Genesis
23 & 24
The Death and Burial of Sarah
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1Now Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3Then Abraham rose from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4"I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight." 5The 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 graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead." 7So Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8And he spoke with them, saying, "If it is your wish for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and approach Ephron the son of Zohar for me, 9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in your presence for a burial site." 10Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth; even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, 11"No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead." 12And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. 13He spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me that I may bury my dead there." 14Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15"My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and you? So bury your dead." 16Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, commercial standard. 17So Ephron's field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were within all the confines of its border, were deeded over 18to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20So the field and the cave that is in it, were deeded over to Abraham for a burial site by the sons of Heth.
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Verse -
1. years, the years____ This repetition is usually repeated after 100 years, then after 20 and then after 7.
2. Kiriath-arba____which is Hebron. The older name means, "the city of four." Possibly some kind of confederation.
3. Hittites. Maybe not but a more generic people it is argued.
4. Sojourning settler_____Grant me a burial holding. ____The text literally reads "sojourner and settler," which is a legal term meaning "resident alien." Read closely, at the beginning of Abraham's speech he announces his vulnerable legal status. Never mind that the entire land had been given to him. In this conversation we may also notice that Abraham avoids the term "sell" and uses other words as acquiring a "holding" a word that clearly indicates legal possession.
6 Pray ______the end of verse 5 or the start of v.6. Who knows?
6. You are a prince of God among us! In the pick of our graves bury your dead. This could be and probably is a sarcastic remark.
9. at the far end of his field____In settling on this particular location for a burial cave, Abraham wants to make it clear that he will not encroach on Hittite property. "Field" could be translated "steppe" or land or property. Rather vague if I do say so myself.
at full price____not an exact translation. Actually says with full silver and the phrase in v.16 "the silver he spoke of" is a reference to this text.
10. in hearing of the Hittites, all the assembled in the gate of the town. Very customary for ancient NE towns.
11. pray, my lord, hear me__________not in some manuscripts
12. I grant you...I grant you...Once again, a legal term and also a ploy. Ephron knows what Abraham wants is to buy the land and therefore acquire inalienable rights to it. This "bestowal" is an effort to elicit an offer from Abraham.
14. Land for four hundred silver shekels. If we compare this price with other real estate prices mentioned in the Bible, we find that 400 shekels is a kings ransom. Abraham has twice declared his readiness to pay "full price," so he can hardly object to this extortionate price. In fact, the real bargaining aim has been to make a legitimate purchase and he is unwilling to haggle over the price.
16. listened to____That is, agreed to.
weighed out....four hundred shekels....There were no coins so the silver was weighed out [the literal definition of the word shekel....]
17-20_______-The language of these concluding verses are emphatically legalistic. Notice, the word "to buy" was avoided in all the above dickering but now shows up.
Excrusis
It
must be pointed out here that in Acts 7:5 we are told that Abraham
never received any inheritance while he was alive. Not even enough to
set his foot on. The Hebrew writer explains why this took place.
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"By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a
place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out,
not knowing where he was going." (11:8) Abraham left his home
and moved to the promised land on the basis of faith. 9By faith he
lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land,
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same
promise;(11:9) Abraham was always an alien while he lived in Canaan.
But Abraham never received the promise while he was alive even though
he lived in Canaan. Abraham was not looking for a city on earth or a
land on earth, 10"for he was looking for the city which has
)foundations, whose architect and builder is God."(11:10) All of
those who died not receiving the promise, knew about the promise
because they saw the promise from afar. Because they knew that the
promise was heaven and not earth, they were strangers on this earth.
" 13All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but
having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having
confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. (11:13)
Abraham rejected the land of Canaan and longed for the heavenly
promise. 16But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a
heavenly one Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for
He has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 118ff. |
It is my view that the entire story of the burial site for Sarah has a much deeper and greater meaning. It was put in the canon to tell us about heaven and remind us as to what God says we need. That is, we ought never become attached to things on earth. Our home like Abraham's is heaven. We need enough room to bury our dead and that is about it. We are to keep our eyes on the city, the heavenly city that we see from afar.
Genesis 24
A Bride for Isaac
1 General Outline of Chapter 24 and a Bride fore Isaac
Abraham sends his servant to Aram to obtain a bride for Isaac.
A. Why cannot Isaac go himself? The answer is: I think that we are to get the message that Abraham nor any member of his family can never again claim anywhere but Canaan as their home. The promise of the seed and the promise of the land are linked closely together.
B. Note also that Abram's name is changed to Abraham and Jacob's name will be changed to Israel. Isaac's name remains the same. Why? He was named by God! See Genesis 17:9.
