Genesis 23 - Introduction
_SARAH DIES. ABRAHAM AGREES WITH THE CHILDREN OF HETH FOR THE POSSESSION OF A BURYING-PLACE; AND BURIES SARAH IN A CAVE OF THE FIELD OF MACHPELAH._ _Before Christ 1859._... [ Continue Reading ]
_SARAH DIES. ABRAHAM AGREES WITH THE CHILDREN OF HETH FOR THE POSSESSION OF A BURYING-PLACE; AND BURIES SARAH IN A CAVE OF THE FIELD OF MACHPELAH._ _Before Christ 1859._... [ Continue Reading ]
SARAH WAS AN HUNDRED, &C.— It has been observed, that Sarah is the only woman whose entire age is recorded in Scripture. She died in _Kirjath-arba,_ or the city of Arba. It is the same which was afterwards called Hebron. _Kirjath-arba_ signifying properly "the city of four;" the Jews will have it to... [ Continue Reading ]
ABRAHAM CAME TO MOURN— Not _came_ from any particular place, or tent, as some would have it; but _went forth,_ ויבא _vaiabo,_ to make a public mourning, or funeral lamentation for this faithful and long-approved companion of his life and labours. It is not possible for us to determine, what particul... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM A STRANGER, &C.— There is something affecting in the venerable patriarch's declaration and request: a stranger in the land of promise, and inheriting no part of it, he requests the possession of a burying-place only for his beloved wife, himself, and family. The Orientals, as Le Clerc observes,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHILDREN OF HETH ANSWERED, &C.— The people of Heth no sooner hear, than they grant with one voice, and in the most respectful manner, the petition of Abraham. They call him a _mighty prince,_ in the Hebrew, _a prince of God, i.e._. a prince of distinguished greatness and worth, peculiarly favour... [ Continue Reading ]
CAVE OF MACHPELAH— _Machpelah,_ in the Hebrew, signifies _double;_ and possibly the cave might be so called, either from having a double entrance, or from being _double,_ one cave within another, as was common: or might it not be called _double_ afterwards, from _Abraham_ and _Sarah's_ being both bu... [ Continue Reading ]
AND EPHRON DWELT, &C.— The original word ישׁב (_iosheb_) signifies _sat_, and implies, that Ephron had a seat in their council. See Psalms 119:23. He appears to have been a ruler or principal person among them, by Abraham's requesting others to address him. It is ingeniously remarked by Dr. Shuckfor... [ Continue Reading ]
FOUR HUNDRED SHEKELS, &C.— Money, and pieces of money, have been mentioned before, but this is the first place in which _shekels_ are mentioned. Prideaux, who has given us the best estimation of Hebrew and Attic coins, reckons a shekel to be equivalent to three shillings of English money; so that th... [ Continue Reading ]
ABRAHAM WEIGHED, &C.— They did not tell the money, as we do now, but gave it out by weight. In time, convenience taught men to give it a public stamp, in order to denote its value: yet it continued to be weighed among the Jews, in David's time; see 1 Chronicles 21:25 and even till the captivity. Ind... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH WAS IN MACHPELAH— Houbigant is of opinion, that the original word rendered Machpelah, refers to the field, not to the cave; and he renders the passage, _possessio agri Ephron, qui erat in eo flexu qui ad Mambre vergebat, tam agri, quam speluncae, omniumq; arborum, quae,_ &c. "the possession of... [ Continue Reading ]
BEFORE ALL THAT WENT IN AT THE GATE— See Genesis 23:10 and ch. Genesis 19:1. The authors of the Universal History observe, that gates of cities in those days, and for many centuries after, were the places of judicature and common resort. Here the Governors, or elders of the city, met to hear complai... [ Continue Reading ]