창세기 18:2의 Musar

There are several difficulties in 18,2: "He raised his eyes and saw three men standing by him; he saw and ran to meet them from the entrance of the tent. He bowed down to the ground." Why does the Torah repeat that Abraham "saw?" If the men stood beside him, why did he have to run towards them? We are familiar with what the Talmud says and Rashi quoting it, but we will ignore that for the moment. According to our approach, the repetition of the word "he saw," is justified; Abraham's intellectual vision told him that these men were angels, whereas his physical vision led him to believe that they were human beings. Abraham's doubts were reinforced by the fact that he had seen angels frequently, but they had not appeared to him in the guise of human beings. The words "he raised his eyes" (heavenwards) indicate that he wondered if they were angels. The words נצבים עליו, are appropriate when one speaks of angels as we know from Daniel 7,16: "I approached one of the standing ones and asked him, etc." We also know from Zachariah 3,7 that human beings are described as מהלכים, progressing, whereas angels are described there as בין העומדים האלה, "between these stationary ones." According to Yerushalmi Berachot 1,1 המלאכים אין להם קפיצה, angels do not experience miraculous transposition from one area to another [as happened to Eliezer on his journey to Aram Naharayim for instance in Genesis 24,42, see Rashi Ed.]. Abraham afterwards saw that the appearance of these men was that of human beings. He thought that they might be Arabs, and since humans walk, move, even if they might stand still briefly, he ran towards them. When he came close to them everything that he said to them could be interpreted as appropriate both to angels and to humans. If they were angels, they would interpret what he said to them in a certain manner, whereas if they were men, they would also interpret his words as appropriate.

Come and see what is stated in the continuation of the Zohar above: The Holy One Blessed is He fashioned a special throne of glory for Yaakov to sit upon as the righteous man enters the next world. Then, when the soul beholds all this honor it blesses and praises the Holy One Blessed is He and prostrates itself before Him, giving praise and acknowledgement for the great distinction and honor it has received. Then it prays for the body as well, asking that it, too, be allowed to rest securely without suffering the afflictions of the grave. And it recites Tehillim 103, “My soul, bless Hashem, and all that is in me [bless] His holy Name, etc.” When the other Patriarchs, Avraham and Yitzchak, hear of this, they also go to greet the righteous soul. Concerning this was it stated, “And Avraham lifted up his eyes” (Bereishis 18:2). This actually refers to the soul of the righteous man, for the Zohar terms the soul of a righteous man with the name Avraham. “And Avraham saw” — this refers to the man’s soul. “And behold three men were standing over him” — this refers to the souls of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, along with the glory of the Shechinah. Then immediately it is said that “and Avraham ran” — referring again to the man’s soul — “to greet them from the opening of the tent, and he bowed to the ground” — that is, towards the Shechinah. Afterwards the soul prays, “Hashem, do not depart from Your servant!” That is, it requests that the Shechinah accompany it until the gates of Gan Eden to protect and guard it from all its accusers. See the Zohar there at length.