran to the herd to get a fatted calf.

Hospitality is a good thing, and it has its recompense: first of all the recompense of human gratitude and then, more importantly, the divine reward. In this earthly abode we are all guests; here we have only a temporary dwelling place. We depart from it in haste. Let us be careful not to be discourteous or neglectful in receiving guests, lest we be denied entrance into the dwelling place of the saints at the end of our life. For this reason, the Savior said in the Gospel, Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations.^[1]

Moreover, while we are in this body, there often arises the necessity of traveling. Therefore that which you will have denied to others, you will have decided against yourself. You must show yourself worthy of that which you will have offered to others. If all decided not to receive guests, where would those who are traveling find rest? Then we would have to abandon human habitations and seek out the dens of the wild beasts.

But how does he continue again as if speaking to men: Let water be received, the text says, and your feet be washed?

Abraham, the father and teacher of nations, is indeed teaching you by these things how you ought to receive guests and that you should wash the feet of guests. Nevertheless even this is said mysteriously. For he knew that the mysteries of the Lord were not to be completed except in the washing of feet.^[1] But he was not unaware of the importance of that precept, indeed, in which the Savior says, If any shall not receive you, shake off even the dust which clings to your feet for a testimony to them. Truly I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for that city.^[2] He wished, therefore, to anticipate that and to wash their feet lest perhaps any dust should remain, which, shaken off, could be reserved in the day of judgment for a testimony of unbelief. For that reason, therefore, wise Abraham says, Let water be received and your feet be washed.

Moreover he adds, as though speaking to the men, I will bring water, that you may wash your feet. Learn from blessed Abraham, brothers, to receive strangers gladly and to wash their feet with humility and piety. Wash, I repeat, the feet of pious strangers, lest there remain in them some dust that they will be able to shake off of their feet to your judgment. In the Gospel we read, Whoever does not receive you—go forth and shake off the dust from your feet. Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that town.^[1] Abraham foresaw this in spirit and for this reason wanted to anticipate it by washing their feet, lest perchance any dust remain that might be kept and shaken off on judgment day as an evidence of unbelief. Therefore the wise Abraham says, I will bring water, that you may wash your feet. Carefully listen to this, brothers, if you are unwilling to exercise hospitality and to receive even your enemy as a guest. Behold, while blessed Abraham welcomed those men warmly, he merited to receive God in consideration of his hospitality. Christ further confirmed this in the Gospel when he said, I was a stranger, and you took me in.^[2] Therefore do not despise strangers, lest perhaps he himself be the one you have rejected.

He serves therefore bread mixed with three measures of fine wheat flour. He received three men; he mixed the bread with three measures of fine wheat flour. Everything he does is mystical; everything is filled with mystery.

Therefore he says to his wife Sarah, Hasten to the tent and mix three measures of fine wheat flour and make bread upon the hearth. The Greek is enkryphia, which indicates secret or hidden bread.

He says, Mix three measures of fine flour and make cakes. In Greek these are called enkryphia, that is, hidden things, to indicate that every mystery must remain hidden and as if covered by inviolable silence, so that it should not be divulged inconsiderately to profane ears. In this silence the divine majesty is nurtured. With this inner attitude the one who is sober in speech avoids divulging the sacred. In using three measures of flour, Sarah is in fact giving a brief teaching about the mystery of the faith, she who is herself a prefiguration of the church, to whom are addressed the words, Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in travail.^[1] It is in fact the church that protects the faith in the intimacy of the Spirit when it professes the Trinity of one and the same nature, when it adores in equal measure and with equal veneration the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and celebrates them together in the same majesty, distinguishing according to what is proper to each person. Mix your piety with this profession of faith!

But he ran, the text says, to the cattle and took a calf. What kind of calf? Perhaps the first one he encountered? Not at all, but a good and tender calf. And although he would hasten in all things, nevertheless he knows that what is excellent and great should be offered to the Lord or to angels. He took therefore or chose from the herd a good and tender calf and delivered it to his servant. The servant, the text says, hastened to slaughter it. He himself runs, his wife hastens, the servant makes haste. No one is slow in the house of a wise man.^[1] He serves therefore a calf and at the same time with it bread and fine wheat flour, but also milk and butter. These were the courtesies of hospitality of Abraham and Sarah.

