Burial of Sarah – Genesis 23

The burial purchase Abraham makes reflects burial customs of the day: Contemporary burial practices favored rock-cut or cave tombs, which were meant to accommodate the clan through generations. Bodies would be laid out on rock shelves until nothing remained but the bones, at which point the bones would either be cleared to the back of the tomb or relocated into a container of some sort to make room for another body. The use of family tombs may partially explain the use of the phrase “gathered to his people” (25:8). Deceased ancestors were honored through a variety of practices that did not stop after burial. These practices made it desirable for tombs to be in proximity to somewhat permanent settlements. (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds)

[1] Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. [2] And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. [3] And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, [4] “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” [5] The Hittites answered Abraham, [6] “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” [7] Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. [8] And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, [9] that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”

[10] Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, [11] “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” [12] Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. [13] And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” [14] Ephron answered Abraham, [15] “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” [16] Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

[17] So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over [18] to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. [19] After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. [20] The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites. (Genesis 23, ESV)

The death of Sarah signals we are getting to the end of the Abraham story.  Abraham owns no land in Canaan on which to bury his wife.  So he must purchase some land.  He mourns and then goes to the city gates to make a purchase of a particular field near where he has settled.  The Hittites are owners of this land, and one particular Hittite, Ephron, who owns the field in Machpelah.

The negotiations seem strange to us, but were quite normal.  When Abraham asks for the field Ephron seems willing to offer it as a gift, but Abraham knows better.  He needs to own this land.  A gift could be reneged on after Ephron’s death.  So when Ephron just happens to mention what price he would take for the field, Abraham snatches it up.  It is probably an exorbitant price, but it ensures that the field will stay in Abraham’s ownership in perpetuity.

As the ESV Study Bible notes, “Abraham’s purchase of the field and cave meant that his descendants would always own this land. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, and Leah would later be buried in this cave.”

Hebrews 11:9-10 says, “By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”