Burial of Sarah - Genesis 23:1-20

An exposi*onal study taught by
Harry Morgan

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Sarah’s death at Hebron (1–2)
Machpelah negotiated for Sarah’s burial (3–16)
Abraham requests a burial site
(wayyāqom, “rose”) (3–6)
Abraham transacts a burial site
(wayyāqom, “rose”) (7–16)
Machpelah “deeded” over (wayyāqom) (17–18)
Sarah’s burial at Hebron (19–20)
Mathews, K. A. (2005). Genesis 11:27–50:26 (Vol. 1B, p.
313). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

1. Why does Genesis 23:1 begin with the
conjunc3on “and”?
1 And Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven
years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
Genesis 22:19 So Abraham returned to his young
men, and they rose and went together to
Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
Genesis 22:23 And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These
eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
“In 22:23 Rebekah is men3oned: one sun rising
before the other sets.”
Bullinger, E. W. (2018). The Companion Bible: Being the Authorized Version
of 1611 with the Structures and Notes, CriGcal, Explanatory and SuggesGve
and with 198 Appendixes (Vol. 1, p. 31). Bellingham, WA: Faithlife.

Terah
Abraham Sarah Haran
Mikcah
Nahor
Bethuel
RebekahIsaac

2. How is Sarah significant to Jews?
Isaiah 51:1–2 “Listen to Me, you who follow a`er
righteousness, you who seek the LO RD : Look to the
rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of
the pit from which you were dug. 2 Look to Abraham
your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called
him alone and blessed him and increased him.”
✡ She is the 1st of the four matriarchs of
the Jewish nation.
✡ She is widely referred to as Sarah Imeinu,
“Sarah Our Mother.”

3. How is Sarah signiﬁcant to Chris3ans?
1 Peter 3:3–6 Do not let your adornment be merely
outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or pufng
on ﬁne apparel—4 rather let it be the hidden person
of the heart, with the incorrup3ble beauty of a gentle
and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of
God. 5 For in this manner, in former 3mes, the holy
women who trusted in God also adorned themselves,
being submissive to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah
obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters
you are if you do good and are not afraid with any
terror.

4. How is Sarah signiﬁcant to Muslims?
‫ﺳ‬‫ﺎ‬‫ر‬‫ة‬ (Sāra)
• Sarah is the cousin of Abraham rather than sister due
to Haran being her father who was a cousin to Terah
• Sarah is not men3oned by name in the Qur’an.
However, it men3ons the annuncia3on of the birth of
Isaac and that Sarah laughed when the angels gave
her the glad 3dings of Isaac:
And his wife was standing (there), and she laughed:
But we gave her glad Gdings of Isaac, and aRer him,
of Jacob.
She said: "Alas for me! shall I bear a child, seeing I
am an old woman, and my husband here is an old
man? That would indeed be a wonderful thing!"
— Qur'an, Sura 11 (Hud), ayat 69-72

5. How old was Sarah when she died? Why is
this signiﬁcant?
1 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years;
these were the years of the life of Sarah.
The only woman whose age is mentioned in the Bible.
127

6. Where did Sarah die?
2 So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in
the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn
for Sarah and to weep for her.
• Kiriath-arba = literally “City of Four” (cf.
35:27; Neh. 11:25)
• Named a`er a hero of the gigan3c Anakin,
Arba, father of the giants.
• Tradi3on about the “children of Heth.
• Caleb later captured the city and renamed it
(Josh. 14:14, 15)

2 So Sarah died in Kirjath
Arba (that is, Hebron) in
the land of Canaan, and
Abraham came to mourn
for Sarah and to weep for
her.
7. Why is this place so important to Abraham?
• Hebron, David’s 1st royal
city – capital, 19 miles SW
of Jerusalem.
• Midway between Jerusalem
& Beersheba

8. Why is this place so important to Abraham?
• Divinely promised to Abraham (12:1; 12:7;
13:14–17; 17:8.
• Abraham built altars (12:7, 8; 13:18)
• Abraham planted a tree (21:33).
• Abraham dug a well (21:25–32)

