Genesis 23:17

F.B. Meyer's 'Through the Bible' Commentary - Genesis 23:1-20

Abraham Buys a Burial Place Genesis 23:1-20 Death is an ever-constant monitor that this world is not our home. We rise up from before our dead to confess that we are only strangers and sojourners on the earth. Though the whole country, by God’s deed and gift, belonged to Abraham, it had not as yet been made over; hence the necessity for this deliberate purchase with all the stately formalities of the leisured East. Abraham’s insistence on buying this grave, and the care with which the... read more

G. Campbell Morgan

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible - Genesis 23:1-20

We now see Abraham in the midst of personal sorrow, which reveals his character in a remarkable way. Sarah, who had ever been to him a princess, was now taken from his side, which meant the loss of the strongest human prop to Abraham's faith. It must be remembered that she had been with him along the whole pathway of obedience from Ur of the Chaldees. She had shared his hours of darkness and his hours of light. Doubtless at times she had been a cause of fear and trembling to him, and his very... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 23:17-18

‘So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the border of it round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.’ This is the legal jargon by which the property transfer took place, outlining precisely what property was being sold together with its contents. Together with the... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 23:1-20

Genesis 23. Abraham Purchases the Cave of Machpelah as a Burying-place of Sarah.— This chapter belongs to P, as is shown by its legal precision and the wordiness of its style, by numerous characteristic expressions, and by the later references in P ( Genesis 25:9 f., Genesis 49:29-Jonah :, Genesis 50:13). It shows how Abraham acquired property by purchase in Canaan, an earnest of ultimate possession of the whole, and perhaps inculcates by his example the duty of acquiring a family grave, to... read more

Joseph Exell

Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary - Genesis 23:3-20

CRITICAL NOTES.—Genesis 23:3. Stood up from before his dead.] “Abraham must be thought of as ‘weeping over the face’ of Sarah (2 Kings 13:14), and he rise sup from the face of his dead.” (Alford.) The sons of Heth. Descendants of Heth, the son of Canaan, a grandson of Ham, elsewhere called the Hittites. They were Canaanites. From them Esau took wives. (Genesis 26:34-35.)—Genesis 23:6. My lord.] A title of respect equivalent to our sir. A mighty prince. Heb. A prince of God. The Heb. affixed the... read more

Charles Simeon

Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae - Genesis 23:17-18

DISCOURSE: 38ABRAHAM PURCHASING A BURYING-PLACE IN CANAANGenesis 23:17-18. And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the care which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession, in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.THERE is something in a holy life which wonderfully conciliates the minds of men. At... read more

Chuck Smith

Chuck Smith Bible Commentary - Genesis 23:1-20

Chapter 23And so Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years old. And she died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah ( Genesis 23:1-2 ),Now evidently Abraham had been away with the flocks or something when Sarah died and he wasn't at her side at her death, which is a sad thing indeed. He came to mourn,and to weep for her. And he stood up from before his dead, and he spake to the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with... read more

Joseph Sutcliffe

Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 23:1-20

Genesis 23:4. A burying-place. Abraham believed in a future state; therefore he, as well as the other patriarchs, buried his dead. Joseph, actuated by this belief, gave commandment for his bones to be brought out of Egypt. It is the most decent way of disposing of the dead, that the dust may return to its original dust. The practice of burning the dead, and depositing the ashes in an urn, with coins and trinkets, is of great antiquity, and there are few of the ancient nations who did not... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Genesis 23:3-20

Genesis 23:3-20Abraham buried Sarah his wifeAbraham burying his deadI.CONSIDER HIM AS A MAN. II. CONSIDER HIM AS A MAN OF BUSINESS. 1. His independence (Genesis 23:4; Genesis 23:6). 2. His exactness (Genesis 23:17-18). 3. His courtesy. III. CONSIDER HIM AS A GODLY MAN. 1. He believed in immortality. 2. He believed that God would grant his posterity to inherit the land.3. He believed in a future state of blessedness for the righteous. (T. H.Leale.)Circumstances connected with Sarah’s burial1.... read more

John Trapp

John Trapp Complete Commentary - Genesis 23:17

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 Ver. 17. Which was in Machpelah. ] Where was a double cave, one within another: and haply one for men, and another for women. This was not that purchased burying place whereof Stephen spake, Act 7:16 for that was in Sychem, this in Hebron; that was bought of Emor... read more

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