Also see definition of "Hospitality" in Word Study

Study Dictionary

: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Table of Contents NAVE: Hospitality
SMITH: HOSPITALITY
ISBE: HOSPITALITY; HOST
EBD: Host
BAKER: Hospitality
BRIDGEWAY: HOSPITALITY

Hospitality

Hospitality [nave]

HOSPITALITY.
Ex. 22:21; Ex. 23:9; Lev. 19:10, 33, 34; Lev. 24:22; Deut. 10:18, 19; Deut. 26:12, 13; Deut. 27:19; Prov. 9:1-4; Prov. 23:6-8; Isa. 58:6, 7; Matt. 22:2-10; Matt. 25:34-46; Luke 14:12-14; Rom. 12:13; Rom. 16:1, 2; 1 Tim. 3:2; 1 Tim. 5:10; Tit. 1:7, 8; Heb. 13:2; 1 Pet. 4:9-11; 3 John 5:-8 See: Guest; Strangers.
Instances of
Pharaoh to Abraham, Gen. 12:16.
Melchizedek to Abraham, Gen. 14:18.
Abraham to the angels, Gen. 18:1-8.
Lot to the angel, Gen. 19:1-11.
Abimelech to Abraham, Gen. 20:14, 15.
Sons of Heth to Abraham, Gen. 23:6, 11.
Laban to Abraham's servant, Gen. 24:31; to Jacob, Gen. 29:13, 14.
Isaac to Abimelech, Gen. 26:30.
Joseph to his brethren, Gen. 43:31-34.
Pharaoh to Jacob, Gen. 45:16-20; 47:7-12.
Jethro to Moses, Ex. 2:20.
Rahab to the spies, Josh. 2:1-16.
Man of Gibeah to the Levite, Judg. 19:16-21.
Pharaoh to Hadad, 1 Kin. 11:17, 22.
David to Mephibosheth, 2 Sam. 9:7-13.
The widow of Zarephath to Elijah, 1 Kin. 17:10-24.
The Shunammite to Elisha, 2 Kin. 4:8.
Elisha to the Syrian spies, 2 Kin. 6:22.
Job to strangers, Job 31:32.
Martha to Jesus, Luke 10:38; John 12:1, 2.
Pharisees to Jesus, Luke 11:37, 38.
Zacchaeus to Jesus, Luke 19:1-10.
The taer to Peter, Acts 10:6, 23.
Lydia to Paul and Silas, Acts 16:15.
Publius to Paul, Acts 28:7; Phebe to Paul, Rom. 16:2.
Onesiphorus to Paul, 2 Tim. 1:16.
Gaius, 3 John 5-8.
Rewarded
Instances of: Rahab's, Josh. 6:17, 22-25.
Widow of Zarephath's, 1 Kin. 17:10-24.
See: Feasts; Inhospitableness; Strangers.

HOSPITALITY [smith]

Hospitality was regarded by most nations of the ancient world as one of the chief virtues. The Jewish laws respecting strangers (Leviticus 19:33,34) and the poor, (Leviticus 23:14) seq. Deuteronomy 15:7 And concerning redemption (Leviticus 25:23) seq., etc. are framed in accordance with the spirit of hospitality. In the law compassion to strangers is constantly enforced by the words "for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Leviticus 19:34) And before the law, Abraham?s entertainment of the angels, (Genesis 18:1) seq., and Lot?s, (Genesis 19:1) are in exact agreement with its precepts, and with modern usage. Comp. (Exodus 2:20; Judges 13:15; 19:17,20,21) In the New Testament hospitality is yet more markedly enjoined; and in the more civilized state of society which then prevailed, its exercise became more a social virtue than a necessity of patriarchal life. The good Samaritan stands for all ages as an example of Christian hospitality. The neglect of Christ is symbolized by inhospitality to our neighbors. (Matthew 25:43) The apostles urged the Church to "follow after hospitality," (Romans 12:13) cf. 1Tim 5:10 To remember Abraham?s example, (Hebrews 13:2) to "use hospitality one to another without grudging," (1Â Peter 4:9) while a bishop must be a "lover of hospitality (Titus 1:8) cf. 1Tim 3:2 The practice of the early Christians was in accord with these precepts. They had all things in common, and their hospitality was a characteristic of their belief. In the patriarchal ages we may take Abraham?s example as the most fitting, as we have of it the fullest account. "The account," says Mr. Lane, "of Abraham?s entertaining the three angels related in the Bible, presents a perfect picture of the manner in which a modern Bedawee sheikh receives travellers arriving at his encampment." The Oriental respect for the covenant of bread and salt, or salt alone, certainly sprang from the high regard in which hospitality was held.

