Salaam,
Sir Joseph,
Abraham’s Three Visitors1 And Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he was sitting at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day. 2 And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing nearby him....8 And he took curds, and milk, and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
Abraham Intercedes for Sodom16 The men rose up from there and looked down toward the face of Sodom. Abraham was walking with them to send them on their way. 17 Yahweh said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 since Abraham will become, yes, become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of Yahweh by doing what is right and just, so that Yahweh may bring on Abraham what he has spoken concerning him.” 20 And Yahweh said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin is so very grievous, 21 that I will go down now and see whether what they have done is as bad as the reports that have come to me. And if not, I will know.” 23 The two men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before Yahweh.Source: http://www.revisedenglishversion.com/Genesis/18commentary: “go down.” Yahweh is with Abraham in the hill country of Judah and Sodom is to the east down by the Dead Sea, thousands of feet below them, so “go down” is literal here.
http://www.revisedenglishversion.com/Genesis/chapter18/21commentary: “Abraham still stood before Yahweh.” There is
good evidence the original text read that Yahweh stood before Abraham, but that wording generally
indicated that Abraham was greater than Yahweh, so the scribes changed the wording to seem more acceptable, and that it was Abraham who stood before Yahweh.
http://www.revisedenglishversion.com/Genesis/chapter18/22
Summary:- Yahweh (God) was one of the three men
- Yahweh (God) partook in the food
- Yahweh (God) gets 2nd hand reports
- Yahweh (God) doesn't trust reports until after His own personal verification
- Original OT words modified to keep Yahweh's (God) status
- Yahweh (God) is neither Omnipresent nor All-knowing
Questions:- Is this correct and reliable translation from the original Hebrew text? If so,
- How do you remove this blatant blasphemy from this chapter?
- How do Jews understand and interpret this chapter?
- For Trinitarians I believe this chapter gives them ample of fodder to support their theology, isn't it?
- Or is this a controversial chapter among the Jewish faith and academics on its existence?
Honestly, I was shocked and I'm still trying to regain and recollect myself from/after last night's reading. Hope you'll throw some light and perhaps altogether different one to make any sense out of this entire chapter.