| Subject: Genesis 23 vss 5-20 Post #121 |
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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 18:18:37 11/28/09 Sat
Genesis 23:5-20 And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, 6 Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. 7 And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. 8 And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, 9 That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you. 10 And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, 11 Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. 12 And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land. 13 And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. 14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, 15 My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead. 16 And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. 17 And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure 18 Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that 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: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. 20 And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.
Abraham has mourned the passing of his beloved Sarah for an unspecified time. He has prepared the body as best he could and has probably packed it in burial spices. The truth is however that once the life leaves the body it starts to decay. When Jesus told them to take away the stone from Lazarus' tomb, Martha, Lazarus' sister protested and told Jesus that by now he stinks as he has been dead for four days.
I would suspect it has been at least that long with Sarah and Abraham was in a hurry to "bury my dead out of my sight". The ravishing beauty that once was Sarah was now a corrupting corpse that needed to be buried. The children of Heth offered Abraham his choice of sepulchers in their burying places but Abraham wasn't about to bury his Sarah among the heathen.
Abraham had no possession in the land and he desired a permanent possession among those with whom he wandered. The man to whom God had promised the entire land of Canaan had to buy a plot of land in which to have a graveyard for him and his kin. The land Abraham desired belonged to one "Ephron the Hittite" and when Abraham made his request known Ephron offered to give it to him. This was not satisfactory to Abraham as he would take no gift from Ephron no more than he would take a shoelatchet from the king of Sodom (Gen. 14:23). The bargaining begins and Ephron asked 400 shekels of silver for the parcel of land with the cave on it. A Hebrew shekel was equal to about one half ounce. The cost then would be about 200 ounces of silver or about 12 1/2 pounds of silver.
Everything I have read about this transaction suggests that Ephron took Abraham to the cleaners with the amount. Ephron had Abraham over a barrel and he made use of Abraham's urgency to bury Sarah. Abraham did not blink at the price and Ephron possibly thought he was foolish for not asking much more considering Abraham's predicament. Although 400 shekels of silver may have been an exorbitant price for the parcel of land God had blessed Abraham with abundant wealth and this amount would have been only a very small hole in his bank account.
The result of this exchange was the first possession of land in the promised land to a Hebrew. The transaction had been made in front of many prominent witnesses so there was no doubt about who owned the land. The parcel would now be used exclusively as a burial site for the Patriarchs of Israel. The irony of it all to me is that Abraham's inheritance in the land that God had promised him would be a burial spot in a cave which he had to purchase for himself and his family.
"And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth."
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