Genesis 23:3-16

2008.Jan.19 22:42

Negotiation

Read Genesis 23:3-16 | Full Chapter

And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
(Genesis 23:3-4, ESV)

Sarah has died and Abraham is mourning for her. He decides to bury her. I assume that burial (as opposed to cremation, etc.) is the custom of Abraham’s culture (remember, even though he’s mostly viewed as a father of a people, he’s also the child of a people, whose culture influences him even as his life influences later cultures, including, naturally, mine). I don’t know that there’s any useful thing to say about Abraham’s decision to bury Sarah.

We now embark on a fascinating negotiation between Abraham and the local people–the Children of Heth, as it were. I should probably research the details of this negotiation custom, full of “I’m going to pay you”, “We’ll give it to you” back and forth, and I believe I’ve seen some footnotes about it here and there, but I think the process speaks for itself.

"Sir," they answered, "you are an important man. Choose the best place to bury your wife. None of us would refuse you a resting place for your dead." Abraham bowed down and replied, "If you are willing to let me bury my wife here, please ask Zohar's son Ephron to sell me Machpelah Cave at the end of his field. I'll pay what it's worth, and all of you can be witnesses." Ephron was sitting there near the city gate, when Abraham made this request, and he answered, "Sir, the whole field, including the cave, is yours. With my own people as witnesses, I freely give it to you as a burial place for your dead." Once again, Abraham bowed down and said to Ephron, "In front of these witnesses, I offer you the full price, so I can bury my wife. Please accept my offer." "But sir," the man replied, "the property is worth only four hundred pieces of silver. Why should we haggle over such a small amount? Take the land. It's yours." Abraham accepted Ephron's offer and paid him the four hundred pieces of silver in front of everyone at the city gate. That's how Abraham got Ephron's property east of Hebron, which included the field with all of its trees, as well as Machpelah Cave at the end of the field.
(Genesis 23:5-16, CEV)

Basically Abraham wants to buy a plot of land in which to bury Sarah, and has one picked out, belonging to Ephron. Ephron and his kinsmen tell Abraham he can have any land he wants. Ephron states the price, in terms of “Why should we haggle over this”, Abraham accepts and the sale is closed in front of witnesses.

I have no deep spiritual, or for that matter cultural or historical insight to offer. I just want to make a couple of comments. First is that I kind of like this method of negotiation. The Hittites are able to show their respect for Abraham and their willingness to give him land out of that respect, without being put in the situation where they do it out of embarrassment. Likewise, Abraham is able to receive their respect while still purchasing the property as he desires. No doubt, there’s a lot more going on than that.

I’ve been in several situations in which I’ve mentioned wanting something and someone chose to give it as a gift but it either a) became way too complicated a situation, much as I appreciated the gift itself, or b) for reasons (sometimes bad reasons, such as pride), it was important to me to make the purchase on my own. I think Abraham’s case is the latter, and the Hittites, while stating their willingness to give him something freely, do not deny him the opportunity to show respect for his wife by paying for her burial ground.

The second thing I want to note is the presence of a contract, different from a covenant, but still significant. There’s no long-term binding between Abraham and Ephron over this field, but they do show value for each other by establishing this contract in the presence of others.