And he became very hungry
It being in the middle of the day, when it was usual to eat; and perhaps he had ate nothing that day, for those were reckoned the most religious persons, who eat nothing before the Minchah:
and would have eaten;
though the Jews say F5, a man ought not to eat near the Minchah, not even the least, lest he should continue at it, and so neglect his prayers:
but while they made ready,
while Simon's family were getting dinner ready, preparing the food for it:
he fell into a trance;
or an ecstasy, or an ecstasy fell upon him; it was what was supernatural, and came from above, and did not arise from any natural cause in him; he was as it were out of the body, and entirely in the spirit; all the bodily organs and senses were shut up, and all sensible objects removed from him; and he was wholly intent on what was proposed to him in the vision, which filled him with wonder and astonishment.