The Field in Machpelah
The Field in Machpelah
Image by kiwi thompson from Unsplash
Sarah’s Death
Sarah lived 127 years. She died in Kiriath Arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham mourned and wept for her. After the time of mourning passed, he went to speak with the Hittites. “I am a foreigner who has settled here with you. Grant me possession of a burial site where I may bury my dead.”
The Hittites replied, “Please hear us out, my lord! You are a mighty ruler in our midst. Bury your dead in the best of our burial sites. No one among us will refuse to let you bury your dead in his burial site.”
At some point after God tested Abraham, the family moved from Beersheba back to their previous home near Hebron.1 Thirty-seven years after Isaac’s birth, Sarah died there. Although Sarah’s death triggered the events that follow, it is not the main theme of the narrative. The main point is the purchase of the field in Machpelah—the only land in Canaan that Abraham ever owned.
In the rocky hills of central Canaan, caves were used as burial sites, and several generations of family members would be buried in the same cave.2 As a landless foreigner, Abraham had no burial site for his family. To purchase land, he needed permission from the local population, the Hittites.
Abraham went to the gateway of Hebron, where business transactions could be conducted in the presence of witnesses.3 He explained the situation, calling himself a “foreigner,” an outsider humbly asking for help. The Hittites responded by calling him a “mighty ruler.” They knew Abraham was wealthy and in a desperate situation, and they were willing to make a deal.
The people of the ancient Near East considered it important to be buried in their homeland.4 That Abraham did not take Sarah back to Mesopotamia for burial shows his commitment to Canaan as his new home and that of his descendants. He was there to stay, as even the Hittites recognized.
Ephron’s Field
Abraham stood up and then bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. “If you accept that I may bury my dead, hear me out. Intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf so he will grant me the cave in Machpelah on the edge of his field for the full value. Let him grant me possession of it in your presence to use as a burial site.”
Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people, so he answered Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites, the citizens of the town. “No, my lord, hear me out! I grant you the field as well as the cave that is in it. I grant it to you here before my people. Go ahead and bury your dead.”
Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. He spoke to Ephron in their hearing. “Nevertheless, please hear me out! I will pay you the value of the field. Accept it from me so I may bury my dead there.”
Ephron replied, “Please, my lord, hear me out! What is a piece of land worth just four hundred shekels of silver between you and me? Go ahead and bury your dead.”
Abraham accepted Ephron’s offer and weighed out the amount he spoke of in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver according to the weight used by the merchants.
So Ephron sold his field in Machpelah, on the outskirts of Mamre. He sold the field, the cave, and all the trees within the boundaries of the field to Abraham before all the Hittites, the citizens of the town.
Image by kiwi thompson from Unsplash
Abraham already knew which cave he wanted for a burial site. He wanted a cave in Machpelah, a district of Hebron, that belonged to a man named Ephron. The cave was on the edge of Ephron’s field, so he could sell it without disturbing the rest of his property. But Ephron wanted to sell the whole field along with the cave, possibly because he knew Abraham would pay more than it was worth.
The negotiations and payment are recorded in unusual detail, complete with all the niceties typical of bartering societies. Although both Abraham and Ephron use the verb nathan (“to give”), Ephron was never willing to give away his property, and Abraham was not asking him to. When Ephron finally stated a price, he made it sound like a paltry amount not worth haggling over. Abraham was not in a position to negotiate a fairer price, so he simply accepted the offer.
The narrative goes to great lengths to emphasize the legality of the transaction. Abraham paid “the full value,” so Ephron’s heirs would have no claim on the field. Both the negotiations and the payment were witnessed by the Hittites. And the price was weighed out properly according to the standards of the time.5 So the field passed to Abraham and legally belonged to his heirs even at the time Moses wrote Genesis.
A Burial Site
Then Abraham buried Sarah, his wife, in the cave of the field in Machpelah, on the outskirts of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave in it were sold to Abraham by the Hittites to be a burial site.
Image by Gábor Bejó from Pixabay
Having secured the field and cave, Abraham was able to give Sarah a proper burial. Eventually, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah were also buried in the cave.6 The patriarchs were all promised the entire land of Canaan, yet they died owning little more than a burial site.
Hebrews 11 uses this fact to show that the patriarchs not only lived anticipating the future but also died anticipating the future.7 According to verse 40, they did not receive what they were promised because God had an even better plan: to perfect all of his people at the same time. The dead do not precede the living. Nor will the living precede the dead.8 When Jesus returns, all believers will receive our promised inheritance together. 9
- Compare Genesis 13:18; 22:19.
- Walton, “Genesis,” 99; Walton, Matthews, and Chavalas, Bible Background Commentary, Genesis 23:4–5.
- See Threats to the Promise.
- See Genesis 49:29–30; 50:25; Ross, “Genesis,” 146.
- The patriarchs lived before the invention of coins. The shekel was a measurement of weight equal to about half an ounce. It’s value at the time is unknown.
- Genesis 49:29–32.
- Hebrews 11:13, 39–40.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:15.
- 1 Corinthians 15:51–52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17.