Genesis 23 commentary

The longest life must shortly come to a close. Blessed be God that there is a world where sin, death, vanity, and vexation cannot enter. Blessed be his name, that even death cannot part believers from union with Christ. Those whom we most love, yea, even our own bodies, which we so care for, must soon become loathsome lumps of clays, and be buried out of sight. How loose then should we be to all earthly attachments and adornments! Let us seek rather that our souls be adorned with heavenly graces. Abraham rendered honour and respect to the princes of Heth, although of the ungodly Canaanites. The religion of the Bible enjoins to pay due respect to all in authority, without flattering their persons, or countenancing their crimes if they are unworthy characters. And the noble generosity of these Canaanites shames and condemns the closeness, selfishness, and ill-humour of many that call themselves Israelites. It was not in pride that Abraham refused the gift, because he scorned to be beholden to Ephron; but in justice and in prudence. Abraham was able to pay for the field, and therefore would not take advantage of Ephron's generosity. Honesty, as well as honour, forbids us to take advantage of our neighbour's liberality, and to impose, upon those who give freely.

Prudence, as well as justice, directs us to be fair and open in our dealings; cheating bargains will not bear the light. Abraham, without fraud or delay, pays the money. He pays it at once in full, without keeping any part back; and by weight, current money with the merchant, without deceit. See how anciently money was used for the help of trade, and how honestly it should be paid when it is due. Though all the land of Canaan was Abraham by promise, yet the time of his possessing it not being come, what he had occasion for he bought and paid for. Dominion is not founded in grace. The saints' title to an eternal inheritance does not entitle them to the possessions of this world, nor justify them in doing wrong. Ephron honestly and fairly makes a good title to the land. As that which is bought, must be honestly paid for, so that which is sold, must be honestly delivered and secured. Let us manage our concerns with punctuality and exactness, in order to avoid contention. Abraham buried Sarah in cave. or vault, which was in the purchased field. It would tend to endear the land to his posterity. And it is worth noting, that a burying-place was the only piece of the land which Abraham possessed in Canaan. Those who have least of this earth, find a grave in it. This sepulchre was at the end of the field; whatever our possessions are, there is a burial-place at the end of them. It was a token of his belief and expectation of the resurrection. Abraham is contented to be still a pilgrim while he lives, but secures a place where, when he dies, his flesh may rest in hope. After all, the chief concern is, with whom we shall rise.

1. And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old Literally, “The lives of Sarah were a hundred years, and twenty years, and seven years.” It is remarkable that Moses, who relates the death of Sarah in a single word, uses so many in describing her burial: but we shall soon see that the latter record is not superfluous. Why he so briefly alludes to her death, I know not, except that he leaves more to be reflected upon by his readers than he expresses. The holy fathers saw that they in common with reprobates, were subject to death. Nevertheless, they were not deterred, While painfully leading a life full of suffering, from advancing with intrepidity towards the goal. Whence it follows, that they, being animated by the hope of a better life, did not give way to fatigue. Moses says that Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years, and since he repeats the word years after each of the numbers, the Jews feign that this was done because she had been as beautiful in her hundredth, as in her twentieth year, and as modest in the flower of her age, as when she was seven years old. This is their custom; while they wish to prove themselves skillful in doing honor to their nations they invent frivolous trifles, which betray a shameful ignorance: as, for instance, in this place, who would not say that they were entirely ignorant of their own languages in which this kind of repetition is most usual? The discussion of others also, on the word חים, ( lives ,) is without solidity. The reason why the Hebrews use the word lives in the plural number, for life , cannot be better explained, as it appears to me, than the reason why the Latins express some things which are singular in plural forms. “Quam quod Latini quadrigas dicant non quadrigam.” I know that the life of men is manifold, because, beyond merely vegetative life, and beyond the sense which they have in common with brute animals, they are also endued with mind and intelligence. This reasoning, therefore, is plausible without being solid. There is more color of truth in the opinion of those who think that the various events of human life are signified; which life, since it has nothing stable, but is agitated by perpetual vicissitudes, is rightly divided into many lives. I am, however, contented to refer simply to the idiom of the language; the reason of which is not always to be curiously investigated.

2. And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba . It appears from Joshua 15:54, that this was the more ancient name of the city, which afterwards began to be called Hebron. But there is a difference of opinion respecting the etymology. Some think the name is derived from the fact, that the city consisted of four parts; as the Greeks call the city divided into three orders, Tripoli , and a given region, Decapolis , from the ten cities it contained. Others suppose that Arba is the name of a giant, whom they believe to have been the king or the founder of the city. Others again prefer the notion, that the name was given to the place from four The word ארבע ( arba ) signifies four. of the Fathers, Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were buried there with their wives. I willingly suspend my judgment on a matter of uncertainty, and not very necessary to be known. It more concerns the present history to inquire, how it happened that Sarah died in a different place from that in which Abraham dwelt. If any one should reply, that they had both changed their abode, the words of Moses are opposed to that, for he says that Abraham came to bury his dead. It is hence easily inferred, that he was not present at her death; nor is it probable that they were separated, merely by being in different tents; so that he might walk ten or twenty paces for the sake of mourning, while a more important duty had been neglected. For this reason, some suspect that he was on a journey at the time. But to me it seems more likely that their abode was then at Heron, or at least in the vale of Mamre, which adjoins the city. For, after a little breathing time had been granted him he was soon compelled to return to his accustomed wanderings. And although Moses does not say, that Abraham had paid to his wife while yet alive, the due attentions of a husband; I think that he omits it, as a thing indubitably certain, and that he speaks particularly of the mourning, as a matter connected with the care of sepulture. That they dwelt separately we shall afterwards see: not as being in different regions, but because each inhabited separate, though contiguous, tents. And this was no sign of dissension or of strife, but is rather to be ascribed to the size of the family. For as Abraham had much trouble in governing so large a herd of servants; so his wife would have equal difficulty to retain her maids under chaste and honest custody. Therefore the great number of domestics which it was not safe to mingle together, compelled them to divide the family.

But it may be asked, what end could it answer to approach the body for the sake of mourning over it? Was not the death of his wife sufficiently sad and bitter to call forth his grief, without this additional means of excitement? It would have been better to seek the alleviation of his sorrow, than to cherish and even augment it, by indulgence. I answer; if Abraham came to his dead wife, in order to produce excessive weeping, and to pierce his heart afresh with new wounds, his example is not to be approved. But if he both privately wept over the death of his wife, so far as humanity prescribed, exercising self-government in doing it; and also voluntarily mourned over the common curse of mankind; there is no fault in either of these. For to feel no sadness at the contemplation of death, is rather barbarism and stupor than fortitude of mind. Nevertheless, as Abraham was a man, it might be, that his grief was excessive. And yet, what Moses soon after subjoins, that he rose up from his dead, is spoken in praise of his moderation; whence Ambrose prudently infers, that we are taught by this example, how perversely they act, who occupy themselves too much in mourning for the dead. Now, if Abraham at that time, assigned a limit to his grief; and put a restraint on his feelings, when the doctrine of the resurrection was yet obscure; they are without excuse, who, at this day, give the reins to impatience, since the most abundant consolation is supplied to us in the resurrection cf Christ.

