Bury Thy Dead

March 11, 2001

David Epstein

 

There is a beautiful yet strange passage in the Bible describing the lengths that Abraham will go to properly part with his wife Sarah. In Genesis, Chapter 23, the story begins with Sarah passing away at the grand old age of 175. Abraham mourns his loss and weeps for his beloved.

 

The great patriarch of the Hebrews seeks a place to bury their great matriarch. Somber as it may be, this should undoubtedly be a treasured event for the Jews. Although not royalty, she is the most revered women in the young nation, and it should be a historical event marked by a significant social attendance, ritual observance, customs and ceremonies.

 

From a personal point of view, he has just lost his wife. The burial should be a time for reflection and remembrance. He must find a way to transcend his grief and move forward in his life.

 

Yet neither of these outcomes seems to be even remotely realized. He doesn’t even have a place to bury her for G*d’s sake! In verse 4, he speaks to the children of Heth: “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” I find it utterly strange that he confides in children this way. Even more remarkable is the reply of the children: “in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead”. Those are some precocious kids!

 

This should not distract us from getting to the matter at hand. The fundamental point of this section of the passage, as I view it, is that Abraham did not have the foresight to make arrangements for the departure of his wife, the great matriarch. Perhaps he envisioned that she would never die. More plausible is that he was a busy man and did not have the time to make plans for it. Whatever the case, he is left without a burial site and must find one immediately.

 

He requests the children to get Ephron the Hittite, the owner of the cave of Machpelah, to sell him the field that the cave is located on. Ephron emerges from the children to speak directly to Abraham. In verse 11, he says, “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.”

 

Abraham is evidently a revered figure even outside of the Hebrew tribe. Ephron realizes  the great importance of burying one’s dead, so much so that he’s willing to give Abraham his own land. Burying one’s dead must have been a cross-cultural custom. Nobody is hired to bury his beloved, nor perform the service. He performs the deed himself.

 

In verse 13, Abraham shows Ephron his appreciation: “But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me: I will give the price of the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there’. For 400 shekels, Abraham purchases the field from Ephron.

 

So the Machpelah cave becomes the revered burial place of Sarah (and for Abraham as well when he passes away). In Hebron, it is a sacred place for the Jews, though there is no direct archaelogical evidence that they were buried there. Nevertheless, the narrative leads us to bear witness unto this passage of a burial rite that is not adorned with great fanfare, but with loving tenderness and sacrifice. For “in the presence of the children of Heth”, a reference that leads me to believe that the temporality of youthfulness is bearing true witness to the passage of time, Abraham buries his beloved Sarah.