And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.
Tarried (with reluctance) until afternoon - literally, the decline of the day. People in the East, who take little or nothing to eat in the morning, do not have breakfast until from 10 to 12 a.m.; and this meal the hospitable relative had purposely protracted to so late a period as to afford an argument for urging a further stay.