3. And spake unto the sons of Heth . Moses is silent respecting the rite used by Abraham in the burial of the body of his wife: but he proceeds, at great length, to recite the purchasing of the sepulcher. For what reason he did this, we shall see presently, when I shall briefly allude to the custom of burial. How religiously this has been observed in all ages, and among all people, is well known. Ceremonies have indeed been different, and men have endeavored to outdo each other in various superstitions; meanwhile, to bury the dead has been common to all. And this practice has not arisen either from foolish curiosity, or from the desire of fruitless consolation, or from superstition, but from the natural sense with which God has imbued the minds of men; a sense he has never suffered to perish, in order that men might be witnesses to themselves of a future life. It is also incredible that they, who have disseminated certain outrageous expressions in contempt of sepulture, could have spoken from the heart. Truly it behaves us, with magnanimity, so far to disregard the rites of sepulture, — as we would riches and honors, and the other conveniences of life, — that we should bear with equanimity to be deprived of them; yet it cannot be denied that religion carries along with it the care of burial. And certainly (as I have said) it has been divinely engraven on the minds of all people, from the beginning, that they should bury the dead; whence also they have ever regarded sepulchres as sacred. It has not, I confess, always entered into the minds of heathens that souls survived death, and that the hope of a resurrection remained even for their bodies ; nor have they been accustomed to exercise themselves in a pious meditation of this kind, whenever they had laid their dead in the grave; but this inconsideration of theirs does not disprove the fact; that they had such a representation of a future life placed before their eyes, as left them inexcusable. Abraham however, seeing he has the hope of a resurrection deeply fixed in his heart, sedulously cherished, as was meet, its visible symbol. The importance he attached to it appears hence, that he thought he should be guilty of pollution, if he mingled the body of his wife with strangers after death. For he bought a cave, in order that he might possess for himself and his family, a holy and pure sepulcher. He did not desire to have a foot of earth whereon to fix his tent; he only took care about his grave: and he especially wished to have his own domestic tomb in that land, which had been promised him for an inheritance, for the purpose of bearing testimony to posterity, that the promise of God was not extinguished either by his own death, or by that of his family; but that it then rather began to flourish; and that they who were deprived of the light of the sun, and of the vital air, yet always remained joint-partakers of the promised inheritance. For while they themselves were silent and speechless, the sepulcher cried aloud, that death formed no obstacle to their entering on the possession of it. A thought like this could have had no place, unless Abraham by faith had looked up to heaven. And when he calls the corpse of his wife his dead ; he intimates that death is a divorce of that kind, which still leaves some remaining conjunction. Moreover, nothing but a future restoration cherishes and preserves the law of mutant connection between the living and the dead. But it is better briefly to examine each particular, in its order.

4. I am a stranger and a sojourner with you . This introductory sentence tends to one or other of these points; either that he may more easily gain what he desires by suppliantly asking for it; or that he may remove all suspicion of cupidity on his part. He therefore confesses, that, since he had only a precarious abode among them, he could possess no sepulcher, unless by their permission. And because, during life, they have permitted him to dwell within their territory, it was the part of humanity, not to deny him a sepulcher for his dead. If this sense be approved, then Abraham both conciliates their favor to himself, by his humility, and in declaring that the children of Heth had dealt kindly with him, he stimulates them, by this praise, to proceed in the exercise of the same liberality with which they had begun. The other sense, however, is not incongruous; namely, that Abraham, to avert the odium which might attach to him as a purchaser, declares that he desires the possession, not for the advantage of the present life, not from ambition or avarice, but only in order that his dead may not lie unburied; as if he had said, I do not refuse to continue to live a stranger among you, as I have hitherto done; I do not desire your possessions, in order that I may have something of my own, which may enable me hereafter to contend for equality with you; it is enough for me to have a place where we may be buried.

6. Thou art a mighty prince among us “Princeps es Dei.” See margin of English version. Heb., a prince of God. — Ed The Hittites gratuitously offer a burying-place to Abraham wherever he might please to choose one. They testify that they do this, as a tribute to his virtues. We have before seen, that the Hebrews give a divine title to anything which excels. Therefore we are to understand by the expression, ‘a prince of God,’ a person of great and singular excellency. And they properly signalize him whom they reverence for his virtues, with this eulogium; thereby testifying, that they ascribe to God alone, whatever virtues in men are deserving of praise and reverence. Now some seed of piety manifests itself in the Hittites, by thus doing honor to Abraham, whom they acknowledge to be adorned with rare gifts of the Spirit of God. For profane and brutal men tread under foot, with barbarous contempt, every excellent gift of God, as swine do pearls. And yet we know with how many vices those nations were defiled; how much greater then, and more disgraceful is our ingratitude, if we give no honor to the image of God, when it shines before our eyes? Abraham’s sanctity of manners procures him such favor with the Hittites, that they do not envy his preeminence among them; what excuse then is there for us, if we hold in less esteem those virtues in which the majesty of God is conspicuous? Truly their madness is diabolical, who not only despise the favors of God, but even ferociously oppose them.

7. And Abraham stood up . He declines the favor offered by the Hittites, as, some suppose, with this design, that he might not lay himself under obligation to them in so small a matter. But he rather wished to show, in this way, that he would receive no gratuitous possession from those inhabitants who were to be ejected by the hand of Gods in order that he might succeed in their place: for he always kept all his thoughts fixed on God, so that he far preferred His bare promise, to present dominion over the land. Moses also commends the modesty of the holy man, when he says that he ‘rose up to do reverence to the people of the land.’ “Ut adoraret populum terrae.” This is not a correct quotation from his own version of the chapter, which is, “Incurvavit se populo terrae,” as in our version, “bowed himself to the people of the land.” — Ed As to the use of the word signifying ‘to adore,’ it is simply taken for the reverence, which any one declares, either by bowing the knee, or any other gesture of the body. This may be paid to men, as well as to God, but for a different end; men mutually either bend the knee, or bow the head, before each other, for the sake of civil honor; but if the same thing be done to them, for the sake of religion, it is profanation. For religion allows of no other worship them that of the true God. And they childishly trifle who make a pretext for their idolatry, in the words dulia and latria, “Ac pueriliter nugantur qui in vocibus duliae et latriae fucum faciunt.” — “Qui pensent farder leur idolatrie par ces mots de Dulie et Latrie.” — French Tr since the Scripture, in general terms, forbids adoration to be transferred to men. But lest any one should be surprised that Abraham acted so suppliantly, and so submissively, we must be aware that it was done from common custom and use. For it is well known that the Orientals were immoderate in their use of ceremonies. If we compare the Greeks or Italians with ourselves, we are more sparing in the use of them than they. But Aristotle, in speaking of the Asiatics and other barbarians notes this fault, that they abound too much in adorations. Wherefore we must not measure the honor which Abraham paid to the princes of the land by our customs.

8. If it be in your mind . Abraham constitutes them his advocates with Ephron, to persuade him to sell the double cave. Hebrews מערח המכפלה, ( mearath hummakpelah ,) ‘the double cave.’ See Septuagint Our translators have preferred rendering the word Machpelah as a proper name. — Ed

Some suppose the cave to have been so formed that one part was above, and the other below. Let every one be at liberty to adopt what opinion he pleases; I, however, rather suppose, that there was one entrance, but that within, the cave was divided by a middle partition. It is more pertinent to remarks that Abraham, by offering a full price, cultivated and maintained equity. Where is there one to be found, who, in buying, and in other business, does not eagerly pursue his own advantage at another’s cost? For while the seller sets the price at twice the worth of a thing, that he may extort as much as possible from the buyer, and the buyers in return, by shuffling, attempts to reduce it to a low price, there is no end of bargaining. And although avarice has specious pretexts, it yet causes those who make contracts with each other, to forget the claims of equity and justice. This also, finally deserves to be noticed; that Abraham often declares that he was buying the field for a place of sepulture. And Moses is the more minute in this matter, that we may learn, with our father Abraham, to raise our minds to the hope of the resurrection. He saw the half of himself taken away; but because he was certain that his wife was not exiled from the kingdom of God, he hides her dead body in the tomb, until he and she should be gathered together.

