Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 18:6

"And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes." — Genesis 18:6 (ASV)

Three measures. —Heb. three seahs, the seah being a little more than a peck. It is still usual on the arrival of a stranger to make this hasty preparation for his entertainment, the ordinary meal even of a wealthy sheik consisting of flour and some camels’ milk boiled together. Cakes such as those here described, baked amid the embers on the hot hearth-stone, are considered a delicacy (1 Kings 19:6).

Flesh is seldom eaten; but if a traveler arrives, sweet milk and rice are added to the meal, and if he is a person of distinction a lamb or kid is killed. Abraham’s calf, tender and good, shows that he regarded his visitors as persons of more than ordinary high rank; and the quantity of food cooked seems to show that the three travelers had numerous attendants. The calf would be cut into small portions, and a meal like this is, we are told, got ready in a very short time.