HOSPITALITY; HOST [isbe]

HOSPITALITY; HOST - hos-pi-tal'-i-ti, host (philoxenia, "love of strangers," xenos, "guest," "friend"; pandocheus, "innkeeper"):

1. Among Nomads:

When the civilization of a people has advanced so far that some traveling has become necessary, but not yet so far that traveling by individuals is a usual thing, then hospitality is a virtue indispensable to the life of the people. This stage of culture was that represented in ancient Palestine and the stage whose customs are still preserved among the present-day Arabs of the desert. Hospitality is regarded as a right by the traveler, to whom it never occurs to thank his host as if for a favor. And hospitality is granted as a duty by the host, who himself may very soon be dependent on some one else's hospitality. But none the less, both in Old Testament times and today, the granting of that right is surrounded by an etiquette that has made Arabian hospitality so justly celebrated. The traveler is made the literal master of the house during his stay; his host will perform for him the most servile offices, and will not even sit in his presence without express request. To the use of the guest is given over all that his host possesses, stopping not even short of the honor of wife or daughter. " `Be we not all,' say the poor nomads, `guests of Ullah? Has God given unto them, God's guest shall partake with them thereof: if they will not for God render his own, it should not go well with them' " (Doughty, Arabia Deserta, I, 228). The host is in duty bound to defend his guest against all comers and to lay aside any personal hatred--the murderer of father is safe as the guest of the son.

2. In the Old Testament:

An exquisite example of the etiquette of hospitality is found in Gen 18:1-8. The very fact that the three strangers have passed by Abraham's door gives him the privilege of entertaining them. When he sees them approaching he runs to beg the honor of their turning in to him, with oriental courtesy depreciates the feast that he is about to lay before them as "a morsel of bread," and stands by them while they eat. Manoah (Jdg 13:15) is equally pressing although more matter-of-fact, while Jethro (Ex 2:20) sends out that the stranger may be brought in. And Job (31:32) repels the very thought that he could let the sojourner be unprovided for. The one case where a breach of hospitality receives praise is that of Jael (Jdg 4 through 5), perhaps to be referred to degeneration of customs in the conflicts with the Canaanites or (perhaps more plausibly) to literary-critical considerations, according to which in Jdg 5 Sisera is not represented as entering Jael's tent or possibly not as actually tasting the food, a state of affairs misunderstood in Jdg 4, written under later circumstances of city life. (For contrasting opinions see "Jael" in Encyclopedia Biblica and HDB.)

3. The Table-Bond:

It is well to understand that to secure the right to hospitality it is not necessary, even in modern times, for the guest to eat with his host, still less to eat salt specifically. Indeed, guests arriving after sunset and departing the next morning do not, as a rule, eat at all in the tent of the host. It is sufficient to enter the tent, to grasp a tent-pin, or even, under certain circumstances, to invoke the name of a man as host. On the other hand, the bond of hospitality is certainly strengthened by eating with one's host, or the bond may actually be created by eating food belonging to him, even by stealth or in an act of theft. Here a quite different set of motives is at work. The idea here is that of kinship arising from participation in a common sacrificial meal, and the modern Arab still terms the animal killed for his guest the dhabichah or "sacrifice" (compare HDB, II, 428). This concept finds its rather materialistic expression in theory that after the processes of digestion are completed (a time estimated as two nights and the included day), the bond lapses if it is not renewed. There seem to be various references in the Bible to some such idea of a "table-bond" (Ps 41:9, e.g.), but hardly in connection directly with hospitality. For a discussion of them see BREAD; GUEST; SACRIFICE.