9. What is the history of this place, before and
a`er Abraham?
Joshua 14:14–15 Hebron therefore became the
inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the
Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the
LO RD God of Israel. 15 And the name of Hebron
formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest
man among the Anakim). Then the land had rest
from war.
Numbers 13:22 And they went up through the South
and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai,
the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron
was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

10. Why is Zoan mentioned? What is the
connection between Zoan and Hebron?
Numbers 13:22 And they went up through the South
and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai,
the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron
was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

Zoan
• “place of departure”
• Called Djanet &
Raamses “store cities”
(Ex. 1:10,11) by the
Egyptians, Tanis by the
Greeks, and Sân el-
Hagar today.
• Capital of the Hyksos
• God preformed
“marvelous things”
here (Psalm 78:12,43)

11. Where had Abraham and Sarah lived for
the previous 37 years?
Genesis 20:1 And Abraham journeyed from there (Mamre)
to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and
stayed in Gerar.
Genesis 21:32 Thus they made
a covenant at Beersheba. So
Abimelech rose with Phichol,
the commander of his army, and
they returned to the land of the
Philis3nes.
33 Then Abraham planted a
tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and
there called on the name of the
LO RD, the Everlas3ng God.

12. How did Abraham mourn for Sarah?
‫ס‬ָ‫פ‬ַ‫ד‬ (sā·p̄ ǎḏ) = mourn, lament, i.e., be in a state of
sorrow, which includes outward expressions such
as weeping, sobbing, and ﬂailing, either in
spontaneous emo3on or in a ritualized form
‫בּ‬ָ‫כ‬ָ‫ה‬ (bā·ḵāh) = weep, wail, cry, sob, mourn, i.e., to well-
up tears in the eyes and have mild convulsions or
spasms of the diaphragm, and o`en make vocal
sounds of so` groaning or loud wailing, as a sign of
sorrow and mourning

12. How did Abraham mourn for Sarah?

13. What does the phrase “stood up from
before his dead” mean?
3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead,
and spoke to the sons of Heth…
• Position of the mourner is described as sitting
on the ground.
Job 2:13 So they sat down with him on the
ground seven days and seven nights, and no one
spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief
was very great.
• “His dead” refers to the corpse of Sarah.
‫פּ‬ְ‫ֵ֣נ‬‫י‬‫מ‬ֵ‫ת‬֑‫וֹ‬ (pā·něh mûṯ) = leaning over the face of his dead

14. Who were the “sons of Heth”?
Heth
“terror, dread”
• Noah’s great grandson
• Genesis 10:15–18 Canaan
begot Sidon his firstborn, and
Heth; 16 the Jebusite, the
Amorite, and the Girgashite; 17
the Hivite, the Arkite, and the
Sinite; 18 the Arvadite, the
Zemarite, and the Hamathite.

15. Who were the “sons of Heth”?
3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead,
and spoke to the sons of Heth…

16. What did Abraham request of the sons of
Heth?
4 “I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give
me property for a burial place among you, that I
may bury my dead out of my sight.”

17. Why is it ironic for Abraham to ask the
Hittites for land to buy Sarah?
Genesis 12:1–3 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get
out of your country, from your family and from your
father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will
make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your
name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless
those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses
you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed.”

18. Contrast how Abraham described himself
and how the children of Heth described him.
How do both descrip3ons characterize us as
Chris3ans?
4 “I am a foreigner and a visitor among you.
Give me property for a burial place among
you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
6 “Hear us, my lord: You are a mighty prince
among us; bury your dead in the choicest of
our burial places. None of us will withhold
from you his burial place, that you may bury
your dead.”

How do both descrip3ons characterize us as
Chris3ans?
‫גּ‬ֵ‫ר‬ (gēr) = alien, stranger, foreigner, a
person living out of his own country
4 “I am a foreigner and a visitor”
“foreigner”
‫תּ‬‫וֹ‬‫שׁ‬ָ‫ב‬“visitor” (tô·šāḇ) = temporary resident,
sojourner, stranger

How do both descriptions characterize us as
Christians?
6 “You are a mighty prince”
“mighty” (ʾělō·hîm) = majesty or stateliness
“prince” (nā·śîʾ) = leader, ruler, chief, prince
‫א‬ֱo‫ה‬ִ‫י‬‫ם‬
‫ְנ‬‫שׂ‬ִ֨‫י‬‫א‬
Who are you?
Are you what others think of you?
Are you what you think of yourself?

