Abraham rose up from before his dead and spoke to the children of Heth, saying, “I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, “Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.”
Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the children of Heth. He talked with them, saying, “If you agree that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may sell me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him sell it to me among you as a possession for a burial place.”
Now Ephron was sitting in the middle of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, “No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”
Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, “But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.”
Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, “My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.”
Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard.
So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 16 3. And spake unto the sons of Heth. Moses…
3. And spake unto the sons of Heth. Moses is silent respecting the rite used by Abraham in the burial of the body of his wife: but he proceeds, at great length, to recite the purchasing of the sepulcher. For what reason he did this, we shall see presently, when I shall briefly allude to the custom of burial. How religiously this has been observed in all ages, and among all people, is well known. Ceremonies have indeed been different, and men have endeavored to outdo each other in various superstitions; meanwhile, to bury the dead has been common to all. And this practice has not arisen either from foolish curiosity, or from the desire of fruitless consolation, or from superstition, but from the natural sense with which God has imbued the minds of men; a sense he has never suffered to perish, in order that men might be witnesses to themselves of a future life. It is also incredible that they, who have disseminated certain outrageous expressions in contempt of sepulture, could have spoken from the heart. Truly it behaves us, with magnanimity, so far to disregard the rites of sepulture, — as we would riches and honors, and the other conveniences of life, — that we should bear with equanimity to be deprived of them; yet it cannot be denied that religion carries along with it the care of burial. And certainly (as I have said) it has been divinely engraven on the minds of all people, from the beginning, that they should bury the dead; whence also they have ever regarded sepulchres as sacred. It has not, I confess, always entered into the minds of heathens that souls survived death, and that the hope of a resurrection remained even for their bodies ; nor have they been accustomed to exercise themselves in a pious meditation of this kind, whenever they had laid their dead in the grave; but this inconsideration of theirs does not disprove the fact; that they had such a representation of a future life placed before their eyes, as left them inexcusable. Abraham however, seeing he has the hope of a resurrection deeply fixed in his heart, sedulously cherished, as was meet, its visible symbol. The importance he attached to it appears hence, that he thought he should be guilty of pollution, if he mingled the body of his wife with strangers after death. For he bought a cave, in order that he might possess for himself and his family, a holy and pure sepulcher. He did not desire to have a foot of earth whereon to fix his tent; he only took care about his grave: and he especially wished to have his own domestic tomb in that land, which had been promised him for an inheritance, for the purpose of bearing testimony to posterity, that the promise of God was not extinguished either by his own death, or by that of his family; but that it then rather began to flourish; and that they who were deprived of the light of the sun, and of the vital air, yet always remained joint-partakers of the promised inheritance. For while they themselves were silent and speechless, the sepulcher cried aloud, that death formed no obstacle to their entering on the possession of it. A thought like this could have had no place, unless Abraham by faith had looked up to heaven. And when he calls the corpse of his wife his dead ; he intimates that death is a divorce of that kind, which still leaves some remaining conjunction. Moreover, nothing but a future restoration cherishes and preserves the law of mutant connection between the living and the dead. But it is better briefly to examine each particular, in its order.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18 Hebrew, sons of Heth.
Hebrew, sons of Heth.
That is, when he had mourned: so the godly may mourn, if they pass not measure, and the natural affection is commendable.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 Gen 23:3 And Abraham stood up from before his…
Gen 23:3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
Ver. 3. And Abraham stood up from before his dead.] So she is called eight several times in this chapter; to note that death makes not any such divorce between godly couples and friends, but that there remains still a blessed conjunction between them, which is founded in the hope of a happy resurrection. {a} Job’s children were still his, even after they were dead and buried. How else could it be said, that God "gave Job twice as much of everything as he had before," {Job 42:10; Job 42:13; Job 1:2} since he had afterwards but his first number of children, viz., "seven sons and three daughters"?
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{a} Pareus, in loc.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16 To show his moderation in sorrow, and to take…
To show his moderation in sorrow, and to take care for her burial, according to his duty.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv3, 16 Here is, I. The humble request which Abraham made…
Here is, I. The humble request which Abraham made to his neighbours, the Hittites, for a burying-place among them, Gen 23:3, Gen 23:4. It was strange he had this to do now; but we are to impute it rather to God's providence than to his improvidence, as appears Act 7:5, where it is said, God gave him no inheritance in Canaan. It were well if all those who take care to provide burying-places for their bodies after death were as careful to provide a resting-place for their souls. Observe here, 1. The convenient diversion which this affair gave, for the present, to Abraham's grief: He stood up from before his dead. Those that find themselves in danger of over-grieving for their dead relations, and are entering into that temptation, must take heed of poring upon their loss and sitting alone and melancholy. There must be a time of standing up from before their dead, and ceasing to mourn. For, thanks be to God, our happiness is not bound up in the life of any creature. Care of the funeral may, as here, be improved to divert grief for the death at first, when it is most in danger of tyrannizing. Weeping must not hinder sowing. 2. The argument he used with the children of Heth, which was this: "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you, therefore I am unprovided, and must become a humble suitor to you for a burying-place." This was one occasion which Abraham took to confess that he was a stranger and a pilgrim upon earth; he was not ashamed to own it thus publicly, Heb 11:13. Note, The death of our relations should effectually remind us that we are not at home in this world. When they are gone, say, "We are going." 3. His uneasiness till this affair was settled, intimated in that word, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. Note, Death will make those unpleasant to our sight who while they lived were the desire of our eyes. The countenance that was fresh and lively becomes pale and ghastly, and fit to be removed into the land of darkness. While she was in his sight, it renewed his grief, which he would prevent.
II. The generous offer which the children of Heth made to him, Gen 23:5, Gen 23:6. They compliment him, 1. With a title of respect: Thou art a prince of God among us, so the word is; not only great, but good. He called himself a stranger and a sojourner; they call him a great prince; for those that humble themselves shall be exalted. God had promised to make Abraham's name great. 2. With a tender of the best of their burying-places. Note, Even the light of nature teaches us to be civil and respectful towards all, though they be strangers and sojourners. The noble generosity of these Canaanites shames and condemns the closeness, and selfishness, and ill-humour, of many that call themselves Israelites. Observe, These Canaanites would be glad to mingle their dust with Abraham's and to have their last end like his.
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III. The particular proposal which Abraham made to them, Gen 23:7-9. He returns them his thanks for their kind offer with all possible decency and respect; though a great man, an old man, and now a mourner, yet he stands up, and bows himself humbly before them, Gen 23:7. Note, Religion teaches good manners; and those abuse it that place it in rudeness and clownishness. He then pitches upon the place he thinks most convenient, namely, the cave of Machpelah, which probably lay near him, and had not yet been used for a burying-place. The present owner was Ephron. Abraham cannot pretend to any interest in him, but he desires that they would improve theirs with him to get the purchase of that cave, and the field in which it was. Note, A moderate desire to obtain that which is convenient for us, by fair and honest means, is not such a coveting of that which is our neighbour's as is forbidden in the tenth commandment.
