“Returning” to the Hospitality of the Lord 393 the passersby and convince them to accept hospitality in their home. For example, Abraham sees his guests from a distance and runs out to meet them (Gen 18,2-5). Even though Lot’s guests first decline his offer, he strongly urges them to enter his tent (Gen 19,1-3). Laban runs out to greet Abraham’s servant, who becomes his guest (Gen 24,29). Jael encourages Sisera to turn aside into her tent (Judg 4,18), and the Shunammite woman persuades Elisha to eat in her home (2 Kgs 4,8). This proactive approach to hospitality is noticeably embellished in both Philo’s and The Testament of Abraham’s reflections on Abraham’s hospitality. Philo says Abraham ran out of his house and begged the strangers who were passing by his home to stay with him because he was so eager to extend hospitality to them (Philo, Abr. 107). “For in a wise man’s house no one is slow in showing kindness; but women and men, slaves and free, are full of zeal to do service to their guests (xenizomevnwn)” (Philo, Abr. 109; LCL). In The Testament of Abraham, the author tells us that Abraham pitched his tent at the crossroads of the oak of Mamre so that he could “welcome everyone who passed by — rich and poor, kings and rulers, the crippled and the helpless, friends and strangers, neighbors and passersby” (T. Abr. 1.1-2). In a similar manner, Job is also portrayed as being highly proactive in his extension of hospitality to strangers. According to later tradition, Job was so determined to be prepared for any traveler who might pass by that he kept thirty tables spread at all times. These tables were to be used exclusively by strangers (T. Job 10.1-3, cf. 25.5 and 53.3). In addition, given this emphasis on hosts taking the initiative with potential guests in both the Hebrew Scriptures and in later Jewish literature, it is not surprising that Paul directs the Roman Christians to pursue (diwvkonte") (38) hospitality as a manifestation of love in Rom 12,13b. These proactive stances toward hospitality suggest that the ideal host for both ancient Israel and for later Judaism should go out seeking strangers to be his or her guest rather than simply waiting for strangers to approach him or her. Thus, Ps 23 not only contrasts the psalmist’s enemies with goodness and mercy, but the psalm also personifies goodness and mercy in the form of the ideal host of the Hebrew Scriptures. Saying that goodness and mercy pursue the psalmist is not very different from saying that righteous hosts like Abraham, will pursue the psalmist for the rest of his or her days. e) Ps 23,6b – “and I will return to the house of the Lord the length of my days”. First, it is somewhat puzzling that most interpreters do not translate the verb (bwv) as “return” in Ps 23,6. Instead, they opt for the more traditional rendering of “dwell” (bvy), even when they acknowledge that “return” (bwv) is the literal reading of the text (39). Others wrestle with this problem when they (38) This is the same root word that is found in Psalm 23,6 LXX. (39) E.g., NAS; CRAIGIE, Psalms, 204; W.O.E. OESTERLEY, The Psalms (London 1962) 183; and KRAUS, Psalms 1-59, 304. Craigie contends that “and I shall return in the house of the Lord” is the literal reading. Similarly Kraus acknowledges that the MT reads, “and I come back”, which would “refer to a vow of pilgrimage”. Yet, Kraus says the Septuagint and Jerome’s translation of “and I dwell” is the better translation.