Genesis 23 - Introduction

(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 frequent repetitions, by the legal and statistical minuteness (e.g. in Genesis 23:17), and the mention of Sarah's age. The narrative preserved the tradition respecting the first possession of Canaanite soil by the Israelite patriarchs. The veneration of the cave of Machpelah as the traditional burying-place of the patriarchs will account for the minuteness with which Abraham's purchase of the famous cave is here described. It seems to set an anticipatory seal of possession upon the land of promise. See Genesis 25:9-10; Genesis 49:29-32; Genesis 50:13 (P).

The details given in this chapter are a faithful picture of the usages of the East; but there is nothing to warrant the assertion that they are peculiarly Babylonian.