Genesis 23

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.

On October 24, 1929, the stock market crashed, losing what would be about $396 billion today. The day after, William Faulkner began writing the novel As I Lay Dying. He wrote it from midnight to 4 a.m. every night for six weeks. The story is considered to be one of the great American novels.

It is about the Bundren family, a poor Mississippi family determined to carry the body of the deceased Addie Bundren from their farm to the county seat of Jefferson, Mississippi. So they load her homemade casket into the back of a wagon and take a nine day journey to Jefferson. Along the way, the family encounters a lot of problems and challenges and danger. Also, the reader begins to learn what is happening in each of their lives. Somehow, the word “dysfunctional” does not quite capture it.

Periodically in the novel people discuss why they have to carry Addie all the way to Jefferson to bury her. The answer is always the same: Addie wanted to be buried among her own people who are from and are all buried in Jefferson. She made her husband promise that he would take her back to Jefferson. It is a troubling and unsettling novel and its fame is well deserved.

It strikes me that As I Lay Dying is almost the complete antithesis of Genesis 23! In As I Lay Dying we find a mother’s insistence that her family carry her out of the land of her sojourning and back to the land of her birth for burial. And along this long and dismal trek the various issues and problems of the family begin to surface.

In Genesis 23 we find, on the contrary, a patriarch’s insistence that his wife be buried in the land of their sojourning. And throughout these preparations certain dynamics surface as well. These dynamics, however, are noble and good and beautiful. We find in Genesis 23 that Abraham adamantly and stubbornly insists on buying land on which he can bury Sarah. Why? Why is Abraham so insistent and what can this mean? More than that, why does this matter to us?

By insisting on buying this land, Abraham was refusing to let death eclipse God’s covenant promise of a future.

We move from the near-death of Isaac in Genesis 22 to the death of Sarah in Genesis 23. On the surface of chapter 23, it looks very much like a scene we might see in our own day: a grieving widower making funeral arrangements for a deceased loved one. In reality there is a lot more happening in this scene than just that!

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.”

Sarah dies a sojourner in a foreign land, yet Canaan is not merely foreign, it is promised. This fact is key to understanding what happens in this chapter, to understanding why Abraham acts as he does. In short, Abraham insists on buying the burial cave and land because Abraham refused to let Sarah’s death eclipse God’s covenant promise.

Abraham acknowledges his lack of legal status in verse 4, calling himself “a sojourner and foreigner.” He then asks for “property.” The Hittites, in response, acknowledge that they see Abraham as a man of standing, a man who worships a God that is not to be trifled with though they themselves are not in relationship with this God. They then offer him “the choices of our tombs.”

There is no reason to think the Hittitie offer is disingenuous. It is most likely sincere. However, it is also measured and comes with limitations. Abraham realizes that accepting this gift would relegate him to the status of “sojourner” henceforth. For this reason, he names a specific piece of land and the owner of the land. He wishes to buy the land. Derek Kidner nicely sums up what is happening here:

The flattery in 6 was an inducement to remain a landless dependent. Abraham’s rejoinder, naming an individual, made skillful use of the fact that while a group tends to resent an intruder, the owner of an asset may welcome a customer.[1]

In reality, this chapter is not first and foremost about the purchase of a plot. It is about the fulfillment of a promise. Abraham is insistent because here at the critical juncture of the death of his wife—a woman who had been through a great deal (some of it of her own making) in her own struggles to believe the promise—he does not want death to push him into despair. Rather, as he sees the end of his wife’s life and prepares for his own, he wants to see the first actualizations of the promise. He wants to see the first fulfillment.

He wants to be able to see his family own at least a small little part of the land of promise. Patrick Henry Reardon writes:

With the purchase of the burial cave of Machpelah, however, his family actually acquires its first piece of real estate in the Holy Land. This portion of ground becomes the initial installment of Israel’s inheritance, the germinal redemption of God’s earlier pledge, “To your descendants I have given this land” (Genesis 15:18).

In this burial ground an inter-generational transmission of ownership is now established, a “tradition,” a “handing on,” of Israel’s historical identity. The aged flesh of Sarah is but the first deposit the Chosen People adds to the soil of Canaan. Abraham will presently join her at Machpelah, and in due course Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah too, will lie down in the tombs beside them. Here the ancestors of the Chosen People will return—“dust to dust”—to the earth from which they were taken.[2]

That is nicely said. We might say that by burying Sarah on land that he actually owns Abraham is burying Sarah into the promise itself…and that is a promise that goes far beyond land. The covenant promise of God with Abraham was for a name, a land, and a Savior through whom the nations would be best.

This is not vanity on Abraham’s part. It is hope. It is even the hope that the promise of God might somehow and in someway mean that he would see his beloved Sarah again!

It is as if Abraham is saying, “If I must bury my wife, I will not bury her as a resident alien. I will bury her as a child of the promise in the land of promise. I will bury her in the solid hope of the faithfulness of God. I will bury her in land that has been promised and in so doing I will bury her in all that the promise means!”

