Genesis 23:19-20

"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. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the children of Heth."

Some have marveled that so much is made of this in the Bible, but the importance of it lies in the fact that this was the only part of the literal land of Canaan that Abraham ever owned. Also, his purchase of it at such an exorbitant price showed his faith that God in time would indeed drive out the Canaanites and give the land to the children of Abraham.

That Abraham insisted on buying the place, when free burial grounds were offered, stems from the implications that might have accompanied such a gift. That which God had sworn to "give" Abraham, he would not, under any circumstances, accept as a "gift" from the Canaanites. It was a similar attitude on Abraham's part that caused him to reject the spoils tendered to him by the king of Sodom. Abraham did not wish to appear OBLIGATED to pagans.

Did Abraham believe in the resurrection of the dead? Certainly, only his absolute confidence in the resurrection enabled him to offer Isaac (Hebrews 11:17-19). "Therefore, we may conclude, that in depositing the body of his beloved wife in the grave, Abraham trusted her soul to God, and looked for a joyful resurrection."[22]

ALLEGED CONTRADICTION

One of the so-called "contradictions" in the Bible is related in this purchase of Machpelah from Ephron. Stephen, the N.T. hero, in his final address stated that, "Our fathers were carried over into Shechem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor (presumably the same as Shechem)" (Acts 7:16). Like all such variations, our failure to understand them stems from the extremely abbreviated record contained in the Bible. Stephen referred to a second purchase of a burial site in Shechem, another place where Abraham had built an altar. It is conjectured that he might have intended it for the family of Keturah. Evidently, however, Keturah's descendants lost possession of the place. And still later, Jacob repurchased the site once owned by his grandfather. Stephen was surely correct in the statement that "the fathers," some of them, were surely buried there. Not all the Jews were buried in one cemetery lot! This explanation by Morris[23] is only one of a number of explanations that might be offered. The thing to remember is that Abraham lived nearly forty years after the burial of Sarah, and that there was plenty of time for him to have done a great many things left out of the sacred record. Therein lies the full explanation of that which is mistakenly thought to be some kind of contradiction. Certainly, none of Stephen's hearers accused him of having any of his facts wrong, and we are certain that if Stephen's words had not been strictly true, that evil crowd that stoned him to death would have shouted the error to the highest heaven.