Hebrews 13:2

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Take care to keep open house: because in this way some have had angels as their guests, without being conscious of it.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Τῆς φιλοξενίας μὴ ἐπιλανθάνεσθε: διὰ ταύτης γὰρ ἔλαθόν τινες ξενίσαντες ἀγγέλους.

Transliteration

The philoxenias mē epilanthanesthe: dia this gar elathon some having xenisantes angelous.

Grammar Details

• *philoxenias*: genitive, feminine, singular - hospitality/love of strangers
• *mē*: negative particle with imperative - not
• *epilanthanesthe*: imperative, present, middle/passive, 2nd person, plural - do not forget/neglect
• *dia*: preposition + genitive - through/by means of
• *gar*: postpositive conjunction - for/because
• *elathon*: aorist, active, indicative, 3rd person, plural - they were unaware/did without knowing
• *xenisantes*: aorist, active, participle, nominative, masculine, plural - having entertained/hosted
• *angelous*: accusative, masculine, plural - angels/messengers

Word Meanings

• *philoxenias*: hospitality/love of strangers/entertainment of guests
• *epilanthanesthe*: forget/be forgetful/neglect
• *elathon*: were unaware/did without knowing/escaped notice
• *xenisantes*: entertaining/hosting/receiving as guests
• *angelous*: angels/messengers

