WARNING: The text
used for my commentary is my own paraphrase and must not be
considered
“a translation” or authorative in any way. It is, in fact, simply my commentary.
Maps, when used, are from
BibleAtlas.org. Created
using BibleMapper 3.0.
Additional data from OpenBible.info. Source of Dates Used
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית • B'resheet
(“In Beginning” or “At First”)
The First Book of Moses,
Commonly Called
Genesis
Blessed are You, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
Who has chosen us from all peoples
and given us His Torah.
Blessed are You, O Lord, Giver of the Torah.
V. Parashah Hayyei-Sarah (Sarah’s Life)
23:1-25:18
A. Sarah’s Death and Burial (23:1-20)
1. Abraham Mourns Sarah’s Death (23:1-2)
(i)1Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years; this
was the length of Sarah’s life.
2Sarah died in Kiryat-Arba
(also called HevronHebron),[2] in the land of Kena'anCanaan (“lowland”).[MAP]
Avraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
2. Cave Purchased for a Tomb (23:3-18)
3Then Avraham rose up from beside
his his dead wife and said to the sons of Het,[3]4“I am a sojourner and an
alien[4]
living among you. Give me possession of a burial site among you,
so that that I may bury my dead.”
5The
sons of Het answered Avraham,
6“Hear us, my lord. You
are a prince of Elohim[GN] among us. Bury your dead in the
finest of
our tombs. None of us will withhold his tomb from you for burying your
dead.”[6]
7Avraham
rose up, and bowed to the people of the land, the
sons of Het.
8He said to them, “If you
are willing for me to bury my dead, hear me, and ask ‘EfronEphron the son of
TzocharZohar for me,
9to sell me
the cave of
MakhpelahMachpelah, which
belongs to him, which is in the end of
his field. Let him sell it to me in your presence, for the full
price, as a burial site.”
10Now ‘Efron
was sitting among the sons of Het. So in the presence of all the
sons of Het who had come to the city gate,[10] ‘Efron the Hittite
answered Avraham,
11“No, my lord, listen to me.
I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In
the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury
your dead.”
12Avraham
bowed down before the people of the land
13and he said to
‘Efron in their presence, “If you will, please hear me. I will pay
you the price of the field.
Accept it from me so that I may bury my dead there.”
14‘Efron
answered Avraham, saying to him,
15“My lord,
listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels
of silver[15] between me and you?
Therefore bury your dead.”
16Avraham
listened to ‘Efron. Avraham weighed out to ‘Efron the amount of silver he
had named in the presence of the sons of Het, four hundred shekels
of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard.
(ii)17So ‘Efron’s field in Makhpelah, [MAP] which was
near Mamre,
the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were
within its borders, were deeded
18to Avraham’s possession in the presence of the sons of Het
who were at the city gate.
3. Sarah Buried (23:19-20)
19After this, Avraham
buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Makhpelah near
Mamre (that is, Hevron), in the land of Kena'an.
20The field and its cave
were deeded to Avraham for a burial site by the sons of Het.[20]
4. Sojourner (Heb. גֵּר, ger), a temporary inhabitant,
a newcomer lacking inherited rights; and an alien (Heb. תּוֹשָׁב, toshab) outsider,
stranger, sojourner.
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6. Avraham was reluctant to bury Sarah
in a borrowed tomb, because he was only living there temporarily. The burial custom
of the time was to lay the dead on a special slab in the tomb
[PICTURE] until all the flesh was decayed away, then
transfer the bones to a box called an
ossuary to be
placed elsewhere in the same or another tomb, freeing the slab for the tomb’s next
occupant. If he had buried Sarah in a borrowed tomb and then moved
to somewhere else, he had no way of knowing what would happen to her bones when
the cave was needed by its owner. Abraham wisely insisted on purchasing the tomb
for himself and his family members, paying full price for it to ensure that there
would be no question of ownership later. See
“Cave of the Patriarchs.”
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah are all buried in the
same
Cave of Machpelah. The only one who is missing is Rachel, who
was buried near Bethlehem where she died in childbirth.
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10. In ancient times in the middle east,
all legal business transactions were conducted at the city gates, the
equivalent of our city hall.
[BACK]
15. A shekel is about 10 grams,
so 400 shekels would be about 4 kg, 8.8 pounds, or 140.8 ounces.
At today’s price of silver ($26.27) the value of that much silver is
$3,698.82.
[BACK]
20. The Cave of Machpela has an
ancient history dating back to the earliest man and woman in the Bible.
Adam and Eve are said to be buried in the cave, the first of four couples
to be buried there. The Cave of Machpela and the field around it were
Abraham’s first acquisition in the Land that God promised to him and his
descendants. See “Cave of the Partiarchs (Machpelah): History, Structure,
and Spiritual Significance” and “Cave of
the Patriarchs”
[BACK]
Originally posted on Tuesday, 27 July 2021
Revised and updated on Monday, 10 October 2022
Page last updated on
Monday, 02 October 2023 12:52 PM
(Updates are generally minor formatting or editorial changes.
Major content changes are identified as "Revisions”) ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!