11. Hear me . Although Ephron earnestly insisted upon giving the field freely to Abraham, the holy man adheres to his purpose, and at length compels him, by his entreaties, to sell the field. Ephron, in excusing himself, says that the price was too small for Abraham to insist upon giving; yet he estimates it at four hundred shekels. Now, since Josephus says that the shekel of the sanctuary was worth four Attic drachms, if he is speaking of these, we gather from the computation of Budaeus that the price of the field was about two hundred and fifty pounds of French money; if we understand the common shekel, it will be half that amount. Abraham was not so scrupulous but that he would have received a greater gift, if there had not been a sufficient reason to prevent him. He had been presented with considerable gifts both by the king of Egypt and the king of Gerar, but he observed this rule; that he would neither receive all things , nor in all places , nor from all persons . And I have lately explained, that he bought the field, in order that he might not possess a foot of land, by the gift of any man.

16. And Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver . I know not what had come into Jerome’s mind, when he says, that one letter was abstracted from Ephron’s name, after he had been persuaded, by Abraham’s entreaties, to receive money for the field; because, by the sale of the sepulcher, his virtue was maimed or diminished: for, in fact, the name of Ephron is found written in the very same manner, after that event, as before. Nor ought it to be imputed to Ephron as a fault, that, being pressed, he took the lawful price for his estate; when he had been prepared liberally to give it. If there was any sin in the case, Abraham must bear the whole blame. But who shall dare to condemn a just sale, in which, on both sides, religion, good faith, and equity, are maintained? Abraham, it is argued, bought the field for the sake of having a sepulcher. But ought Ephron on that account to give it freely, and under the pretext of a sepulcher, to be defrauded of his right? We see here, then, nothing but mere trifling. The Canonists, however, — preposterous and infatuated as they are, — rashly laying hold of the expressions of Jerome, have determined that it is a prodigious sacrilege to sell sepulchres. Yet, in the meantime, all the Papal sacrificers securely exercise this traffic: and while they acknowledge the cemetery to be a common sepulcher, they suffer no grave to be dug, unless the price be paid.

Current money with the merchant . Moses speaks thus, because money is a medium of mutual communication between men. It is principally employed in buying and selling merchandise. Whereas Moses says, in the close of the chapter, that the field was confirmed by the Hittites to Abraham for a possession; the sense is, that the purchase was publicly attested; for although a private person sold it, yet the people were present, and ratified the contract between the two parties.

Indexes

Index of Scripture References

Genesis

1:1-6   1:1-31   1:2   1:28   1:29   1:30   2:1   2:1-25   2:15   2:19   3:1   3:1-24   3:7   3:16   4:1   4:1-26   4:7   5:1   5:1-32   6:1   6:1-22   6:11-16   7:1-24   7:11   8:1-22   9:1   9:1   9:1-29   9:2   9:24   10   10:1   10:1   10:1-32   10:21   11:1   11:1   11:1-32   11:28   12:1   12:1   12:1   12:1-20   12:4   12:4   12:6   13:1   13:1-20   14:1-24   15:1-21   15:7   16:1-16   16:2   16:8   <a

CHAPTER 23

Ge 23:1, 2. Age and Death of Sarah.

1. Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old, &c.--Sarah is the only woman in Scripture whose age, death, and burial are mentioned, probably to do honor to the venerable mother of the Hebrew people.

2. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, &c.--He came from his own tent to take his station at the door of Sarah's. The "mourning" describes his conformity to the customary usage of sitting on the ground for a time; while the "weeping" indicates the natural outburst of his sorrow.

Ge 23:3-20. Purchase of a Burying-Place.

3. Abraham stood up, &c.--Eastern people are always provided with family burying-places; but Abraham's life of faith--his pilgrim state--had prevented him acquiring even so small a possession (Ac 7:5).

spake unto the sons of Heth--He bespoke their kind offices to aid him in obtaining possession of a cave that belonged to Ephron--a wealthy neighbor.

9. Machpelah--the "double cave."

10. Ephron dwelt--literally, was "sitting" among the children of Heth in the gate of the city where all business was transacted. But, though a chief man among them, he was probably unknown to Abraham.

11-15. Ephron answered, Nay, my lord, &c.--Here is a great show of generosity, but it was only a show; for while Abraham wanted only the cave, he joins "the field and the cave"; and though he offered them both as free gifts, he, of course, expected some costly presents in return, without which, he would not have been satisfied. The patriarch, knowing this, wished to make a purchase and asked the terms.

16. Abraham weighed ... the silver--The money, amounting to £50 was paid in presence of the assembled witnesses; and it was weighed. The practice of weighing money, which is often in lumps or rings, each stamped with their weight, is still common in many parts of the East; and every merchant at the gates or the bazaar has his scales at his girdle.

19. Abraham buried Sarah--Thus he got possession of Machpelah and deposited the remains of his lamented partner in a family vault which was the only spot of ground he owned.

And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old - It is worthy of remark that Sarah is the only woman in the sacred writings whose age, death, and burial are distinctly noted. And she has been deemed worthy of higher honor, for St. Paul, Gal 4:22, Gal 4:23, makes her a type of the Church of Christ; and her faith in the accomplishment of God's promise, that she should have a son, when all natural probabilities were against it, is particularly celebrated in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb 11:11. Sarah was about ninety-one years old when Isaac was born, and she lived thirty-six years after, and saw him grown up to man's estate. With Sarah the promise of the incarnation of Christ commenced, though a comparatively obscure prophecy of it had been delivered to Eve, Gen 3:15; and with Mary it terminated, having had its exact completion. Thus God put more honor upon these two women than upon all the daughters of Eve besides. Sarah's conception of Isaac was supernatural; she had passed the age and circumstances in which it was possible, naturally speaking, to have a child; therefore she laughed when the promise was given, knowing that the thing was impossible, because it had ceased to be with her after the manner of women. God allows this natural impossibility, and grants that the thing must be the effect of Divine interposition; and therefore asks, Is any thing too hard for God? The physical impossibility was in creased in the case of Mary, she having no connection with man; but the same power interposed as in the case of Sarah: and we find that when all aptitude for natural procreation was gone, Sarah received strength to conceive seed, and bore a son, from whom, in a direct line, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, was to descend; and through this same power we find a virgin conceiving and bearing a son against all natural impossibilities. Every thing is supernatural in the births both of the type and antitype; can it be wondered at then, if the spiritual offspring of the Messiah must have a supernatural birth likewise? hence the propriety of that saying, Unless a man be born again - born from above - born, not only of water, but of the Holy Ghost, he cannot see the kingdom of God. These may appear hard sayings, and those who are little in the habit of considering spiritual things may exclaim, It is enthusiasm! Who can bear it? Such things cannot possibly be." To such persons I have only to say, God hath spoken. This is sufficient for those who credit his being and his Bible; nor is there any thing too hard for him. He, by whose almighty power, Sarah had strength to conceive and bear a son in her old age, and by whose miraculous interference a virgin conceived, and the man Christ Jesus was born of her, can by the same power transform the sinful soul, and cause it to bear the image of the heavenly as it has borne the image of the earthly.

Sarah died in Kirjath-arba - Literally in the city of the four. Some suppose this place was called the city of the four because it was the burial place of Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; others, because according to the opinion of the rabbins, Eve was buried there. with Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah. But it seems evidently to have had its name from a Canaanite, one of the Anakim, probably called Arba (for the text, Jos 14:14, does not actually say this was his name), who was the chief of the four brothers who dwelt there; the names of the others being Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. See Jdg 1:10. These three were destroyed by the tribe of Judah; probably the other had been previously dead.

Abraham came to mourn for Sarah - From Gen 22:19 of the preceding chapter it appears that Abraham had settled at Beer-sheba; and here we find that Sarah died at Hebron, which was about twenty-four miles distant from Beersheba. For the convenience of feeding his numerous flocks, Abraham had probably several places of temporary residence, and particularly one at Beer-sheba, and another at Hebron; and it is likely that while he sojourned at Beersheba, Sarah died at Hebron; and his coming to mourn and weep for her signifies his coming from the former to the latter place on the news of her death.