4. In the City:

In the city, naturally, the exercise of hospitality was more restricted. Where travel was great, doubtless commercial provision for the travelers was made from a very early day (compare Lk 10:34 and see INN), and at all events free hospitality to all comers would have been unbearably abused. Lot in Sodom (Gen 19) is the nomad who has preserved his old ideas, although settled in the city, and who thinks of the "shadow of his roof" (19:8) as his tent. The same is true of the old man in Gibeah of Jdg 19:16 ff. And the sin of Sodom and of Gibeah is not that wanderers cannot find hospitality so much as it is that they are unsafe in the streets at night. Both Lot and "the old man," however, are firm in their duty and willing to sacrifice their daughters for the safety of their guests. (Later ideas as to the position of woman should not be read back into these narratives.) However, when the city-dweller Rahab refuses to surrender her guests (Josh 2), her reason is not the breach of hospitality involved but her fear of Yahweh (Josh 2:9). When Abraham's old slave is in Nahor, and begs a night's lodging for himself and his camels, he accompanies the request with a substantial present, evidently conceived of as pay for the same (Gen 24:22 f). Such also are the modern conditions; compare Benzinger-Socin in Baedeker's Palestine(3), xxxv, who observe that "inmates" of private houses "are aware that Franks always pay, and therefore receive them gladly." None the less, in New Testament times, if not earlier, and even at present, a room was set apart in each village for the use of strangers, whose expenses were borne by the entire community. Most interpreters consider that the kataluma of Lk 2:7 was a room of this sort, but this opinion cannot be regarded as quite certain. But many of the wealthier city-dwellers still strive to attain a reputation for hospitality, a zeal that naturally was found in the ancient world as well.

5. Christ and Hospitality:

Christ's directions to the apostles to "take nothing for their journey" (Mk 6:8, etc.) presupposes that they were sure of always finding hospitality. Indeed, it is assumed that they may even make their own choice of hosts (Mt 10:11) and may stay as long as they choose (Lk 10:7). In this case, however, the claims of the travelers to hospitality are accentuated by the fact that they are bearers of good tidings for the people, and it is in view of this latter fact that hospitality to them becomes so great a virtue--the "cup of cold water" becomes so highly meritorious because it is given "in the name of a disciple" (Mt 10:42; compare 10:41, and Mk 9:41). Rejection of hospitality to one of Christ's "least brethren" (almost certainly to be understood as disciples) is equivalent to the rejection of Christ Himself (Mt 25:43; compare 25:35). It is not quite clear whether in Mt 10:14 and parallels, simple refusal of hospitality is the sin in point or refusal to hear the message or both.

6. First Missionaries:

In the Dispersion, the Jew who was traveling seemed always to be sure of finding entertainment from the Jews resident in whatever city he might happen to be passing through. The importance of this fact for the spread of early Christianity is incalculable. To be sure, some of the first missionaries may have been men who were able to bear their own traveling expenses or who were merchants that taught the new religion when on business tours. In the case of soldiers or slaves their opportunity to carry the gospel into new fields came often through the movements of the army or of their masters. And it was by an "infiltration" of this sort, probably, rather than by any specific missionary effort that the church of Rome, at least, was rounded. See ROMANS, EPISTLE TO THE. But the ordinary missionary, whether apostle (in any sense of the word ) or evangelist, would have been helpless if it had not been that he could count so confidently on the hospitality everywhere. From this fact comes one reason why Paul, for instance, could plan tours of such magnitude with such assurance: he knew that he would not have to face any problem of sustenance in a strange city (Rom 16:23).

