And when he placed the food before them, they did not eat from it. So when he saw their hands, meaning the messengers, [after the placement, it was the same] that they did not reach it, meaning: [to] the calf that he placed for them to eat. He was repulsed by them, meaning his repulsion intensified towards them and he reacted to that. This indicates what some scholars said: that 'repulsed' is more intense than 'denied.' And he felt a hidden fear in his heart from them, meaning a great fear, due to what he saw of their conditions and witnessed of their majesty. The root of 'feeling' is: entering. The evidence that his fear was due to his knowledge of the indication that they were angels sent for a matter he disliked, which is the punishment of someone dear to him or something like that, is that they said, 'Do not fear.' Then they explained that by saying, 'Indeed, we have been sent,' meaning: from one whose command is not rejected, 'to the people of Lot.' For they negated fear from him by informing him of whom they were sent to, not by being angels. They said that and gave him glad tidings of the child.