Who am I? They often tell me
I would step from my cell's confinement
calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
like a squire from his country house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I would talk to my warders
freely and friendly and clearly,
as though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me I would bear the
days of misfortune equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
June 1944

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I know of myself,
restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
struggling for breath,
as though hands were compressing my throat,
yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation,
tossing in expectation of great events,
powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today, and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once?
A hypocrite before others,
and before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I?
They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine.
[Bonhoeffer, Letters & Papers from Prison, pp. 347-48]

19. How did they respond to Abraham?
5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham,
saying to him, 6 “Hear us, my lord: You are a
mighty prince among us; bury your dead in
the choicest of our burial places. None of us
will withhold from you his burial place, that
you may bury your dead.”
9 skeletons discovered in a
3,600-year-old Canaanite
tomb in Megiddo
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-
history-archaeology/

20. What is a sepulcher?
6 “Hear us, my lord: You are a mighty prince
among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our
burial places. None of us will withhold from you
his burial place, that you may bury your dead.”
La3n sepulcrum, a noun derived
from the verb sepelire, meaning
"to bury."
Tomb near Church of
the Holy Sepulcher
and the Western Wall

21. Why did Abraham reject the Hiftes’
gracious oﬀer to use one of their burial
chambers for Sarah’s interment?
7 Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to
the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 And he
spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I
bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and meet
with Ephron the son of Zohar for me, 9 that he
may give me the cave of Machpelah which he has,
which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to
me at the full price, as property for a burial place
among you.”
“burial place” (qě·ḇěr) = to dig. This is the first
mention of a grave in Scripture.
‫ק‬ֶ‫ב‬ֶ‫ר‬

22. What speciﬁc plot of land did Abraham
want to purchase?
8 “…hear me, and meet with Ephron the son of
Zohar for me, 9 that he may give me the cave of
Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of
his ﬁeld.”
“Machpelah” = double case, which may indicate
a double cave, located in the district
near Mamre (v. 17).
‫ה‬ַ‫מּ‬ַ‫כ‬ְ‫פּ‬ֵ‫ל‬ָ‫ה‬

23. Where is Machpelah believed to be located
today?

2 So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that
is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan
23. Where is Machpelah believed to be located
today?
“There are a large number of traditional
sites about Hebron. … At the foot of
this hill is the Ager Damascenus, from
which was obtained the red earth of
which Adam was made”
A Dictionary of the Bible, edited by James Hastings, M.A., D.D
The red earth from which Adam was created may have
come from Hebron!
See Anthony Hilhorst (2007) “Ager Damascenus: Views on the Place of Adam’s Creation”
Warszawskie Studia Teologiczne http://digital.fides.org.pl/Content/460/Hilhorst.pdf

24. What was Abraham referring to when he
said, “If it is your wish”?
8 And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your
wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear
me, and meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for
me...”
“wish” (ně·p̄ ěš) = soul‫נ‬ֶ‫פ‬ֶ‫שׁ‬
(psyche)
(soma)

25. Why did Abraham speak through “the
people of the land” rather than to Ephron,
the son of Zohar, directly?
7 Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to
the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 And
he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish
that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me,
and meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me...”
“meet” ‫פּ‬ָ‫ג‬ַ‫ע‬ (pā·ḡǎʿ) = intercede, intervene,
plead with

26. What words or phrases are repeated and
essen3al to the “public ﬁling” of a land
contract?
10 Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth;
and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the
presence of the sons of Heth, all who entered at
the gate of his city, saying, 11 “No, my lord, hear
me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I
give it to you in the presence of the sons of my
people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”
18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of
the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the
gate of his city.

6 “Hear us, my lord…”
8 And he (Abraham) spoke with them,
10 Ephron the Hifte answered Abraham…
13 And he (Abraham) spoke to Ephron in the
hearing of the people of the land, saying…
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying…
16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham
weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had
named in the hearing of the sons of Heth
essen3al to the “public ﬁling” of a land
contract?