7. In the Churches:

As the first Christian churches were founded, the exercise of hospitality took on a new aspect, especially after the breach with the Jews had begun. Not only did the traveling Christian look naturally to his brethren for hospitality, but the individual churches looked to the traveler for fostering the sense of the unity of the church throughout the world. Hospitality became a virtue indispensable to the well-being of the church--one reason for the emphasis laid on it (Rom 12:13; 16:1 f; Heb 13:2). As the organization of the churches became more perfected, the exercise of hospitality grew to be an official duty of the ministry and a reputation for hospitality was a prerequisite in some cases (1 Tim 3:2; 5:10; Tit 1:8). The exercise of such hospitality must have become burdensome at times (1 Pet 4:9), and as false teachers began to appear in the church a new set of problems was created in discriminating among applicants for hospitality. 2 and 3 Jn reflect some of the difficulties. For the later history of hospitality in the church interesting matter will be found in the Didache, chapters xi, xii, Apology of Aristides, chapter xv, and Lucian's Death of Peregrinus, chapter xvi. The church certainly preferred to err by excess of the virtue.

An evaluation of the Biblical directions regarding hospitality for modern times is extremely difficult on account of the utterly changed conditions. Be it said at once, especially, that certain well-meant criticism of modern missionary methods, with their boards, organized finance, etc., on the basis of Christ's directions to the Twelve, is a woeful misapplication of Biblical teaching. The hospitality that an apostle could count on in his own day is something that the modern missionary simply cannot expect and something that it would be arrant folly for him to expect (Weinel, Die urchristliche und die heutige Mission, should be read by everyone desiring to compare modern missions with the apostolic). In general, the basis for hospitality has become so altered that the special virtue has become merged in the larger field of charitable enterprise of various sorts. The modern problem nearest related to the old virtue is the question of providing for the necessities of the indigent traveler, a distinctly minor problem, although a very real one, in the general field of social problems that the modern church has to study. In so far as the New Testament exhortations are based on missionary motives there has been again a merging into general appeals for missions, perhaps specialized occasionally as appeals for traveling expense. The "hospitality" of today, by which is meant the entertainment of friends or relatives, hardly comes within the Biblical use of the term as denoting a special virtue.

LITERATURE.

For hospitality in the church, Harnack, Mission and Expansion of Christianity, II, chapter iv (10).

Burton Scott Easton

Host [ebd]

an entertainer (Rom. 16:23); a tavern-keeper, the keeper of a caravansary (Luke 10:35).

In warfare, a troop or military force. This consisted at first only of infantry. Solomon afterwards added cavalry (1 Kings 4:26; 10:26). Every male Israelite from twenty to fifty years of age was bound by the law to bear arms when necessary (Num. 1:3; 26:2; 2 Chr. 25:5).

Saul was the first to form a standing army (1 Sam. 13:2; 24:2). This example was followed by David (1 Chr. 27:1), and Solomon (1 Kings 4:26), and by the kings of Israel and Judah (2 Chr. 17:14; 26:11; 2 Kings 11:4, etc.).

Hospitality [baker]

[N] [T] [S]

Hospitality plays no small role in the realm of biblical ethics. Biblical admonitions exhorted the Israelites and the early Christians to practice this virtue. Its practice characterized Abraham (Gen 18:2-8) and the church leaders (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:8). And, as hospitality is an attribute of God, one finds its images in the biblical proclamation of the relationship between God and the covenant people.

Hospitality in the ancient world focused on the alien or stranger in need. The plight of aliens was desperate. They lacked membership in the community, be it tribe, city-state, or nation. As an alienated person, the traveler often needed immediate food and lodging. Widows, orphans, the poor, or sojourners from other lands lacked the familial or community status that provided a landed inheritance, the means of making a living, and protection. In the ancient world the practice of hospitality meant graciously receiving an alienated person into one's land, home, or community and providing directly for that person's needs.

Some forms of hospitality toward nonforeign strangers appear to have been commonly practiced among the nations of the biblical world. There appears to have been some decline in hospitality from the period of the Old Testament to that of the New Testament, since hospitality is omitted from later Greco-Roman virtue lists. In its literature, Israel alone seems to have included the foreign sojourner along with those other alienated persons who were to receive care: the widow, the orphan, and the poor. Although the narratives of the patriarchal period advocate receiving the foreigner/stranger at least on a temporary basis (Gen. 18-19), landed Israel showed some ambivalence toward foreign strangers by favorably distinguishing the sojourner, who made some allegiance to the Israelite community of faith, from the foreigner, who might represent some threat to cultic purity. For the early church, hospitality remained an important expression of lovingkindness, one that received support in the teaching of Jesus (Matt 25:31-46; Luke 10:30-37; 14:16-24; 16:19-31).

