Meaning of HOSPITALITY

In the East it has always been considered a sacred duty to welcome, feed, house and protect every traveler who stops in front of the store or home.

The stranger is treated as a guest, and those who have thus eaten together are bound by the strongest ties of friendship, confirmed by mutual gifts and pasts from father to son.

The law of Moses recommended hospitality (Lev. 19:34), which was also a religious duty for the Greeks.

The current way of acting among the Arabs is something that recalls the most ancient forms of Hebrew hospitality. A traveler may sit at the door of someone who is a complete stranger to him, until the owner of the house invites him to dinner.

If he prolongs his stay for some time, no questions will be asked about his intentions; He will be able to leave as soon as he wants without more payment than a "God be with you!"

With the growth of the Hebrew population, numerous inns were opened (see INN), but family hospitality persisted. There are numerous examples of them in the OT (Gen. 18:1-8; 19:1-3; 24:25, 31-33; Ex. 2:20; Judges 19:15-21; 2 Kings 4: 8, etc.; cp. Jb. 31:32).

The evil rich man of Lk. 16:19-25 seriously violated the law of hospitality.
The NT teaches what Christian hospitality should be like (Luke 14:12-13).

In Greek, the term "hospitable" is "philoxenos", friend of strangers (Tit. 1:8; 1 Pet. 4:9) and hospitality is "philoxenia", love of strangers (Rom. 12:13). ; Heb. 13:2).
This duty is all the more bearable because it is accompanied by a wonderful promise (Mt. 10:40-42).