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THE GRAVE OF SARAH

Chapter 23

In this chapter we read about the death of Sarah, and Abraham faced complicated negotiations to buy a place in Canaan to give her a grave.

She died in Kirjath Arba (the city of Arba, father of Anak, whose descendants were called Anakim, giants who lived south of Canaan, found by the Hebrew spies centuries later - Numbers 13:33); according to scholars Hebron was the original name of this city, becoming Kirjath Arba after being conquered by Arba, leading his tribe. It was called Hebron again after its conquest by the Israelites.

In the days of Abraham, the death and burial of a person involved important rituals and traditions: not to keep them would be a great lack of respect, equivalent to a curse. Relatives and friends gathered for weeping and lamentations, which formed an essential part of this ritual, to be heard throughout the neighbourhood.

Abraham was in the Promised Land, but it was not legally his yet. The Hittites, who lived in Hebron and surrounding area kept their portions of land in a hereditary manner, and it was not their practice to sell any part of it to foreigners who were living among them, as Abraham was.

Abraham however wanted her to be buried there, because the future of his descendants was in that land.

Given the humble request of Abraham, they offered him for free the use of one of their best graves. Notice the respect they had for Abraham, who they called Prince of God: his reputation was excellent.

But Abraham did not want to borrow one of their graves, no matter how good it might be: he insisted on acquiring a cave for this purpose.What is happening reminds us of the episode soon after the liberation of Lot, in which the king of Sodom offered him all the spoil, but Abraham refused and said “lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich'”. He and his family had separated themselves from the world to obey God's plans, they were strangers in the midst of this people, and it did not suit them to share their properties, even after death.

The exchange that ensued between Abraham and the owner of the cave gives us an interesting example of how a purchase and sale of property was done at that time.The courtesy shown is surprising to us Westerners, but is still found in the Middle East.

Abraham was did not go to the owner directly, but addressed the people to first get their approval and intercede with him:  Abraham said he wanted to pay a fair price for the cave.

The owner, Ephron, then came to the place where they did business, the city gate, and sat among the people who assembled there: they were witnesses. He then made a proposal that seemed more than generous: in no way was he going to sell the cave, but give to Abraham, not only the cave, but also the field in which it was located.

Notice that he did make the field an integral part of the transaction: according to scholars, the laws of that time demanded that he pay a tax on the value of the field if it were not sold along with the cave. It would also be an insult to him if Abraham, rich as he was, accepted his generous offer, and all were well aware of that.

Following the prevailing uses and customs of that time and place, Abraham bowed himself down before the people declaring that, if in fact Ephron agreed to dispose of land (with the cave), he wanted to pay the price of the field.

Ephron replied politely that the price was not important, but did not avoid mentioning what it was. He probably declared much more than it was worth, expecting Abraham to make a counteroffer.But Abraham, generously, was not disposed to haggle, and immediately paid him the agreed price.

Abraham thus obtained the legal right to the field where he buried Sarah in the cave: later on, both he and Isaac, Rebekah, Leah and Jacob are buried there (25:9; 49:31; 50:13).

(More recently, the Muslim Arabs, who consider themselves descendants of Abraham through Ishmael, built a mosque over the cave, which is still there at the centre of the modern city of Hebron.)

R David Jones

1 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
2 So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
4 "I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,
6 "Hear us, my lord: You are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead."
7 Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.
8 And he spoke with them, saying, "If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me,
9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you."
10 Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who entered at the gate of his city, saying,
11 "No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!"
12 Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land;
13 and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there."
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
15 "My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead."
16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.
17 So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded
18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
20 So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.

Genesis chapter 23