IV. The present which Ephron made to Abraham of his field: The field give I thee, Gen 23:10, Gen 23:11. Abraham thought he must be entreated to sell it; but, upon the first mention of it, without entreaty, Ephron freely gives it. Some men have more generosity than they are thought to have. Abraham, no doubt, had taken all occasions to oblige his neighbours, and do them any service that lay in his power; and now they return his kindness: for he that watereth shall be watered also himself. Note, If those that profess religion adorn their profession by eminent civility and serviceableness to all, they shall find it will rebound to their own comfort and advantage, as well as to the glory of God.
V. Abraham's modest and sincere refusal of Ephron's kind offer, Gen 23:12, Gen 23:13. Abundance of thanks he returns him for it (Gen 23:12), makes his obeisance to him before the people of the land, that they might respect Ephron the more for the respect they saw Abraham give him (Sa1 15:30), but resolves to give him money for the field, even the full value of it. It was not in pride that Abraham refused the gift, or because he scorned to be beholden to Ephron; but, 1. In justice. Abraham was rich in silver and gold (Gen 13:2) and was able to pay for the field, and therefore would not take advantage of Ephron's generosity. Note, Honesty, as well as honour, forbids us to sponge upon our neighbours and to impose upon those that are free. Job reflected upon it with comfort, when he was poor, that he had not eaten the fruits of his land without money, Job 31:39. 2. In prudence. He would pay for it lest Ephron, when this good humour was over, should upbraid him with it, and say, I have made Abraham rich (Gen 14:23), or lest the next heir should question Abraham's title (because that grant was made without any consideration), and claim back the field. Thus David afterwards refused Araunah's offer, Sa2 24:24. We know not what affronts we may hereafter receive from those that are now most kind and generous.
VI. The price of the land fixed by Ephron but not insisted on: The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver (about fifty pounds of our money), but what is that between me and thee? Gen 23:14, Gen 23:15. He would rather oblige his friend than have so much money in his pocket. Herein Ephron discovers, 1. A great contempt of worldly wealth. "What is that between me and thee? It is a small matter, not worth speaking of." Many a one would have said, "It is a deal of money; it will go far in a child's portion." But Ephron says, "What is that?" Note, It is an excellent thing for people to have low and mean thoughts of all the wealth of this world; it is that which is not, and in the abundance of which a man's life does not consist, Luk 12:15. 2. Great courtesy, and obligingness to his friend and neighbour. Ephron was not jealous of Abraham as a resident foreigner, nor envious at him as a man likely to thrive and grow rich. He bore him no ill-will for his singularity in religion, but was much kinder to him than most people now-a-days are to their own brothers: What is that between me and thee? Note, No little thing should occasion demurs and differences between true friends. When we are tempted to be hot in resenting affronts, high in demanding our rights, or hard in denying a kindness, we should answer the temptation with this question: "What is that between me and my friend?"
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–18 And Abraham stood up from before his dead,.... The…
And Abraham stood up from before his dead,.... The corpse of Sarah, by which he sat pensive and mourning, perhaps upon the ground, as was the custom of mourners, Job 1:13; where having sat awhile, he rose up and went out of the tent, to provide for the funeral of his wife as became him:
and spake unto the sons of Heth; the descendants of Heth the son of Canaan, see Gen 10:15; who were at this time the inhabitants and proprietors of that part of the land where Abraham now was: saying; as follows:
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 15 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you…
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you - Therefore I am unprovided, and must become a suiter to you for a burying-place. This was one occasion which Abraham took to confess that he was a stranger and a pilgrim upon earth. The death of our relations should effectually mind us that we are not at home in this world. That I may bury my dead out of my sight - Death will make those unpleasant to our sight, who while they lived were the desire of our eyes. The countenance that was fresh and lively becomes pale and ghastly, and fit to be removed into the land of darkness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17 Verse 3. Abraham stood up from before his dead]…
Verse 3. Abraham stood up from before his dead] He had probably sat on the ground some days in token of sorrow, as the custom then was, (see Tobit 2:12, 13; Isa 47:1; and Ge 37:35;) and when this time was finished he arose and began to treat about a burying place.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13 Gen 23:4. I am a stranger and a sojourner…
Gen 23:4. I am a stranger and a sojourner with you — Therefore I am unprovided, and must become a suiter to you for a burying-place. This was one occasion which Abraham took to confess that he was a stranger and a pilgrim upon earth. The death of our relations should effectually put us in remembrance, that we are not at home in this world. That I may bury my dead out of my sight — Death will make those unpleasant to our sight, who, while they lived, were the “desire of our eyes.” The countenance that was fresh and lively becomes pale and ghastly, and fit to be removed into the land of darkness.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3, 6, 7, 16 Obsequies, or solemn mourning, accompanied with prayer. (Acts viii.…
Obsequies, or solemn mourning, accompanied with prayer. (Acts viii. 2; Matthew xii.) The Jews are still accustomed to say, when they bury their dead, "Ye fathers, who sleep in Hebron, open to him the gates of Eden;" herein agreeing with the Catholic doctrine, as they did in the days of Judas the Machabee. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16 PURCHASE OF A BURYING-PLACE. (Gen. 23:3-20)
PURCHASE OF A BURYING-PLACE. (Gen. 23:3-20)
Abraham stood up, &c.--Eastern people are always provided with family burying-places; but Abraham's life of faith--his pilgrim state--had prevented him acquiring even so small a possession (Act 7:5).
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spake unto the sons of Heth--He bespoke their kind offices to aid him in obtaining possession of a cave that belonged to Ephron--a wealthy neighbor.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17 3. Stood up from before his dead — After…
3. Stood up from before his dead — After being bowed down with the mourning for Sarah, he rose up from the presence of his beloved dead, and went forth to secure a burying place. The standing up and bowing were essential parts of Oriental etiquette. Comp. Gen_23:7.
Sons of Heth — The same as the Hittites, a Canaanitish tribe, sprung from the Heth named in Gen_10:14, who settled in this part of Canaan. They were, perhaps, only a southern colony of the great people who figure on the Assyrian monuments as Khatti, and on the Egyptian monuments as Khita, whose chief seat was on the Orontes, but whose dominion was widespread over Syria and Asia Minor. They appear to have been a powerful military nation in the time of the later kings of Israel. 2Ki_7:6-7. Inscriptions recently discovered at Hamah and other places are believed to be records of this ancient and powerful people.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 3. rose up] The use of this word is…
3. rose up] The use of this word is explained by the habitual attitude of prostration in mourning. Cf. 2Sa_12:16-17; 2Sa_12:20.
the children of Heth] See note on Gen_10:15. Cf. Gen_26:34, Gen_27:46, Gen_49:32 (P). Hittites seem to have amalgamated with native Canaanites. In P, here, and in Gen_28:1; Gen_28:8, they seem to be identified with Canaanites. The settlements of Hittites in the N. of Palestine may have extended in groups and families southwards. But “the children of Heth” are here spoken of as the native inhabitants of Hebron. Ezekiel regards “Amorites” and “Hittites” as original dwellers in Palestine (Gen_16:3; Genesis 45).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17 (3) Abraham stood up from before his dead.—His first…
(3) Abraham stood up from before his dead.—His first care on arriving at Hebron had been to prostrate himself in Sarah’s tent, and give utterance to his grief. Only after this he rises to prepare for her burial.
