NOTES for Gen 23:1-20

¹And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.

²And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

³And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

⁴I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

⁵And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,

⁶Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

⁷And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

⁸And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,

⁹That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.

¹⁰And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,

¹¹Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

¹²And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.

¹³And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.

¹⁴And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,

¹⁵My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

¹⁶And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

¹⁷And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure

¹⁸Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.

¹⁹And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.

²⁰And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

A cave for a tomb has been quite an ordinary thing in Palestine at all times. In the soft local limestone it is not hard to make even an artificial cave if no natural one is found. Besides, the "sons of Heth" offer Abraham a cave for free. Here, of course, before us, among other things, is traditional Eastern bargaining - "I give it for free" - "no, I will pay" - "dear friend, take it as a gift!" - "why as a gift?" - "is what you are offering even money?" - "well, take it anyway!" - "all right, I accept; the cave is yours!" Such bargaining is ordinary in the East; no transaction is concluded there without it.

The Abraham of the Bible is a man of his time and his country. Although it is possible that they really were offering him a cave for a tomb as a gift. After all, Abraham already enjoyed a certain authority among the neighboring tribes. It is hard to say which "Hittites" are meant here. They may have been actual Hittites, or they may have been some other Asia Minor tribes of Aryan origin. Several centuries before Abraham appeared in Palestine, it had for a time been part of the Hittite Empire, and some tribes that had inhabited it may have settled here, adopting the semi-nomadic way of life that all the local inhabitants practiced there. Judging by the story of Abraham's purchase of the cave, they deeply respected him, although his relations with other tribes, especially in Samaria, were more tense.

And yet even with the best relations, accepting such a gift would have been rash. Gifts created obligations, and relations could later change. Meanwhile, accepting such a gift meant binding oneself with obligations that were at least allied, if not directly vassal. When relations were good, one might not be reminded of this, but when they were bad... A purchase was more reliable: it implied complete independence from the seller, which in any case could not exist in relations with a giver. Abraham, however, had come to become master of the land, not subject to someone on it. He does not want to begin his life there with a loss of independence, even a potential one. And he buys a tomb for Sarah - taking root in the land promised to him by his God.

Other notes

For Gen 23:1-20