Genesis 23: The Cave in the Field of Machpelah in Hebron.

Gen 23:1	And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: [these were] the years of the life of Sarah. ______________________________________________
Gen 23:2	And Sarah died in Kirjatharba ; the same [is] Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Hebrew for 07153 Qiryath'Arba++++++++++++++ {keer-yath'ar-bah}x9 Qiryath 'Arba Kirjath-arba - "City of Arba" 1.) The early name of Hebron. Kirjatharba 6, city of Arba 1, synonym 2; 9 Jos 14:15 And the name of Hebron before [was] Kirjatharba; [which Arba was] a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war. Jos 20:7 And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which [is] Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. and Kirjatharba, which [is] Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. Neh 11: 25 And for the villages, with their fields, [some] of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjatharba, and [in] the villages thereof, and at Dibon, and [in] the villages thereof,
Gen 23:3	And Abrsaham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
Gen 23:4	I [am] a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. Psalm 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I [am] a stranger with thee, and sojourner as all my father [were.] [I am a] stranger [01616] ger and a sojounrer [08453] towshab with you: give [05414] nathan me a possession [0272] 'achuzzah of a buryingplace [06913] qeber with you that I may bury [06912] qaber my dead [04191] muwth out of my sight. [06440] paniym :"Out of my sight" is better translated "Out of my FACE" Hebrew of 06440- Paniym {paw-neem} x 2109 Paniym - Face " (Str. & Ges.) (Str.) Face before 1137, face 390, presence 76, because 67, sight 40, countenance 30, from 27, person 21, upon 20, of 20, ...me 18, against 17, ...him 16, open 13, for 13, toward 9, misc 195; 2109 _____________________________________________________ (I [am] a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.) __________________________________________________ STRANGER- Hebrew for 01616 gerGer {gare} or geyr{gare} Ger/ Stranger stranger x 87, alien x 1, sojourner x 1, stranger +0376 x 1, sstranger +04480 x1 strangers + 0582 1; 92 _________________________________________ 1) sojourner a) a temporary inhabitant, a newcomer lacking inherited rights b) of foreigners in Israel, though conceded rights __________________________________________ Exd 2:22 And she bare [him] a son, and he called his name Gershom : for he said, I have been a stranger 01616 in a strange land Psa 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears : for I [am] a stranger 01616 with thee, [and] a sojourner, as all my father [were].... Eze 47:22 And it shall come to pass [that] ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers 01616 that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. ___________________________________________ Hebrew for 0272 achuzzah / possession x 66 'achuzzah {akh-ooz-zaw'} / Possession 1) Possession, property a) land b) possession by inheritance ___________________________________________ Gen 17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession0272, and I will be their God. _________________________________________________ Lev 27:24 In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, [even] to him to whom the possession 0272 of the land [did belong]. 'possession(s) 66 ________________________________ grave and bury- Qeber/Qabar. Hebrew for 06913 qeber {keh'-ber} or (fem.) qibrah {kib-raw} x 67 qeber/ grave 1) grave, sepulchre, tomb grave x 35, sepulchre x 25, buryingplace x 6; 67 Hebrew for 06912 qabar {kaw-bar'} qabar- bury To bury bury x 131, buriers x 1, in any wise x 1; 133 ______________________________________________ HETH: Gen 10:15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth Gen 27:46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth,such as these [which are] of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me? Gen 49:32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that [is] therein [was] from the children of Heth. ___________________________________________
Gen 23:5	And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, _______________________________________
Gen 23:6	Hear us, my lord: thou [art] a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. _____________________________________
Gen 23:7	And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land [even] to the children of Heth. And Abraham [085] 'Abraham stood up, [06965] quwm and bowed [07812] shachah himself to the people [05971] 'am of the land, [0776] 'erets [even]to the children [01121] ben of Heth. [02845] Cheth Hebrew for 07812 shachah {shaw-khaw'}x 175 shachah / bow 1) to bow down a) (Qal) to bow down b) (Hiphil) to depress (idiomatic / figurative) c) (Hithpael) (1) to bow down, prostrate oneself b) before God in worship c) before false gods d) before angel Gen 24:26 And the man bowed down his head , and worshipped 07812 the LORD. worship 99, bow 31, bow down 18, obeisance 9, reverence 5, fall down 3, themselves 2, stoop 1, crouch 1, misc 3; 172 ______________________________________
Gen 23:8	And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
Gen 23:9	That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which [is] in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you. The Cave of Machpelah/ Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron This site, in Hebron, is the second most visited place in the Holy Land, the first is the Temple Mount. in Jerusalem. The cave and adjoining field were paid for, in full, by Abraham, 3700 years ago, through the graciousness of Ephron, the Hittite, whose land it was, by right. It is nice to reflect on these "salad days" of brotherhood, when love kissed nations, in the model given by Abraham. Nations were blessed in him, then. He impacts our civilization, to its' very core, today, thousands of years later. Other than Lot's troubles, there was peace in Abraham's day, largely because there were decent powerful and princely men like Abraham, Abimelek, and Ephron, who respected eachother, and who all feared the LORD who created all. They treated eachother like brothers. When nations have good leaders, it's like when God is ruling with them. It's the opposite when people choose, or receive a dictator and tyrant in power. They become seeds in the winds, blown around by every capricious whim, as we witness in our own current times, with tyrannical leaders. Sarah, who died at 127, was laid to rest in the cave in the field, in Hebron, in Palestine, in the land of Canaan. Over the next 100 years, Sarah was joined in this mauseleum, by Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah. If only their original spark of Love decency, and brotherhood, would revive us now. The same blood ancestors today haggle over inches of sacred ground. They'd rather die than share even an inch. It all means something! It all cuts so deeply. ___________________________________________
Gen 23:10	And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, [even] of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,
Gen 23:11	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.
Gen 23:12	And Abraham bowed himself before the people of the land.
Gen 23:13	And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou [wilt give it], I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take [it] of me, and I will bury my dead there
Gen 23:14	And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Gen 23:15	My lord, hearken unto me: the land [is worth] four hundred shekels of silver; what [is] that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
Gen 23:16	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. _____________________________________ Why was it important for Abraham to pay for the buryingplace amongst Ephron, and the Canaanites of Heth in Hebron? Abraham establishes a contract, the same as when he drew up an agreement on the well in Be'ersheba, with Abimelek, the King of Gerar, in Southern Palestine. Abraham and Sarah ended their days in this region. No matter what the politics were, in that volatile region of the world, Abraham paid for and owns that region, in Hebron, to be passed on to the children of Isaac and Jacob. _________________________________________
Gen 23:17	And the field of Ephron, which [was] in Machpelah, which [was] before Mamre, the field, and the cave which [was] therein, and all the trees that [were] in the field, that [were] in all the borders round about, were made sure.
Gen 23:18	Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all went in at the gate of his city.
Gen 23:19	And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the Field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same [is] Hebron in the land of Canaan. Sarah died in Kiryat Arba {what is now Hebron}
Gen 23:20	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. And Sarah said, God has made me to laugh, so that all who hear will laugh with me. ~Genesis 21:6