Abraham's Wayside Inn for Travelers and God

Midrash Aggadah Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 21:33 View source

Curated by The Jewish Mythology Team · Published January 9, 2025

Here is the Targum's most beloved expansion of the patriarchal story. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 21:33, the Hebrew says Abraham planted a eshel — a tamarisk — in Beersheba. The Aramaic paraphrase transforms the verse into the foundation charter of Jewish hospitality.

Abraham plants a pardes, a garden, and sets out in its midst food and drink for those who passed by and those who returned. Travelers going out and travelers coming back all eat from his table. And more than that — he preaches to them. The Aramaic verb is mikhreiz, to proclaim publicly: Confess ye, and believe in the Name of the Word of the Lord, the everlasting God.

This is one of the Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan's signature moves. Every act of chesed becomes a missionary act. Bread and water are offered freely; in return, the stranger is invited to acknowledge the Holy One. The Babylonian Talmud (Sotah 10a-10b) preserves an almost identical tradition: Abraham taught his guests to bless God rather than himself after every meal.

The Maggidim read this verse as the origin of the hachnasat orchim tradition. The takeaway: set a table so generous that the people who sit at it cannot help but ask who invited them, and then tell them about the Everlasting God.

Themes

Patriarchs Charity Community Prayer

Biblical References

Genesis 21:33

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