(P). 1, 2, The Death of Sarah; 3 18, Abraham purchases from Ephron the Hittite the Cave and Field of Machpelah; 19, He buries Sarah there; 20, Abraham's Property THE BURIAL OF SARAH IN THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH This chapter is entirely from P, as is shewn by the characteristics of language, by the fre... [ Continue Reading ]
_the life of Sarah_ Sarah died at the age of 127, 37 years after the birth of Isaac. Cf. Genesis 17:1; Genesis 17:17; Genesis 21:5 (P).... [ Continue Reading ]
_Kiriath-arba_(_the same is Hebron_)] Cf. Genesis 35:27 (P). _Kiriath-arba_means "the city of four," probably four confederate tribes. It was the earlier name of Hebron, which itself may mean "Confederation." The two names are mentioned in Judges 1:10. In Joshua 14:15; Joshua 15:13, where the early... [ Continue Reading ]
_rose up_ The use of this word is explained by the habitual attitude of prostration in mourning. Cf. 2 Samuel 12:16-17; 2 Samuel 12:20. _the children of Heth_ See note on Genesis 10:15. Cf. Genesis 26:34; Genesis 27:46; Genesis 49:32 (P). Hittites seem to have amalgamated with native Canaanites. In... [ Continue Reading ]
_a stranger and a sojourner_ Abraham describes himself, in a proverbial phrase, as one whose origin is foreign, and whose period of residence is uncertain. LXX πάροικος καὶ παρεπίδημος, Lat. _advena et peregrinus_; cf. Leviticus 25:23; 1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalms 105:12; Hebrews 11:9. The same phrase... [ Continue Reading ]
_my lord_ A title of respect, _Adoni_(see note on Genesis 18:3). LXX Κύριε, Lat. _domine_. _a mighty prince_ Heb. _a prince of God_. The Hebrew idiom for the superlative, "a prince worthy to rank with the sons of God": cf. Deuteronomy 33:1. For other instances, cf. Psalms 36:6, "the mountains of God... [ Continue Reading ]
_bowed himself_ Abraham's humble demeanour towards the people of the land doubtless conforms to the elaborate usages of Oriental bargaining. But it is also probably here emphatically recorded as indicating Abraham's loneliness among the people of the land, and, therefore, in ironical contrast with t... [ Continue Reading ]
_communed with_ Heb. "spake with." The word "communed" is unnecessarily formal as a translation, cf. Genesis 18:33.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the cave of Machpelah_ Machpelah is not the name of the cave, but of the locality; cf. 17, Genesis 49:30; Genesis 50:12. The old explanation that the cave was so called, because it was "a double cave," has therefore been questioned; but the LXX and the Lat. both render Machpelah as if it were the e... [ Continue Reading ]
_audience_ Lit. "ears," as in Genesis 23:13_; Genesis 23:16_. The presence of witnesses is evidently requisite for the validity of the transaction: cf. Ruth 4:9-11. _all that went in at the gate of his city_ Cf. Genesis 23:18. A technical phrase to denote full citizens. The gate was the place of po... [ Continue Reading ]
_the field give I thee_, &c. As in Genesis 23:6, we have here the complimentary style of bargaining. Observe the successive stages: Abraham in Genesis 23:9 asks to buy the cave only; Ephron in Genesis 23:11 offers to give the whole field and the cave in it for nothing; Abraham in Genesis 23:13 offer... [ Continue Reading ]
_bowed himself_ See note on Genesis 23:7. He had been sitting, while Ephron was speaking.... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if thou wilt_ Abraham answers in short, broken sentences, acknowledging the generous offer, but insisting on the payment of the price. Here, however, he makes an offer for "the field," not merely for "the cave in the end of the field"; cf. Genesis 23:9. He politely declines to notice the sugges... [ Continue Reading ]
_worth four hundred shekels of silver_ About £ 55. See note on Genesis 20:16. On the Hebrew value of a _shekel_, cf. Exodus 30:13; Ezekiel 45:12. In 2 Samuel 24:24 David buys the threshing-floor and the oxen of Araunah for 50 _shekels_of silver. In the Code of Hammurabi a hireling would not receive... [ Continue Reading ]
_weighed_ The scales were ready. "Weighed" is the appropriate word for the payment of money in days when money was not coined. Coined money seems not to have been in use among the Israelites before the Exile. The price of an article was reckoned by the weight of metal silver or bronze given in excha... [ Continue Reading ]
_So the field of Ephron_ This and the following verses contain, in language of legal minuteness, the description of the purchase. The sentence probably represents the form of a deed of sale, such as was included in Hebrew contracts. Similar minute details are found in Babylonian legal deeds of sale.... [ Continue Reading ]
_all that went in at_ See note on Genesis 23:10. The necessary witnesses of the transaction. There is no document to be attested.... [ Continue Reading ]
_were made sure_ This verse repeats and summarizes the transaction which for all subsequent ages symbolized to the Israelites their ancestral connexion with, and sacred rights in, the land of Canaan. _a buryingplace_ Besides Sarah there were buried in the cave of Machpelah, Abraham (Genesis 25:9),... [ Continue Reading ]