1 And the life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
2 And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
3 When Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Heth, saying,
4 “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me possession of a burying-place 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; you are a prince of God among us: in the best of our grounds bury your dead; none of us shall withhold from you any land, so that you may bury your dead.”
7 And Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
8 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,”
9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, 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.”
10 Now Ephron lived in the midst of the children of Heth, so 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 “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and the cave that is there, I give to you in the presence of the children of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.
12 And Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land.
13 And he spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, “But if you will, please hear me: I will give the price of the field; take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.”
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
15 “My lord, a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and I? Therefore bury your dead.”
16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
17 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 given
18 to 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 given to Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the children of Heth.
Selected Commentary.
h.ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים AND THE LIFE OF SARAH WAS 127 YEARS (literally, 100 years, 20 years and 7 years) — The reason the word שנה is written at every term is to tell you that each term must be explained by itself as a complete number: at the age of one hundred she was as a woman of twenty as regards sin — for just as at the age of twenty one may regard her as having never sinned, since she had not then reached the age when she was subject to punishment, so, too, when she was one hundred years old she was sinless — and when she was twenty she was as beautiful as when she was seven (Genesis Rabbah 58:1).
h.שני חיי שרה THE YEARS OF SARAH’S LIFE — The word years is repeated and without a number to indicate that they were all equally good.
h.בקרית ארבע literally, the city of the Four, and it was so called because of the four giants who lived there: Ahiman, Sheshai, Talmai and their father (Numbers 13:22). Another explanation is that it was so called because of the four couples who were buried there, man and wife — Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah (Genesis Rabbah 58:4). ויבא אברהם AND ABRAHAM CAME from Beer-Sheba.
h.ויבא אברהם AND ABRAHAM CAME from Beer-Sheba
h.לספוד לשרה ולבכותה TO BEWAIL SARAH AND TO WEEP FOR HER — The narrative of the death of Sarah follows immediately on that of the Binding of Isaac, because through the announcement of the Binding — that her son had been made ready for sacrifice and had almost been sacrificed — she received a great shock (literally, her soul flew from her) and she died (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 32).
h.גר ותושב אנכי עמכם I AM A STRANGER AND A SETTLER WITH YOU — A stranger having come from another land, but I have settled down amongst you. A Midrashic explanation is: if you agree to sell me the land then I will regard myself as a stranger and will pay for it, but if not, I shall claim it as a settler and will take it as my legal right, because the Holy One, blessed be He, said to me, (12:7) “Unto thy seed I give this land“ (Genesis Rabbah 58:6).
h.אחזת קבר A POSSESSION OF A BURYING PLACE — means possession of land to serve as a burying place.
h.לא יכלה means will not withhold, just as (Psalms 40:12) “Thou wilt not withhold (תכלא) Thy mercies”, and (Genesis 8:2) “And the rain was restrained (ויכלא).
h.נפשכם means YOUR WILL.
h.ופגעו לי — This phrase signifies entreaty, as (Ruth 1:16) “Do not entreat (תפגעי) me”.
h.המכפלה MACHPELAH (the root, כפל, means double) — it had a lower and an upper cavern. Another explanation of why it was so called is, because it has the characteristic of being doubled on account of the couples who are buried there (see Rashi in verse 2) (Eruvin 53a).
h.בכסף מלא FOR ITS FULL VALUE IN SILVER — מלא means שלם so that the phrase means all that it is worth. Thus, too, did David say to Ornan, (1 Chronicles 21:22) “for full money”.
h.ועפרון ישב The verb is written without a ו so that it may be read ישב he sat, thus indicating that on that very day they had appointed him (Ephron) to be an officer over them. Because of the high standing of Abraham who needed to negotiate with him, he was elevated to a dignified position (so that Abraham whom they esteemed as a great prince might have to negotiate with an equal and not with an inferior person (Genesis Rabbah 58:7).
h.לכל באי שער עירו OF ALL THAT CAME IN AT THE GATE OF HIS CITY — for they all left their work and came to pay their last respect to Sarah (Genesis Rabbah 58:7).
h.לא אדני NAY, MY LORD — You are not to buy it with money.
h.נתתי לך I HAVE GIVEN IT TO THEE (a perfect tense) — See, it is as though I have already given it to you.
h.אך אם אתה לו שמעני BUT IF THOU WOULDST ONLY HEAR ME — You tell me to listen to you (verse 11) and to accept it without payment.
h.I do not desire this: BUT IF THOU WOULDST ONLY HEAR ME! — i.e. I only wish that you would listen to me and do as I ask.
h.נתתי I GIVE (perfect with present sense) old French donne; English I give. I have the money ready and I only wish that I had already given it to you.
h.ביני ובינך BETWEEN ME AND THEE — Between two such friends as we are, of what importance is that? Nothing at all! Leave business alone and bury your dead!
h.וישקל אברהם לעפרן AND ABRAHAM WEIGHED TO EPHRON [THE SILVER] — The name Ephron is written defectively (without the ו) to indicate that there was something missing in Ephron viz, sincerity — because he promised much but did not do even the very least (Bava Metzia 87a): He took from him big Shekels, viz., centenaria (worth a full 100 smaller units) as it is said, “money current with the merchant” which means, such coins as were everywhere accepted as worth a full Shekel — for there are places where their Shekels are of large size, centenaria; old French Centenars (cf. Ruth R. 7).
h.ויקם שדה עפרון AND THE FIELD OF EPHRON WAS MADE SURE (literally, it rose) — It received a rise in importance because it passed from the possession of a commoner (הדיוט an ordinary person) into the possession of a king (Genesis Rabbah 58:8). But the real meaning of the verse is: The field and the cave that was therein and all the trees … became secured to Abraham as a possession etc. (i. e. verse [17] is an incomplete sentence and must be read together with verse [18], thus: ויקם השדה וגו… לאברהם למקנה — The field etc. became secured to Abraham as a possession).
h.בכל באי שער עירו BEFORE ALL THAT CAME IN AT THE GATE OF HIS CITY — In the midst of all them, and with all of them standing by he gave him legal possession of it.