Vayeira 18:4 · unit 3

Parashas Vayeira · Passuk 18:4

The Complete Passuk

יֻקַּֽח־נָ֣א מְעַט־מַ֔יִם וְרַחֲצ֖וּ רַגְלֵיכֶ֑ם וְהִֽשָּׁעֲנ֖וּ תַּ֥חַת הָעֵֽץ׃

Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and recline under the tree.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Bava Metzia 86b.

TT lemma: ורחצו רגליכם.

Sefaria — Bava Metzia 86b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
וְרַחֲצוּ רַגְלֵיכֶם. אָמְרוּ לוֹ, וְכִי בַּעֲרָבִיִּים חֲשַׁדְתָּנוּ שֶׁהֵם מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים לַאֲבַק רַגְלֵיהֶם? כְּבָר יָצָא מִמֶּנּוּ יִשְׁמָעֵאל.

English: “And wash your feet.” They said to him, “Do you suspect us of being Arabs who bow down to the dust of their feet? Yishmael has already gone forth from him.”

On the daf / in context: The angels protest Avraham’s request that they wash their feet, taking it as an implication that they might be idolaters who worship the dust on their feet; the Gemara notes that Yishmael’s line already existed.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli sugya) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The request to wash feet is read against the background of contemporary idolatrous practice.

What Is Learned

Avraham’s offer of water for the feet was understood by the angels as a precaution against possible idolatry; they protested that such suspicion was unfounded.