Vayera (Hebrew: וַיֵּרָא, "And He appeared") is the fourth weekly Torah portion, covering Genesis 18:1–22:24. It contains some of the most dramatic narratives in Genesis: the annunciation of Isaac's birth, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael, and the Binding of Isaac (Akeidah).
The Three Angels
וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו יְהוָה בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא
"And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre." (Genesis 18:1)
Abraham sits at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. Three men (angels) appear. Abraham runs to greet them, bows to the ground, and offers hospitality: water to wash their feet, rest under the tree, and a meal of cakes, calf, curds, and milk. While they eat, one asks: "Where is Sarah your wife?" Abraham replies, "In the tent." The angel says: "I will surely return to you at this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son" (Genesis 18:10). Sarah, listening from the tent, laughs inwardly: "After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?" God asks Abraham why Sarah laughed, saying: "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14). Sarah denies laughing out of fear; God says, "No, but you did laugh."
Abraham Bargains for Sodom
The men rise to leave for Sodom. God decides to reveal His plan to Abraham: "Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am doing?" (Genesis 18:17). God says the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin very grave. Abraham draws near and intercedes: "Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty righteous within the city; will You then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous?" (Genesis 18:23–24). God agrees: if fifty righteous are found, He will spare the city. Abraham continues bargaining down: forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten. God agrees: "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake" (Genesis 18:32). Abraham returns to his place.
Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Two angels arrive at Sodom in the evening. Lot sits at the gate and invites them to his house. The men of Sodom surround the house, demanding to "know" the visitors. Lot offers his two daughters instead; the crowd presses. The angels pull Lot inside and strike the men with blindness. The angels tell Lot to take his family and flee: "Escape for your life; do not look behind you" (Genesis 19:17). Lot lingers; the angels seize his hand, his wife's, and his two daughters', and bring them out. Lot's wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt. Lot and his daughters flee to the mountains. Fearing to stay in Zoar, they dwell in a cave. The daughters, believing no man remains, make their father drink wine and lie with him; both conceive. The elder bears Moab (מוֹאָב, "from father"), the younger Ben-Ammi (בֶּן־עַמִּי, "son of my people") — ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites.
Abraham looks toward Sodom and sees "the smoke of the land going up as the smoke of a furnace" (Genesis 19:28).
Abraham and Abimelech
Abraham journeys to the Negev and dwells in Gerar. Again fearing for his life, he says Sarah is his sister. King Abimelech takes Sarah. God comes to Abimelech in a dream: "You are a dead man because of the woman you have taken, for she is a man's wife" (Genesis 20:3). Abimelech pleads innocence, saying Abraham told him she was his sister. God says: "I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart" (Genesis 20:6) and commands him to return her. Abimelech returns Sarah and gives Abraham sheep, oxen, servants, and 1,000 pieces of silver, saying: "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; it is to you a covering of the eyes" (Genesis 20:16). Abraham prays to God, and God heals Abimelech, his wife, and his maidservants, who had been barren.
Birth of Isaac
וַיהוָה פָּקַד אֶת שָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמַר
"And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said." (Genesis 21:1)
Sarah conceives and bears a son to Abraham in his old age, at the set time God had spoken. Abraham names him Isaac (יִצְחָק, "he will laugh") and circumcises him on the eighth day. Sarah says: "God has made me laugh; everyone who hears will laugh with me" (Genesis 21:6). At Isaac's weaning feast, Sarah sees Ishmael (son of Hagar the Egyptian) mocking/playing (מְצַחֵק), and says to Abraham: "Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, with Isaac" (Genesis 21:10). Abraham is distressed, but God tells him: "Listen to Sarah's voice... for in Isaac shall your seed be called. And also the son of the bondwoman I will make a nation, because he is your seed" (Genesis 21:12–13).
Hagar and Ishmael Expelled
Abraham rises early, gives Hagar bread and a bottle of water, and sends her and Ishmael away. They wander in the wilderness of Beersheba. The water runs out; Hagar places Ishmael under a bush and sits apart, saying: "Let me not see the death of the child" (Genesis 21:16). She lifts her voice and weeps. God hears the voice of the lad; an angel calls to Hagar from heaven: "Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is" (Genesis 21:17). God opens her eyes and she sees a well of water. She gives the lad drink. God is with Ishmael; he grows, dwells in the wilderness, and becomes an archer. His mother takes him a wife from Egypt.
