Why God Stood While Abraham Sat at the Tent Door

Another interpretation (of Song of Songs 4:6): UNTIL THE DAY BREATHES — until the kingdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, appears in this world. AND THE SHADOWS FLEE — these are the shadows of the kingdoms. I WILL BETAKE ME TO THE MOUNTAIN OF MYRRH — this is Jerusalem, as it is said (in Song of Songs 5:1): I AM COME INTO MY GARDEN, MY SISTER, MY BRIDE; I HAVE GATHERED MY MYRRH WITH MY SPICE. TO THE HILL OF FORESKINS (Joshua 5:3) — for he took the foreskins and made them into a hill. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed to him, as it is said (in Genesis 18:1): AND THE LORD APPEARED UNTO HIM. And since the angels saw this, they too went along with the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said (in Genesis 18:2): AND HE LIFTED UP HIS EYES AND LOOKED, AND, LO, THREE MEN, etc. And so David praises (in Psalms 25:10): ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE LOVINGKINDNESS AND TRUTH. What is the meaning of ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE LOVINGKINDNESS AND TRUTH? The Torah — its beginning is lovingkindness, and its end is lovingkindness, and its middle is lovingkindness. Its beginning is lovingkindness — whence? You find that when the Holy One, blessed be He, formed Eve, He adorned her and brought her to Adam, as it is said (in Genesis 2:22): AND THE LORD GOD BUILT THE RIB, etc. What is the meaning of "built" (vayyiven)? Rabbi Abbahu said: In Arabia they call the braiding of hair "building" (binyata). And its end is lovingkindness — at the death of Moses, when the Holy One, blessed be He, occupied Himself with him in His glory, as it is said (in Deuteronomy 34:6): AND HE BURIED HIM IN THE VALLEY. In its middle is lovingkindness — with Abraham, as it is said (in Genesis 17:2): AND I WILL MAKE MY COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THEE. When the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed to him, he was sitting, as it is said (in Genesis 18:1): AND HE SAT IN THE TENT DOOR IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY. Abraham came to stand up. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Do not trouble yourself to stand; sit down, as it is said (in Psalms 110:1): THE LORD SAID UNTO MY LORD [Abraham]: SIT THOU AT MY RIGHT HAND. Abraham said to Him: But is this the way of the world, that I sit while You stand? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Do not trouble yourself; you are an old man, a hundred years old — sit. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: By your life, because you sit while I stand, your children, three-year-olds and four-year-olds, are destined to sit in the houses of study and in the synagogues while I stand over them, as it is said (in Psalms 82:1): GOD STANDETH IN THE CONGREGATION OF GOD. Abraham began to praise the Holy One, blessed be He: (Psalms 18:36) THOU HAST ALSO GIVEN ME THE SHIELD OF THY SALVATION — when the kings pursued me, as it is said (in Genesis 15:1): FEAR NOT, ABRAM, I AM THY SHIELD. (Psalms 18:36, continued:) AND THY RIGHT HAND HATH HELD ME UP — when You grasped the foreskin together with me as I was cutting. (Ibid., continued:) AND THY CONDESCENSION HATH MADE ME GREAT — in that I was sitting while You were standing.