Use hospitality
Or, "be lovers of strangers", as the phrase may be rendered, and
as it is in the Syriac version; that is, such as are of a distant
country, or come from afar, and are unknown by face, especially
good men, that are obliged to remove from their native country
for the sake of religion, or by one providence or another; and
these are to be loved: and love is to be shown them, both
negatively, by not vexing them, and making them uneasy in body or
mind; by not oppressing them by violence and injustice, and
making any exorbitant demands upon them; or by not perverting
judgment with respect to them; and positively, by directing,
counselling, and advising them, and if need be, by giving them
food, and raiment, and lodging: and it is what men have been led
to by the very light of nature, as in the instances of Jethro the
Midianite towards Moses, and the inhabitants of Melita with
Publius, the chief man of the island, towards the Apostle Paul
and his company; and is what God enjoined the Israelites by
divers laws, since they had been strangers in the land of Egypt;
and various are the exhortations to it in the New Testament; and
some, by the practice of it, have entertained angels unawares, as
Abraham, and Lot; and even Christ himself, as the two disciples
travelling to Emmaus; and is what is highly regarded and
commended by Christ, and the contrary is resented by him; and
therefore it ought to be used and practised frequently; saints
should inure themselves to it, be given to it, pursue and follow
hard after it; (See Gill on Romans
12:13), (See Gill on Hebrews
13:2). The apostle adds here, one to another; which
clause is left out in the Syriac and Ethiopic versions; the
reason of which may be, because the authors of these versions
might think this not so consistent with the duty exhorted to,
since the objects of it are strangers; but it should be observed,
that so were these persons the apostle writes to; see ( 1 Peter 1:1 ) , they
were scattered about, and lived in different countries, and were
strangers to one another, and therefore the clause is pertinent
enough; and the sense is, that as they were in foreign countries,
and at a distance one from another, whenever by any providence
they were brought where each other were, that they would be
hospitable to one another: and that
without grudging:
food, raiment, and lodging, or what they want, whether direction
or advice, thinking it no trouble to give them either; or without
murmurings, as it may be rendered, as if they were burdensome,
and they were too chargeable to them, and their stay too long;
and without complaints of them, finding fault, and picking
quarrels with them, and laying charges against them, in order to
get rid of them. This is one branch of charity before
recommended.