Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, plenty of food, and carefree ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. So they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.
Ezekiel 16:49-50 (NASB)
I’m inclined to go with Ezekiel’s answer, because it’s written quite plainly. However, there’s another bit of context in Genesis 18 that lends to this view.
It’s given to us in the form of narrative contrast.
Look closely at Genesis 18:6-8:
So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.” Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.
Genesis 16:6-8 (NASB)
Do you know what “three measures” means? Some translations render it as “three seahs,” which is very helpful, because this is a specific unit of dry-measure, calculated by volume.
1 seah is about 7.7 liters. Or 1.75 gallons.
When you convert this into weight, based on how much grain weighs, you get about 10 pounds per seah.
So Abraham, who just said “let me get you a *piece* of bread” in verse 5 has Sarah whip up a batch of bread consisting of THIRTY POUNDS of flour.
And not just that!
It’s not as though Sarah had a bag of flour handy. Flour was only prepared based on immediate use, or else it would spoil faster. So she (and probably her servants) had to grind out thirty pounds of grain into bread-making flour right away.
And not just that!
The text says Abraham went and took a calf from the herd. Abraham didn’t offer breakfast leftovers. He had a cow slaughtered right then there. That’s some fresh BBQ!
And not just that!
The text says that Abraham was sitting at his tent door in the heat of the day. According to the rabbis, nobody was out and about in the heat of the day, and yet here is Abraham, sitting his tent door, LOOKING TO SEE IF ANYBODY WAS OUT THERE who might need food and water.
All this to say, we are shown a comically ridiculous display of hospitality and generosity, providing the most lavish spread of food and drink for these currently unidentified men who are not even named in the text. For the purpose of the story, they are STRANGERS.
We’re told by Ezekiel later that Sodom did not care for the poor and needy. We’re told in this chapter that there’s an “outcry,” or za’aq (זַעַק), which is the same word that describes Israel’s outcry due to their affliction in Egypt: The weak are being oppressed.
So what we see in Abraham is the contrast. It is the opposite of oppression of the weak. Abraham is wealthy and capable: his actions display how one should treat the travel-weary, the hungry, and the thirsty. And in verse 8, he stands with them.
This is righteousness.