‍Why God and the Two Men / Angels Inquire about Sarah

After Abraham circumcises his household and himself, YHWH appears to him while he is sitting in his tent.^[1] As the story unfolds, Abraham sees three “men” standing near him. According to the straightforward reading of the text, it is YHWH plus two angels.^[2] After they eat, they inquire about the absent Sarah:

^{בראשית יח:ט}וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵׄלָׄ֔יׄוׄ אַיֵּ֖ה שָׂרָ֣ה אִשְׁתֶּ֑ךָ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִנֵּ֥ה בָאֹֽהֶל׃

^{Gen 18:9} They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he replied, “There, in the tent.”

Oddly, even though this verse suggests that the men are looking for her, the story simply continues with the men speaking to Abraham:

^יח:יוַיֹּאמֶר שׁ֣וֹב אָשׁ֤וּב אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ כָּעֵ֣ת חַיָּ֔ה וְהִנֵּה־בֵ֖ן לְשָׂרָ֣ה אִשְׁתֶּ֑ךָ וְשָׂרָ֥ה שֹׁמַ֛עַת פֶּ֥תַח הָאֹ֖הֶל וְה֥וּא אַחֲרָֽיו:

^18:10 And he said, “I will return to you at the due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son!” Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind him.

Highlighting Sarah’s Modesty

The rabbis notice this problem, and offer some homiletical suggestions (b. Bava Metzia 87a):

ויאמרו אליו איה שרה אשתך ויאמר הנה באהל – להודיע ששרה אמנו צנועה היתה. אמר רב יהודה אמר רב, ואיתימא רבי יצחק: יודעים היו מלאכי השרת ששרה אמנו באהל היתה, אלא מאי באהל – כדי לחבבה על בעלה

“They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he replied, “There, in the tent” – this comes to teach that our mother Sarah was modest. Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav—and some say Rabbi Yitzhak—“The ministering angels knew that our mother, Sarah, was in the tent. So what was [the question leading to Abraham’s response] ‘in the tent’ for? In order to make her beloved to her husband.”

According to this answer, the angels were just trying to get Abraham to notice how modest Sarah was by calling his attention to the fact that she wasn’t there.

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