Genesis 18:6

And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah,.... In order to acquaint her with his guests, and to give proper instructions for providing food for them; and this he hasted to do, being hearty in the

And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal - [Hebrew, cª'iym (H5429)].

Three measures, containing each the third part of an ephah. See . Upon the hearth; upon the coals, or in the warm cinders, or in an oven. He had doubtless other bread ready, but he would have new bread for them, which he thought most grateful.

Genesis 18:6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead [it], and make cakes upon the hearth.Ver. 6. Make ready quickly.] Habent aulae suum cito, cito , saith one. So had Abraham’ s house here. He, she, the boy, and all hasted, and had their various offices. The very expression itself here used, is concise and quick; much like that of the prophet in the case of returning to God, "If ye will inquire, inquire; return, come". “ Praecipita tempus; mors atra impendet agenti .” - Silius. Three measures of fine meal.] Three pecks for three man’ s dinners; and the best of the best too; fine meal, the fat calf, butter and milk, God’ s plenty of all, and hearty welcome; the goodman himself standing by, and bidding them "Come": which shows his humanity, and his humility also. “ Dat bene, dat multum, qui dat cum munere vultum .”

(6) Three measures.—Heb. three seahs, the seah being a little more than a peck. It is still usual on the arrival of a stranger to make this hasty preparation for his entertainment, the ordinary meal even of a wealthy sheik consisting of flour and some camels’ milk boiled together. Cakes such as those here described, baked amid the embers on the hot hearth-stone, are considered a delicacy (1 Kings 19:6). Flesh is seldom eaten; but if a traveller arrives, sweet milk and rice are added to the meal, and if he be a person of distinction a lamb or kid is killed. Abraham’s calf, “tender and good,” shows that he regarded his visitors as persons of more than ordinary high rank; and the quantity of food cooked seems to show that the three travellers had numerous attendants. The calf would be cut into small portions, and a meal like this is, we are told, got ready in a very short time.

Verse 6. Three measures of fine meal] The סאה seah, which is here translated measure, contained, according to Bishop Cumberland, about two gallons and a half; and Mr. Ainsworth translates the word peck. On this circumstance the following observations of the judicious and pious Abbe Fleury cannot fail to be acceptable to the reader. Speaking of the frugality of the patriarchs he says: "We have an instance of a splendid entertainment in that which Abraham made for the three angels. He set a whole calf before them, new bread, but baked on the hearth, together with butter and milk. Three measures of meal were baked into bread on this occasion, which come to more than two of our bushels, and nearly to fifty-six pounds of our weight; hence we may conclude that men were great eaters in those days, used much exercise, were probably of a much larger stature as well as longer lives than we. Homer (Odyss. lib. xiv., ver. 74, c.) makes his heroes great eaters. When Eumaeus entertained Ulysses, he dressed two pigs for himself and his guest. 'So saying, he girded quick his tunic close, And issuing sought the styes thence bringing two, Of the imprisoned herd, he slaughtered both, Singed them and slash'd and spitted them, and placed The whole well roasted, banquets spits, and all, Reeking before Ulysses.' COWPER. On another occasion a hog of five years old was slaughtered and served up for five persons: - ' - His wood for fuel he prepared, And dragging thither a well-fatted brawn Of the fifth year: Next piercing him, and scorching close his hair, The joints they parted,' c. Ibid. ver. 419. COWPER. Homer's heroes wait upon themselves and guests in the common occasions of life the patriarchs do the same. Abraham, who had so many servants, and was nearly a hundred years old, brought the water himself to wash the feet of his guests, ordered his wife to make the bread quickly, went himself to choose the calf from the herd, and came again to serve them standing. I will allow that he was animated on this occasion with a desire of showing hospitality, but the lives of all the rest of the patriarchs were similar to this." Make cakes upon the hearth.] Or under the ashes. This mode is used in the east to the present day. When the hearth is strongly heated with the fire that has been kindled on it, they remove the coals, sweep off the ashes, lay on the bread, and then cover it with the hot cinders.

6. into the tent unto Sarah] Sarah does not appear before the strangers. She is occupied with the baking. Abraham and his servant are responsible for the selection and killing of a calf, the cooking of the meat, and the procuring of butter and milk from the herd. A meal in which meat is provided is a rarity in a Bedouin’s life, and is the sign of the offering of hospitality. three measures of fine meal] A “measure” is a seah, or one-third of an ephah. The amount, therefore, represented by three seahs was one ephah. It is the same quantity mentioned by our Lord in Matthew 13:33, “the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal.” The seah contained nearly a peck and a half. fine meal] Two words are here used, ḳ ?emaḥ ? and sτleth, meaning “meal,” “fine flour.” cakes] These would be baked on flat hot stones placed in the clay oven, or in the hot ashes which were sometimes heaped up over them; hence LXX ἐγκρυφίαι, Lat. panes subcinericii. Cf. 1 Kings 19:6.

6. Abraham hastened — The haste or rapidity with which a hospitable feast is prepared by an Oriental for his guest is notable. See on 1 Samuel 28:24. The words make ready quickly are, in the Hebrew, but the same word îäø, hasten.