The Binding of Isaac (Akeidah)
וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וְהָאֱלֹהִים נִסָּה אֶת אַבְרָהָם
"And it came to pass after these things, that God tested Abraham." (Genesis 22:1)
God calls Abraham: "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and get you into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you" (Genesis 22:2). Abraham rises early, saddles his donkey, takes two young men and Isaac, splits wood for the burnt offering, and goes to the place God had told him. On the third day, Abraham sees the place afar off. He tells the young men: "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you" (Genesis 22:5). Abraham takes the wood and lays it on Isaac; he takes the fire and the knife. Isaac asks: "My father... behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham answers: "God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son" (Genesis 22:7–8).
They come to the place. Abraham builds the altar, lays the wood, binds Isaac, and lays him on the altar upon the wood. Abraham stretches forth his hand and takes the knife to slay his son. The angel of the Lord calls from heaven: "Abraham, Abraham!" He says: "Do not lay your hand upon the lad, neither do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me" (Genesis 22:12). Abraham lifts his eyes and sees a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. He offers it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham names the place "The Lord Will Provide" (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה, Adonai Yireh). The angel calls again and swears by God: "Because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand upon the seashore... and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice" (Genesis 22:16–18).
Abraham returns to Beersheba. The parasha ends with the genealogy of Abraham's brother Nahor: Bethuel, father of Rebekah, is mentioned, setting up the next parasha.
Major themes
- Hospitality: Abraham's eager welcome of the three strangers — the model of Jewish hospitality (hachnasat orchim).
- Prayer and intercession: Abraham's bargaining for Sodom — the first recorded prayer of intercession.
- Divine justice and mercy: God's willingness to spare Sodom if ten righteous are found; the tension between justice and mercy.
- Faith and testing: The Akeidah as the ultimate test of faith; Abraham's unwavering obedience.
- Providence: "God will provide" — divine provision in the moment of need.
- Laughter and joy: Sarah's laughter at the promise; Isaac's name meaning "he will laugh."
- Expulsion and compassion: The painful expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael, balanced by God's care for them.
Rashi
Rashi explains that the three angels came to perform three missions: to announce Isaac's birth, to heal Abraham (he was recovering from circumcision), and to destroy Sodom. On the Akeidah, Rashi emphasizes that Abraham did not question God; he rose early and went. Rashi also notes that Isaac was 37 years old at the Akeidah (based on Sarah's age at Isaac's birth and her death at 127), making his submission even more remarkable.
Ramban
Ramban explains that the Akeidah was a test of whether Abraham loved God more than his son. On Sodom, Ramban notes that Abraham's bargaining reveals his compassion and his role as intercessor. On the angels eating, Ramban says they appeared to eat but did not actually consume food.
Ibn Ezra
Ibn Ezra explains that the angels appeared as men and that Abraham recognized them as divine messengers. On the Akeidah, Ibn Ezra notes that "Moriah" is identified with Jerusalem/Zion.
Midrashic interpretations
- Bereshit Rabbah 48:1: The three angels are Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael — one to announce, one to heal, one to destroy Sodom.
- Bereshit Rabbah 49:7: "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" — this verse is the foundation of all prayer.
- Bereshit Rabbah 50:2: Lot's wife looked back out of compassion for her daughters who were married to men of Sodom; she was turned to salt.
- Bereshit Rabbah 53:4: Ishmael's "mocking" (מְצַחֵק) included idolatry, immorality, and murder, according to Rabbi Akiva.
- Bereshit Rabbah 56:1: The Akeidah is the tenth and final test of Abraham.
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 31: Satan tried to stop Abraham on the way to the Akeidah, appearing as an old man and a young man.
- Tanhuma, Vayera 18: Abraham's hospitality was so great that God said, "If I reveal Myself to Abraham, he will feed Me."
Haftarah
The haftarah (2 Kings 4:1–37) tells of Elisha and the Shunammite woman: Elisha promises her a son in her old age (paralleling Sarah), and later raises the boy from the dead. This connects to the themes of divine promise, miraculous birth, and resurrection.
References
- Genesis 18:1 – 22:24 (Masoretic Text)
- Rashi, Commentary on the Torah
- Ramban, Commentary on the Torah
- Ibn Ezra, Commentary on the Torah
- Bereshit Rabbah (Midrash)
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer
- Tanhuma, Vayera
- The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis (Nahum M. Sarna, 1989)
- Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (JPS, 2001)
- Sefaria.org, "Vayera" (parasha)