Hospitality took several forms. Acts of hospitality included the humble and gracious reception of travelers into one's home for food, lodging, and protection (Gen 18:2-8; 19:1-8; Job 31:16-23, 31-32), permitting the alienated person to harvest the corners of one's fields (Lev 19:9-10; Deut 24:19-22; Ruth 2:2-17), clothing the naked (Isa 58:7; Ezek 18:7, 16), tithing food for the needy (Deut 14:28-29; 26:1-11), and including the alien in religious celebrations (Exod 12:48-49; Deut 16:10-14).

The hospitable act of the communal meal possesses great symbolic significance. In the ancient world, to share food with someone was to share life. Such a gesture of intimacy created a bond of fellowship. Hence, God's meal with the elders of Israel (Exod 24:1-11), Jesus' meals with tax collectors and sinners (Luke 11:37; 15:1; 19:5-6), the Lord's Supper (Mark 14:17-26), Jesus' postresurrection meals (Luke 24:30-31, 40-43; John 21:12-13; cf. Acts 1:4; 10:41), Peter's meal with Gentiles (Acts 10:48-11:3), and the common meal of the early Christians (Acts 2:42-47) communicated a powerful message of intimacy and unity.

The Old Testament. Israel as Guest, God as Host. Old Testament teaching identifies the Israelites as alienated people who are dependent on God's hospitality (Psalm 39:12; see also Heb 11:13). God graciously received the alienated Israelites and met their needs, redeeming them from Egypt and feeding and clothing them in the wilderness (Exod 16; Deut 8:2-5), bringing them as sojourners into God's own land (Lev 25:23), where God offered them health, long life, peace, and fertility (Deut 11). In a figurative sense, table fellowship is offered during meals of peace offerings and religious feasts where part of the sacrifice is offered to God and the rest is eaten by the sacrificer or community (Lev 7:11-18; 23 Psalm 23:5; Prov 9:1-6; Isa 25:6). Indeed, God serves as host to humanity as the one who provides food and clothing for all (Gen 1:29-30; 2:9; 3:21; Psalm 104:10-15; 136:25). God particularly cares for the alienated person (Exod 22:22-24; Deut 10:17-18; Psalm 145:14-16; 146:9).

Israel as Host. Old Testament teaching also expected the Israelites to practice hospitality and serve as hosts, treating human life with respect and dignity. Hospitality is an act of righteous, godly behavior. When the angels journeyed to Sodom and Gomorrah in search of a righteous man, only Lot and his family were set apart to be saved. Lot was deemed righteous by the fact that he alone imitated Abraham's behavior of hospitality (Gen 19:1-8; 18:2-8). Besides presenting the model of Abraham, the Old Testament specifically commanded hospitality. As Israel received the loving care of Yahweh, so Israel was to love and care for the alienated person (Exod 23:9; Lev 19:33-34; Deut 10:19; Isa 58:6-10).

God as Guest. Another theme possibly provided an incentive for hospitality: God might be the guest. God or the angel of the Lord at times unexpectedly appeared in the person of the stranger (Gen 18:1, 10; 19:1; Judges 6:11-24; 13:2-23).

The New Testament. Jesus as Guest. Symbolically Jesus came as an alien figure to "tabernacle" in a world that did not recognize or receive him (John 1:10-14). He continues after his resurrection to offer himself as guest (Rev 3:20). On a literal level, Jesus' itinerant ministry placed him in dependence on the hospitality of others (Luke 9:58; 10:38). In his capacity as guest, Jesus bound himself to the lost, sharing table fellowship with tax collector, "sinner, " and Pharisee alike (Mark 2:15; Luke 14:1; 19:1-10). Jesus equates himself with the needy alienated person (Matt 25:31-46).

