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259 and "So Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah," and asked her to quickly prepare bread rolls while he oversaw the preparation of a meat dish, and had the meal served to them. And one of them, inquiring about Sarah, said: "In a year's time, when I return to thee, Sarah thy wife shall have a son." Overhearing that in the tent, Sarah laughed, for how could she and Abraham, too old by now, have a son? Then Yahweh said unto Abraham: "Wherefore did Sarah laugh, thinking: Would I really bear a child when I have waxed old? Is anything too wondrous for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return unto thee, at the same time next year, and Sarah will then have a son. And it would be through Isaac and his seed that the Cove- nant with Abraham shall be everlasting, Yahweh said. As the tale continues, we read that "the persons rose up from there to survey over upon Sodom; and Abraham went with them to see them off." But while the narrative continues to describe the three sudden visitors as Anashim—"per- sons"—the oracle regarding the coming birth of Isaac (whose Hebrew name, Itzhak, was a play on words on the "laugh- ing" by Sarah) has let us know that one of the three was none other than Yahweh himself. It was a most remarkable Theophany in which the Hebrew Patriarch was privileged to have the Lord Yahweh as his guest! Arriving at a promontory from which Sodom could be seen down in the valley of the Sea of Salt, Yahweh decided to tell Abraham what was the reason for the visit. to Because the outcry regarding Sodom and Gomorrah has been great, and the accusations against them being grievous, [I said:] Let me come down and verify: If it is as the outcry reaching me, they will destroy completely; and if not, I wish to know. Angels and Other Emissaries