Genesis 18:2

18:2 Abraham ¹  looked up ²  and saw ³  three men standing across ⁴  from him. When he saw them ⁵  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ⁶  to the ground. ⁷ 

Genesis 19:1

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while ⁸  Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. ⁹  When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

Proverbs 18:24

18:24 A person who has friends ¹⁰  may be harmed by them, ¹¹ 

but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Romans 12:17-18

12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. ¹²  12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. ¹³ 

Hebrews 12:14

Do Not Reject God’s Warning

12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, ¹⁴  for without it no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:1

The Lord’s Discipline

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, ¹⁵  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,

Hebrews 3:8

3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.

[18:2]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:2]  ² tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[18:2]  ³ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

[18:2]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

[18:2]  ⁵ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:2]  ⁶ tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

[18:2]  ⁷ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

[19:1]  ⁸ tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.

[19:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.

[18:24]  ¹⁰ tc The construction is “a man of friends” (cf. NASB) meaning a man who has friends (a genitive of the thing possessed). C. H. Toy, however, suggests reading יֵשׁ (yesh) instead of אִישׁ (’ish), along with some of the Greek mss, the Syriac, and Tg. Prov 18:24. It would then say “there are friends” who are unreliable (Proverbs [ICC], 366); cf. NLT. However, the MT should be retained here.

[18:24]  ¹¹ tn The text simply has לְהִתְרֹעֵעַ (lÿhitro’ea’), which means “for being crushed” or “to be shattered” (but not “to show oneself friendly” as in the KJV). What can be made of the sentence is that “a man who has [many] friends [may have them] for being crushed” – the infinitive giving the result (i.e., “with the result that he may be crushed by them”).

[12:17]  ¹² tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.

[12:18]  ¹³ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.

[12:14]  ¹⁴ sn The references to peace and holiness show the close connection between this paragraph and the previous one. The pathway toward “holiness” and the need for it is cited in Heb 12:10 and 14. More importantly Prov 4:26-27 sets up the transition from one paragraph to the next: It urges people to stay on godly paths (Prov 4:26, quoted here in v. 13) and promises that God will lead them in peace if they do so (Prov 4:27 [LXX], quoted in v. 14).

[12:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “having such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.”