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1.Sarah lived one hundred and twenty seven years;
these were the years of the life of Sarah. 11:29-31
Sarah was ten years younger than Abraham, as we are told
in Gen 17:17. Since we know this, and since we also know when Abraham
was born, all we have to do is add ten more years to determine Sarah’s birth date which would be in the year 2028 AC. (After creation), we add to this 127 years and we see that Sarah Died in the year 2155 AC. We can also
determine that Isaac was 37 years of age when his mother died. You can refer to my family tree chart titled: genealogy chart from Noah to Jesus, and you can also see my file titled: Genealogy of Adam to Joseph to see how I came up with these dates.
2 So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is Hebron) in the land
of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to
weep for her. v. 19
This says that Abraham came to Hebron to mourn the
death of Sarah. From the previous chapter we are told that
Abraham settled in Beersheba which from my
understanding is about twenty miles south of Hebron.
Adam Clark s commentary explains the verse this way:
Abraham came to mourn for Sarah – From Gen 22:19 of the preceding chapter it appears that Abraham had settled at Beer-sheba; and here we find that Sarah died at Hebron, which was about twenty-four miles distant from Beersheba. For the convenience of feeding his numerous flocks, Abraham had probably several places of temporary residence, and particularly one at Beer sheba, and another at Hebron; and it is likely that while he sojourned at Beersheba, Sarah died at Hebron; and his coming to mourn and weep for her signifies his coming from the former to the latter place on the news of her death.
3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke
to the sons of Heth, saying, 10:15
The sons of Heth referred to here are the descendants of
Heth, who was the son of Canaan,(hence the Canaanites),
And Canaan was the great grandson of Noah.
4 “I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me
property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my
dead out of my sight.”
Even though God has promised this land to Abraham and
his descendants, Abraham recognizes that he is
nevertheless still a stranger among the Canaanites, and
does not yet possess the land. Most bible’s translate the
word foreigner with stranger, however the NKJV (which is
the bible I use for my studies), reads “I am a foreigner.”The
reason I am pointing this out is because when I read this
verse it brings to mind Gen 17:8 where God tells Abraham
that the land He promises him and his seed, that he will be
a stranger there. Another reason for Abraham humbling himself to the sons of Heth is a show of respect to the leaders of the Canaanites as would have been the customs of the day.
5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,
6 “Hear us, my lord: you are a mighty prince among us;
bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of
us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may
bury your dead.” 13:2; 14:14
The reply from the sons of Heth emphasizes what I had
previously said about the customs of the day The people
pay him respect, and hold Abraham in high esteem
among them, so much so that they consider him a mighty
prince, and say to him that he can have the best burial place
that they have to offer. If you look at the verses that are
being referenced here this will give you a clue as to why
they call him not just a prince, but a mighty prince (Compare Gen 13:2, 14:14-16).
7 Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the
people of the land, the sons of Heth.
Again, even after being called a mighty prince Abraham
bows to the sons of Heth as a show of respect and humility.
We in today’s world could take a page from these verses as
to how we should treat one another in all aspects of our
relationship with each other. What a better world this
would be if we all truly humbled ourselves, from the heart
towards others. To see how Abraham carried himself here
must have been very pleasing to God. Think about it;
Abraham walked and talked with God! The one true God!
And the people knew this from the stories they had heard
about from his time in Egypt, and when he dwelt in the land
of Gerar and king Abimelech. Abraham could have gone the
way of Satan and said to the sons of Heth, “If you do not
give me what I ask for, then I will call my God to destroy
you, and the people probably would have obeyed him. Isn’t
this what the strong have always done to the weak
throughout history up to this very day? We use our power
to get what we want if people don’t do as we say. If we only
had more leaders like Abraham today.
8 And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I
bury my dead out of my sight, Hear me, and meet with
Ephron the son of Zohar for me,
9 “that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he
has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at
the full price, As property for a burial place among you.”
10 Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron Then the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of
Heth, all who entered the gate of his city saying,
11 “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave That is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people, I give it to you. Bury your dead!”
