He Ran to Meet Them
"Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. “My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.” “Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.”"
— Genesis 18:1-5
Mamre lay near Hebron in the south of the country, and the heat of the day meant nobody sensible stirred from the shade. Abraham was about ninety-nine by now, and the chapter before has him circumcised. In open country hospitality was not politeness but a matter of life and death, since a traveller without water and shade might not get any further. Abraham does not know who these men are, and he does not ask. He promises them a little something to eat, then moments later has cakes baked from three measures of the best flour, more than twenty litres, and a choice calf killed. He stands near them while they eat, like a servant at table. The later letter to the Hebrews recalls that some people have entertained angels this way without knowing it. Hospitality does not begin with a house made ready, but with someone looking up and getting to their feet.