Eating; Meals
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Isa. 66:17)—the sharing of food and the customs surrounding the table. Egyptians would not eat with Hebrews, “for that is an abomination to the Egyptians” (Gen. 43:32). In the apostolic age some circumcised believers reproached Peter because he had entered the house of uncircumcised people and eaten with them (Acts 11:3). By contrast, tax collectors and sinners drew near to hear Jesus, and the Pharisees and scribes complained, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:1-2).