Abraham is speaking to the elders of the sons of Heth. He
is asking them if it is okay that he bury his wife Sarah in
their land, and if it be so, would they please speak with
Ephron the son of Zohar; who is a Hittite, on his behalf, to
persuade Ephron to sell the land to Abraham. Ephron, like
Abraham was a very rich man. As we also see in verse ten
that it is described as “the gate of his city” where all this is
taken place. Ephron had no problem in giving the land to
Abraham, however I must make it clear hear that when
Ephron says that he will give Abraham the land, he is not
saying that he will merely give it to him, instead he is really
saying to Abraham, and all the people that are present, that
he is willing to release the property, and hear the offer
Abraham is willing to make for it. This was the customs of
the day for such transactions. This is being done in the
presence of the sons of Heth so there is no dispute in the
future as to Abraham’s claim to the land and his
descendants. The people are basically being a witness and a
mediator between Abraham and Ephron for the transaction taken place.
12 Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land;
13 and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, Saying, “If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there. 2 Sam. 24:21-24
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, Saying to him,
15 “My lord, listen to me; the land is worth for hundred shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.”
16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, Four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.
17 So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded
18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
20 So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.
This is the first time in the bible where a financial transaction occurs. I believe the reason God records this in His word (The Bible), is so there is no doubt as to who owns this piece of land. At the time of this transaction we read that this is all done in the site and hearing of the people of the sons of Heth and is recorded (deeded) to Abraham. And the area that is covered in this purchase is well established by the description of it’s boundaries. As we notice the trees are mentioned in this also. through Archeology, Hittite Cuneiform Tablets were discovered that shows the record of business transactions. In these tablets it is recorded that when there were land deeds, the trees are noted in the deed. The discovery of these tablets helps to give credence to the story we are reading here. Now this land was purchased by Abraham to be a burial place for his wife Sarah, himself and his descendants. As we read in Genesis 49:30-32 and Gen 50: 31-32 we see that Isaac and Jacob along with their wives were also buried in these caves. The only exception is Jacobs wife Rachel who died giving birth to Benjamin and was buried in Bethlehem. After I meditated on these scriptures I was curious as to who controls this area of land today. I discovered that in 1998 the Israeli’s turned control of Abraham’s burial place over to what is called a Muslim Waqf. The Waqf in Muslim law basically states that the beneficiaries of land Waqf’s belong to the public and the poor and not by any individual state. The website “United For Israel” describes how the burial place of Abraham and descendants is run today: The “Isaac Hall” serves as a mosque while the “Abraham Hall” and “Jacob Hall” serve as a synagogue. Today, the Muslim Waqf controls over 80% of the building. This includes the whole of the southeastern section, which lies above the only known entrance to the actual cave. As a result, Jews are not permitted to visit the cenotaphs of Isaac or Rebecca, which lie entirely within the southeastern section, except for 10 days a year that hold special significance in Judaism. One of these days is the Shabbat of “Chayei Sara” (usually in November) when the Torah portion concerning the death of Sarah, and the purchase of the Machpela Cave by Abraham, is read. I will end my comments on these verses, with my opinion on who I think should be in complete control of this burial site. First I want to say that it appears to me that the arrangement made in 1998 was strictly a political decision and not based on true christian biblical teachings. I believe this land as well as all the land of Israel belongs to the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, and not to the descendants of Hagar or Ishmael (Abraham’s handmaid and their son). Why do I say this? Both in Judaism and Islam they agree of who is buried there: the descendants of Abraham and Sarah alone. Neither Hagar, Ishmael, or any of their descendants are buried there. Mohammed or any of his descendants are buried there nor any other descendants of Abraham that are of the Muslim faith. To me it is black and white and there are no gray areas as to who this belongs to: the Israeli Nation (The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). In my opinion this is why God made sure that we find this transaction between Abraham and the sons of Heth is recorded in His word, and why He also makes it very clear as to who else is buried there, and who the land belongs to (compare Num 33:50- 54).