Genesis 23--Sarah's Death and Burial

READ:  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+23&version=ESV
LISTEN:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Gen.23
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Sarah's Death and Burial​

23 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, 4 “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5 The Hittites answered Abraham, 6 “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” 7 Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”

10 Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, 11 “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13 And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” 14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” 16 Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants

17 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.

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While we can say that one of the reoccurring themes so far in the genealogy portions of Genesis to this point was "and he died," not much has been said about the women as we were always simply looking for the promised male heir that would crush the head of the serpent.  We also have never seen a funeral ceremony before this.

Sarah lived to be 127 years old, which was a long life, even for that time in history.  She died at Hebron (somehow it appears the moved back to the oak at Mamre and out of the desert sometime after the birth of Isaac).  It appears that even the Canaanites that Abraham and Sarah lived among greatly mourned her death.

Abraham asked the Hittites if he could buy a place to bury Sarah and they offered him any of their tombs as they recognized him as royalty that should have the best that any of them had to offer.  While Abraham did make his choice, he insisted on paying full price for the tomb and the land around it.  Many still visit this tomb today where Abraham, Sarah, and many of the other patriarchs and their wives are buried (I will make an important note later about someone who is not buried there--see if you can pay attention for this detail later in Genesis).

We see that the Hittites still try to give the tomb and land to Abraham at no cost, and they negotiate to the point where Abraham will buy the land and the tomb will be included for free.  Both men must have been extremely wealthy because the owner of the land said, "What is a piece of land worth 400 shekels of silver between you and me?" (Or they are really good friends, which is probably the case).  No matter the value, Abraham weighed out and paid him his stated price according to the weights and measures used by merchants at that time--we have no idea what those weights are, but it's probably fair to guess that while this was not cheap, that the man gave Abraham a good deal based on the rest of the conversation.  The exchanges was made publicly with many witnesses so that the ownership of this land would not be contested.

This is one of the reasons that Hebron is such a sacred place to the Jewish people.  Others also try to claim rights to this land and the tomb there, but the Bible is clear--this land already truly belonged to Abraham and his descendants by way of the covenant that God gave, but Abraham was willing to pay the price that was named to buy that land now to have some place to bury Sarah, and I'm sure that like many widowers, he felt like he would soon die without her there with him.  Abraham selected a place that was large enough not just for him and his wife to be buried, but we'll see that it will be large enough to hold Isaac and his wife and Jacob and one of his wives. 

While Abraham would have children by other women (not just Ishmael by Hagar), none of the other women and none of the other children would be buried in this particular tomb.  This tomb would belong to the men and women that were the beginning of the covenant people from which the Messiah would come.  Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah.  The one exception to this rule is that Joseph will be buried there along with his ancestors as he by faith requested that his remains not be left in Egypt when the Exodus would occur.  The author of the book of Hebrews took special note of this in Hebrews 11:22, "22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones."

While Abraham may have sojourned all across the land and spent much time in the land of the Negev desert, it seems that he always made his way back to Mamre (now we know that is the location known as Hebron) and the families of Isaac and Jacob will stay close to this area as well as this family tomb seems to set down some roots and declare this area as a place that they should always return to.  This is one of the reasons that the land is so important to the people.  It is not just land, it is where their ancestors are buried, and it is part of the covenant agreement between their ancestors and God.  It was Abraham's desire that even in death his wife and family (even for future generations) would be protected.

There's not a lot of spiritual application to be made here today as I can't point to anything that says that Abraham believed in the future resurrection or that he understood that one day he would go to be with Sarah again in heaven.  However, he did understand something about the eternal covenant that God made with him and he was going to be sure that his wife's bones were buried on that land that would belong to him and his future generations forever and ever.  He was going to trust that God would keep his promise and keep Sarah and her remains and the remains of his family safe throughout all generations (and He has).