Marc Chagall: Sarah and the Angels
1960 lithograph; Art Gallery, Chrudim, Czech Republic
Oh, Abraham!
Oh, Abraham! You run to greet
Three strangers who come down the street;
You bow to them, and then entreat
Them come inside that they might eat.
What moves you, that you so reveal
Extravagance, as next you kneel
To wash their feet, and bid them rest,
As if by gracious acts you're blessed?
And then another blessing from
The visitors, while Sarah, mum,
By door, to laughter still succumbs,
Since it's as if the kingdom's come.
Oh, joy! 'Though how they'll fare's unknown,
The promise still is ne'er outgrown;
And gospel even yet ensues
To those who hospitality pursue.
Scott L. Barton
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. He said, “My lord, if I find
favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be
brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me
bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that
you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do
as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and
said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and
make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good,
and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then 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.
They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in
the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season,
and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the
tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in
age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah
laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is
old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah
laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is
anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to
you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied,
saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did
laugh.”
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah
as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old
age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name
Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son
Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a
hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said,
“God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with
me.” And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would
nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
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