On the third day after his circumcision, when Abraham was suffering
dire pain,[127] God spoke to the angels, saying, "Go to, let us pay a
visit to the sick." The angels refused, and said: "What is man, that
Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?
And Thou desirest to betake Thyself to a place of uncleanness, a place
of blood and filth?" But God replied unto them, "Thus do ye speak. As
ye live, the savor of this blood is sweeter to me than myrrh and
incense, and if you do not desire to visit Abraham, I will go
alone."[128]
The day whereon God visited him was exceedingly hot, for He had bored a
hole in hell, so that its heat might reach as far as the earth, and no
wayfarer venture abroad on the highways, and Abraham be left
undisturbed in his pain.[129] But the absence of strangers caused
Abraham great vexation, and he sent his servant Eliezer forth to keep a
lookout for travellers. When the servant returned from his fruitless
search, Abraham himself, in spite of his illness and the scorching
heat, prepared to go forth on the highway and see whether he would not
succeed where failure had attended Eliezer, whom he did not wholly
trust at any rate, bearing in mind the well-known saying, "No truth
among slaves."[130] At this moment God appeared to him, surrounded by
the angels. Quickly Abraham attempted to rise from his seat, but God
checked every demonstration of respect, and when Abraham protested that
it was unbecoming to sit in the presence of the Lord, God said, "As
thou livest, thy descendants at the age of four and five will sit in
days to come in the schools and in the synagogues while I reside
therein."[131]
Meantime Abraham beheld three men. They were the angels Michael,
Gabriel, and Raphael. They had assumed the form of human beings to
fulfil his wish for guests toward whom to exercise hospitality. Each of
them had been charged by God with a special mission, besides, to be
executed on earth. Raphael was to heal the wound of Abraham, Michael
was to bring Sarah the glad tidings that she would bear a son, and
Gabriel was to deal destruction to Sodom and Gomorrah. Arrived at the
tent of Abraham, the three angels noticed that he was occupied in
nursing himself, and they withdrew.[132] Abraham, however, hastened
after them through another door of the tent, which had wide open
entrances on all sides.[133] He considered the duty of hospitality more
important than the duty of receiving the Shekinah. Turning to God, he
said, "O Lord, may it please Thee not to leave Thy servant while he
provides for the entertainment of his guests."[134] Then he addressed
himself to the stranger walking in the middle between the other two,
whom by this token he considered the most distinguished,—it was the
archangel Michael—and he bade him and his companions turn aside into
his tent. The manner of his guests, who treated one another politely,
made a good impression upon Abraham. He was assured that they were men
of worth whom he was entertaining.[135] But as they appeared outwardly
like Arabs, and the people worshipped the dust of their feet, he bade
them first wash their feet, that they might not defile his tent.[136]
He did not depend upon his own judgment in reading the character of his
guests. By his tent a tree was planted, which spread its branches out
over all who believed in God, and afforded them shade. But if idolaters
went under the tree, the branches turned upward, and cast no shade upon
the ground. Whenever Abraham saw this sign, he would at once set about
the task of converting the worshippers of the false gods. And as the
tree made a distinction between the pious and the impious, so also
between the clean and the unclean. Its shade was denied them as long as
they refrained from taking the prescribed ritual bath in the spring
that flowed out from its roots, the waters of which rose at once for
those whose uncleanness was of a venial character and could be removed
forthwith, while others had to wait seven days for the water to come
up. Accordingly, Abraham bade the three men lean against the trunk of
the tree. Thus he would soon learn their worth or their
unworthiness.[137]
Being of the truly pious, "who promise little, but perform much,"[133]
Abraham said only: "I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your
heart, seeing that ye chanced to pass my tent at dinner time. Then,
after ye have given thanks to God, ye may pass on."[139] But when the
meal was served to the guests, it was a royal banquet, exceeding
Solomon's at the time of his most splendid magnificence. Abraham
himself ran unto the herd, to fetch cattle for meat. He slaughtered
three calves, that he might be able to set a "tongue with mustard"
before each of his guests.[140] In order to accustom Ishmael to
God-pleasing deeds, he had him dress the calves,[141] and he bade Sarah
bake the bread. But as he knew that women are apt to treat guests
niggardly, he was explicit in his request to her. He said, "Make ready
quickly three measures of meal, yea, fine meal." As it happened, the
bread was not brought to the table, because it had accidentally become
unclean, and our father Abraham was accustomed to eat his daily bread
only in a clean state.[142] Abraham himself served his guests, and it
appeared to him that the three men ate. But this was an illusion. In
reality the angels did not eat,[143] only Abraham, his three friends,
Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, and his son Ishmael partook of the banquet,
and the portions set before the angels were devoured by a heavenly
fire.[144]
Although the angels remained angels even in their human disguise,
nevertheless the personality of Abraham was so exalted that in his
presence the archangels felt insignificant.[145]
After the meal the angels asked after Sarah, though they knew that she
was in retirement in her tent, but it was proper for them to pay their
respects to the lady of the house and send her the cup of wine over
which the blessing had been said.[146] Michael, the greatest of the
angels, thereupon announced the birth of Isaac. He drew a line upon the
wall, saying, "When the sun crosses this point, Sarah will be with
child, and when he crosses the next point, she will give birth to a
child." This communication, which was intended for Sarah and not for
Abraham, to whom the promise had been revealed long before,[147] the
angels made at the entrance to her tent, but Ishmael stood between the
angel and Sarah, for it would not have been seemly to deliver the
message in secret, with none other by. Yet, so radiant was the beauty
of Sarah that a beam of it struck the angel, and made him look up. In
the act of turning toward her, he heard her laugh within herself:[148]
"Is it possible that these bowels can yet bring forth a child, these
shrivelled breasts give suck? And though I should be able to bear, yet
is not my lord Abraham old?"[149]
And the Lord said unto Abraham: "Am I too old to do wonders? And
wherefore doth Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child,
which am old?"[150] The reproach made by God was directed against
Abraham as well as against Sarah, for he, too, had showed himself of
little faith when he was told that a son would be born unto him. But
God mentioned only Sarah's incredulity, leaving Abraham to become
conscious of his defect himself.[151]
Regardful of the peace of their family life, God had not repeated
Sarah's words accurately to Abraham. Abraham might have taken amiss
what his wife had said about his advanced years, and so precious is the
peace between husband and wife that even the Holy One, blessed be He,
preserved it at the expense of truth.[152]
After Abraham had entertained his guests, he went with them to bring
them on their way, for, important as the duty of hospitality is, the
duty of speeding the parting guest is even more important.[153] Their
way lay in the direction of Sodom, whither two of the angels were
going, the one to destroy it, and the second to save Lot, while the
third, his errand to Abraham fulfilled, returned to heaven.[154]