A calf is served; behold, another mystery. The calf itself is not tough but good and tender. And what is so tender, what so good as that One who humbled himself for us to death and laid down his life for his friends?^[1] He is the fatted calf^[2] which the father slaughtered to receive his repentant son. For he so loved this world, as to give his only Son^[3] for the life of this world. Nevertheless the wise man is not ignorant of whom he has received. He runs to three men and adores one, and he speaks to the one saying, Turn aside to your servant, and refresh yourself under the tree.^[4]

The fact that Abraham ran to the herd, took a good and tender calf and served it with milk is not without significance. In fact, in Exodus Moses, when he proclaimed the Passover of the Lord, said, Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall kill it at sunset in the midst of the whole assembly. So also here it is specified that it was midday that Abraham offered hospitality to the Lord. But it was for supper that the calf was immolated and eaten with milk, that is, not with blood but with the purity of the faith. A good calf because it should wash away sins. Tender because it received the yoke of the law, not with a stiff neck^[1] but docilely, and did not refuse the gibbet of the cross. And it is tender since nothing of its head, feet or internal organs is thrown away,^[2] nor were any of its bones broken,^[3] but it was eaten in its entirety by those taking part in the meal. Thus what the law represented in a shadow,^[4] the gospel has shown us in reality.

Lot too received men, but only two, not the whole Trinity; moreover in the evening, not at noon. What did he serve them? He baked unleavened bread, and they ate.^[1] Because he was much inferior to Abraham in merits he did not have a fatted calf. Nor did he recognize the mystery of the Trinity in the three measures of flour. However, since he offered what he could in a kindly spirit, he merited to be freed from the destruction of Sodom. Notice, brothers, that even Lot deserved to receive the angels, because he did not reject strangers. Behold, angels enter a hospitable home, but houses that are closed to strangers are burned with flames of sulphur.

He received the three men and served them loaves out of three measures. Why is this, brothers, unless it means the mystery of the Trinity? He also served a calf; not a tough one, but a good, tender one. Now what is so good and tender as he who humbled himself for us even unto death? He himself is that fatted calf which the father killed upon receiving his repentant son. For God so loved the world that he gave his onlybegotten Son.^[1] For this reason Abraham went to meet the three men and adored them as one. In the fact that he saw three, as was already said, he understood the mystery of the Trinity; but since he adored them as one, he recognized that there is one God in the three persons.

The bread and meat, which was in abundance, was not to satisfy the angels but rather so that the blessing might be distributed to all the members of his household. After the angels had washed and sat down beneath a tree, Abraham brought and set before them what he had prepared; he did not dare recline with them but like a servant stood apart from them.

What then does the Lord say to Abraham? Where, the text reads, is Sarah your wife? And he said, Lo, she is in the tent. But the Lord said, I will certainly come to you at this time in due season, and Sarah your wife will have a son. But Sarah, standing behind the door of the tent behind Abraham, heard.

Let the wives learn from the examples of the patriarchs; let the wives learn, I say, to follow their husbands. For not without cause is it written that Sarah was standing behind Abraham, but that it might be shown that if the husband leads the way to the Lord, the wife ought to follow. I mean that the wife ought to follow if she sees her husband standing by God. . . .

But we can also perceive something mystical in this passage if we see how in Exodus God went before them by night in a pillar of fire and by day in a pillar of a cloud and the congregation of the Lord followed behind him.^[1]

So therefore I understand also Sarah to have followed or stood behind Abraham.

What is said next? And they were both, the text says, presbyters—that is, old— and far advanced in their days. So far as pertains to bodily age, many before them lived for more numerous years, but no one was called presbyter. It appears that this title is ascribed to the saints not by reason of longevity but of maturity.

After they had eaten, they inquired about Sarah. She, who even in her old age had preserved her modesty, came out from inside the tent to the door of the tent. From Abraham’s haste and from the silence that Abraham imposed on everyone with his gestures, those of his household knew that these who, because of the man of God, allowed their feet to be washed like men were not men.

Then [God] said of Sarah, ‘At this time I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son.’ But Sarah, even though Abraham was standing behind her to strengthen her, laughed and said, ‘After I have grown old shall I [again] have youthfulness? My husband is also old.’ ^[1] A sign would have been given her if she had asked to hear or to see and then believe: first, because she was a woman, old and barren; and second, because nothing like this had ever been done before. God then gave a sign specifically to her who had not asked for a sign, and said, Why did you laugh, Sarah, and say, ‘Am I, who am old, to bear a child?’ ^[2] But Sarah, instead of accepting the sign that was given to her, persisted, by this falsehood, in denying the true sign that had been given to her. Even though she had denied it because she was afraid, nevertheless in order to make her know that a false excuse did not convince him, God said to her, But you did laugh in your heart; lo, even your heart is denying the foolishness of your tongue.^[3]

After the three men promised Sarah fruit, they arose, and they looked toward Sodom. It was not revealed to Sarah that they were going to Sodom lest, on the same day that they had given her joy in the promise that a son was to be hers, she be grieving over her brother on account of that sentence of wrath decreed on Sodom and the nearby villages. They hid this from Sarah lest she never cease weeping, but they revealed it to Abraham so that he not cease praying and so that it be announced to the world that nowhere in Sodom was there found a single just man for whose sake it might be saved.