Abraham stood up from before his dead - He had probably sat on the ground some days in token of sorrow, as the custom then was, (see Tobit 2:12, 13; Isa 47:1; and Gen 37:35); and when this time was finished he arose and began to treat about a burying place.

I am a stranger and a sojourner - It appears from Heb 11:13-16; 1Pet 2:11, that these words refer more to the state of his mind than of his body. He felt that he had no certain dwelling place, and was seeking by faith a city that had foundations.

Give me a possession of a burying place - It has been remarked that in different nations it was deemed ignominious to be buried in another's ground; probably this prevailed in early times in the east, and it may be in reference to a sentiment of this kind that Abraham refuses to accept the offer of the children of Heth to bury in any of their sepulchers, and earnestly requests them to sell him one, that he might bury his wife in a place that he could claim as his own.

Thou art a mighty prince - נשיא אלהים nesi Elohim, a prince of God - a person whom we know to be Divinely favored, and whom, in consequence, we deeply respect and reverence.

Entreat for me to Ephron - Abraham had already seen the cave and field, and finding to whom they belonged, and that they would answer his purpose, came to the gate of Hebron, where the elders of the people sat to administer justice, etc., and where bargains and sales were made and witnessed, and having addressed himself to the elders, among whom Ephron was, though it appears he was not personally known to Abraham, he begged them to use their influence with the owner of the cave and field to sell it to him, that it might serve him and his family for a place of sepulture.

And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth - And Ephron ישב yosheb, was sitting among the children of Heth, but, as was before conjectured, was personally unknown to Abraham; he therefore answered for himself, making a free tender of the field, etc., to Abraham, in the presence of all the people, which amounted to a legal conveyance of the whole property to the patriarch.

If thou wilt give it - Instead of, if thou wilt give it, we should read, But if thou wilt sell it, I will give thee money for the field; כסף keseph, silver, not coined money, for it is not probable that any such was then in use.

The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver - Though the words is worth are not in the text, yet they are necessarily expressed here to adapt the Hebrew to the idiom of our tongue. A shekel, according to the general opinion, was equal to two shillings and sixpence; but according to Dr. Prideaux, whose estimate I shall follow, three shillings English, four hundred of which are equal to sixty pounds sterling; but it is evident that a certain weight is intended, and not a coin, for in Gen 23:16 it is said, And Abraham weighed וישקל vaiyishkol, the silver, and hence it appears that this weight itself passed afterwards as a current coin, for the word שקל is not only used to express a coin or piece of silver, but also to weigh; See note on Gen 20:16.

Current with the merchant - עבר לסחר ober lassocher, passing to or with the traveler - such as was commonly used by those who traveled about with merchandise of any sort. The word signifies the same as hawker or peddler among us.

All the trees that were in the field - It is possible that all these were specified in the agreement.

And the field, etc. were made sure - ויקם vaiyakom, were established, caused to stand; the whole transaction having been regulated according to all the forms of law then in use.

1. In this transaction between Abraham and the sons of Heth concerning the cave and field of Machpelah, we have the earliest account on record of the purchase of land. The simplicity, openness, and candour on both sides cannot be too much admired.

2. Sarah being dead, Abraham being only a sojourner in that land, shifting from place to place for the mere purpose of pasturing his flocks, and having no right to any part of the land, wished to purchase a place in which he might have the continual right of sepulture. For this purpose, 1. He goes to the gate of the city, the place where, in all ancient times, justice was administered, and bargains and sales concluded, and where for these purposes the elders of the people sat. 2. He there proposes to buy the cave known by the name of the Cave of Machpelah, the cave of the turning or the double cave, for a burying place for his family. 3. To prevent him from going to any unnecessary expense, the people with one voice offer him the privilege of burying his wife in any of their sepulchers; this appearing to them to be no more than the common rights of hospitality and humanity required. 4. Abraham, intent on making a purchase, Ephron, the owner of the field and cave, values them at four hundred shekels, but at the same time wishes Abraham to receive the whole as a gift. 5. Abraham refuses the gift and weighs down the silver specified. 6. The people who enter in at the gate, i.e., the inhabitants coming from or going to their ordinary occupations in the country, witness the transaction, and thus the conveyance to Abraham is made sure without the intervention of those puzzlers of civil affairs by whose tricks and chicanery property often becomes insecure, and right and succession precarious and uncertain. But this censure does not fall on lawyers properly so called, who are men of honor, and whose office, in every well-regulated state, is as useful as it is respectable. But the accumulation and complex nature of almost all modern systems of law puzzle even justice herself, and often induce decisions by which truth falls in the streets and equity goes backwards. In the first ages of mankind, suspicion, deceit, and guile seem to have had a very limited influence. Happy days of primitive simplicity! When shall they return?

3. We often hear of the rudeness and barbarity of the primitive ages, but on what evidence? Every rule of politeness that could be acted upon in such a case as that mentioned here, is brought into full practice. Is it possible to read the simple narration in this place without admiring the amiable, decent, and polite conduct displayed on both sides? Had even Lord Chesterfield read this account, his good sense would have led him to propose it as a model in all transactions between man and his fellows. There is neither awkward, stiff formality on the one hand, nor frippery or affectation on the other. Decent respect, good sense, good nature, and good breeding, are all prominently displayed. And how highly laudable and useful is all this! A pedant or a boor on either side might have destroyed the simplicity of the whole transaction; the one by engendering caution and suspicion, and the other by exciting disgust. In all such transactions the beau and the boor are equally to be avoided.

From the first no sincerity can be expected, and the manners of the latter render him intolerable. The religion of the Bible recommends and inculcates orderly behavior, as well as purity of heart and life. They who, under the sanction of religion, trample under foot the decent forms of civil respect, supposing that because they are religious they have a right to be rude, totally mistake the spirit of Christianity, for love or charity (the soul and essence of that religion) behaveth not itself unseemly. Every attentive reader of the thirteenth chapter of St. Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, will clearly discern that the description of true religion given in that place applies as forcibly to good breeding as to inward and outward holiness. What lessons of honesty, decent respect, and good manners could a sensible man derive from Abraham treating with the sons of Heth for the cave of Machpelah, and William Penn treating with the American Indians for the tract of land now called Pennsylvania! I leave others to draw the parallel, and to show how exactly the conduct and spirit of patriarch the first were exemplified in the conduct and spirit of patriarch the second. Let the righteous be had in everlasting remembrance!

Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep - He did not only perform the ceremonies of mourning according to the custom of those times, but did sincerely lament the great loss he had, and gave proof of the constancy of his affection. Therefore these two words are used, he came both to mourn and to weep.

I am a stranger and a sojourner with you - Therefore I am unprovided, and must become a suiter to you for a burying - place. This was one occasion which Abraham took to confess that he was a stranger and a pilgrim upon earth. The death of our relations should effectually mind us that we are not at home in this world. That I may bury my dead out of my sight - Death will make those unpleasant to our sight, who while they lived were the desire of our eyes. The countenance that was fresh and lively becomes pale and ghastly, and fit to be removed into the land of darkness.

Thou art a prince of God among us - So the word is; not only great, but good. He called himself a stranger and a sojourner, they call him a great prince.

Abraham returns them thanks for their kind offer, with all possible decency and respect. Religion teaches good manners, and those abuse it that place it in rudeness and clownishness.

The field give I thee - Abraham thought he must be intreated to sell it, but upon the first mention, without intreaty, he freely gives it.

I will give thee money for the field - It was not in pride that Abraham refused the gift; but In justice. Abraham was rich in silver and gold, and therefore would not take advantage of Ephron's generosity. In prudence. He would pay for it, lest Ephron, when this good humour was over, should upbraid him with it.

The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver - About fifty pounds of our money, but what is that between me and thee? - He would rather oblige his friend than have so much money.

A burying place - 'Tis worth noting, That a burying - place was the first spot of ground Abraham was possessed of in Canaan. That it was the only piece of land he was ever possessed of, tho' it was all his own in reversion. Those that have least of this earth find a grave in it.