6 “Hear us, my lord: You are a mighty prince among
us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial
places. None of us will withhold from you his burial
place, that you may bury your dead.”
11 “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the ﬁeld and the
cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the
sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”
15 “My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four
hundred shekels of silver. What is that between you
and me? So bury your dead.”
essential to the “public filing” of a land
contract?

27. Who is Ephron?
8 And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your
wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear
me, and meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for
me”
• 8 “the son of Zohar” ‫צ‬ֹ‫ח‬ַ‫ר‬( ṣō·ḥǎr) = splendor,
brightness, radiance
Mithra – the
Persian / Itu –
the Hindu
(>3,500 BC)
Ra – the Egyptian
sun god
(2,500 - 3,000 BC)

27. Who is Ephron?
and Ephron the Hifte answered Abraham in the
the gate of his city…
• 8 “the son of Zohar” ‫צ‬ֹ‫ח‬ַ‫ר‬( ṣō·ḥǎr) = splendor,
brightness, radiance
• 10 “dwelt among the sons of Heth” = 2nd son
of Canaan, the grandson of Noah (Gen.
23:3,7)
• 10 “the HiRte” ( ‫ח‬ִ‫תּ‬ִ‫י‬ ḥit·tî) = terrors, terrible

Genesis 14:13 Then one who had escaped came
and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the
terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother
of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were
allies with Abram.
1) Hebrew word ʿiḇ·rî) = “opposite side.”
2) Jewish rabbis teach that Abraham came from the other
side, crossed over the river; not a na3ve Canaanite.
3) Eber was a great-grandson of Noah’s son Shem; the
father of Peleg. According to Jewish tradi3on, Eber,
refused to help with the building of the Tower of Babel,
so his language was not confused when it was
abandoned.
28. Who is Abraham to Ephron?
‫ﬠ‬ִ‫ב‬ְ‫ִר‬‫י‬(

29. Where did this business transac3on
between Abraham and Ephron take place?
the gate of his city…
Large stones at the base of the
Abrahamic period gate complex
‫שׁ‬ַ‫ﬠ‬ַ‫ר‬‫־‬‫ﬠ‬ִ‫י‬‫ר‬‫ו‬‫וֹ‬ (šǎ·ʿǎr ʿîr)

30. How did Ephron respond to Abraham?
the gate of his city, saying, 11 “No, my lord, hear
me: I give you the ﬁeld and the cave that is in it;
I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my
people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”

31. Why did Abraham insist on paying for the
land for a burial ground when the land was
oﬀered to him for free?
12 Then Abraham bowed himself down before the
people of the land; 13 and he spoke to Ephron in
the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If
you will give it, please hear me. I will give you
money for the ﬁeld; take it from me and I will bury
my dead there.”
‫נ‬ָ‫ת‬ַ‫ן‬ (nā·ṯǎn) in the perfect tense = transfer
possession of something concrete or
abstract to another; place in the control of
another; in this context means “give for a
price” or “sell”
“give”

32. How much did Abraham pay for the land?
15 “My lord, listen to me (Ephron); the land is worth
four hundred shekels of silver. What is that between
you and me? So bury your dead.” 16 And Abraham
listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the
silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing
of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver,
currency of the merchants.
9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which
he has, which is at the end of his ﬁeld. Let him give it
to me at the full price, as property for a burial place
among you.”

33. What is a “shekel”?
16 …and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron
which he had named in the hearing of the sons of
Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the
merchants.
• During the time of Abraham – a shekel was a unit
of weight approximately 11 ½ - 14 ½ grams or
about 4/10 ounce.
• In New Testament times – a shekel became a coin
of the same weight struck in gold.
• The total weight of silver given by Abraham for the
purchase of the land was about 10 pounds.

Shekels of Silver
Biblical Price Index
hyps://coatofmanycolors.net/2012/06/20/biblical-price-index/

Shekels of Silver (converted to USD)
Biblical Price Index (in USD)
https://coatofmanycolors.net/2012/06/20/biblical-price-index/

34. What is the significance of 400 shekels?
16 …four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the
merchants.
“As per Levi3cus 27:16, the size of a beit-kur, which
is the equivalent of 75,000 square cubits, represents
a value of 50 silver shekels. Thus, the size of the field
which Abraham purchased for 400 silver shekels was
eight kur, or 600,000 square cubits.” (Paaneach Raza)
Levi[cus 27:16 ‘If a man dedicates to the LO RD part of a
field of his possession, then your valua3on shall be
according to the seed for it. A homer of barley seed
shall be valued at fi`y shekels of silver.