Referenced Verses

• Matt 25:35 : 35 For I was in need of food, and you gave it to me: I was in need of drink, and you gave it to me: I was wandering, and you took me in;
• Rom 12:13 : 13 Giving to the needs of the saints, ready to take people into your houses.
• Gen 18:1-19:3 : 1 Now the Lord came to him by the holy tree of Mamre, when he was seated in the doorway of his tent in the middle of the day; 2 And lifting up his eyes, he saw three men before him; and seeing them, he went quickly to them from the door of the tent, and went down on his face to the earth; 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have grace in your eyes, do not go away from your servant: 4 Let me get water for washing your feet, and take your rest under the tree: 5 And let me get a bit of bread to keep up your strength, and after that you may go on your way: for this is why you have come to your servant. And they said, Let it be so. 6 Then Abraham went quickly into the tent, and said to Sarah, Get three measures of meal straight away and make cakes. 7 And running to the herd, he took a young ox, soft and fat, and gave it to the servant and he quickly made it ready; 8 And he took butter and milk and the young ox which he had made ready and put it before them, waiting by them under the tree while they took food. 9 And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, She is in the tent. 10 And he said, I will certainly come back to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife will have a son. And his words came to the ears of Sarah who was at the back of the tent-door. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was past the time for giving birth. 12 And Sarah, laughing to herself, said, Now that I am used up am I still to have pleasure, my husband himself being old? 13 And the Lord said, Why was Sarah laughing and saying, Is it possible for me, being old, to give birth to a child? 14 Is there any wonder which the Lord is not able to do? At the time I said, in the spring, I will come back to you, and Sarah will have a child. 15 Then Sarah said, I was not laughing; for she was full of fear. And he said, No, but you were laughing. 16 And the men went on from there in the direction of Sodom; and Abraham went with them on their way. 17 And the Lord said, Am I to keep back from Abraham the knowledge of what I do; 18 Seeing that Abraham will certainly become a great and strong nation, and his name will be used by all the nations of the earth as a blessing? 19 For I have made him mine so that he may give orders to his children and those of his line after him, to keep the ways of the Lord, to do what is good and right: so that the Lord may do to Abraham as he has said. 20 And the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is very great, and their sin is very evil, 21 I will go down now, and see if their acts are as bad as they seem from the outcry which has come to me; and if they are not, I will see. 22 And the men, turning from that place, went on to Sodom: but Abraham was still waiting before the Lord. 23 And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction come on the upright with the sinners? 24 If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it because of the fifty upright men? 25 Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right? 26 And the Lord said, If there are fifty upright men in the town, I will have mercy on it because of them. 27 And Abraham answering said, Truly, I who am only dust, have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: 28 If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will you give up all the town to destruction because of these five? And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are forty-five. 29 And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty. 30 And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty. 31 And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty. 32 And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I will have mercy because of the ten. 33 And the Lord went on his way when his talk with Abraham was ended, and Abraham went back to his place. 1 And at nightfall the two angels came to Sodom; and Lot was seated at the way into the town: and when he saw them he got up and came before them, falling down on his face to the earth. 2 And he said, My masters, come now into your servant's house and take your rest there for the night, and let your feet be washed; and early in the morning you may go on your way. And they said, Not so, but we will take our night's rest in the street. 3 But he made his request more strongly, so they went with him into his house; and he got food ready for them, and made unleavened bread, of which they took.
• 1 Pet 4:9 : 9 Keep open house for all with a glad heart;
• Titus 1:8 : 8 But opening his house freely to guests; a lover of what is good, serious-minded, upright, holy, self-controlled;
• Rom 16:23 : 23 Gaius, with whom I am living, whose house is open to all the church, sends his love, so does Erastus, the manager of the accounts of the town, and Quartus, the brother.
• 1 Tim 3:2 : 2 The Bishop, then, is to be a man of good name, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, serious-minded, having respect for order, opening his house freely to guests, a ready teacher;
• 1 Kgs 17:10-16 : 10 So he got up and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the door of the town, he saw a widow woman getting sticks together; and crying out to her he said, Will you give me a little water in a vessel for my drink? 11 And when she was going to get it, he said to her, And get me with it a small bit of bread. 12 Then she said, By the life of the Lord your God, I have nothing but a little meal in my store, and a drop of oil in the bottle; and now I am getting two sticks together so that I may go in and make it ready for me and my son, so that we may have a meal before our death. 13 And Elijah said to her, Have no fear; go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and come and give it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: The store of meal will not come to an end, and the bottle will never be without oil, till the day when the Lord sends rain on the earth. 15 So she went and did as Elijah said; and she and he and her family had food for a long time. 16 The store of meal did not come to an end, and the bottle was never without oil, as the Lord had said by the mouth of Elijah.
• Job 31:32 : 32 The traveller did not take his night's rest in the street, and my doors were open to anyone on a journey;
• Isa 58:7 : 7 Is it not to give your bread to those in need, and to let the poor who have no resting-place come into your house? to put a robe on the unclothed one when you see him, and not to keep your eyes shut for fear of seeing his flesh?
• Lev 19:34 : 34 Let him be to you as one of your countrymen and have love for him as for yourself; for you were living in a strange land, in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
• Deut 10:18-19 : 18 Judging uprightly in the cause of the widow and of the child who has no father, and giving food and clothing in his mercy to the man from a strange country. 19 So be kind to the man from a strange country who is living among you, for you yourselves were living in a strange country in the land of Egypt.
• 1 Tim 5:10 : 10 And if witness is given of her good works; if she has had the care of children, if she has been kind to travellers, washing the feet of the saints, helping those who are in trouble, giving herself to good works.
• Matt 25:40 : 40 And the King will make answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
• Matt 25:43 : 43 I was wandering, and you took me not in; without clothing, and you gave me no clothing; ill, and in prison, and you came not to me.
• Acts 16:15 : 15 And when she and her family had had baptism, she made a request to us, saying, If it seems to you that I am true to the Lord, come into my house and be my guests. And she made us come.
• Judg 13:15-25 : 15 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, Now let us keep you while we make ready a young goat for you. 16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Though you keep me I will not take of your food; but if you will make a burned offering, let it be offered to the Lord. For it had not come into Manoah's mind that he was the angel of the Lord. 17 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, What is your name, so that when your words come true we may give you honour? 18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, Why are you questioning me about my name, seeing that it is a wonder? 19 So Manoah took the young goat with its meal offering, offering it on the rock to the Lord, who did strange things. 20 And when the flame went up to heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar, while Manoah and his wife were looking on; and they went down on their faces to the earth. 21 But the angel of the Lord was seen no more by Manoah and his wife. Then it was clear to Manoah that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, Death will certainly be our fate, for it is a god whom we have seen. 23 But his wife said to him, If the Lord was purposing our death, he would not have taken our burned offering and our meal offering, or have given us such orders about the child. 24 So the woman gave birth to a son, and gave him the name Samson; and he became a man and the blessing of the Lord was on him. 25 And the spirit of the Lord first came on him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
• 2 Kgs 4:8 : 8 Now there came a day when Elisha went to Shunem, and there was a woman of high position living there, who made him come in and have a meal with her. And after that, every time he went by, he went into her house for a meal.
• Job 31:19 : 19 If I saw one near to death for need of clothing, and that the poor had nothing covering him;