C. Note, the author does not answer the two questions above for us. We must figure it out ourself. The point is that the story demands reader input.
II. Genesis 24 departs from the normal style of Biblical prose because it is such a long story. Only Numbers chapter 7 has more verses and even then it isn't a narrative in the truest sense.
A. The main reason for the length of this chapter is repetition. This is a form of literature where the reader is invited to compare the different tellings of the story.
1. First, we read Abraham's instructions to the servant (verses 1-10).
2. Then we read the story itself as it unfolds (verses 11-34)
3. Finally, we hear the servant's version of the story as he relates the events to the household of Bethuel, father of Rebekah (verses 35-50).
B. By paying attention to the minor differences in the different tellings___we are able to approach the story as follows____(1) the command (2) fulfillment (3) retelling___
C. There is also a larger picture here that is easy to overlook that we call life cycle events.
1. We already have read of the annunciation to Hagar and the birth of Ishmael (both in chapter 16) and the near death experience of Ishmael and his marriage (both in chapter 21)
2. Of these four events, three have already occurred in the stories of Isaac: the annunciation of Sarah (chapter 17), the birth of Isaac (chapter 21), and the near death experience of Isaac (chapter 22-the Aqedah). The fourth has not been related yet so now we are primed for the marriage of Isaac.
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1Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way. 2Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, "Please place your hand under my thigh, 3and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, 4but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac." 5The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?" 6Then Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there! 7"The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. 8"But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this my oath; only do not take my son back there." 9So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. 10Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of good things of his master's in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. |
THE COMMAND
I. Verse 2___An ancient custom is reflected in our story. Abraham instructs his servant to place his hand "under his thigh" and the servant does so in verse 9. The expression is a euphemism for testicles: touching or grabbing hold of the testicles was a way of swearing or taking an oath. The same custom presumably existed in Ancient Rome,which explains our English words, testicles, testify, and testimony which all derive from the same Latin Root.
Verse 3___the absolute prohibition against marrying a Canaanite
Verse 4___to my land and my birthplace you shall go____These words are an echo of the words God spoke to Abraham at the beginning of chapter 12 sending him from his native land.
verse 7____Abraham's language explicitly echoes the covenant promises he has received. Later in the story, when the servant gives the family a seemingly verbatim report of this initial dialogue with his master, he discreetly edits out this covenantal language.
Verse 10___camels ___According to modern archaeological and extra biblical sources, camels were not used as beast of burden this early. My view on the matter is simply this. The archaeologists are wrong. I suspect that sometime in the future this will be proven.
THE FULL FILLMENT
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11He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. 12He said, "O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. 13"Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; 14now may it be that the girl to whom I say, 'Please let down your jar so that I may drink,' and who answers, 'Drink, and I will water your camels also'--may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master." 15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. 16The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. 17Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar." 18 She said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking." 20So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. 21Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not. 22When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold, 23and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father's house?" 24She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor." 25Again she said to him, "We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in." 26Then the man bowed low and worshiped the LORD. 27He said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers." 28Then the girl ran and told her mother's household about these things. 29Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. 30When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, "This is what the man said to me," he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. 31And he said, "Come in, blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside since I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?" 32So the man entered the house. Then Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33But when food was set before him to eat, he said, "I will not eat until I have told my business." And he said, "Speak on." 34So he said, "I am Abraham's servant. |
Verse 11___by the well of water at eventide, the hour when the water-drawing women came out.___This is known as a betrothal scene. The betrothal scenes in the bible follow the general patten we see here.
verse 17___Pray, let me sip a bit of water. With perfect politeness, the parched desert traveler speaks as if he wants no more than to wet his lips. In reality, huge quantities of water will have to be drawn.
verses 18-19___Drink my lord....and let him drink, And she let his drink his fill. If we read this closely, there is a long delay before she finally produces the requisite offer to water the camels. This is a heart stopper. The servant no doubt was wondering if God had indeed answered his prayer.
Verse 20___Imagine this, a camel after a long desert journey drinks many gallons of water, and there are ten camels here to water so Rebekah more than had her work cut out. She probably had a ladder that went down into the well where she used a jug to dip water and bring it back up.
Verse 22____beq{a The word is derived from the term which means "to split" and so may refer to half a shekel.
Verse 25____bran. The Hebrew teven appears to have two different meanings in the bible. In the brick making process in Exodus it means straw and this is the common use in most of the bible. But, there are several text where it is used a food (Isiah 11:7, 65:25; 1st Kings 5:8). It is food that makes sense here.
