Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 43
22:18–23:16
G enesis
31
certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like
the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will
conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the
nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”
Then they returned to the servants and traveled back to Beersheba,
where Abraham continued to live.
Soon after this, Abraham heard that Milcah, his brother Nahor’s wife, had
borne Nahor eight sons. The oldest was named Uz, the next oldest was
Buz, followed by Kemuel (the ancestor of the Arameans), Kesed, Hazo,
Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. (Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) In
addition to these eight sons from Milcah, Nahor had four other children
from his concubine Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash,
and Maacah.
When Sarah was 127 years old, she died at K
iriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.
Then, leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders, “Here I am, a
stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can
give my wife a proper burial.”
The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Listen, my lord, you are an honored
prince among us. Choose the finest of our tombs and bury her there. No
one here will refuse to help you in this way.”
Then Abraham bowed low before the Hittites and said, “Since you are
willing to help me in this way, be so kind as to ask Ephron son of Zohar to
let me buy his cave at Machpelah, down at the end of his field. I will pay
the full price in the presence of witnesses, so I will have a permanent burial
place for my family.”
Ephron was sitting there among the others, and he answered Abraham
as the others listened, speaking publicly before all the Hittite elders of the
town. “No, my lord,” he said to Abraham, “please listen to me. I will give
you the field and the cave. Here in the presence of my people, I give it to
you. Go and bury your dead.”
Abraham again bowed low before the citizens of the land, and he replied
to Ephron as everyone listened. “No, listen to me. I will buy it from you.
Let me pay the full price for the field so I can bury my dead there.”
Ephron answered Abraham, “My lord, please listen to me. The land is
worth 400 pieces of silver, but what is that between friends? Go ahead and
bury your dead.”
So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and paid the amount he had
suggested—400 pieces of silver, weighed according to the market standard. The Hittite elders witnessed the transaction.