The sons of Heth.—Up to this time we have read only of Amorites, Mamre and his toothers, at Hebron. It now appears that it was the property of the Hittites, a race who, while the Israelites sojourned in Egypt, became so powerful as to contend for empire with the Egyptians themselves. Their capital was Emesa in Northern Syria, and their history is now being made known to us not only by means of Egyptian records, but also of inscriptions in their own language (See Note on Gen_10:15).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17 And Abraham stood up during the days of mourning…
And Abraham stood up during the days of mourning he had been sitting on the ground; and now, his grief having moderated (Calvin), he goes out to the city gatefrom before (literally, from over the face of) his dead, though dead, was still his" (Wordsworth)and spake unto the sons of Heth. the Hittites were descendants of Heth, the son of Canaan. (vide Gen_10:15) Cf. "daughters of Heth" (Gen_27:46) and "daughters of Canaan" (Gen_28:1) saying.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Abraham buried Sarah his wife
Gen_23:3-20
Abraham buried Sarah his wife
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Abraham burying his dead
I.
CONSIDER HIM AS A MAN.
II. CONSIDER HIM AS A MAN OF BUSINESS.
1. His independence (Gen_23:4; Gen_23:6).
2. His exactness (Gen_23:17-18).
3. His courtesy.
III. CONSIDER HIM AS A GODLY MAN.
1. He believed in immortality.
2. He believed that God would grant his posterity to inherit the land.
3. He believed in a future state of blessedness for the righteous. (T. H.Leale.)
Circumstances connected with Sarahs burial
1. Observe the honour which the ancients paid to the dead. This proves that they had a secret glimmer of immortality.
2. Observe the transaction with the children of Heth. A scriptural precedent for exactitude in business.
3. Observe also how courteous phrases contain a higher excellence than they mean. What is that betwixt me and thee? The children of Heth had no intention whatever of being taken at their word any more than a man has now when he calls himself your humble servant or bids you command him. We must go back to an earlier age when phrases were coined and meant something, when gifts were gifts and nothing was hoped for in return, in order to catch the life that was once in our conventional phraseology. So now language preserves, as marble preserves shells of hoar antiquity, the petrified phrases of a charity and humbleness which once were living. They are dead, but they do at least this, they keep up memorials of what should be. So that the world, in its daily language of politeness, has a record of its duty. Take those phrases, redeem them from death, live the life that was once in them. Let every man be as humble, as faithful, as obedient as his language professes, and the kingdom of God has come!
4. Lastly, we find in connection with Sarahs burial a Divine provision for the healing of Abrahams sorrow. He was compelled to exert himself to obtain a place to bury his dead out of his sight. Had he not had to arouse himself and procure a grave for Sarah, he would have brooded over his grief. This is the merciful plan of compensation which God has provided for us; the necessities of life call us from our sorrow. All these merciful provisions plainly show us that we are in a Fathers world. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Machpelah, and its first tenant
I. WE ARE FIRST ARRESTED BY ABRAHAMS TEARS.
II. NOTICE ABRAHAMS CONFESSION.
III. NOTICE ABRAHAMS FAITH. (F. B. Meyer, B.A.)
I. IN ITS CONNECTION WITH SARAH IT IS A TOKEN OF RESPECT TO THE DEAD. The body deserves this.
1. Because it has been the mans dwelling-place.
2. Because it has assisted the soul to express itself.
3. Because it is destined for a higher and nobler service.
The purchased grave
II. IN ITS CONNECTION WITH ABRAHAM HIMSELF IT SHOWS THAT HE PREPARED FOR DEATH.
1. It taught him that the highest earthly possessions terminate in a grave.
2. It implies that he waited for death.
I. IN ITS CONNECTION WITH THE JEWISH NATION IT SERVES AS A MONUMENT FOR THEIR INSTRUCTION.
1. Its purchase taught them that it would soon be theirs.
2. Its stillness taught them to be active.
3. Its solemnity taught them to seek that country where there is no grave. (Homilist.)
The cave of Machpelah
I. ABRAHAMS SORROW.
II. ABRAHAMS PURCHASE. Strange possession to be the first portion in the land which was promised! A place to bury the dead in--yet observe how this very purchase is an act of faith and a pledge for the future fulfilment of Gods promises.
III. ABRAHAMS HOPE (Heb_11:13-16). We Christians to whom more light has been granted concerning the hopes of the heavenly city beyond this earthly life can see how, in Jesus Christ and His gospel, the sorrow for the dead and the fear of death are changed into thankfulness and hope. In Christs death, burial, resurrection we trace an upward course to life eternal. Death is conquered. Paradise is the peaceful resting-place of those who sleep in Jesus. Heaven is the final fulness of joy. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
Death and burial
Abraham declares himself a stranger and a sojourner in the land, and humbly prays for a burying-place to bury his dead, once so dear and so lovely, out of his sight; expressing thus a sad, universal, and most humiliating fact, that death changes the countenance of its victims, as well as sendeth them away; and so changes them that disgust succeeds to delight, terror to affection; and so dreadful is the mixture of the memory of past beauty and the sight of present decay, that the survivor needs no exhortation to hide his friend in the grave, but with eager haste commits parent, or child, or brother, or wife, or lover, into the dust, and almost rejoices as he shuts the coffin to know that that disfigured countenance he shall see no more. What a strange view of the power and mystery of death is implied in the thought of not hatred, but love, crying out for the eternal removal of its object out of its sight! But often it is not the mere physical rottenness which awakens this desire; often, too, there arise painful, agonizing, terrible thoughts on the sight of a departed friend. The whole of the past history of the friendship or love; its first commencement and the joys connected with it; the trials and troubles, perhaps partial estrangement or complete alienation for a time, which darkened its progress; the exquisite pleasures, or no less exquisite pangs, which alternated; benefits received from the departed which were unrequited, or injuries done to them which were never fully repaid; every harsh look or word on the side of the living remembered, while on that of the dead all but their smiles and kindness are forgotten; the scenes of the sick-bed; the last farewell on the brink of eternity; all these heartquaking, melting, rending images arise, and clustered around and pictured as they are on the mirror of that pale face and shut eye, might drive to insanity and howling despair, were it not that a veil for that mirror of past joy became sorrow, and past grief became distraction, has been provided, in the merciful lid of the coffin--a lid which henceforth only the worm, the eye of imagination sometimes venturing to peep into darkness, but as speedily withdrawing the gaze, and the light of the last morning, shall be able to penetrate. (G. Gilfillan.)
