to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
butter
חֶמְאָ֜הchem.'Ah
H2529
curdled milk or cheese · noun, common feminine singular absolute
milk
וְחָלָ֗בve.cha.Lav
H2461
milk (as the richness of kine) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
calf
וּבֶןu.ven-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
dressed
עָשָׂ֔ה'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
set
וַיִּתֵּ֖ןvai.yi.Ten
H5414
to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
them
לִפְנֵיהֶ֑םlif.nei.Hem
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
stood
עֹמֵ֧ד'o.Med
H5975
to stand · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
tree
הָעֵ֖ץha.'Etz
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
eat
וַיֹּאכֵֽלוּvai.yo.Khe.lu
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 19:3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened…
Acts 10:41 Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
Deuteronomy 32:14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou…
Judges 5:25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
Judges 13:15 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
Nehemiah 12:44 And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gat…
Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make th…
Luke 17:8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterwa…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 18:1-8
The appearance of God to Abraham seems to have had in it more of freedom and familiarity, and less of grandeur and majesty, than those we have hitherto read of; and therefore more resembles that great visit which, in the fullness of time, the Son of God was to make to the world, when the Word would be flesh, and appear as one of us. Observe here,
I. How Abraham expected strangers, and how richly his expectations were answered (Gen 18:1): He sat in the tent-door, in the heat of the day; not so much to repose or divert himself as to seek an opportunity of doing good, by giving entertainment to strangers and travellers, there being perhaps no inns to accommodate them. Note, 1. We are likely to…
milk--A bowl of camel's milk ends the repast.
he stood by them under the tree--The host himself, even though he has a number of servants, deems it a necessary act of politeness to stand while his guests are at their food, and Abraham evidently did this before he was aware of the real character of his visitors.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 18:8
And he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat - Nothing is more common in Hindostan than to see travelers and guests eating under the shade of trees. Feasts are scarcely ever held in houses. The house of a Hindoo serves for sleeping and cooking, and for shutting up the women; but is never considered as a sitting or dining room - Ward.
John Gill on Genesis 18:8
And he took butter and milk,.... Jarchi says, it was the fat of the milk gathered from the top of it, he means cream, and is different both from butter and from milk: this was either Abraham himself, who took and brought these, as Sarah or her maidens might bring the cakes when baked; or else Abraham's young man, since it follows:
and the calf which he had dressed; either the whole of it, or some principal parts of it, reckoned the finest and choicest; though by what follows it seems to be Abraham himself, who may be said to dress the calf, it being done by his orders:
and set it before them; a table being placed under the tree, he set, or ordered to be set, all those provisions before the…
The Church Fathers
But he himself stood by them under the tree, because certainly we should so feed the Lord with the feasts of faith and virtues by good living, that is, delight Him, so that we always remember to stand in His presence, according to the saying of Blessed Elijah: "The Lord lives, in whose sight I stand" (3 Kings 17:1). And as the Psalmist says: "In the sight, I will sing to you among the angels" (Psalm 138:1). And this under the tree of the Lord's passion, saying with the Apostle: "But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14).
But thou wilt not be able to stand in the freedom of spiritual beings until thou hast cast away entirely the bondage of carnal beings, for when thou hast cast away this bondage like a spiritual being and freeman thou mayest eat of every thing blamelessly, without making thy heart gross by the eating of flesh, and the drinking of wine will not cloud thy thoughts, even as it is written concerning the angels, that "They ate flesh and drank wine with Abraham;" and their spiritualness was not weighed down by this food; moreover, like unto them also are all the righteous whose names are written in the Scriptures, who ate, and whose hearts neither became heavy nor gross, because they did not eat with a longing desire.