By insisting on buying the land, Abraham was acting boldly in faith and not allowing political and economic pressures to dictate his actions.

No, death would not cause Abraham to despair. Furthermore, political and economic pressures would not cause Abraham to waver. He has planted his feet in an idea: he wants to see a little piece of the promise come to be! He has planted his feet there and he will not be moved from it.

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.

This “sitting among the Hittites…at the gate of the city” was not a casual assembly. This is a business meeting. The gate of the city was where business was conducted. Here, Abraham comes to Ephron the Hittite to discuss terms for the purchase of the field and cave in Machpelah. What unfolds is a fascinating look at ancient commerce. Moreso, it is a fascinating look at one man’s stubborn refusal to abandon his faith in the word of God.

Abraham says he wants to buy the land.

Ephron refuses the offer saying that he gives it instead in the sight of corroborating witnesses.

Abraham, unmoved, insists on buying the land.

Ephron demurs and, under the guise of waving off the money, reveals the price: “four hundred shekels of silver.”“Ephron has named a price—a pretty stiff price;” writes Bette Howland, “a shekel was a measure of weight, 11.5 grams; four hundred shekels would amount to 10.6 pounds of silver.”

Abraham, realizing what Ephron is saying, immediately produces full payment. He does not bargain. He does not haggle. He simply and quickly pays the price and takes possession of the land. Finally, now, for the first time, Abraham actually and legally owns land in the land of promise!

²⁰ The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.

The importance of that little verse simply cannot be overstated. Abraham lives to see the literal unfolding of the promise in terms of land. He had seen the miracle of Isaac. Now he sees the miracle of land. In time he will see the miracle of the Savior (“Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” John 8:56).

I am touched by how Gerhard von Rad unpacked the significance of this moment:

Did the patriarchs who forsook everything for the sake of the promise go unrewarded? No, answers our narrative. In death they were heirs and no longer “strangers.” A very small part of the Promised Land—the grave—belonged to them; therefore they did not have to rest in “Hittite earth” or in the grave of a Hittite (cf. v. 6), which Israel would have considered a hardship difficult to bear. In this story an indirect prophetic moment is especially clear, as it is in all patriarchal stories, namely, the foreshadowing of future benefits of salvation (Heb. 10.1). The chapter contains a preview of our relationship to the saving benefit promised to us, the new life in Christ into which we also bear.[3]

Yes! Yes it does! This part of the promise points to the whole promise. This one aspect speaks to the entire unfolding of God’s great plan to bless the nations through a Savior to come. It is indeed “a preview of our relationship to the saving benefit promised to us, the new life in Christ.”

See the faithfulness of God! See the promise of God being fulfilled! See the boldness of Abraham who believes, who now sees and knows that God will do what God says He will do! How beautiful! How amazing!

What, then, do we take away from this story. I would like to offer four thoughts:

• We should live life from the top down not from the bottom up.

Abraham’s actions were driven by his awareness of God’s promise and his refusal to turn away from it. His actions here, in contrast to some of his earlier actions, were “from the top down” actions, actions informed by faith and Heaven’s perspective. Live your life “from the top down,” ever and always with an eye toward what God has said and what God would have you do.

• The character of God should free us from the tyranny of the immediate.

Abraham does not panic before the strong cultural/political/economic/relational dynamics presented to him and in which he stood. He was freed from all of this—cost and pressure and even the thoughts of his neighbors—by one overriding desire: to see God get the glory through the fulfillment of his promise. Walking in faith and trust frees us from the tyranny of the immediate and all of the temporal considerations that it throws at us!

• Our lives should be marked by a sacred stubbornness.

I believe we should commend Abraham’s stubbornness. We should not be stubborn if we mean by that word arrogant and unyielding. But we should be stubborn when it comes to our faith in the God who made us and has saved us. Abraham’s unrelenting insistence on buying the land was a sacred stubbornness born, not of pride, but of faith. When it comes to God’s name and God’s character and God’s word and God’s promise: be stubborn! Do not flinch! Refuse to be moved from your faith!

• God’s glory, not our advancement, should be the driving focus of our lives.

Lastly, observe that Abraham was ultimately seeking God’s fame and glory, not his own advancement. This was not about Abraham making a land acquisition. This was about Abraham demonstrating the goodness and greatness of God! This was an act of worship, an act of hope, an act of daring faith.

In short, we might say that the great takeaway from Genesis 23 is that we too should buy the cave! Believe! Do not despair! Refuse to turn away! Refuse to be swayed! Buy the cave! Stand on the promise!

God’s word is true.

 

[1] Derek Kidner, Genesis. Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. Vol.1 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), p.156.

[2] http://touchstonemag.com/daily_reflections/2013/01/18/january-18-january-25/

[3] Gerhard Von Rad, Genesis. Revised Edition. The Old Testament Library. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1972), p.250.