1. AND Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah .

This is the peculiar honour of Sarah the Mother of the faithful, 1 Pet. 3. 6. to have the years of her life numbred in Scripture.

2 And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba , the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her .

Or, The City of Arba, so called probably from a giant or great man called Arba, who lived and ruled in those parts. See Ios. 14. 15. and 15. 13.

It is objected against this Scripture that this City was not called Hebron till Ioshua's time, Ios. 14. 15. but this is a mistake, Ioshua doth not say so, but onely that the name of Hebron before, (or in old time,) as this very particle is rendred, Deut. 2. 20. and elsewhere. So the sense is, The most antient name of it was Kiriath-Arba. Nor doth Ioshua there give any account or reason of this change of the name at that time or upon that occasion, as the sacred Writers use to do in such cases, but rather supposeth that Hebron was the name of it before he came thither, and how long before that time he doth not express.

Into Sarah's Tent. See Gen▪ 18. 6, 9.

According to the laudable custom of all ages and nations to manifest their sense of Gods hand upon them and of their own loss. See Gen. 50. 3. Deut. 34. 8. &c.

3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead , and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

To shew his moderation in sorrow, and to take care for her burial according to his duty.

4 I am a stranger, and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying-place with you , that I may bury my dead out of my sight .

The priviledge of burial hath been always sought and priz'd, by all Nations, whom nature and humanity teacheth to preserve the bodies of men, which have been the Temples of reasonable and immortal souls from contempt and violation, so especially by Christians, as a Testimony and Pledge of their future Resurrection, See Numb. 33. 4. Deut. 21. 23. Iob 5. 26. For which cause Abraham desires a distinct burying place separated from the Pagan people.

In Canaan. There he and after him other Patriarchs earnestly desired to be buried, upon this account, that it might confirm their own and their Childrens Faith in Gods Promise, and animate their Children in due time to take possession of the Land. See Gen. 25. 9. and 47. 29, 30. and 50. 13, 25. Exod. 13. 19. Heb. 11. 22.

So she that before was the desire of his eyes, Ezek. 24. 16. is now, being dead become their torment.

6 Hear us my LORD , thou art a mighty prince amongst us, in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead: none of us shall with-hold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

Here is a conjunction of the plural and singular number, because though but one person spake, yet he spake in the name of the whole community.

Heb. A Prince of God. Great and excellent persons or things are oft expressed by adding the name of God. See Gen. 13. 10. Or, by Prince of God, they understand a Prince favoured and beloved of God.

For each Family had a distinct Sepulchre.

Marginal references: Heb. a prince of God.

7 And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the Land , even to the children of Heth .

(i. e.) Shewed a civil respect to them in testimony of his thankfulness. Religion allows and requires civility and those gestures which express it.

To the Governours of the people who managed all publick affairs in the peoples name and stead and for their good.

So called from Heth the Son of Canaan, Gen. 10. 15.

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:

Heb. If it be with, i. e. agreeable to, your soul, that is, your will, or good pleasure: For so the Soul is sometimes taken, as Deut. 23. 24. Psal. 27. 12. and 41. 2.

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 burying-place amongst you.

Which seems to be the proper name of the place, ver. 17, 19. so called from its duplicity, because the cave was double, either one for Men, and another for Women: Or the one served onely for an entrance into the other, which was the burying place.

Heb. For full money, 1 Chron. 21. 22, 24. i. e. for money of full weight answerable to its worth.

Marginal references: Or, double cave.; Heb. full money.

10 And Ephron dwelt amongst 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 gates of his City , saying,

Heb. Did sit, to wit, at that time, as one of the chief o[illegible: 1+ letters] rulers of the People: [illegible: 1 word] so the word sitting is oft used, as we shall see hereafter.

Either where he was born, or at least where he lived.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1+ letters]rs.

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.

It is a short speech, and something must be supplyed: Either if thou wilt give or resign it to me: Or, if thou be the Man of whom I speak: For though Abraham knew his name, he might not know him by face, nor that he was then present.

He prudently chose rather to buy it, then to receive it as a gift, partly because it would be the surer to him and his, ver. 17▪ 20. and partly because he would not have too great obligations to his Pagan Neighbours.

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.

He speaks of the common shekel, which many value at fifteen pence of English money, but others more probably at two shillings and six pence, rightly as I conceive, supposing that this was of the same weight and value with the Shekel of the Sanctuary, which was so called not as if that were double to the former, but onely because all shekels were to be examined by that standard which was kept in the Sanctuary.

Both Friends and rich men: It is not worth any words o[illegible: 1+ letters] trouble between us.

Marginal references: Exod. 30. 15. Ezek. 45. 12.

16 And Abraham hearkned 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, currant money with the merchant ▪

For in those times silver was paid by weight, Gen. 43. 21. Ier. 32. 10.

(i. e.) Right for quality as well as weight, in the judgment of Merchants, whose frequent dealing in it makes them more able to judge of it.

Gen 23:1-2

Sarah is the only woman whose age is mentioned in the Scriptures, because as the mother of the promised seed she became the mother of all believers (1Pe 3:6). She died at the age of 127, thirty-seven years after the birth of Isaac, at Hebron, or rather in the grove of Mamre near that city (Gen 13:18), whither Abraham had once more returned after a lengthened stay at Beersheba (Gen 22:19). The name Kirjath Arba, i.e., the city of Arba, which Hebron bears here and also in Gen 35:27, and other passages, and which it still bore at the time of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites (Jos 14:15), was not the original name of the city, but was first given to it by Arba the Anakite and his family, who had not yet arrived there in the time of the patriarchs. It was probably given by them when they took possession of the city, and remained until the Israelites captured it and restored the original name. The place still exists, as a small town on the road from Jerusalem to Beersheba, in a valley surrounded by several mountains, and is called by the Arabs, with allusion to Abraham’s stay there, el Khalil, i.e., the friend (of God), which is the title given to Abraham by the Mohammedans. The clause “in the land of Canaan” denotes, that not only did Sarah die in the land of promise, but Abraham as a foreigner acquired a burial-place by purchase there. “And Abraham came” (not from Beersheba, but from the field where he may have been with the flocks), “to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her,” i.e., to arrange for the customary mourning ceremony.

Gen 23:3-16

He then went to the Hittites, the lords and possessors of the city and its vicinity at that time, to procure from them “a possession of a burying-place.” The negotiations were carried on in the most formal style, in a public assembly “of the people of the land,” i.e., of natives (Gen 23:7), in the gate of the city (Gen 23:10). As a foreigner and sojourner, Abraham presented his request in the most courteous manner to all the citizens (“all that went in at the gate,” Gen 23:10, Gen 23:18; a phrase interchangeable with “all that went out at the gate,” Gen 34:24, and those who “go out and in,” Jer 17:19). The citizens with the greatest readiness and respect offered “the prince of God,” i.e., the man exalted by God to the rank of a prince, “the choice” (מבחר, i.e., the most select) of their graves for his use (Gen 23:6). But Abraham asked them to request Ephron, who, to judge from the expression “his city” in Gen 23:10, was then ruler of the city, to give him for a possession the cave of Machpelah, at the end of his field, of which he was the owner, “for full silver,” i.e., for its full worth. Ephron thereupon offered to make him a present of both field and cave. This was a turn in the affair which is still customary in the East; the design, so far as it is seriously meant at all, being either to obtain a present in return which will abundantly compensate for the value of the gift, or, what is still more frequently the case, to preclude any abatement in the price to be asked. The same design is evident in the peculiar form in which Ephron stated the price, in reply to Abraham’s repeated declaration that he was determined to buy the piece of land: “a piece of land of 400 shekels of silver, what is that between me and thee” (Gen 23:15)? Abraham understood it so (ישׁמע Gen 23:16), and weighed him the price demanded. The shekel of silver “current with the merchant,” i.e., the shekel which passed in trade as of standard weight, was 274 Parisian grains, so that the price of the piece of land was £52, 10s.; a very considerable amount for that time.

