Genesis-Chap-23
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Note: Some
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of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, having been corrected like it once was pre the “Masoretic Text”.
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Remember the following truth from our beloved Torah!
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which
I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM
IT, that ye may keep the commandments of יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - the LORD your Eloleichem, which I command you”. Davarim -
Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).
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With
Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
Introduction:
Genesis
Chapter 23 marks a significant transition in the patriarchal narrative. After
the spiritual heights of the ‘Akedah’, the Torah brings
us back to the earthly reality of mortality and the necessity of establishing a
physical foothold in the
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Genesis Chapter 23,
verses 1 to 20: Whilst below the verses are the Explanation’s. (The Chapter is from JPS-1917 version
of the Torah).
Verses
1-2: “And the life of Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years;
these were the years of the life of Sarah. And
Sarah died in Kiriatharba the same is
Explanation Verses
1-2. The Torah
specifies Sarah’s age with precision to teach that her years were all equally
good and her righteousness remained consistent. Abraham comes to mourn and weep
for her, showing that even a man of great faith must fully experience the human
process of grief.
Verses 3-4: And
Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke unto the children of Heth, saying: ‘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.'
Explanation Verses
3-4. Abraham
identifies himself as a “resident alien”. He acknowledges his status as a
newcomer while asserting his need for a “holding of a burial place”. This
begins the process of transforming a nomadic existence into a landed legacy.
Verses 5-6: And
the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto
him: ‘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’.
Explanation Verses
5-6. The
Hittites respond with immense respect, calling Abraham a “prince of אֱלֹהִים -
Elohim (God)”. They offer him the choice of any grave, attempting to treat the
matter as a courtesy rather than a commercial transaction.
Verses 7-9: And
Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, even to the children
of Heth. And he spoke with them,
saying: ‘If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear
me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of
Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah,
which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for the full price let him
give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying-place’.
Explanation Verses
7-9. Abraham
remains focused. He bows in respect but immediately moves to specifics, asking
for the
Verses 10-11: Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the children of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite
answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth,
even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying: ‘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’.
Explanation Verses
10-11. Ephron offers the land as a gift in the presence of the
townspeople. While this sounds generous, in the ancient Near Eastern context,
it was often a bargaining tactic designed to place the petitioner under a
social obligation.
Verses 12-13: And
Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. And he
spoke unto Ephron in the hearing of the people of the
land, saying: ‘But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me: I will give the price of
the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there’.
Explanation Verses
12-13. Abraham
refuses the gift. By insisting on payment, he ensures the land is acquired
through “Kinyan” (legal acquisition), making the
transaction transparent and binding under local law.
Verses 14-15: And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him: ‘My lord, hearken unto me: a piece of land worth four hundred
shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee? bury
therefore thy dead’.
Explanation Verses
14-15. Ephron names a price of four hundred shekels of silver,
dismissively calling it a trifle between friends. In reality, this was an
exorbitant sum, but Abraham does not haggle.
Verse 16: And
Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to
Ephron the silver, which he had named in the hearing
of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of
silver, current money with the merchant.
Explanation Verse
16.
Abraham immediately weighs out the silver. He uses “current money with the
merchant”, meaning high-quality, universally accepted currency, leaving no room
for claims of fraud or devaluation.
Verses 17-18: So
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
border thereof round about, were made sure unto Abraham for
a possession in the presence of the children of Heth,
before all that went in at the gate of his city.
Explanation Verses
17-18. The text
uses precise legal language to describe how the field, the cave, and all the
trees within its borders “passed” to Abraham. It was a public transfer of deed
witnessed by all who entered the city gate.
Verses
19-20: And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in
the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, the same is
Explanation Verses
19-20. The
chapter concludes with the fulfilment of Abraham’s intent: Sarah is buried in
the Land of Canaan. What began as a negotiation ends as a sacred “possession”,
providing the Hebrew people with their first ancestral plot in the land
promised by אֱלֹהִים -
Elohim.
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My Closing Message:
The purchase
of the
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