He also took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had cooked, and set it before them. By the milk, the beginnings and as it were the elements of the Mosaic law; by the butter, the perfection of evangelical doctrine; by the milk, the simplicity of the letter in the Scriptures, by the butter, the virtue of the mystical sense which is usually generated from the letter, is expressed. Or certainly, the milk indicates the beginning of faith, the butter indicates the perfection of the work which is created from faith. All of which Abraham placed before the men whom he had received, to signify that the sons of promise would always offer spiritual feasts to the Lord, namely the breads of holy readings, the calf of the Lord's Incarnation, the milk of faith or historical perfection, the butter of good senses or good works, where it is well added:
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Butter — (Heb. hemah), curdled milk (Gen. 18:8; Judg. 5:25; 2 Sam. 17:29), or butter in the form of the skim of hot milk or cream, called by the Arabs kaimak, a semi-fluid (Job 20:17; 29:6; Deut. 32:14). The…
Food — Originally the Creator granted the use of the vegetable world for food to man (Gen. 1:29), with the exception mentioned (2:17). The use of animal food was probably not unknown to the antediluvians.…
Marriage — Was instituted in Paradise when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:18-24). Here we have its original charter, which was confirmed by our Lord, as the basis on which all regulations are to be framed (Matt.…
Milk — (1.) Hebrew halabh, “new milk”, milk in its fresh state (Judg. 4:19). It is frequently mentioned in connection with honey (Ex. 3:8; 13:5; Josh. 5:6; Isa. 7:15, 22; Jer. 11:5). Sheep (Deut. 32:14) and…
Tent — (1.) Heb. ‘ohel (Gen. 9:21, 27). This word is used also of a dwelling or habitation (1 Kings 8:66; Isa. 16:5; Jer. 4:20), and of the temple (Ezek. 41:1). When used of the tabernacle, as in 1 Kings…
Abraham · Angels appear to — Angels appear to
Butter · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Calf, The · Eaten in the patriarchal age — Eaten in the patriarchal age
Communion · .Abraham — .Abraham
Condescension Of God · Enters into covenant with Abraham — Enters into covenant with Abraham
And Abraham hastened into the tent Abraham's care in entertaining his guests is here recorded; and Moses, at the same time, shows what a well-ordered house he had. In short, he presents us, in a few words, with a beautiful picture of domestic government. Abraham runs, partly, to command what he would have done; and partly, to execute his own duty, as the master of the house. Sarah keeps within the tent; not to indulge in sloth, but rather to take her own part also, in the labor. The servants are all prompt to obey. Here is the sweet concord of a well-conducted family; which could not have thus suddenly arisen, unless each had, by long practice, been accustomed to right discipline. A question…
When the three men had accepted the hospitable invitation, Abraham, just like a Bedouin sheikh of the present day, directed his wife to take three seahs (374 cubic inches each) of fine meal, and back cakes of it as quickly as possible (עגּות round unleavened cakes baked upon hot stones); he also had a tender calf killed, and sent for milk and butter, or curdled milk, and thus prepared a bountiful and savoury meal, of which the guests partook. The eating of material food on the part of these heavenly beings was not in appearance only, but was really eating; an act which may be attributed to the corporeality assumed, and is to be regarded as analogous to the eating on the part of the risen and…
My lord: The Hebrew text uses ’adonay (“Lord”), the word that is usually reserved for God. In Hebrew tradition, it was spoken in places where the holy name Yahweh (the Lord) was in the text. Perhaps the text uses ’adonay rather than the more common ’adoni to show that this was the angel of the Lord—i.e., the Lord himself (see study note on 16:7). We don’t know whether Abraham knew his visitors’ identity at the outset, but by the story’s end Abraham certainly knew he had been talking with God.
Rashi on Genesis 18:8
ויקח חמאה וגו AND HE TOOK חמאה, ETC. — but he did not bring bread, on account of Sarah becoming mentstruant; as the 'way of women' returned to her that day, and the dough became impure (Bava Metzia 87a).
Diet Of The Jews, The · In patriarchal age — In patriarchal age
Eating · The host acting as waiter — The host acting as waiter
Entertainments · Served often by members of the family — Served often by members of the family
Feasts · Host served — Host served
Food · .Men and women did not partake together — .Men and women did not partake together
God · .To Abraham — .To Abraham
Hospitality · .Abraham to the angels — .Abraham to the angels
Isaac · 1. The miraculous — 1. The miraculous
Mamre · .Entertains three angels, and is promised a — .Entertains three angels, and is promised a
Manners · Standing while guests eat — Standing while guests eat
Milk · Used for food — Used for food
Travellers · Generally treated with great hospitality — Generally treated with great hospitality
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
