Genesis 23

Genesis 23:2, Sarah died…in Hebron.See notes at Genesis 22:19.

And to weep for her. The small letter kaf in v’liv-kotah indicates that Abraham’s expression of grief was constrained. The righteous person knows that there is an afterlife; death is only a temporary separation, and he does not give way to excessive sadness. The small kaf teaches us that Abraham did not parade his grief, but bore his pain in his heart, not in public. (Munk, p. 137; The ArtScroll Series Interlinear Chumash—Bereishis/Genesis, p. 116). The Tikkun (p. 47) gives a completely different explanation for the small kaf. Thus, this calls into questions the validity of rabbinic speculation in these matters.

Genesis 23:3, Abraham stood up. In the face of an extreme trial—the death of Sarah—Abraham stood up to bury his dead. This is even in face of the fact that Abraham and Sarah seemed to have been estranged and living in separate towns since the akeidah. At the same time, rather than remaining incapacitated by his grief, he rose up as a mighty man and dutifully took care of business and buried his dead.

Genesis 23:3ff, I am a foreigner. According to the covenantal promises of YHVH, Abraham was the rightful owner of the land of Canaan, not the children of Heth (the Hittites), yet how did Abraham treat the ruling Canaanite “squatters?” He refrained himself from treating his rivals with impudence and arrogance but treated them with honor and respect. How does Scripture enjoin us to treat human authorities? Can we respect their positions of authority without flattering them or condoning their wickedness? Ponder the demeanor of other biblical personages in their dealings with earthly, pagan authorities: Moses, Nehemiah, Daniel, Yeshua, and Paul for example.

Genesis 23:15, Four hundred shekels of silver. Abraham paid a full and possibly even an inflated price for the cave of Machpelah without balking. In so doing, he maintained a good reputation among the heathen. Matthew Henry in his commentary on this passage states, “The religion of the Bible enjoins [us] to pay due respect to all in authority, without flattering their persons, or countenancing their crimes if they are unworthy characters.” The righteous must maintain a good reputation with those who are outside the spiritual body of the redeemed believers (1 Tim 3:7) by treating them with honor and respect, especially those in our community and place of work.

To be continued…