“He said: My Lord, please, if I have found favor in Your eyes, please do not depart from upon your servant” (Genesis 18:3). “He said: My lords [adonai],23The midrash interprets the term adonai not as a reference to God, but rather to the three angels, adonai being in the plural. That raises the question: Why is the rest of the verse in the singular? The midrash responds that he directed his request to their senior member. please, if I have found favor in your eyes” – Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great taught: He said this to the senior one of them, that is Mikhael.
“Please, let a little water be taken, and wash your feet, and recline beneath the tree” (Genesis 18:4). “Please, let a little water be taken” – Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Simai: The Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: ‘You said: “Please, let a little water be taken.” By your life, I will repay your descendants in the wilderness, in inhabited land,24After they have entered the Land of Israel. and in the future.’
That is what is written: “Then Israel sang this song: Rise, well; call out to it” (Numbers 21:17). That was in the wilderness. In the land of Canaan, from where is it derived? “A land of streams of water, of springs and depths, emerging in the valley and on the mountain” (Deuteronomy 8:7).
In the future, from where is it derived? The verse states: “On that day, spring water will emerge from Jerusalem” (Zechariah 14:8). [God said:] ‘You said: “And wash your feet.” By your life, I will repay your descendants in the wilderness, in inhabited land, and in the future.’ In the wilderness, from where is it derived?
It is as it is stated: “I bathed you in water” (Ezekiel 16:9). In inhabited land, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “Wash, purify yourselves” (Isaiah 1:16). In the future, from where is it derived?
It is as it is stated: “When the Lord will have washed the filth of the daughters of Zion” (Isaiah 4:4). [God said:] ‘You said: “And recline beneath the tree.” By your life, I will repay your descendants in the wilderness, etc.,’ as it is stated: “He spread a cloud like a curtain” (Psalms 105:39). That was in the wilderness. In the Land of Israel, from where is it derived?
“You shall dwell in booths seven days” (Leviticus 23:42). In the future, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “It will be a shelter for shade by day” (Isaiah 4:6). [God said:] ‘You said: “And I will take a piece of bread” (Genesis 18:5). By your life, I will repay your descendants,’ etc. “The Lord said to Moses: Behold, I am raining food for you from the heavens” (Exodus 16:4).
That was in the wilderness. In the Land, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “A land of wheat and barley” (Deuteronomy 8:8). In the future, from where is it derived?
It is as it is stated: “There will be an abundance of grain in the Land” (Psalms 72:16). So, it is written: “Abraham ran to the herd [and took a young bull, tender and good]” (Genesis 18:7). [God said:] ‘By your life, I will repay your descendants,’ etc.: “A wind went from the Lord, and brought over quails from the sea” (Numbers 11:31). That was in the wilderness. In the Land, from where is it derived?
It is as it is stated: “The children of Reuben…had much livestock” (Numbers 32:1). In the future, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “It will be on that day, each man will maintain [a heifer and two sheep]” (Isaiah 7:21). So, it is written: “He was standing over them” (Genesis 18:8). [God said:] ‘By your life, I will repay your descendants,’ etc. “The Lord was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to guide them on the way” (Exodus 13:21).
That was in the wilderness. In the Land, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “God stands in the assembly of the Almighty” (Psalms 82:1). In the future, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “The one who breaches goes before them…[and the Lord is at their head]” (Micah 2:13).