Verse 30____when he saw the nose rings and bracelets______We must ask the question here as to what kind of a person is Laban. His sharp eye on the gifts invites us to wonder about him. I suspect, Laban is a slippery character. Notice how easy the marriage things goes with Isaac but generations down the road when Laban is in charge, things will not go so easy for Jacob.
Verse 31____Come in, blessed of the Lord____Laban's language is typical NE hospitality. We are reminded of the strangers who visited Lot. However, one cannot forget how Laban is focused on the gifts.
Verse 32___the men who were with him___Of course there were men with the servant since he had ten camels. Notice the "us" in verse 23.
THE RETELLING
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35"The LORD has greatly blessed my master, so that he has become rich; and He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys. 36"Now Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master in her old age, and he has given him all that he has. 37"My master made me swear, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; 38but you shall go to my father's house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.' 39"I said to my master, 'Suppose the woman does not follow me.' 40"He said to me, 'The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father's house; 41then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.' 42"So I came today to the spring, and said, 'O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful; 43behold, I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar"; 44and she will say to me, "You drink, and I will draw for your camels also"; let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master's son.' 45"Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and I said to her, 'Please let me drink.' 46"She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will water your camels also'; so I drank, and she watered the camels also. 47"Then I asked her, and said, 'Whose daughter are you?' And she said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him'; and I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists. 48"And I bowed low and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. 49"So now if you are going to deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left." 50Then Laban and Bethuel replied, "The matter comes from the LORD; so we cannot speak to you bad or good. 51"Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has spoken." 52When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground before the LORD. 53The servant brought out articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. 54Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, "Send me away to my master." 55But her brother and her mother said, "Let the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go." 56He said to them, "Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master." 57And they said, "We will call the girl and consult her wishes." 58Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go." 59Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse with Abraham's servant and his men. 60They blessed Rebekah and said to her, "May you, our sister, Become thousands of ten thousands, And may your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them." 61Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed. 62Now Isaac had come from going to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the Negev. 63Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. 64Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel. 65She said to the servant, "Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "He is my master." Then she took her veil and covered herself. 66The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. |
I. verse 35___The servant's speech in keeping with the biblical technique of near-repetition, echoes in detail the language his own dialogue with Abraham at the beginning of the chapter. However, there are some changes. "The Lord has blessed Abraham in all things." He wants his audience to know that his master is a man of wealth.
verse 40___The Lord in whose presence I have walked. To "walk before" or to live in devotion to a particular deity would have been an idea that Abraham's polytheistic kinfolk would have understood. We cannot help but notice how the servant is careful to delete any reference to the monotheistic God of Abraham and the covenantal promises. Similarly, there is no mention of the seed.
____from my clan and my father's house. Abraham had actually said "from there." But now the servant chooses to elaborate his masters meaning in terms that emphasize to his kinfolk family loyalty.
verse 47____And I asked her....and I put the ring in her nose....The one significant divergence in the servants report is that he claims to have asked Rebekah about her lineage before placing the golden ornaments on her, whereas he actually did this as soon as she had drawn water for all the camels and afterward then he inquired about her family. The servant having seen the stipulation of his prayer completely fulfilled by the beautiful girl at the well is entirely certain that she is the wife God has intended for Isaac. But to the family he does not want to seem to have done anything so presumptuous as bestowing gifts without first knowing about her pedigree.
verse 49___ turn elsewhere___The text literally says "turn to the right or to the left"
verse 50____ and Bethuel. Some textual critics claim that this is a scribal addition since the narrative may suggest that Bethuel was dead when these events occurred. Notice the home is "her mother's household" and it is Laban who speaks for the family.
________neither good nor evil. What this means is "noting whatsoever."
Verse 55___ten days or so___This is not all that clear in Hebrew since 10 days, with the days plural often in Hebrew means a year. In 10 then would mean ten months of a year.
Verse 59___her nurse___This is a sign of social status. The nurse's name will be given in chapter 35.
Verse 60___Our Sister...This is a poem that incorporates the twofold blessing of being progenitrix to a nation of mighty arms.
63.To Stroll___not sure what it really means. It is an archaic verb
65.Covered her face____This is a social practice. Unmarried women did not wear a veil, but there is evidence that it was customary to keep the bride veiled when the the presence of the bridegroom until the wedding.
67. into the tent of Sarah his mother___Some textual critics want to eliminate "Sarah his mother." But this idea should be resisted. Sarah was the matriarch of the family and with her death there is an emotional gap. We are now being told that Rebekah will be the new matriarch of the family. The conclusion of this story is curious. Rebekah is fatherless living in the household of her mother. Her husband is motherless, and Rebekah now moves into the tent of his mother. Thus, the idea of matriarch is stressed.