Gen 23:17-19

“Thus arose (ויּקם) the field...to Abraham for a possession;” i.e., it was conveyed to him in all due legal form. The expression “the field of Ephron which is at Machpelah” may be explained, according to Gen 23:9, from the fact that the cave of Machpelah was at the end of the field, the field, therefore, belonged to it. In Gen 23:19 the shorter form, “cave of Machpelah,” occurs; and in Gen 23:20 the field is distinguished from the cave. The name Machpelah is translated by the lxx as a common noun, τὸ σπήλαιον τὸ διπλοῦν, from מכפּלה doubling; but it had evidently grown into a proper name, since it is sued not only of the cave, but of the adjoining field also (Gen 49:30; Gen 50:13), though it undoubtedly originated in the form of the cave. The cave was before, i.e., probably to the east of, the grove of Mamre, which was in the district of Hebron. This description cannot be reconciled with the tradition, which identifies Mamre and the cave with Ramet el Khalil, where the strong foundation-walls of an ancient heathen temple (according to Rosenmüller’s conjecture, an Idumaean one) are still pointed out as Abraham’s house, and where a very old terebinth stood in the early Christian times; for this is an hour’s journey to the north of modern Hebron, and even the ancient Hebron cannot have stretched so far over the mountains which separate the modern city from Rameh, but must also, according to Gen 37:14, have been situated in the valley (see Robinson’s later Biblical Researches, pp. 365ff.). There is far greater probability in the Mohammedan tradition, that the Harem, built of colossal blocks with grooved edges, which stands on the western slope of the Beabireh mountain, in the north-western portion of the present town, contains hidden within it the cave of Machpelah with the tomb of the patriarchs (cf. Robinson, Pal. ii. 435ff.); and Rosen. is induced to look for Mamre on the eastern slope of the Rumeidi hill, near to the remarkable well Ain el Jedid.

Gen 23:20

The repetition of the statement, that the field with the cave in it was conveyed to Abraham by the Hittites for a burial-place, which gives the result of the negotiation that has been described with, so to speak, legal accuracy, shows the great importance of the event to the patriarch. The fact that Abraham purchased a burying-place in strictly legal form as an hereditary possession in the promised land, was a proof of his strong faith in the promises of God and their eventual fulfilment. In this grave Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, were buried; there Jacob buried Leah; and there Jacob himself requested that he might be buried, thus declaring his faith in the promises, even in the hour of his death.

The Death of Sarah. (b. c. 1857.)

1 And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

We have here, 1. Sarah's age, v. 1. Almost forty years before, she had called herself old, ch. xviii. 12. Old people will die never the sooner, but may die the better, for reckoning themselves old. 2. Her death, v. 2. The longest liver must die at last. Abraham and Sarah had lived comfortably together many years; but death parts those whom nothing else could part. The special friends and favourites of Heaven are not exempted from the stroke of death. She died in the land of Canaan, where she had been above sixty years a sojourner. 3. Abraham's mourning for her; and he was a true mourner. He did not only perform the ceremonies of mourning according to the custom of those time, as the mourners that go about the streets, but he did sincerely lament the great loss he had of a good wife, and gave proof of the constancy of his affection to her to the last. Two words are used: he came both to mourn and to weep. His sorrow was not counterfeit, but real. He came to her tent, and sat down by the corpse, there to pay the tribute of his tears, that his eye might affect his heart, and that he might pay the greater respect to the memory of her that was gone. Note, It is not only lawful, but it is a duty, to lament the death of our near relations, both in compliance with the providence of God, who thus calls to weeping and mourning, and in honour to those to whom honour is due. Tears are a tribute due to our deceased friends. When a body is sown, it must be watered. But we must not sorrow as those that have no hope; for we have a good hope through grace both concerning them and concerning ourselves.

The Cave of Machpelah. (b. c. 1857.)

3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, 4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. 5 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.

Here is, I. The humble request which Abraham made to his neighbours, the Hittites, for a burying-place among them, v. 3, 4. It was strange he had this to do now; but we are to impute it rather to God's providence than to his improvidence, as appears Acts vi. 5, where it is said, God gave him no inheritance in Canaan. It were well if all those who take care to provide burying-places for their bodies after death were as careful to provide a resting-place for their souls. Observe here, 1. The convenient diversion which this affair gave, for the present, to Abraham's grief: He stood up from before his dead. Those that find themselves in danger of over-grieving for their dead relations, and are entering into that temptation, must take heed of poring upon their loss and sitting alone and melancholy. There must be a time of standing up from before their dead, and ceasing to mourn. For, thanks be to God, our happiness is not bound up in the life of any creature. Care of the funeral may, as here, be improved to divert grief for the death at first, when it is most in danger of tyrannizing. Weeping must not hinder sowing. 2. The argument he used with the children of Heth, which was this: "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you, therefore I am unprovided, and must become a humble suitor to you for a burying-place." This was one occasion which Abraham took to confess that he was a stranger and a pilgrim upon earth; he was not ashamed to own it thus publicly, Heb. xi. 13. Note, The death of our relations should effectually remind us that we are not at home in this world. When they are gone, say, "We are going." 3. His uneasiness till this affair was settled, intimated in that word, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. Note, Death will make those unpleasant to our sight who while they lived were the desire of our eyes. The countenance that was fresh and lively becomes pale and ghastly, and fit to be removed into the land of darkness. While she was in his sight, it renewed his grief, which he would prevent.

II. The generous offer which the children of Heth made to him, v. 5, 6. They compliment him, 1. With a title of respect: Thou art a prince of God among us, so the word is; not only great, but good. He called himself a stranger and a sojourner; they call him a great prince; for those that humble themselves shall be exalted. God had promised to make Abraham's name great. 2. With a tender of the best of their burying-places. Note, Even the light of nature teaches us to be civil and respectful towards all, though they be strangers and sojourners. The noble generosity of these Canaanites shames and condemns the closeness, and selfishness, and ill-humour, of many that call themselves Israelites. Observe, These Canaanites would be glad to mingle their dust with Abraham's and to have their last end like his.

III. The particular proposal which Abraham made to them, v. 7-9. He returns them his thanks for their kind offer with all possible decency and respect; though a great man, an old man, and now a mourner, yet he stands up, and bows himself humbly before them, v. 7. Note, Religion teaches good manners; and those abuse it that place it in rudeness and clownishness. He then pitches upon the place he thinks most convenient, namely, the cave of Machpelah, which probably lay near him, and had not yet been used for a burying-place. The present owner was Ephron. Abraham cannot pretend to any interest in him, but he desires that they would improve theirs with him to get the purchase of that cave, and the field in which it was. Note, A moderate desire to obtain that which is convenient for us, by fair and honest means, is not such a coveting of that which is our neighbour's as is forbidden in the tenth commandment.

IV. The present which Ephron made to Abraham of his field: The field give I thee, v. 10, 11. Abraham thought he must be entreated to sell it; but, upon the first mention of it, without entreaty, Ephron freely gives it. Some men have more generosity than they are thought to have. Abraham, no doubt, had taken all occasions to oblige his neighbours, and do them any service that lay in his power; and now they return his kindness: for he that watereth shall be watered also himself. Note, If those that profess religion adorn their profession by eminent civility and serviceableness to all, they shall find it will rebound to their own comfort and advantage, as well as to the glory of God.

