(3) My lord.--Heb. 'donai, a term of simple respect, just as the bowing towards the earth is exactly what an Arab sheik would do now to a passing traveller. Abraham's conduct is marked by all that stately courtesy usual among Orientals. He calls himself their slave: regards it as a favour that they should partake of his hospitality; speaks slightingly of the repast prepared as a mere morsel of bread; and treats it as a providential act that they had come into his neighbourhood. It was only afterwards that he knew that he was entertaining angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2). While, moreover, he addresses the chief traveller first, as courtesy required, he immediately afterwards changes to the plural, lest he should seem wanting in hospitable welcome to his companions.
Verse 3. - And said, My Lord - Adonai, literally, Lord, as in Genesis 15:2, q.v. (LXX., κύριε; Vulgate, Domine; Syriac, Onkelos, Kalisch, Alford, Lange), though the term may have indicated nothing more than-Abraham s recognition of the superior authority of the Being addressed (Murphy). The readings Adoni, my Lord (A.V., Dathius, Rosenmüller), and Aden, my lords (Gesenius), are incorrect - if now I have found favor in thy sight - not implying dubiety on Abraham s part as to his acceptance before God (Knobel), but rather postulating his already conscious enjoyment of the Divine favor as the ground of the request about to be preferred (Delitzsch, Lange). Those who regard Abraham as unconscious of the Divinity of him to whom he spake see in his language nothing but the customary formula of Oriental address (Rosenmüller; cf. Genesis 30:27; 1 Samuel 20:29; Esther 7:3) - put not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. The hospitality of the Eastern, and even of the Arab, has been frequently remarked by travelers. Volney describes the Arab as dining at his tent door in order to invite passers-by ('Tray.,' 1. p. 314). "The virtue of hospitality is one of the great redeeming virtues in the character of the Bedouins (Kalisch). "Whenever our path led us near an encampment, as was frequently the case, we always found some active sheikh or venerable patriarch sitting 'in his tent door,' and as soon as we were within haft we heard the earnest words of welcome and invitation which the Old Testament Scriptures had rendered long ago familiar to us: Stay, my lord, stay. Pass not on till thou hast eaten bread, and rested under thy servant's tent. Alight and remain until thy servant kills a kid and prepares, a feast'" (Porter's 'Giant Cities of Bashan,' p. 326; cf. ibid. p. 87).
18:1-8 Abraham was waiting to entertain any weary traveller, for inns were not to be met with as among us. While Abraham was thus sitting, he saw three men coming. These were three heavenly beings in human bodies. Some think they were all created angels; others, that one of them was the Son of God, the Angel of the covenant. Washing the feet is customary in those hot climates, where only sandals are worn. We should not be forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares, Heb 13:2; nay, the Lord of angels himself; as we always do, when for his sake we entertain the least of his brethren. Cheerful and obliging manners in showing kindness, are great ornaments to piety. Though our condescending Lord vouchsafes not personal visits to us, yet still by his Spirit he stands at the door and knocks; when we are inclined to open, he deigns to enter; and by his gracious consolations he provides a rich feast, of which we partake with him, Re 3:20.
And said, my Lord,.... He addressed himself to one of them who appeared to him to be the greatest and most honourable, either by the appearance of his countenance, or by his dress, or by the situation in which he was between the other two, and by their carriage and behaviour to him:
if now I have found favour in thy sight; signifying he should esteem it an honour done him, that he and his companions would vouchsafe to stop and refresh themselves:
pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant; they might seem, by some motion they made, as if they were going another way, and declined turning in to him.
if now I have found favour in thy sight; signifying he should esteem it an honour done him, that he and his companions would vouchsafe to stop and refresh themselves:
pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant; they might seem, by some motion they made, as if they were going another way, and declined turning in to him.