seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 22:20 Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.
Genesis 23:1 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
3 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, 4 “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”
7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9 so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”
10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. 11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”
12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.
17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded 18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
Here's the link to the commentary. But turn the page and go on to chapter 23 at this link.
Matthew Poole gave a good explanation of a concubine: “A concubine was an inferior kind of wife, taken according to the common practice of those times, subject to the authority of the principal wife, and whose children had no right of inheritance, but were endowed with gifts."
Abraham bowed himself down to the people of the land: Abraham showed how a follower of God should conduct business with the world: courteously, fairly, prudently. In not giving a counter-offer to the suggested price of four hundred shekels of silver, Abraham was remarkably generous in his dealings with Ephron.
“They who, under the sanction of religion, trample under foot the decent forms of civil respect, supposing that because they are religious, they have a right to be rude, totally mistake the spirit of Christianity.” (Clarke)
Good morning. I had a really busy day yesterday... So please forgive me for being late. Check out verse 23 of Genesis 22 above.... There's Rebekah!!!! She's going to be Isaac's wife.
I see one of the "legal" problems of Ishmael and Isaac has been settled. Hagar was considered a "concubine". No... she wasn't a whore... she was a lesser wife. Sarah was the wife.... beautiful and beloved... and her son Isaac would inherit Abraham's estate. From that estate, he would have cared for his mother. But, alas, Sarah has passed. Now the whole estate goes to Isaac....
There's one more issue I see. Abraham never owned any land to hand over to his son [or sons]. They had plenty of sheep... but they owned no land.
I looked it up.... 400 Sheckels is now worth $107.80. Abraham paid the price quoted for the property.
As I said... I had a very busy day yesterday. Hubby had a yard sale Friday and Saturday. We needed some room and one of our neighbors was having a yard sale... So, we joined in. I make dolls... so, Gary talked me into bringing my dolls out and selling them. He knew what he was doing... because... by putting my dolls on display... he could make me sit with the stuff... Yep, I was outside in the sunlight and he was watching Westerns. Smart guy. When we finally shut down yesterday at about noon... I was exhausted.
Anyway... I was negotiating. Hubby had a couple fishing poles. He had them marked $5 each... and the man only wanted to pay us $7.50 for both. I sold the set for $7.50 and Hubby was mumbling about how the price was too low. Meanwhile... I gave away 2 of my dolls. I gave a little sleeping doll to a little toddler. Her mom was surprised and I was so happy to see the smile on the baby's face. The other doll... well, a crusty plush alligator by the name of Allie... was gifted to a friend of mine who just could not stop talking about her.
I also had some crafting supplies that I hadn't even looked at for years... so, I put them out... and advertised them on facebook as "come and get them". I put a sign out that said free. I told everyone who stopped and picked something up... "it's free". Some were delighted to help me get rid of them. Others though insisted on giving me something for them. I would remind them they were free... but they went in their wallet anyway and gave me a dollar or two. I accepted it because it made them feel better paying for them. I made about $10 from my "free" supplies. The look on their faces though... pleasure... was priceless.
The reason I'm telling you about my yard sale is to discuss the "negotiation" of the burial ground.
I think Ephron saw the grief in Abraham's eyes and he felt compassion.
I think Abraham had to buy the land to secure a permanent place for his beautiful wife.
Ephron allowed Abraham to pay him a really nominal amount.
Abraham felt better... Ephron felt better... and Sarah had a permanent home.
I guess it was a fair price.
