The Cave of Machpelah (Genesis 23)

2023-08-11

And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth. (Genesis 23:20)

Abraham needed a place to bury his wife, Sarah. Why the big deal with Abraham buying the field and cave in Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite? Abram could have just taken it, right? “Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead” (Genesis 23:11). Abraham insisted on paying for it. “And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant” (Genesis 23:16). Not only did the patriarch pay Ephron, but he did it very publicly, before all the elders of the city.

Abraham did this because of the same principle as we saw with the king of Sodom when he tried to give him the spoils. “That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich” (Genesis 14:23). It is the principle we see in the New Testament, where it says, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14). Abraham sought his blessing from God alone. He also did not want it to seem that he owed the heathen anything, for which he could be held accountable for generations. “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another” (Romans 13:8). Again, on debt, we read, “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7).