Hospitality as the Sign of Virtue

What are you doing, man? Are you looking for such a humble woman for your master—a woman who carries water and can speak with you? “Yes,” he says. “He did not send me to look for abundant wealth or distinguished birth, but for nobility of soul.” Many women who carry water possess complete virtue, while others sitting in splendid houses are worse and more worthless than anyone. And how will he know that the woman is virtuous? By the sign he named. And what kind of sign of virtue is this? A very great and unquestionable one. It is a strong sign of hospitality, enough to furnish complete proof.

What he means, even if he does not say it in these exact words, is this: “I am looking for the young woman who is so hospitable that she will offer every service in her power.” And he did not seek this without reason. He belonged to a household in which deeds of hospitality flourished above all else, and so he sought first of all a woman of the same character as his masters. “We are about to bring her,” he says in effect, “into a house open to strangers. Let there not be war and conflict because the husband gives away what he has, imitating his father and welcoming strangers, while she counts every little thing, cannot bear it, and tries to stop him—as often happens in many homes. So from this I want to learn at once whether she is hospitable, because from hospitality all our blessings have come.

“This is how my master obtained the bridegroom; this is how he became a father. He sacrificed a calf and received a child; he kneaded flour, and God promised to give him descendants as numerous as the stars. Since all these blessings came to us and to our household from this, I seek this quality before all others.” Do not focus merely on the fact that the servant asked for water. Consider instead that it belongs to an exceedingly hospitable soul not only to give what was requested but to provide more than was asked.