Significance of behaviour in the presence of grief
Circumstances test the true quality of men. Irreverence in the presence of grief is an infallible sign of the deepest degeneracy; it marks the ultimate deterioration of the human heart. On the other hand, to be chastened by sorrow, to be moved into generous pity and helpfulness, is to show that there is still something in the man on which the kingdom of Jesus Christ may be built. Never despair of any man who is capable of generous impulses. Put no man down as incurably bad, who will share his one loaf with the hungry, or give shelter to a lost little one. Poor and crude may be his formal creed, very dim and pitifully inadequate his view of scholastic theology; but there is a root in him which may be developed into much beauty and fruitfulness. For this reason, I cannot overlook the genial humanity and simple gracefulness of this act of the Hittites. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Ephron and Abraham--a life-like picture
It was quite in accordance with Eastern usage that Abraham did not apply directly to the proprietor of the plot in which the cave lay, Ephron by name, the son of Zohar, but made interest with him through the leading men of the city. Courtesy required, too, that their consent should be secured for the proposed arrangement. The whole narrative, which is most minute, wears the strongest local colouring. Abrahams respectful attitude, his repeated prostrations with his face to the ground, the polite hospitality of the townsmen, the difficulty in coming to a bargain, the offer of Ephron to waive the question of price, his indirect mention of the four hundred shekels, the conclusion of the sale at the city gate in the place of concourse, the weighing of uncoined rings or ingots of silver which served for a medium of exchange, and the copious phraseology as of a legal document, by which, before witnesses, the cave, with the field, the fence around it, and the trees on it, were all conveyed in perpetuity to their new owner--these particulars correspond, we are assured by Dr. Thomson, a competent witness, to what may be seen at this day in Eastern bargain-making. It is true that nowadays the courtesy is merely formal, and such generous phrases as those of Ephron and his fellow-citizens are grown very hollow indeed. Still, it seems questionable to conclude, as Dr. Thomson himself has done, that they meant no more in that simple age, when the ceremonies of intercourse were newer and more truly reflected its spirit. Besides, it is hardly fair to place an occasion like that before us quite on a level with the ordinary chaffering of an Arab market-place. One must take care, no doubt, not to read all the incidents of a story, which is sacred as well as ancient, through such an unreal light as will invest them with fictitious dignity. On the other hand, we may equally err if, in our efforts to be realistic, we rob the record of its native dignity, or vulgarize the manners of antiquity because the manners of to-day are vulgar. (J. O. Dykes, D. D.)
Sarahs tomb
Around the grotto which thus became the sepulchre of Abrahams family, and which afterwards was to receive, not only his own dust, but that of his son and grandson with their wives, there has grown up an interest as enduring, and an obscurity as deep as attach to any grave on earth save one. The piety of some unknown age, probably Jewish, erected round the spot massive walls of noble masonry, which still exist. Inside these walls the devotion of early Christians consecrated a church, and over the church the devotion of the Mussulman a mosque. The gates of that mosque, the famous Haram of Hebron, had been closed against Western unbelievers for six centuries, when with extreme difficulty access to it was procured for the Prince of Wales and his suite in the year 1862. What they saw inside an enclosure so jealously guarded has been told with his accustomed precision of statement by Dean Stanley. Railed off, each one within its separate chapel, there lie the coffin-like shrines to which are attached the venerable names of Sarah and Abraham, of Isaac and Rebecca, of Leah and Jacob. These, however, are only empty monuments. The real tombs, if they exist at all, must be sought beneath the floor of the building, in the rocky cavern underground. To this vault a trap-door in the pavement promises to give access; but as yet its darkness remains unvisited and unviolated. So far as could be ascertained through such a brief and partial inspection of the mosque, it is clear that the contents of that sacred place answer exactly to the requirements of the scriptural narrative. Unfortunately, more than this cannot be said. It is reserved for some explorer more fortunate than even the Prince of Wales to disclose the well-kept secret of the tomb of the patriarchs. (J. O. Dykes, D. D.)
Sarahs tomb
Only one European, Pierroti, an Italian architect in the service of the Sultan, has ever seen more than the floor of the upper chamber, with its six tawdry erections, placed there in accordance with a practice usual in Mahometan sepulchres. Pierotti, daringly pressing after the chief Sanon, or priest of the mosque, when he was entering the lower story on a special occasion, found the entry was by a horizontal door in the porch. First a carpet, then a grated iron door, was lifted; after which a narrow stair appeared, cut in the rock. Undeterred by blows and violence, he managed to descend this far enough to see into the lower cavern in a northern direction, and to notice sarcophagi of white stone; the true tombs of some of the illustrious dead, in striking corroboration of the statement of Josephus, that they were of fair marble, exquisitely wrought. There can be little doubt, indeed, that the remains of the three generations of patriarchs and their wives, Rachel alone excepted, still lie safely in this their venerable sepulchre. (C. Geikie, D. D.)
Origin of money
When he required this sepulchre, he offered so much money we are told-shekels of silver-and this money was weighed. This informs us that silver came so early as this period of the world to be currency. I mentioned, I think, before, that the earliest money was cattle. Hence, the Latin word pecunia, from which our expression pecuniary transactions is derived, comes from pecus, which means cattle. And it is very singular that in the Greek language every word that is used for purchase or property is a derivation from some other word denoting an animal. Thus the Greek word αρνυσθαι, which means, to bargain, is derived from a Greek word that means a lamb. Again, πωλεω, to sell, is derived from the word used for a colt. Again, the Greek word ωνεομαι, to profit, comes from a word signifying an ass. Again, the Greek word προβιας, revenue, is derived from the Greek word προβατον, sheep or cattle. In short, all the words in Greek and Latin that mean property transactions, buying and selling, are derived from cattle, and the earliest figures that were struck upon ancient coins were figures of cattle. A man was said to be possessed of so many thousand oxen or sheep, and when they entered into a bargain, they gave so many sheep or so many oxen to the person from whom they were purchasing. Here, for the first time, we have silver introduced as currency-that which, in fact, is still the currency of the greatest portion of the nations of the earth-gold being restricted to very few countries, as the representative of property-mainly, I believe, in this country; whereas on the continent it is, I believe, chiefly silver (J. Cumming, D. D.)
Abraham at Machpelah
What I wish to emphasize here is the open, manly honesty of Abraham. There was no cheapening of the price--nothing of It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: and when he is gone his way, then he boasteth. Here were only civility, courtesy, and integrity. He did everything in a business way, but he had respect for others as well as for himself. He recognized that there was another hearer than the multitudes assembled at the city gate, even God Himself, and he did not choose that He should hear anything of rudeness, or selfishness, or dishonesty from his lips. Oh, how much more pleasantly business would be conducted among ourselves if we were to act in this way! But too many of us are constantly on the watch for an advantage! The sellers maxim too frequently is the selfish one of the Romans, Caveat emptor--let the buyer look out for himself. And the buyer, on his side, is too frequently just as eagerly anxious to over-reach the seller. It is far too often diamond cut diamond between them. But that both are bad does not excuse either, and God is listening to both. Ah! if we all remembered that, our stores would be different places from what they often are, and business would rise to its ancient and irreproachable renown. Faith in God--such faith as Abraham had-that is still the great necessity of life. For pureness, for integrity, for liberality, for courage, for courtesy, this is what we mainly need. It is as true to-day as when John wrote the words, This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Courtesy
It is related of Pope Clement XIV. (Ganganelli), that when he ascended the papal chair, the ambassadors of the several states represented at his court waited on him with their congratulations. When they were introduced, and bowed, he returned the compliment by bowing also; on which the master of the ceremonies told his highness that he should not have returned their salute. Oh, I beg your pardon, said the good pontiff, I have not been pope long enough to forget good manners.
