Bava Metzia 86b — the Talmud in English

However,

and if he stipulated sustenance for them,

if the master of the house or his agent explicitly promised his workers sustenance, although he is obligated to provide it without explicitly undertaking to give it to them, by force of the custom, nevertheless

he increased it for them,

he intended to give them more than the customary practice.

And the Mishna brings proof of this:

And there was also an incident involving Rabbi Yohanan ben Matya, who said to his son: Go out and hire workers for us! He went and stipulated sustenance for them.

And when he came to his father, he said to him: My son!

Since you stipulated sustenance for them, although you did not need to do so, and you did not stipulate a measure for them, therefore

even if you make for them a meal like Solomon’s in his time, you have not fulfilled your obligation toward them.

Because

they are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And the meal of Abraham our forefather was greater than Solomon’s meal in his time.

And we raised an objection concerning it:

Does this come to say that the meal of Abraham our forefather was superior to Solomon’s,

was the meal of Abraham our forefather indeed greater than that of King Solomon!?

But it is written

in the Book of Kings [I 5:2]: “

And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty kor of fine flour and sixty kor of meal, ten fattened cattle

[fattened from the manger]

and ten cattle of pasture

[grazing in pasture]

and one hundred sheep.

Apart from deer, gazelle, and fattened fowl.”

And Gurion ben Astion said in the name of Rav:

These flour and meal

mentioned here

are nothing but

the starch of cooks,

to make from them dough with which to cover the mouth of the pot, so that it would absorb the filth of the stew.

And Rabbi Yitzhak said:

These cattle and sheep

mentioned here

are only

for tzikei kedera

[for preparing a food called tzikei kedera].

And Rabbi Yitzhak said: Solomon had one thousand wives,

the king,

each and every one of them made this for him in her house,

she prepared all these foods for him in her house.

What is the reason?

Because

this one thought: Perhaps he will dine at my place today.

And this one thought

perhaps

he will dine at my place today.

Whereas concerning Abraham it is written

[Genesis 18:7]: “

And Abraham ran to the cattle and took a calf, tender and good.”

And Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav:

that he prepared three calves for the angels, for

“a calf”—

one.

“Tender”—

two.

“And good”—

three.

Thus Solomon’s meal was much greater than that of Abraham our forefather?

And we answer:

There,

with Abraham, there were indeed only

three oxen,

three oxen, but this was only

for three men,

for only three people, whereas

here,

with King Solomon, the meal had to suffice

for all Israel and Judah.

For it is written

[there 4:20]: “

Judah and Israel were numerous like the sand that is by the sea

in abundance, eating and drinking and rejoicing.”

Thus, in relation to each and every one of the diners, the meal of Abraham our forefather was indeed greater than that of King Solomon. And the Gemara now explains the above verse concerning the meal of King Solomon.

What is

“fattened fowl”?

Rav said:

chickens

that they fatten by force,

for they push food into their mouths every day.

And Shmuel said: They are fattened and stand so of their own accord.

Chickens that became fattened by themselves.

And Rabbi Yohanan said:

When they fatten an ox or a chicken,

they bring an ox from its pasture, one that has not been forced,

they bring an ox that has not performed labor, from the pasture.

And a hen from its refuse heap, one that has not been forced,

that has not exerted itself in raising chicks. And only these do they force-feed.

Rabbi Yohanan said: The choicest among beasts—

an ox.

The choicest among birds—

a chicken.

Ameimar said:

The explanation of “fattened fowl” is

a black hen

a black chicken

with a belly,

having a belly,

which is found among the winepresses,

wandering among the winepresses [the place where grapes are trampled for wine] and eating grape seeds,

which cannot take a step the length of a reed,

because of its great fatness.

And the Gemara now explains the verses at the beginning of the portion of Vayera: “

And Abraham ran to the cattle

and took a calf, tender and good”—

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: “

A calf”—

one. “

Tender”—

two. “

And good”—

three.

And we raised an objection concerning it:

But say,

there was only one calf,

one

only. And what is written, “tender and good,” means

as people say: tender and good.

That the calf itself was tender and good?

And we answer:

If so, let it write “

tender, good”

without a vav,

what is the meaning of “

and good”?

Learn from it: for exposition,

to expound from the superfluous vav that there was an additional calf.

And we raised an objection concerning it:

Say two,

there were only two, since we have only one superfluity?

And we answer:

Since “

good” is

for exposition, “

tender”

is also for exposition.

Just as the word “and good” does not refer to the calf but is expounded independently, so “tender” is expounded independently, to say that there was a third calf.

Rabbah bar Ulla objected.

And some say, Rav Hoshaya.

And some say, Rav Natan son of Rabbi Hoshaya:

It is stated, “

And he gave it to the lad, and he hastened to prepare it,”

in the singular, implying that there was only one calf!

And we answer:

Each and every one, he gave one to one lad.

The verse intends to say that he gave each calf to a different lad. In reality, there were three calves.

And we object: It is stated, “

And he took curd and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and he set it before them.”

This implies that there was only one calf!

And we answer:

As each one arrived, he brought it before them.

Abraham our forefather brought them one by one, each one when its cooking was completed.