V. Abraham's modest and sincere refusal of Ephron's kind offer, v. 12, 13. Abundance of thanks he returns him for it (v. 12), makes his obeisance to him before the people of the land, that they might respect Ephron the more for the respect they saw Abraham give him (1 Sam. xv. 30), but resolves to give him money for the field, even the full value of it. It was not in pride that Abraham refused the gift, or because he scorned to be beholden to Ephron; but, 1. In justice. Abraham was rich in silver and gold (ch. xiii. 2) and was able to pay for the field, and therefore would not take advantage of Ephron's generosity. Note, Honesty, as well as honour, forbids us to sponge upon our neighbours and to impose upon those that are free. Job reflected upon it with comfort, when he was poor, that he had not eaten the fruits of his land without money, Job xxxi. 39. 2. In prudence. He would pay for it lest Ephron, when this good humour was over, should upbraid him with it, and say, I have made Abraham rich (ch. xiv. 23), or lest the next heir should question Abraham's title (because that grant was made without any consideration), and claim back the field. Thus David afterwards refused Araunah's offer, 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. We know not what affronts we may hereafter receive from those that are now most kind and generous.

VI. The price of the land fixed by Ephron but not insisted on: The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver (about fifty pounds of our money), but what is that between me and thee? v. 14, 15. He would rather oblige his friend than have so much money in his pocket. Herein Ephron discovers, 1. A great contempt of worldly wealth. "What is that between me and thee? It is a small matter, not worth speaking of." Many a one would have said, "It is a deal of money; it will go far in a child's portion." But Ephron says, "What is that?" Note, It is an excellent thing for people to have low and mean thoughts of all the wealth of this world; it is that which is not, and in the abundance of which a man's life does not consist, Luke xii. 15. 2. Great courtesy, and obligingness to his friend and neighbour. Ephron was not jealous of Abraham as a resident foreigner, nor envious at him as a man likely to thrive and grow rich. He bore him no ill-will for his singularity in religion, but was much kinder to him than most people now-a-days are to their own brothers: What is that between me and thee? Note, No little thing should occasion demurs and differences between true friends. When we are tempted to be hot in resenting affronts, high in demanding our rights, or hard in denying a kindness, we should answer the temptation with this question: "What is that between me and my friend?"

Sarah's Funeral. (b. c. 1857.)

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.

We have here the conclusion of the treaty between Abraham and Ephron about the burying-place. The bargain was publicly made before all the neighbours, in the presence and audience of the sons of Heth, v. 16, 17. Note, Prudence, as well as justice, directs us to be fair, and open, and above-board, in our dealings. Fraudulent contracts hate the light, and choose to be clandestine; but those that design honestly in their bargains care not who are witnesses to them. Our law countenances sales made in market-overt, and by deed enrolled. Observe, 1. Abraham, without fraud, covin, or further delay, pays the money, v. 16. He pays it readily, without hesitation,—pays it in full, without diminution,—and pays it by weight, current money with the merchant, without deceit. See how anciently money was used for the help of commerce; and see how honestly money should be paid where it is due. Observe, Though all the land of Canaan was Abraham's by promise, yet, the time of his possessing not having come, what he had now occasion for he bought and paid for. Note, Dominion is not founded in grace. The saints' title to an eternal inheritance does not entitle them to the possessions of this world, nor justify them in doing wrong. 2. Ephron honestly and fairly makes him a good title to the land, v. 17, 18, 20. The field, with all its appurtenances, is conveyed to Abraham and his heirs for ever, in open court, not by writing (it does not appear that writing was then used), but by such a public solemn declaration before witnesses as was sufficient to pass it. Note, As that which is bought must be honestly paid for, so that which is sold must be honestly delivered and secured. 3. Abraham, thereupon, takes possession, and buries Sarah in the cave or vault (whether framed by nature or art is not certain) which was in the purchased field. It is probable that Abraham had buried servants out of his family since he came to Canaan, but the graves of the common people (2 Kings xxiii. 6) might suffice for them; now that Sarah was dead a peculiar place must be found for her remains. It is worth noting, (1.) That a burying-place was the first spot of ground Abraham possessed in Canaan. Note, When we are entering into the world it is good to think of our going out of it; for, as soon as we are born, we begin to die. (2.) That it was the only piece of land he ever possessed, though the country was all his own in reversion. Those that have least of this earth find a grave in it. Abraham provided, not cities, as Cain and Nimrod, but a sepulchre, [1.] To be a constant memorandum of death to himself and his posterity, that he and they might learn to die daily. This sepulchre is said to be at the end of the field (v. 9); for, whatever our possessions are, there is a sepulchre at the end of them. [2.] To be a token of his belief and expectation of the resurrection; for why should such care be taken of the body if it be thrown away for ever, and must not rise again? Abraham, in this, said plainly that he sought a better country, that is, a heavenly. Abraham is content to be still flitting, while he lives, but secures a place where, when he dies his flesh may rest in hope.

CHAP. XXIII.

[non-Latin text not transcribed].

ANd the life of Sarah was a hundred yeeres, and twenty yeeres, and seven yeeres: these were the yeeres of the life of Sarah. And Sarah dyed in Kirjath-Arba, the same is Chebron, in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourne for Sarah, and to weepe for her. And Abraham stood-up, from before his dead: and spake unto the sonnes of Cheth, saying. I am a stranger and a sojourner, with you: give mee a possession of a burying-place, with you; that I may bury my dead, out of my sight. And the sonnes of Cheth, answered Abraham, saying to him; heare us, my Lord; thou art a Prince of God, amongst us, in the choise of our buriall-places, bury thou thy dead: a man of us, shall not with-hold from thee his burying place, from burying thy dead. And Abraham stood-up, and bowed-downe himselfe to the people of the land, to the sonnes of Cheth. And he spake with them, saying: if it be your mind, to bury my dead, out of my sight; heare me, and intreat for me, to Ephron the sonne of Zohar. And let him give mee the cave of Macpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field: for full money, let him give it me, amongst you, for a possession of a burying-place. And Ephron was sitting, amongst the sonnes of Cheth: and Ephron the Chethite answered Abraham, in the eares of the sonnes of Cheth; of all that went in at the gates of his citie, saying; Nay my Lord heare me, the field I give thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee: in the eies of the sonnes of my people, give I it thee, bury thy dead. And Abraham bowed-down himselfe, before the people of the land. And he spake unto Ephron, in the eares of the people of the land, saying; But if thou (wilt give it) I pray thee heare mee: I will give the money of the field, take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him; my Lord heare me; the land (is worth) foure hundred shekels of silver, betweene mee and thee, what is that? and bury thy dead. And Abraham hearkned unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron, the silver which he had spoken of, in the eares of the sons of Cheth: foure hundred shekels of silver, currant with the merchant. And the field of Ephron, which was in Macpelah, which was before Mamree, was made-sure: the field, and the cave which was therein, and everie tree which was in the field, which was in all the border thereof, round about. Vnto Abraham for a purchase, in the eies of the sons of Cheth; with all that went-in at the gates of his citie. And afterward, Abraham buried Sarahs his wife, in the cave of the field of Macpelah, before Mamree, the same is Chebron, in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the caue which was therein, was made sure to Abraham, for a possession of a burying place: by the sons of Cheth.