The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied, he said. Well did he say that sins can cry out. Great surely is the cry of sinners as it mounts from earth to heaven. But why does he say that the sins of people cry out? It is because God says his ears are assaulted by the cries of our sins that the punishment of sinners be not delayed. Truly is it a cry, and the cry is great when the love of God is overpowered by the cries of sins to the extent that he is forced to punish the sinners. The Lord shows how unwilling he is to punish even the gravest sinners when he said that the cry of Sodom ascended to him. This means: My mercy urges me to spare them, but the cry of their sins compels me to punish them.

These are the words of the divine Scripture. Let us see, therefore, now what is fitting to be understood in them.

I have descended, the text says, to see. When responses are delivered to Abraham, God is not said to descend but to stand before him, as we explained above: Three men, the text says, stood before him.^[1] But now, because sinners are involved, God is said to descend. Beware lest you think of ascending and descending spatially. For this is frequently found in the sacred literature, as in the prophet Micah: Behold, Scripture says, the Lord departed from his holy place and came down and will tread upon the high places of the earth.^[2] Therefore God is said to descend when he deigns to have concern for human frailty. This should be discerned especially of our Lord and Savior, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.^[3] Therefore he descended. For no other has ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven.^[4] For the Lord descended not only to care for us but also to bear these things that are ours. For he took the form of a servant, and although he himself is invisible in nature, inasmuch as he is equal to the Father, nevertheless he took a visible appearance and was found in appearance as a man.^[5]

But also when he descends he is below with some, but he ascends with others and is above. For he goes up with the chosen apostles into a high mountain and there is transfigured before them.^[6] Therefore he is above with those whom he teaches about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But he is below with the crowds and Pharisees, whose sins he reproaches, and he is there with them. . . . He could not, however, be transfigured below, but he ascended above with those who could follow him, and there he is transfigured.

It was not that God, who had just said, their sins were very grave, did not know that they had sinned. This was an example to judges not to prejudge a case, even based on very reliable hearsay. For if he who knows all set aside his knowledge lest he exact vengeance without full knowledge before the trial, how much more should they set aside their ignorance and not effect judgment before the case is heard.

Then, to teach the whole human race that even if their sins are exceedingly great and confessed to be such, he does not pronounce sentence before proof is manifest, he says, I am going down to see if their deeds correspond to the outcry reaching me, so as to know if it is true or not. What is meant by the deliberation of the expression? I am going down to see if their deeds correspond to the outcry reaching me, so as to know if it is true or not. What is meant by the considerateness of the expression? I am going down to see. I mean, does the God of all move from place to place? No indeed! It doesn’t mean this; instead, as I have often remarked, he wants to teach us by the concreteness of the expression that there is need to apply precision and that sinners are not condemned on hearsay nor is sentence pronounced without proof.

Now let us see what he means by saying, I descended to see whether they have done all that the outcry which has come to me indicates; if not, I will know. Because of this, pagans, and especially the exceedingly foul Manichaeans, are wont to assail us by saying, Behold, the God of the law did not know what was being done in Sodom. Now we reply with sound understanding and say that God knows the just in one way and sinners in another. What is said concerning the just? The Lord knows who are his.^[1] What is said about sinners? Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; I do not know you.^[2] Moreover, the apostle Paul says, If anyone is the Lord’s, he knows what I am saying; if anyone ignores this, he shall be ignored.^[3] What does it mean, then, I do not know you? I do not recognize you in my pattern; I do not recognize my image in you. My justice knows something to punish in you, but my mercy does not find anything to crown. For this reason if one’s actions are unworthy of God, one is said to be unworthy of his knowledge also. I descended to see; not in order to know what they are doing but to make them worthy of my knowledge if I find any of them just, repentant, or such as I should know.

So also now, therefore, it is said of these who live in Sodom, that if indeed, on his examination, their deeds are completed as the cry that has ascended to God, they would be considered unworthy. But if there is any conversion among them, if even ten just men might be found among them, so, at last, God would know them. And for this reason the text said, But if not, that I might know. It did not say that I might know what they are doing but that I might know them and make them worthy of knowledge of me, if I should find some among them just, if I should find some repentant, if some such as I ought to know.