And we raised an objection concerning it:

And why three? One would have sufficed!

Why indeed did Abraham our forefather need to prepare three calves for them, and not suffice with only one?

And we answer:

Rav Hanan bar Rava said: In order to feed them three tongues with mustard,

which is a delicacy of kings and ministers.

Rabbi Tanhum bar Hanilai said: A person should never deviate from the custom! For Moses ascended on high and did not eat bread.

And

the ministering angels descended

below

to Abraham,

and they ate bread.

And we object: “

And they ate”—could it enter your mind!?

Did the angels eat?

And we answer:

Rather, say: They appeared

as though they ate and drank.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Everything that Abraham did for the ministering angels himself, the Holy One, blessed be He, did for his children himself.

And everything that Abraham did through an agent, the Holy One, blessed be He, did for his children through an agent.

And Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav explains: It is written, “

And Abraham ran to the cattle,”

he ran himself; therefore, “

And a wind traveled from the Lord,”

and it drove quail from the sea”—the Holy One, blessed be He, himself made the meat fly to them. “

And he took curd and milk,”

therefore, “

Behold, I will rain down for you bread from the heavens.” “

And he stood over them beneath the tree,”

therefore, “

Behold, I shall stand before you there upon the rock.” “

And Abraham went with them to send them off,”

therefore, “

And the Lord went before them by day.” “

Let a little water be taken”

through an agent; therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: “

And you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, and the people shall drink.”

For He gave them water through an agent.

And this disagrees with Rabbi Hama bar Hanina.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav disagrees with Rabbi Hama bar Hanina, because he expounds in a different manner the reward that Israel received for the deeds of Abraham our forefather.

For Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina said: And so the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: As a reward for three, they merited three:

a.

As a reward for curd and milk, they merited the manna.

b.

As a reward for “

and he stood over them,”

they merited the pillar of cloud,

which always stands over them, as it is stated, “And Your cloud stands over them” [and in this he disagrees with Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav, who said that for this they merited “Behold, I shall stand before you there upon the rock”].

c.

As a reward for “

Let a little water be taken,”

they merited Miriam’s well

[and this is ממש like Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav’s exposition, that they merited “And you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it,” which is Miriam’s well]. “

Let a little water be taken, and wash your feet”—

Rabbi Yannai son of Rabbi Yishmael said: The angels said to him,

to Abraham:

Did you suspect us of being Arabs,

that we are Arabs,

who bow down to the dust of their feet,

which is why you told us to wash our feet?

Ishmael has already emerged from him!

Behold, Ishmael, who is accustomed to do this, emerged from you; why do you suspect us? “

And the Lord appeared to him in the groves of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day”—

What is “the heat of the day”?

Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina said: That day

on which the angels came

was the third day after Abraham’s circumcision,

when he was especially ill.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, came to inquire after the welfare of

well-being of

Abraham.

The Holy One, blessed be He, brought out the sun from its sheath,

so that the sun would shine intensely and travelers would not be found,

so that the righteous man would not be troubled with guests,

while he was ill. And this is the explanation of “the heat of the day.”

He sent Eliezer to go outside.

Abraham sent Eliezer his servant to see outside whether there were travelers.

He went out, and did not find any.

He went out and found no travelers.

He said

Abraham:

I do not believe you!

I do not believe you that there are no travelers outside.

This is what they say there,

in the Land of Israel they say:

There is no trustworthiness among slaves,

there is no trust in slaves.

He went out himself,

Abraham himself went out to see whether there were travelers.

He saw the Holy One, blessed be He, standing at the entrance.

And he saw the Holy One, blessed be He, standing at the entrance.

This is what is written,

for Abraham said to the Holy One, blessed be He: “

Please do not pass away from Your servant.”

When He saw that he was tying and loosening,

when the Holy One, blessed be He, saw Abraham tying and loosening the bandage of the circumcision and suffering,

He said: It is not proper conduct to stand here!

It is not proper to remain here at such a time.

And therefore Abraham asked Him not to pass from before him.

This is what is written, “

And he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing over him. And he saw, and he ran toward them.”

But apparently this is difficult: at first it says that they were standing over him, implying that they stood beside him, whereas afterward it says that he ran toward them? Rather,

at first, they came and stood over him.

At first they truly stood beside him.

When they saw that he was in pain,

when they saw that he was afflicted by his sufferings,

they said: It is not proper conduct to stand here,

and they went away from before him, so that he had to run toward them.

Who are they

—those

three men

who came to Abraham?

Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.

1.

Michael, who came to announce to Sarah

that she would bear a son.

2.

Raphael, who came to heal Abraham.

3.

Gabriel went to overturn Sodom.

He went from there to overturn Sodom.

And we raise an objection:

But it is written, “

And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening,”

which implies that two angels arrived at Sodom to overturn it, and not only Gabriel alone?

And we answer:

For Michael went with him, to save Lot.

The angel Michael accompanied Gabriel in order to save Lot, but he was not an emissary to overturn Sodom.

This is also precise:

the verse implies that only one angel overturned Sodom.

For it is written, “

And He overturned those cities”

in the singular.

And it is not written, “

And they overturned,”

in the plural.

Conclude from it!