Annotations. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Here beginneth the 5 section of the Law called Chajjee Sarah, that is, The life of Sarah. See Gen. 6. 9. Vers. 1. the life] in Hebrew lives: see Gen. 2. 7. This speciall honor hath Sarah our mother, above all women in the Scripture, that the number of her yeeres is recorded of God. Eve was the mother of all living, Gen. 3. 20. and Sarah is mother of al the faithfull, 1 Pet. 3. 6. She lived a pilgrim with Abraham her husband 62 yeeres, and before her departure from Charran, 65. in all 127 yeeres. Vers. 2. Kirjath Arba] that is, the citie of Arba. as the Greeke translateth it: called also Chebron: see Gen. 13. 18. came] or, went-in, namely into Sarahs tent, wherein she dwelt and dyed: for Abraham had many tents, (as had Lot, Gen. 13. 5.) and one speciall for Sarah, Gen. 24. 67. and 18. 6. to weepe] Sarah also is the first, for whose death, mourning and weeping is mentioned, another note of honour, as appeareth by Gen 50. 9. 10. 11. Ier. 22. 18. 2 Sam. 1. 17. &c. But sorrow for the dead, must be moderate in Gods people, as having hope of the resurrection, 2 Thes. 4. 13. 14. and weepe, in the Hebrew hath one little letter, extraordinary, noted also in the margine of the Hebrew bibles, whereby as the Iewes thinke is signified, that Abrahams mourning was not excessive, but with moderation. The Hebrew Doctors say that afterwards in Israel, a man was bound by the law (in Lev. 21. 2. 3.) to mourne for his mother, and for his father, his son and his daughter; and his brother and his sister by the fathers side. And by the Rabbines, a man was to mourne for his wife that he had maried, and so the woman for her husband: to mourne also for brother and sister by the mothers side. Maimony in Misneh, tom. 4. treat. of Mourning. ch. 2. S. 1. Vers. 3. from before] or, from the face of his dead: where in likelihood, he had sitten a while on the earth, as was the manner of mourners to doe: Iob 2. 12. 13. Esa. 47. 1. sons of Cheth] that is, the Chethites, or Hittites, the people which came of Cheth the son of Canaan, Gen. 10. 15. Vers. 4. asojourner] or forreiner: properly it signifieth one that dwelleth in a strange country, and hath no possession of his owne there. And as Abraham, so David acknowledgeth this of himselfe & his people, with God: 1 Chr. 29. 15. Psal. 39. 13. and the law taught them so much, Leviticus 25. 23. and the Gospell teacheth us the same for our estate on earth, 1 Peter 2. 11. and commendeth to us the faith of these fathers, that did so professe themselves, to be strangers and forreiners in the land: thereby declaring plainely that they sought a better country, even an heavenly, where God hath prepared for them a citie: Hebr. 11. 13. 14. 16. a burying place] or, grave, sepulcher, in Hebrew Keber, from which the Germaine grab; and our English grave are derived. Abraham having sojourned 60. yeeres in these lands, never purchased foot of inheritance, Act. 7. 5.) till now for his dead; not for any, (though it is likely sundry had dyed in his house within this time,) but for Sarah his wife. As the former shewed his faith, abiding there as in a strange Countrey, Heb. 11. 9. so this purchase of a grave, sheweth the like, not onely for the generall resurrection of the dead, but for the speciall possession of this promised land: for which cause, Iaakob also would be brought out of Egypt to bee buried here, Gen. 47. 29. 30. and Ioseph by like faith, gave commandement of his bones, Gen. 50. 24. 25. Heb. 11. 22. For a Sepulchre of ones owne, was a signe of right, and firme possession, Esay 25. 16. out of my sight] or, from before me: so verse 8. Death, so defaceth all earthly things, that the most lovely, are by it made loathsome: for Sarah had beene the desire of his eyes, Ezek. 24. 16. but now hee cannot suffer her in his sight. And the living doe burie their dead, that according to the sentence of God, man may returne to his earth and dust, Gen. 3. 19. and be sowne as seed in the ground till the resurrection, 1 Cor. 15. 35. 36. &c. where they rest in their graves, as in their beds, till their change come, Esa. 57. 2. Iob 14. 14. Vers. 6. a Prince of God] that is, a mighty prince, an holy ruler: preferred and advanced of God. So Abimelech acknowledged that God was with him; Gen. 21. 22. Things that excell, are said to be of God: as Mountaines of God, Psal. 36. 7. Cedars of God, Psal. 80. 11. wrastlings of God, Gen. 30. 5. and many the like. The Greeke here translateth, a King of God, the Chaldee, a prince before the Lord. A like speech is used of the Priests, called Princes of God, 1 Chron. 24. 5. the choise] that is, the best, the fayrest: as the Chaldee explaineth it; because men use to chose the best things. And choise is put for chosen: as glory of grace, and riches of grace, Ephes. 1. 6. 7. for glorious and rich grace: the promise of the spirit, Gal. 3. 14. for the promised spirit; and many the like. with-hold] or closeup, forbid, either by word or deed. Vers 7. bowed downe] did obeysance, in signe of reverence, and thankfulnesse: so verse 12. Sometime they that bowed, would say they did so, as professing their thankfulnesse, 2 Sam. 16. 4. Vers. 8. your mind,] or, your will: Hebrew with your soule; which word is often used for the mind or will of any: Psal. 27. 12. and 41. 3. and 105. 22. The Greeke translateth, if ye have in your soule: the Chaldee, if it bee the pleasure of your soule. to bury] that is, that I should bury: an usuall phrase, where the person is not expressed, but easily understood: see Gen. 6. 19. and 19. 20. and 47. 29. Vers. 9. of Macpelah] which is by interpretation, the cave of doublenesse, as the Chaldee hath, and so the Greeke also translateth it, the double cave: but it appeareth by verse 17. 19. to be the name of the place. full money] Hebrew, full silver, that is, for as much money as it is worth: silver is named for all money, and full, for full weight, as appeareth verse 16. A like speech is used in used in 1 Chron. 21. 24. for full silver; which another Prophet saith, for the price, that is, the worth of it, 2 Sam. 24. 24. Vers. 10. sitting] there present among them: or dwelling, as the word often signifieth. in the eares] that is, in the audience, or hearing: as the Greeke explaineth it. So vers. 13. and 16. went in] meaning the citizens; who are described by going in, as in Gen. 34. 24. by going out: which two are often joyned together, to goe in and out, for to converse, trade, &c. see Ier. 17. 19. 20. 25. & 22. 4. Vers. 11. in the eies,] that is, in the fight, or presence: or before: as the Greeke translateth it: so verse 18. sonnes of my people] which the Greeke turneth, my citizens; an usuall east country phrase: so in Luke 19. 14. his citizens, is turned in the Syriake, the sons of his citie. Bargains passed thus publikely in the city gates, for more testimony and assurance, as was used also in other cases, Ruth. 4. 1. 4. 9. 11. Ver. 13. if thou] that is, wilt give it, or if thou be he, whom I speak of: as the Greeke translateth, seeing thou art with me: (that is, present.) Such imperfect speeches are often used, where other fit words are to be understood, as the scripture it selfe sometime manifesteth: as behold the oxen, 2 Sam. 24. 22. which an other Prophet relating saith, behold I give the oxen, 1 Chron. 21. 23. See also before, Gen. 11. 4. and 13. 9. and after here in the 15. ver. money] Hebrew silver, that is, the price of the field. Vers. 15. shekels:] or, (as we may call them) shillings: the Greeke translateth them didrachmes: wch word is used Mat. 17. 24. what the shekel weighed, see noted on Gen. 20. 16. V. 16. currant] or, passing to: and so allowed of Merchants, as the Greek turneth it: which the Chaldee amplifieth thus, that was taken for merchandise in every Countrey. Vers. 17. was made sure] the Hebrew is stood up: that is, was made stable, sure and confirmed, as the Greek translateth it in the last verse of this chapter. And this purchase thus assured to Abraham was a propheticall signe, that his posterity should have the inheritance of that land: even as Ieremies buying of his uncles field before witnesses, was a signe of the Iewes returne into the possession of this land; Ier. 32. 7. 9. 10. 15. 43. 44. Vers. 19. in the cave] or de[illegible: 1 letter]: thus carefully bought, and described where it lay, for a monument to posterity. In this cave also Abraham himselfe was buried with his wife, at his death, Gen. 25. 9. Likewise Isaak his sonne, with Rebekah his wife, and Iaakob with Leah his wife: Gen. 49. 31. and 50. 13. The Patriarchs hereby testifying their faith in the promises of God, for the inheritance of this land, and of life eternall figured hereby, as before is observed on v. 4. Herewith may bee compared the purchase of the potters field bought with the price of Christs blood to bury strangers in: Mat. 27.