Civility
When old Zachariah Fox, the great merchant of Liverpool, was asked by what means he contrived to realize so large a fortune as he possessed, his reply was, Friend, by one article alone, in which thou mayst deal too if thou pleasest--civility. (Moral and Religious Anecdotes.)
Courtesy to enemies
After the battle of Poitiers, in which the Black Prince fought and defeated the French king, the prince waited upon his captives like a menial at supper; nor could he be persuaded to sit at the kings table. This was quite in accordance with the chivalry of the day. (Littles Historical Lights.)
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The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v3 Gen_23:3. Stood up from before his dead.] “Abraham must…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_23:3. Stood up from before his dead.] “Abraham must be thought of as ‘weeping over the face’ of Sarah (2Ki_13:14), and he rise sup from the face of his dead.” (Alford.) The sons of Heth. Descendants of Heth, the son of Canaan, a grandson of Ham, elsewhere called the Hittites. They were Canaanites. From them Esau took wives. (Gen_26:34-35.)—
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Gen_23:6. My lord.] A title of respect equivalent to our sir. A mighty prince. Heb. A prince of God. The Heb. affixed the name of God to words to denote excellence of the superlative degree. Thus great mountains, great cedars, are called “mountains of God,” “cedars of God.” (Gen_30:8; Psa_80:10.)
Gen_23:8. If it be your mind.] Heb. If it be with your soul. Soul often occurs in the O.T. in the sense of will, or desire, or inclination. (Psa_27:12; Psa_105:22.)—
Gen_23:9. The cave of Machpelah.] In this eastern land it was customary to bury in caves, natural or artificial. Machpelah. Heb. The two-fold cave. The expression, though descriptive of its form, is here used as a proper name. The name was also applied to the whole field, including the cave. A mosque is now built over the spot. In the end of his field. Field denotes a larger extent of land than it does with us, and frequently signifies a territory, or large tract of country. “Jacob fled to the country of Syria.” Heb. “field of Syria.” For as much money as it is worth. Heb. For full silver, i.e., full money. The word silver is often used by the sacred writers to signify money.—
Gen_23:11. The field give I thee, and the cave that is therein.] This was a formal expression after the Oriental fashion, refusing to name a fixed price, and offering as a gift, while at the same time expecting an equivalent for it.—
Gen_23:16. Shekels.] From the verb shakal, to weigh. Hence is derived the English word scales. Among the Jews shekel was used both for a weight and a coin. There were then no stamped coins. The first use of coins has been ascribed to the Phœnicians. Current money with the merchant. It is still the custom to weigh money in the East, even where it is stamped, in order to see if it is of full weight; “current money with the merchant.”—
Gen_23:17. And 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.] “This minute specification seems like a recital of the very formula of sale, and shows the solemn significance of the whole proceeding. By the expression which was in (the) Machpelah, it would seem as if the name belonged not to the cave only, but also to the district or property.” (Alford.) Before Mamre. Probably signifies to the eastward of it. Were made sure. Heb. Stood for a possession. No mention is made of any document, and the title was probably established by a public proclamation of the sale, made in the gate.
Gen_23:20. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession.] The validity of his title is again recited on account of the importance of the fact.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_23:3-20
ABRAHAM BURYING HIS DEAD
This portion is remarkable in several respects. Here we have the first record of property in land, of purchase, of silver employed as money, and of mourning for the dead, and of burial. Here are the chief heads of human business, and the old, old fashion of mortality brought vividly before us. Abraham makes arrangements for the purchase of a family grave, and buries his wife in peace. It will be instructive to consider the Patriarch so engaged from three points of view:—
I. Consider him as a man. He did, on this occasion, what every right-minded man would feel bound to do. The necessities of human life and destiny cast certain duties upon men. Abraham must “bury his dead out of his sight” (Gen_23:4). He feels the loathsomeness of death. Dishonour has fallen upon the body bereft of life, and it must be hidden in the tomb from the eyes of all living. Abraham had to perform a melancholy duty towards the dead body of his dear wife. He must provide a grave for her, and secure the possession of it so that her body shall rest undisturbed. She must have a funeral worthy of her station in life, aud of the love which he bare to her. In all this Abraham was doing a human duty, and he did it affectionately and in a spirit of high-minded self-respect. Considered merely as a man, he wins our admiration for those sentiments and feelings of humanity which are so remarkably evident in this narrative.
II. Consider him as a man of business. The transaction with the children of Heth sets forth the character of Abraham regarded as a man of business.
1. His independence. Not that scornful spirit of independence which has its root in pride, and despises others; but that high-minded feeling by which a man refuses, without sufficient necessity, to be under an obligation to his fellow man. In this case such an obligation might afterwards have proved inconvenient to Abraham, and have injured the influence of his character. He must deal with these strangers as a man of business ought to deal, honestly and in a healthy spirit of independence. The children of Heth offer the land for a sepulchre as a gift. (Gen_23:6.) This is supposed to have been an instance of extraordinary liberality on their part, but the customs of eastern nations forbid such a supposition. Their custom was, and still is, to exchange gifts; but they were gifts which laid the party receiving them under an obligation to give back at least as much again. In the words of Ephron to Abraham, “Nay, my lord, the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee” (Gen_23:11), we have simply a conventional mode of speech—one of those made and provided forms which must be held to mean much less than they express. Abraham asks for a burying-place, and it is offered as a gift. (Gen_23:4; Gen_23:6.) He understands what is really meant, refuses the offer, and pays for the ground. Ephron makes a show of reluctance, but at length consents to receive payment. This was all well understood as being a common mode of dealing. Abraham was a just man, and at the same time prudent. It would not be expedient for him to be under an obligation to these people. Besides, he was rich and could well afford to pay, and why should he receive? He might receive such a gift from a dear friend, when no misunderstanding could arise, but not from strangers. It was expedient for him to preserve a manly spirit of independence. In dealing with the world we must be “wise as serpents” as well as “harmless as doves”—innocence must be regulated and guided by Wisdom
2. His exactness. Abraham takes great care to have the contract drawn up in due form, for the 17th and 18th verses are like an extract from a legal document. They read like a deed of conveyance. The boundaries of the field are accurately defined, and all the perquisites belonging to it—the trees and the cave. This exactness was the product of a religious feeling. Abraham was desirous to prevent future misunderstandings. When these arise it is well to quell them by a spirit of generosity and conciliation, but it is far better to contrive so that they shall not arise. In order to “live peaceably with all men” it is well that we should take care that, as far as in us lies, there shall be no cause for dispute. Men of business should be exact in all their dealings, for without attention to this the character even of a good man will suffer in the estimation of the world.
3. His courtesy. “Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth.” (Gen_23:3.) He had that refined politeness which enabled him to control his emotions before strangers. When the apparently generous offer was made him, “Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the children of Heth.” There is a certain reverence which is due from man to man, and the observance of even the forms of it add a grace and charm to human life. A refined and courteous behaviour acts like oil in diminishing the friction of the social machine. The conventional forms which society has stamped with its approval are often used as mere meaningless phrases, but they are the survival of a time when they possessed solid worth and represented realities. True godliness would put meaning into them. The courtesy of Abraham was the result of a true feeling, not a mere form of salutation and address. The cultivation of such a courtesy would ennoble every transaction of human business.