Jesus as Host. Jesus, the guest, also becomes the host who receives an alienated world. The Old Testament allusions in the feeding of the 5, 000 (Mark 6:30-44) reveal the identity of Jesus. Taking the role of host to the multitude, Jesus is portrayed as one like Yahweh, who fed the people in the wilderness (Exod. 16); as one like the prophets of Yahweh, who fed his disciples and had food left over (2 Kings 4:42-44); as one like the coming Davidic shepherd, who would care for his flock in the wilderness (Eze 34:11-31). In the institution of the Lord's Supper, Jesus not only serves as host, washing the disciples' feet (John 13:3-5) and directing the meal, but becomes the spiritually sustaining "meal" itself (Mark 14:12-26; see also John 6:30-40; 1 Cor 10:16-17). Identifying himself with the symbolic elements of the Passover meal, Jesus associated his body with the bread of affliction that was offered to all who were hungry and needy, and he associated his blood with the third cup of wine, the cup of redemption. Moreover, by halting the meal before the traditional fourth cup, Jesus anticipates his role as eschatological host, when he will drink again at the messianic banquet celebrating the consummation of the kingdom of God (Isa 25:6; Matt 8:11; Luke 14:15; Rev 19:9). In postresurrection appearances the disciples perceive the identity of Jesus when he takes the role of host (Luke 24:13-35; John 21:1-14).

Christians as Guests. As persons originally alienated from God, Christians are invited to respond to Jesus as host in the celebration of the Eucharist and in anticipation of the eschatological messianic feast. Those who confess Jesus as Christ become aliens and strangers in the world (John 15:18-19; 1 Peter 1:1; 2:11). The audience of 1 Peter apparently suffered social ostracism because of their Christian confession (4:12-16), but in turn they received divine hospitality as members of the "household of God" (4:17; 2:9-10; Eph 2:19; Php 3:20). Itinerant Christian ministers and refugees often found themselves in need of sympathetic hosts (Rom 16:1-2, 23; 1 Cor 16:10-11; Titus 3:13-14; Phm 22; 3 John 5-8).

Christians as Hosts. As in the Old Testament, righteous behavior in the New Testament includes the practice of hospitality. One finds the commands to act hospitably in the context of other expressions of love (Rom 12:9-21, ; esp. vv. 13,20; Heb 13:1-3; 1 Peter 4:8-11; 3 John 5-8). In a general sense, Christians now serve as co-hosts with Christ to a world consisting of those who are "excluded from the citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise" (Eph 2:12). Certainly, held up before the Christian is the model of Jesus, who serves as host to an alienated world, who commended hospitality in his teaching, and who himself is encountered as one receives the alienated person (Matt 10:40; 25:31-46).

Rodney K. Duke

HOSPITALITY [bridgeway]

Most people in Bible times recognized that they had a responsibility to practise hospitality. The custom was to welcome both friends and strangers and to give them food, water and other provisions to make them comfortable (Gen 18:1-8; 24:32; Exod 2:20; Deut 10:18-19; 23:4; Judg 13:15; 19:16-21; 2 Kings 4:8; Job 31:32; Luke 7:44-45; Acts 9:43; 16:15). A mark of special honour was to wash the guest’s feet or to anoint the head with oil (Ps 23:5; Luke 7:37-38,44-46). Hosts were responsible to protect all those who stayed with them (Gen 19:1-11; Judg 19:22-23).

God’s people must be ready always to practise hospitality to those in need, whether close friends or people they have never seen before. And they must do so without expecting anything in return. Those who fail in this matter are in danger of God’s chastisement (Isa 58:7; Matt 25:31-46; Luke 14:12-14; Rom 12:13; Gal 6:10; Heb 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9). Church leaders in particular should be an example to the rest of the church by their hospitality (1 Tim 3:2; 3 John 5-6). If Christians have not practised generous hospitality to others, they are in no position to call upon the church for financial support when they themselves are in need (1 Tim 5:9-10).

Christians have a special duty to give hospitality to travelling preachers and teachers of God’s Word (Rom 16:23; 1 Cor 9:4-5; Titus 3:13-14; Philem 22; 3 John 5-8). They should give no hospitality at all to those who are false teachers (2 John 9-11).

Also see definition of "Hospitality" in Word Study