Ábrahám vendégszeretete
Abraham’s Hospitality

An Interpretation of Gen 18,1–16 in Light of Current Social-Scientific type of Old Testament Research Regarding the Custom of Hospitality

Summary/Abstract: The ancient world regarded the custom of hospitality as a crucial, unwritten rule to maintain the fragile encounter between host and stranger. Thus, a rather fixed protocol of the custom took shape in ancient times. The Hebrew Bible contains numerous passages which seem to build on the ancient norms of hospitality, and throughout these passages it is possible to reconstruct the ideal process of hospitality in Old Testament context.In absence of the Old Testament protocol of hospitality it is impossible to thoroughly interpret those passages which inevitably build on this ancient custom.By choosing a paradigmatic text (Gen 18,1–16), the present study intends to show that in light of the current social-scientific type of Old Testament research regarding the ancient custom of hospitality it is possible to derive a historically, culturally adequate hermeneutical tool to interpret those passages in the Old Testament which presuppose ancient hospitality.

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