III. Consider him as a godly man. Abraham acts throughout as one who trusted in God, and whose soul was united to Him for ever. In the light of this incident his conduct cannot be explained on the supposition that he looked only for temporal promises. The eye of his faith saw things “afar off,” yet to be realised in a life beyond life.
1. He believed in immortality. This is evident by his care that the dead should have decent and honourable burial. Why should there be such concern for the dead body if all is over and ended—if the being that inhabited it is blotted out of existence? This reverence for the dead shows that the mortal frame was once tenanted by spirit, and that that spirit continues to live on, though no longer discerned by men in the flesh. The honour paid to the dead by early nations, especially by the Egyptians, proves that they had a secret glimmer of immortality. Children do not believe that the dead are clean gone for ever, but speak of them as living and acting still. So it was in the childhood of the world. Unsophisticated nature accepts the doctrine of an immortal life. Abraham did not believe that his departed wife had done with God for ever, and therefore he paid honour to the temple where her consecrated soul once dwelt.
2. He believed that God would grant his posterity to inherit the land. Abraham knew that God had designed him to be the commencement of a great history, that his children should form a mighty nation in the land of Canaan, and dwell therein for ever. Sarah’s burial in that land was a kind of earnest of that inheritance—a sort of consecration of the soil. What a melancholy thought, that it should thus be consecrated by a grave!
3. He believed in a future state of blessedness for the righteous. When first called of God he went out on the faith of receiving an inheritance. When he came to Canaan he was told that that country should be his inheritance. Again he was told that while his seed four hundred years afterwards should possess the land, he himself was to have no inheritance in it on this side of the grave—he was to “go to his fathers” (Gen_15:15). Still, there was the outstanding promise that he was to inherit the land. It would seem as if Abraham was deceived, that he was disappointed of his hope. But God was leading him on to higher things—teaching him to look away from this world. He was learning to see that the promise could only be fully realised in “a better country, that is, a heavenly.” True, the earthly land of promise was first made holy by a grave. But this world is to all men more a grave than a home, for in it life’s hopes and promises are buried, so that they might come forth purified and know a better resurrection. The earthly Canaan was but a land of graves for successive generations of Abraham’s children. There is nothing bright, nothing sure or abiding, but heaven. To that blessed land Abraham looked forward. He laid his wife to rest in hope, and though he himself “received not the promises,” he was persuaded that they would be fulfilled in a measure far beyond all earthly hope. He knew that there was only one city which had the everlasting foundations. Faith in God could not be sufficiently satisfied and rewarded by any earthly good. The interest of the righteous in God’s inheritance is not for a few short years, but for ever.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_23:3. His dead. So she is called eight several times in this chapter, to note that death makes not any such divorce between godly couples and friends, but that there remains still a blessed conjunction betwixt them, which is founded in the hope of a happy resurrection. Job’s children were still his, even after they were dead and buried. How else could it be said, that God gave Job twice as much of everything as he had before” (Job_42:10; Job_42:13), since he had afterwards but his first number of children, viz., “seven sons and three daughters?” (Trapp.)
The expression denotes the moderation of his grief, and the comparative ease with which, from a principle of piety, he was enabled to subdue his emotions and to rise up and engage in the active duties of life. As there is a time for weeping, so there is a time to refrain from weeping, and it is well there is. The necessary cases connected with our condition in this world are a merciful means of raising us from the torpor of melancholy.—(Bush.)
Gen_23:4. He was a “stranger,” not one belonging to their race; a “sojourner,” a dweller in the land, not a mere visitor or passing traveller. The former explains why he has no burial place; the latter why he asks to purchase one.
The soil had been made over to Abraham by the Covenant of God, and yet he confesses that he was a stranger and pilgrim in the land. We can have no enduring possession in this world. David, though a wealthy man and a king, made the same confession. (Psa_39:11.)
It is the acknowledgement that he here makes to the sons of Heth that is referred to in Heb_11:13 : “They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Abraham, however, did not sustain this character alone. Israel, when put in possession of the land, were taught to view themselves in the same light: “Ye are strangers and sojourners with me.” (Lev_25:23.) But Abraham’s confession, though true at all times, was peculiarly true and striking when thus uttered at the grave of Sarah. Never does the impression of this truth come upon us with such force; never do we feel the ties that bind us to the earth so loosened, so nearly rent asunder, as when we stand by the grave of those we love. However at other and happier times we may forget the frail tenure by which we hold this earthly tabernacle, we are strongly impressed with the conviction then. We then, indeed, “know the heart of a stranger,” and wonder that we have ever felt domesticated here on earth, where there is so much sin and suffering, so little stability and peace. Would that we could carry this abiding conviction along with us into the daily business of life! How little influence would its trials and disappointments possess over us! How much internal peace would it bestow to feel that we were “strangers and pilgrims” on earth, and that soon, amid the comforts of our Father’s house, we should smile at the little disquietudes of the way.—(Bush.)
All men are pilgrims on earth, for they pass on through life driven by an irresistible power. But believers in God are also strangers. Their true home is not here. They are not of this world.
To-day it is fair, the next day there may be the thundering storm: to-day I may want for nothing: to-morrow I may be like Jacob, with nothing but a stone for my pillow and the heavens for my curtains. But what a happy thought it is!—though we know not where the road winds, we know where it ends. It is the straightest way to heaven to go round about. Israel’s forty years wanderings were, after all, the nearest path to Canaan. We may have to go through trial and affliction: the pilgrimage may be a tiresome one, but it is safe. We cannot trace the river upon which we are sailing, but we know it ends in the floods of bliss at last. We cannot track the roads; but we know that they all meet in the great metropolis of heaven, in the centre of God’s universe. God help us to pursue the true pilgrimage of a pious life.—(Spurgeon).
A father with his little son is journeying overland to California; and when at night he pitches his tent in some pleasant valley, the child is charmed with the spot, and begs his father to rear a house and remain there; and he begins to make a little fence about the tent, and digs up the wild flowers, and plants them within the enclosure. But the father says, “No, my son! Our home is far distant. Let these things go; for to-morrow we must depart.” Now God is taking us, His children, as pilgrims and strangers homeward; but we desire to build here, and must be often overthrown before we can learn to seek “the city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”—(Beecher).
“Bury my dead out of my sight” has been a sad necessity for all living, since mortality has made war on life. See the triumphs of death! The faces of our friends, which to look upon was a delight, must now be disfigured in the corruption of the tomb. God changes their countenance and sends them away. The beauty which affection doted upon has disappeared; and those who lately were the desire of our eyes have now become a loathing unto all flesh. She whom Abraham could not bear that others should look upon with unholy desire must now be delivered over to the possession of Death. Let the beautiful, the gay, and the vain think of this, and remember the words, “Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.”
Raised upon the triumphs of death are the triumphs of the resurrection. The “body of our humiliation” shall be charged till it becomes like unto the “glorious body” of Him who has vanquished death.
What disarrays like death? It defaces the fascination of the beautiful. It breaks the lamp of the wise. It withers the strength of the mighty. It snatches the store of the rich. Kings are stripped of trapping, trophy, treasure; “their glory shall not descend after them.”—(R. W. Hamilton.)
