how (and why) to say “guest” in Hebrew
having trouble seeing the print?
The Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews around the world features several models of hosting, from Abraham’s open tent to the gripping story of Sodom and Gomorrah, in which angels disguised as passers-by herald the destruction of those towns riddled with cruelty and decadence.
The Sodom and Gomorrah story has an uncanny resemblance to another harrowing Biblical story in a later book (Judges), that of the traveling man spending the night with his concubine at גִּבְעָה (gheev-AH) in the land of בִּנְיָמִין (been-yah-MEEN). In that story, the Hebrew word for guest makes its first appearance… and in verb form:
וַיִּשָּׁא עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא אֶת-הָאִישׁ הָאֹרֶחַ בִּרְחֹב הָעִיר וַיֹּאמֶר הָאִישׁ הַזָּקֵן אָנָה תֵלֵךְ וּמֵאַיִן תָּבוֹא
And he lifted his eyes and he saw the man passing through the town street, and the old man said, “where are you going and from where do you come?”
Shabbat Shalom, and a pleasant weekend to all!
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