34. What is the signiﬁcance of 400 shekels?
16 …four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the
merchants.
“A square cubit is the size of the roof hole at the top of
Noah’s Ark and the size of the two tablets that the 10
Commandments were engraved in. It’s also enough
space for a man to stand comfortably in, meaning
Abraham purchased a plot of land that provides an
individual “space” for each of the 600,000 souls of
Israel. When using the Holy Cubit that the Future Holy
Temple is designed with, it works out to a plot of land
exactly .37 square miles.”
http://kabbalahsecrets.com/?p=1526

35. Why did Abraham pay full price rather the
haggling, as is the custom in the middle
east?
9 “Let him give it to me at the full price...”
• “full price” appears again only in the bartering
between King David and Araunah for his threshing
ﬂoor (1 Chr. 21:22, 24; cf. 2 Sam. 24:22–23).
• Abraham wanted no dispute about how he
acquired the land lest there be ambiguity about
ownership in the future.
Mathews, K. A. (2005). Genesis 11:27–50:26 (Vol. 1B, p. 319). Nashville:
Broadman & Holman Publishers.

The Code of the Nesilim (an
ancient Hifte legal code
da3ng from 1650 -1500 BC)
contains prices for many
goods, including for land.
Paragraph 183 states:
“The price of 1 acre of…field is 3 [shekels of silver].
The price of 1 acre of “partition” field is 2 shekels of
silver. If the field is farther out, he [shall give] 1
shekel of silver.”
The plot's price would have been the equivalent
of 133 acres of premium ﬁeld and 400 acres of
ﬁeld “farther out”.

“The situation is clarified by the Hittite law code found at
Hettueas, Bogaskoi, in Asia Minor, which throws
considerable light on the transaction. Law 46 stipulates that
the holder of an entire field shall render the feudal
obligations, but not he who holds only a small part. A later
version stipulates that notice of the sale be made to the king
and only those feudal services stipulated at that time are to
be given. According to Law 47 lands held as gifts from the
king do not incur feudal obligations, while sale of all a
craftsman’s lands do carry it. On the other hand, if the larger
portion of his holding is sold, the obligation passes to the
buyer. One who usurps a field or is given a field by the
people bears the obligation. By these various conditions it is
seen that the land itself bears the obligation which posses to
the new buyer.”
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1976), p. 193.

Westbrook and Wells (2009) jus3fy the high price paid by
Abraham by sugges3ng that acquisi3on of a permanent
stake in the property, one that would be passed on to his
heirs, required Abraham to pay the “full price” of the
land; else, it seems from this, the transfer would include
an element of a gi`, in which case the property would
return to the original landowner with Abraham’s death.
Thus, Ephron wanted a lower (zero?) price in order to be
able to reclaim the land a`er Abraham’s death, and
Abraham wanted to pay the full price. Interes3ngly, such
an explana3on is only necessary if one wants to revive the
theory that Ephron wanted to give Abraham the land as a
gi`, an approach Westbrook (1971) himself rejected.
35. Why did Abraham pay full price?

36. Where is the plot of land Abraham
purchased?
17 So the field of
Ephron which was in
Machpelah, which
was before Mamre,
the field and the cave
which was in it, and
all the trees that were
in the field, which
were within all the
surrounding borders,
were deeded

37. How much land did Abraham purchase?
17 So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah,
which was before Mamre, the field and the cave
which was in it, and all the trees that were in the
field, which were within all the surrounding
borders, were deeded
The natural opening of the
Cave of Macpelah at Hebron.
The ﬁelds surrounding the
city of Hebron, located at the
top of this picture.

The Tomb of the Shroud
A 1st century Jewish tomb near Old City of Jerusalem
Structure of
the Tomb
Upper
Chamber
Tomb
Entrance
Lower
Chamber

38. Did Stephen in Acts 7:16 contradict Moses
account of Abraham’s burial place?
17 So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah,
which was before Mamre, the field and the cave
field, which were within all the surrounding
Acts 7:16 And they were carried back to Shechem and
laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of
money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.

