Genèse 18

¹ The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day.

² He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, bowed to the ground,

³ and said, “My lord, if I have found favor with you, please do not go on past your servant.

⁴ Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

⁵ I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.”
“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread.”

⁷ Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it.

⁸ Then Abraham took curds and milk, as well as the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served them as they ate under the tree.

Note · Genèse 18.1–8

Une présence accueillie par des gestes ordinaires

Le récit présente l’apparition du Seigneur et met en scène trois visiteurs. Les lectures chrétiennes ont parfois associé cette scène à la Trinité, mais le passage ne formule pas lui-même la doctrine trinitaire. L’hospitalité y prend la forme de nourriture, d’eau, d’attention et de temps donné.

⁹ “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he answered.

¹⁰ The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

¹² So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?”

¹³ But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’

¹⁴ Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.
But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”

Note · Genèse 18.9–15

Le rire devant une naissance impossible

Sara entend une promesse qui contredit son expérience de la vieillesse. Son rire et sa peur sont rapportés sans que le récit l’exclue pour autant de la promesse. L’intervention divine ne signifie pas que toute personne sans enfant aurait à attendre la même issue ou à se reprocher un défaut de foi.

¹⁶ The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off.

¹⁷ Then the Lord said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham?

¹⁸ Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.

¹⁹ For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what he promised him.”

²⁰ Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious.

²¹ I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to me. If not, I will find out.”

Note · Genèse 18.16–21

Justice et responsabilité

La vocation d’Abraham est reliée à la pratique de la justice dans sa maison. L’annonce d’un examen de la situation de Sodome présente le jugement comme attentif à la réalité du mal. Elle ne décrit pas une décision arbitraire prise sans considération pour les personnes concernées.

²² The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

²³ Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people who are in it?

²⁵ You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of the whole earth do what is just?”

²⁶ The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷ Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord — even though I am dust and ashes —

²⁸ suppose the fifty righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”
He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹ Then he spoke to him again, “Suppose forty are found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it on account of forty.”

³⁰ Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord, suppose twenty are found there?”
He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of twenty.”

³² Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose ten are found there?”He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of ten.”

³³ When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

Note · Genèse 18.22–33

Intercéder sans confondre les personnes

Abraham insiste sur la distinction entre justes et coupables. La diminution progressive des nombres donne au dialogue son intensité. Le récit n’enseigne pas une technique de marchandage permettant d’obtenir n’importe quelle décision ; il donne une place à la supplication et à la question de la justice devant Dieu.