“For I love him, so that he will command his children and his household after him, that they observe the way of the Lord, to perform righteousness and justice, so that the Lord will bring upon Abraham what He spoke concerning him” (Genesis 18:19). “For I love him, so that he will command [his children…to perform righteousness and justice]” – Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Alexandri: This refers to providing the first meal to mourners after a burial.
The Rabbis say: It refers to visiting the ill. Rabbi Azarya in the name of Rabbi Yehuda: Righteousness at first, and ultimately justice. How so? Abraham would take in passersby.
After they ate and drink, he said to them: ‘Recite a blessing.’ They said: ‘What should we say?’ He said to them: ‘Say: Blessed is God, the Most High, whose food we have eaten.’ If he agreed to recite the blessing, he would eat, drink and go.
But if he would not agree to recite the blessing, he [Abraham] would say to him: ‘Give me what you owe.’ He would say: ‘What do I owe you?’ He would say to him: ‘A cup of wine costs ten polars, a pound of meat costs ten polars, and a loaf of bread costs ten polars. [After all,] who can provide you with wine in the wilderness? Who can provide you with meat in the wilderness?
Who can provide you a loaf of bread in the wilderness?’ When he [the guest] would see the trouble that he was causing him, he would say: ‘Blessed is God, the Most High, whose food we have eaten.’ That is what we have written: Righteousness at first, and ultimately justice. “So that the Lord will bring upon Abraham…” – It is taught: Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: Anyone who leaves behind a son who toils in Torah, it is as though he did not die, as it is stated: “So that the Lord will bring upon Abraham”; “what He spoke to him”19If it had been written this way, it could have been interpreted to mean that God will grant Abraham everything He had spoken to him concerning his descendants. is not stated, but rather, “what He spoke concerning him.”20God will bring reward to Abraham himself, in accordance with what He had spoken concerning Abraham himself, even after his death.