Hospitality In The Middle East

Hospitality can be defined as the practice of entertaining strangers graciously. It was a very important trait in Biblical times. In the New Testament, the Greek word translated as hospitality literally means “love of strangers.” In the Old Testament, Abraham was the host to angels unaware; he invited strangers into his house, washed their feet, prepared fresh meat, had Sarah bake bread, and later accompanied them as they left (Genesis 18: 1-15). Even today a traditional greeting by Bedouin people of the Middle East to their guests is “You are among your family.” This paper will cover five occurrences as they pertain to hospitality: removing the shoes, entering women’s quarters, the Levite and his concubine, the drink of water, and lastly
the broken tile.
Removing the Shoes When God called to Moses from the burning bush, the first thing he told him was, “take your shoes off” (Exodus 3:5). It was customary to take off one’s shoes when entering a house, because otherwise dirt from the unpaved streets would be tracked inside the home. God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, telling him the ground he was standing on was “Holy” because of his direct presence, and it was necessary for him to take his shoes off. Removing one’s shoes was a sign of respect and reverence. People were to approach God with solemnity and humility, and taking off their shoes expressed an inward reverence through an outward expression of worship. Some Eastern religions today still require bare feet when entering their temples.
Entering Women’s Quarters In the case of the Bedouin tent, visitors were invited to sleep in the open tent entrance with the men.
The visitor was never allowed into the inner, closed-off part of the tent, which was the women’s quarter. When an enemy was at rest in a tent, he was supposed to be completely safe. Sisera was the commander of the army of Jabin, while Jael is the woman who killed Sisera, Israel’s might enemy, by driving a tent nail through his temple while he slept (Judges 4: 17-22). Sisera accepted Jael’s invitation to seek refuge in her tent. She covered him with a mantle, gave him milk to quench his thirst, and promised to stand guard against intruders. Instead, Jael killed Sisera as he
slept.
The Levite and his Concubine Although hospitality to strangers was an important custom in the ancient world, the travelers of this story have a difficult time find a place to spend the night.
As the Levite man brings his concubine back home, they stop for the night in Gibeah, a town of the Benjamites. They finally are offered hospitality by an old man, but while they are eating, the house is raided and the women are taken away and raped repeatedly. Although badly beaten and raped, yet not dead, the concubine makes it back to the house from which she was taken. She is ultimately butchered, cut into twelve pieces, and these pieces are sent throughout the land. The division of the woman’s body was the call to the twelve tribes to assemble at the central sanctuary. A cycle of violence follows, resulting in the slaughter of many Benjaminite men, women, and children (Judges 20: 35-48). This story illustrates the social and religious chaos the preceded the institution of Israelite
kingship.
The Drink of Water The provision of a meal was an important part of hospitality. The Hebrew work for “feasting” is the same as the word for “drinking”—they wanted a merry time. One of the first things done for a guest was to give him a drink of cool water. This symbolized a pledge of friendship. Upon his arrival, Abraham’s servant Eliezer awaited Rebekah’s welcome by offer of a drink of water (Genesis 24: 17-18). Rebekah and her family later provide the servant a level of hospitality that rivals the hospitality Abraham showed his visitors as seen in Genesis 18: 3-8. Jesus says that anyone who extends a kind gesture, such as giving a drink of water, in his name, is for him and his disciples: “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward” (Mark 9: 41).
The Broken Tile A common practice between friends was to break a piece of tile in half. The friends would then both write their name on one of the halves; the two halves were then exchanged. Often times these pieces would be handed down from generation to generation (father to son). Being able to produce the matching tile piece held by another person, even years later, was viewed as a gesture of guaranteed friendship and hospitality. Jesus alludes to this when saying, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he the receiveth it” (Revelation 2: 17).