Gen_23:5-6. The reply of the children of Heth is deeply respectful to Abraham, and confers on him an unusual favour—admission for his dead into the family sepulchres of the inhabitants: but it does not meet the point at which the request had aimed. They viewed Abraham as enjoying in a special manner the Divine favour, and possibly, as Kalisch suggests, regarded his residing among them as a protection and safeguard against Divine inflictions: compare Abimelech’s confession. (Ch. Gen_21:22.) They therefore repudiate his description of himself as a stranger and a sojourner, and manifest a wish to incorporate him among themselves. He, therefore, while courteously acknowledging their favourable proposal, now makes known to them his full mind on the matter. His description of himself as a stranger and a sojourner had not been given at random: it had its deep foundation in truth, and was not to be complimented away, but to be adhered to and acted on.—(Alford.)
Gen_23:7. The politeness of Abraham may be seen exemplified among the highest and the lowest of the people of the East; in this respect nature seems to have done for them what art has done for others. With what grace do all classes bow on receiving a favour, or in paying their respects to a superior! Sometimes they bow down to the ground; at other times they put their hands on their bosoms, and gently incline the head; they also put the right hand on the face in a longitudinal position, and sometimes give a long and graceful sweep with the right hand from the forehead to the ground.—(Roberts.)
Courtesy smooths the business of human life, and even goes very far towards taking away the grossness from things evil.
Henry IV. of France was standing one day with some of his courtiers at the entrance of a village, and a poor man passing by bowed down to the very ground; and the king, with great condescension, returned his salutation just in the same manner; at which one of his attendants ventured to express his surprise, when the monarch justly replied to him—“Would you have your king exceeded in politeness by one of the lowest of his subjects?”
Courtesy to noble minds is not only to be regarded as a gift, but a means of purchase to buy men out of their own liberty. Violence and compulsion are not half so dangerous; these besiege us openly, give us leave to look to ourselves, to collect our forces, and refortify when we are sensible of our own weakness; but the other undermines us by a fawning stratagem, and, if we be enemies, they make us lay down our weapons, and take up love.
(J. Beaumont.)
Gen_23:8-9. This exactitude in business was of more religious importance than at first sight appears. It was a means of preventing future misunderstandings. Quarrels arise often from false delicacy. It is painful to speak of terms, to introduce into questions especially so delicate as this of bartering and bargaining about money. One party in an agreement knows he means generously, and trusts the other. But each forms a different estimate of rights; one exaggerates, the other depreciates the service done. It is from such undefined boundaries and limitations, from non-distinctness between the mine and the thine, from the use of such phrases as “what you please,” that quarrels and dissensions most frequently occur. Therefore Abraham reads a lesson to men of business, and to those whose habits are not those of business. Doubtless there is a Christian way of bearing the consequences of neglect—it is, not to dispute at all; but it is better, if possible, to arrange so that no dispute should arise; and Abraham says as it were to each of us, Let every agreement be distinctly and accurately made, for the sake, not of interest, but peace and charity.—(Robertson.)
Civility, courtesy, and generosity adorn religion. The plainness of Christianity is not a rude and insolent one; it stands aloof from flattery, but not from obliging behaviour. Some also are very courteous to strangers, are very much the reverse to those about them; but Abraham’s behaviour to his neighbours is no less respectful than it was to the three strangers who called at his tent.—(Fuller.)
Machpelah. The term means double—a double cave, as it is. The name applied to the whole plot or field, including the cave, and sometimes is limited to the cave itself. The mosque now built over the spot is at the base of a rocky slope looking toward the plain of Mamre, and thus in view of Abraham’s encampment. The building was originally a Christian church, as its structure shows, and was at a later time converted into a mosque. Within the walls are the sacred shrines or monuments of the patriarchal family, in honour of the dead who are buried beneath. A chapel is built around each of these tombs, and is entered through a gateway of the railing, as in modern cathedrals. There are six shrines: those of Abraham and Sarah, the first pair, are in the inner portico,—the former in a recess to the right, the latter to the left, both closed by silver gates. “The chamber is cased in marble. The so-called tomb is a sarcophagus about six feet in height, built up of plastered stone or marble, and hung with three carpets of green and gold. Further on, and within the walls of the mosque, are the shrines of Isaac and Rebekah, with less style, while those of Jacob and Leah are in a separate cloister opposite the entrance of the mosque. All these are what the Biblical narrative would lead us to expect, and there is the evidence that the Mohammedans have carefully guarded these sacred spots, and they stand as the confirmation of our Christian faith. The mosque is called the Great Haram.” (See Stanley’s “History of the Jewish Church.”—(Jacobus.)
Gen_23:10-12. Bargains and covenants used anciently to be entered into and solemnly ratified in the gates of the cities, from the ease of procuring witnesses among the crowds that resorted thither, written documents being then but little in vogue. It was especially of importance to Abraham that the purchase should be known and ratified. Had he accepted the sepulchre as a present, or bought it in a private way, his title to it might at some subsequent period have been disputed, and his descendants been deprived of that which he was anxious of securing to them. But all fears of this kind were prevented by the publicity of the transaction. The chief persons of the city were not only witnesses of it, but agents, by whose mediation Ephron was induced to conclude the bargain. Being witnessed, moreover, by all who went in or out of the gate of the city, there was little likelihood, after possession was once taken, that any doubt would ever arise respecting the transfer of the property, or the title of Abraham’s posterity to possess it.—(Bush.)
Ephron proposes to give the land. This, however, was only after the Oriental fashion of declining a price, the rather to put one under greater obligation and expecting a full equivalent, either in money or in service. We have often found among the people a refusal to name a fixed price, especially for any service done, expecting more by putting it upon your honour. Besides, it is in true Oriental style to pretend to the greatest liberality, which you find to be only an exaggerated manner of speech. Ephron expressed himself as willing to be bound by this free offer, “in the presence of these witnesses.” Abraham being known as rich and powerful, there was the greater motive with Ephron to waive a fixed price.—(Jacobus.)
It is well not to lie under any unnecessary obligations to the children of this world. By a wise caution in this regard, the righteous man preserves the full influence of his character.
Gen_23:13-16. If thou wilt hear me. The language is abrupt, being spoken in the heat of excitement. I give silver. “I have given,” in the original, that is, I have determined to pay the full price. If the Eastern giver was liberal, the receiver was penetrated with an equal sense of the obligation conferred, and a like determination to make an equivalent return.—(Murphy.)
The traffic and purchase of Abraham, throughout, a testimony of Israelitish prudence and foresight, but free from all Jewish meanness and covetousness.—(Lange.)
The gradual development of money, from the weighing of the nobler metals to stamped coins, has had an important influence upon the history of mankind.
Observe, also, how courteous phrases contain a higher excellence than they mean. “What is that betwixt me and thee?” The children of Heth had no intention whatever of being taken at their word, any more than a man has now when he calls himself your humble servant, or bids you command him. We must go back to an earlier age when phrases were coined and meant something—when gifts were gifts and nothing was hoped for in return, in order to catch the life that was once in our conventional phraseology. So now language preserves, as marble preserves shells of hoar antiquity, the petrified phrases of a charity and humbleness which once were living. They are dead, but they do at least this—they keep up memorials of what should be; so that the world, in its daily language of politeness, has a record of its duty. Take those phrases, redeem them from death, live the life that was once in them. Let every man be as humble, as faithful, as obedient as his language professes, and the kingdom of God has come!—(Robertson.)