39. Did Joshua contradict Moses by sta3ng that
Jacob, not Abraham, purchased the burial
site?
Joshua 24:32 The bones of Joseph, which the
children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they
buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which
Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the
father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver,
and which had become an inheritance of the
children of Joseph.

40. Why was the transaction of purchasing the
land made “in the presence of the children
of Heth”?
18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of
the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the
gate of his city.

41. What procedures did Abraham take in his
land contract with Ephron that are
prac3ced today in American business law?
9 - Ephron had clear 3tle to the cave of Machpelah.
10 - There were witnesses to the transac3on.
11 - Ephron was mentally competent and had the ability to
understand the terms of the transac3on.
13 - The seller set the price and the buyer accepted the
price.
16 - There was an exchange of considera3on (money for
land).
18 - Abraham was issued a deed of sale.
Verse

42. Why was so much detail given about the
loca3on of Sarah’s grave?
19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife
in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before
Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
Burial of Sarah (source: Wikimedia Commons)

43. What would an ancient burial in the 3me
of Abraham look like?
Burial sites in Harran da3ng to the 3me of Abraham.

44. How did Abraham “legally 3tle” the ﬁeld
and cave he purchased?
20 So the field and the cave that is in it were
deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as
property for a burial place.

45. Which of God’s promises to Abraham did
Sarah not see before she died? (13:16;
15:5; 22:17; cp. Heb. 11:11)
• Sarah did not see any grandchildren of
her son Isaac who was not married
before her death.
• Sarah did not see any evidence of God's
promise that He would make Abraham's
offspring as numerous as the stars of the
sky, dust of the earth, and the sands of
the seashore.

46. How was Abraham’s faith revealed in
Genesis 23?
Hebrews 11:13–16 These all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar oﬀ
were assured of them, embraced them and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14
For those who say such things declare plainly that they
seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to
mind that country from which they had come out,
they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now
they desire a beyer, that is, a heavenly country.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,
for He has prepared a city for them.

46. How was Abraham’s faith revealed in
Genesis 23? (Heb. 11:8-10,13-16)
The cave of Machpelah stood for centuries as a
monument to the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Our Lord’s empty tomb guarantees the Christian that the
grave is not our final resting place but an abode for the body
until Christ returns for His own (1 Cor. 15; 1 Thess. 4).

47. Where is the plot of land Abraham
purchased?
17 So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah,
which was before Mamre, the field and the cave
field, which were within all the surrounding

48. Who else was buried in the cave at
Machpelah besides Sarah?
1. Abraham
2. Isaac
3. Rebekah
4. Leah
5. Jacob

The custodians tell the pilgrims that these are the tombs of
the Patriarchs, for which informa3on the pilgrims give them
money. If a Jew comes, however, and gives a special reward,
the custodian of the cave opens unto him a gate of iron,
which was constructed by our forefathers, and then he is
able to descend below by means of steps, holding a lighted
candle in his hand. He then reaches a cave, in which nothing
is to be found, and a cave beyond, which is likewise empty,
but when he reaches the third cave behold there are six
sepulchers, those of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, respec3vely
facing those of Sarah, Rebekah and Leah, upon which the
names of the three Patriarchs and their wives are inscribed
in Hebrew characters. The cave is ﬁlled with barrels
containing bones of people, which are taken there as to a
sacred place.”
Benjamin of Tudela, 1170 AD
49. Have any remains been found in this cave?

50. How have Jews, Chris3ans and Muslims
regarded this site?

50. How have Jews, Chris3ans and Muslims
regarded this site?
Entrance to Abraham’s Tomb today
(source: Wikimedia Commons)

Inside Jewish
Synagogue at the
Tombs of the
Patriarchs

Outside Great
Mosque in the Tombs
of the Patriarchs

Cenotaph of
Abraham in Tombs
of the Patriarchs

Cenotaph of Sarah in
Tombs of the Patriarchs

“one day the
‘controversies
of Hebron’
will engulf the
en3re world.”
Michel de Nostradame
1503-1566

941-729-6600
941-981-5387
http://faithbiblechurchefc.com
http://TRUTHtransforms.com
sanctitas@aol.com

Burial of Sarah - Genesis 23:1-20

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