Parachat Vajara, God and strangers.

God appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre as he sat at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.

He lifted up his eyes and looked and lo!

Three men were standing over against him and when he saw them he ran to meet them from the tent entrance and bowed down to the earth.

Thus, Parashad Vayera opens with one of the most famous scenes in the Bible,

Abraham's meeting with the three enigmatic strangers.

The text calls them men.

We later discover that they were in fact angels, each with a specific motion. The chapter at first

glance seems simple, almost fable-like. It is, however, complex and ambiguous. It consists of

three sections. Verse one, God appears to Abraham. Verses two to 16, Abraham meets the men or the angels. Verses 17 to 33,

the dialogue between God and Abraham about the fate of Saddam. The relationship between these

sections is far from clear. Do represent one scene two or three the most

obvious possibility is three each of the above sections is a separate event first

God appears to Abraham as Rushie explains to visit the sick after Abraham's

circumcision then scene two the visitors arrive with the news that Sarah will have a child, then takes place scene three, the great dialogue about justice and the imminent punishment of the people of Saddam.

Maimonides suggest that there are only two scenes, the visit of the angels and the dialogue with God.

As for the first verse, it doesn't describe an event at all. According to Maimonides, it's just a chapter heading.

It tells us that the events that follow are all part of a prophetic revelation,

a divine human encounter, God appearing to Abraham.

The third possibility is that we have a single continuous scene.

God appears to Abraham, but before he can speak, Abraham sees the passes by and ask God to wait while he serves the

stranger's food. Only when they have departed in verse 16 does he turn to God and the conversation

...