Genesis 18:7

Gen 18:7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave [it] unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.

Ver. 7. And gave it unto a young man.] Here was a well-ordered family; every one knew his office, and did it. In every society, say the politicians, as in a well-tuned harp, the several strings must concur to make up a harmony.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen 18:7. Abraham ran to the herd — In the several particulars here mentioned, we have a lively picture of the hospitality, simplicity, benevolence, and liberality of these ancient patriarchs. How different was their manner of life from the refinement and modish formality of the higher classes in modern times!

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf--Animal food is never provided, except for visitors of a superior rank when a kid or lamb is killed. A calf is still a higher stretch of hospitality, and it would probably be cooked as is usually done when haste is required--either by roasting it whole or by cutting it up into small pieces and broiling them on skewers over the fire. It is always eaten along with boiled corn swimming in butter or melted fat, into which every morsel of meat, laid upon a piece of bread, is dipped, before being conveyed by the fingers to the mouth.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

7. fetched a calf] We must remember that meat is rarely eaten by the tent-dwelling nomads. The killing of an animal for a repast indicated a desire to do special honour to a guest.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Abraham ran unto the herd,.... While Sarah and her maids were kneading the dough and making the cakes:

and fetched a calf tender and good; a fine fat calf, which was reckoned very delicious food, and much in use with the ancients (q) and generally made a part in any grand entertainment, and was accounted fit for a king, see Sa1 28:24,

and gave it unto a young man: one of his servants, to kill and dress as soon as possible; Jarchi says this was Ishmael, whom he trained up to such service:

and he hasted to dress it; the young man made all the haste he could to get it ready, according to the orders of Abraham.

(q) --Orpheus de lapidibus, ver. 63.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Himself. These rich and truly noble people, do not esteem it beneath themto wait on strangers. They provide abundance, but no dainties. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

7. A calf tender and good — He selects the choicest of his young cattle, “the fatted calf,” (Luk_15:23; Luk_15:30,) the greatest luxury of the kind at his command.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, the greatness of the honor done to the strangers was evinced by the personal activity of the patriarch, and the offering of animal food, which was not a common article of consumption among Orientalsand gave it unto a young man; i.e. the servant in attendance (cf. Gen_14:24) and he hasted to dress it.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

בן בקר רך וטוב A CALF, TENDER AND GOOD — There were three calves so that he might give them to eat three tongues together with mustard condiment (Bava Metzia 86b).

אל הנער TO THE YOUNG MAN — This was Ishmael whom he bade to do this in order to train him to the performance of religious duties (in this case the duty of hospitality) (Genesis Rabbah 48:13).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND ABRAHAM RAN UNTO THE HERD. The purport thereof is to tell us of his great desire to bestow kindness. This great man had three hundred and eighteen men in his house, each one a swordsman, and he was very old and weakened by his circumcision, yet he went personally to Sarah’s tent to urge her in the making of the bread, and afterwards he ran to the place of the herd to chose a calf, tender and good, to prepare for his guests, and he did not have all these done by means of one of his servants who stood ready to serve him.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ואל הבקר רץ אברהם, the term רץ is a variant of the term וימהר, he hastened. The Torah wished to give us an impression of the speed with which a man of 99 years old performed the task of entertaining unexpected guests, preparing a virtual feast for them.

בן בקר, male and young, so that it would be both tender and tasty. The word טוב refers to it being juicy, fat; we find this expression used in that sense also in Jeremiah 44,17 ונשבע לחם ונהיה טובים, “we had plenty of bread and were fat.”

אל הנער; to the servant. According to an allegorical interpretation [based on the definitive article ה seeing that Avraham had many servants, Ed.] this is a reference to Ishmael.

לעשות אותו, to prepare it and to cook it.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.