Genesis Chapter 23

The Death and Burial of Sarah

I. Observation
A. Context
1. When? Sarah died at 127 years old (v.1); Gen. 17:17 tells us that she was 90 yrs old at the covenant,
and, thus 90-91 yrs old when Isaac was born. Thus, the events of this chapter occur approximately
37 years after the covenant between God and Abraham.
2. Where? Sarah died at Kiriath Arba (in Hebron, the northern area of Canaan). We are not sure why
she was up there, instead of at Beersheba, where we last left Abraham in Gen. 22:19. There are two
possibilities:
a. Sarah could have been living or visiting family in that region without Abraham.
(1) Gen. 24 shows that Abraham (and Sarah, since they were related) had family in that area, so
perhaps she was visiting or staying with them for awhile.
(2) Verse 2 tells us that Abraham went to mourn…this may indicate that he was not living in that
area during this time…further confirmed in v. 4 when he calls himself a stranger and alien in
this land.
b. Since the length of time Abraham stayed in Beersheba (22:19) is not definite, perhaps by this
time Abraham and Sarah had moved to that area. This would make sense, as both of them were
older and maybe they would have been living with family in their final years. In this instance,
Abraham went to mourn would refer to his going to her side, rather than a great journey.
B. Events
1. Sarah dies at age 127 and Abraham mourns for her. (v. 1-2)
2. After he mourns, it is time to bury Sarah, but he has no place to bury her in this land, so he seeks to
purchase some from the people there, the Hittites, descendants of Ham & Canaan (v. 3-4)
3. He is well-known to them, although a stranger and alien to the land. (v. 5-6)
4. Abraham chooses a cave, on land belonging Ephron, and asks to buy the cave (v. 7-9)
5. Ephron responds by offering to give Abraham the land and the cave on it (v. 10-11)
• Ryrie: Hittite law required Ephron to be responsible for dues on the entire property if he sold
Abraham only the cave, but not if he sold him the entire parcel.
6. Abraham insists on purchasing the land, rather than receiving it as a gift (v. 12-13)
• Perhaps he did not want to be indebted to Ephron…..not really sure of the reason.
7. Ephron sets the price at 400 shekels of silver (v. 14-15), a high price (Ryrie)
8. Abraham agrees and buys the land and the cave on it from Ephron (v. 16-18)
9. Abraham buries Sarah in the Cave of Machpela (v. 19-20)
II. Interpretation
A. Notice how Abraham interacts with the people of the land, strangers to him and vice versa. He showed
them the proper respect, being a visitor in their land. He refused any opportunity to be placed in their
debt.
B. Remember: God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants…which meant that
eventually, this land would belong to his descendants anyway.
C. Contrast: Notice how differently Abraham responds in this chapter versus Chapter 20 when Abimelech
gives him permission to live wherever he wanted (20:15). Could the difference be just that Abimelech
did not give possession of the land where Ephron offered to? Or could it be that Abraham knew
eventually his descendants would overtake this land and that any indebtedness to the Canaanites could
create future challenges?
III. Application
A. As Christians, we often live as outsiders in a land not our own (John 17; 1 Cor. 2:12). How do we
interact with the “natives”? Do we allow ourselves to be unequally yoked?