Gen_23:17. Abraham had confidence that God would make sure the land to his posterity after him, yet he uses his own prudence and foresight. The promises of God do not preclude the use of human means.
The first real estate property of the patriarchs was a grave. This is the only good which they buy from the world—the only enduring thing they find here below. In that sepulchre Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, were laid; there Jacob laid Leah, and there Jacob himself would rest after his death, even in death itself a confessor of his faith in the promise. This place of the dead becomes the punctum saliens of the possession of the promised land. It was designedly thus minutely described, as the glorious acquisition of the ancestors of Israel. It was indeed the bond which ever bound the descendants of Abraham in Egypt to the land of promise, drew with a magnetic force their desires thither, and, collected in Canaan, they should know where the ashes of their fathers rested, and that they are called to inherit the promise for which their fathers were here laid in the grave.—(Delitzsch.)
The cave of Machpelah became for the Israelites the sacred grave of the old covenant, which they won again with the conquest of Canaan, just as the Christians in the Crusades reconquered the sacred grave of the new covenant, and with it Palestine. And the Christians also, like the Jews, have lost again their sacred grave and their holy land, because they have not inwardly adhered sufficiently to the faith of their fathers, who beyond the sacred grave looked for the eternal city of God, because they have sought too much “the living among the dead.” Even now the last desire of the orthodox Jews is for a grave at Jerusalem, in Canaan.—(Lange.)
Gen_23:17-18. Throughout the above transaction there was much more in the mind of Abraham than was known to the people with whom he was dealing. The immediate and ostensible reason for making the purchase was to procure a place of interment for his wife; but he had others no less important. One of these was to express his confidence in the Divine promise. God had promised to him and to his seed the land wherein he sojourned; but Abraham had continued there till this time without gaining in it so much as one foot of land. Yet it was not possible that the promise could fail. He was as much assured that it should be fulfilled as if he had seen its actual accomplishment. Under this conviction, he purchased the field as a pledge and earnest of his future inheritance. A similar compact, made with precisely the same view, occurs in the prophecies of Jeremiah (Ch. Gen_33:6-16, Genesis 42-44). Having their burying-place in Canaan, there their bones were to be laid with the bones of their father Abraham, and this was the most likely means of keeping alive in every succeeding generation the hope of ultimately possessing the whole land. (Bush.)
Gen_23:19-20. The confirmation of his title is here repeated. It was a most important step, and a great fact in the history. Abraham, as father of the faithful—he to whom the Holy Land had been promised in covenant—had declared his faith in the promise, and buried his dead on the soil, to commend his faith to his descendants. Were made sure. Here rendered in the Greek was confirmed. “It stood” is also expressive, as we say it stood in his name, or the transaction stood. The mosque, Al Haram, as he saw it, has one minaret on each of two oblique corners of the walled inclosure. The walls, as seen from the filthy narrow streets, are high, solid and ancient in appearance, having the old bevelled bordering. As seen from the hill, the building proper occupies only a third or fourth part of the enclosure, and stands at one corner. On one side of the outer walls are eight pilasters and two buttresses. The masonry bears all the marks of the most ancient Jewish architecture, and Robinson is confident that it was erected before the downfall of the nation. Josephus’ account agrees with this view. For a diagram of this noble monument of sacred antiquity, see Stanley’s Lectures on the Jewish Church.—(Jacobus.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv4, 16 Cf. Gen 33:19; Gen 50:13; Jos 24:32; Act 7:15;…
buryingplace
Cf. Gen 33:19; Gen 50:13; Jos 24:32; Act 7:15; Act 7:16. A discrepancy in these statements has been fancied. It disappears entirely before the natural supposition that in the interval of about eighty years between the purchase by Abraham of the family sepulchre Gen 23:4-20 and Jacob’s purchase Gen 33:19, the descendants of Hamor (or "Emmor," Act 7:15; Act 7:16 had resumed possession of the field in which the burial cave was situated. Instead of asserting an ancient title by inheritance, Jacob repurchased the field. Heth was the common ancestor.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv3, 10, 17 Abraham Negotiates for a Burial-Place. —
Abraham Negotiates for a Burial-Place. —
v. 3. And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
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v. 4. I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me a possession of a burying-place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. That Abraham observed the usual period of mourning did not in any way conflict with his faith. Sarah had been his wife, a believer in the true God, in spite of all her weaknesses, the mother of all believing women. He had loved her dearly, as a faithful husband should, and she was his even in death. He now left the tent where Sarah lay in state, and appeared in the gate of the city, the customary assembling-place of the people, where all business was commonly transacted. The children of Heth, the Hittites, were living there, for Hebron was located in Hittite country, although not far from that of the Amorites on the west. As a stranger and a nomad in their midst he now negotiated for a burial-place, first of all for Sarah, his wife.
v. 5. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
v. 6. Hear us, my lord; thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. The narrative presents a beautiful scene of politeness, simplicity, kindness, frankness, humility, modesty, not unmingled with some shades of avarice, as one commentator remarks. Abraham had come to purchase a piece of ground, but with true Oriental ceremoniousness the men of the city drew out the negotiations, paying Abraham the compliment that they considered him a prince of God in their midst, and that he had but to pick out any burial-place which might suit his fancy, and they would feel honored in having him accept it as a gift.
v. 7. And Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. This ceremonial, rising and bowing, on the part of Abraham signified that he deeply appreciated their compliments and their kindness in making such a liberal offer.
v. 8. And 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,
v. 9. that 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 burying place amongst you. Abraham continued to conduct his business with all circumspection and politeness, begging the men present to intercede for him with Ephron, a man of some importance in the community, if that was in agreement with their ideas. For this Ephron was the owner of a piece of ground which contained a cave known as Machpelah, which Abraham thought would suit his purposes very well. For full silver he wanted to buy it, that is, he wanted to pay what the land was worth, since he intended to use it for a perpetual place of burial for his family. Believers will always do well if they do not place themselves under obligations to unbelievers, since the result may often react upon their Christianity.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17 rose up and went from his dead wife
rose up and went from his dead wife
"got up and left his wife's body"
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the sons of Heth
Here "sons" stands for those who descended from Heth. AT: "the descendants of Heth" or "the Hittites" (See: How to Translate Names)
among you
This idea may be expressed in terms of location. "in your country" or "here"
Please grant me a property
"Sell me some land" or "Allow me to buy a piece of land"
my dead
The nominal adjective "dead" can be stated as an adjective or a verb. AT: "my dead wife" or "my wife who has died" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
translationWords
Abraham
alien
grave
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16 23:3-4 Abraham bargained with local Hittite elders for a…
23:3-4 Abraham bargained with local Hittite elders for a piece of land for a burial site. These Hittites had apparently migrated south to Canaan from the great Hittite empire in eastern Asia Minor (modern Turkey; cp. 10:15). • Abraham was a stranger and a foreigner among these people; his hope was in God’s promise that he would eventually possess the land.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.