Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
SEDRA CHAYEY SARAH (חיי שרה)
23:1: VA YIHEYU CHAYEY SARAH ME'AH SHANAH VE ESRIM SHANAH VE SHEVA SHANIM SHENEY CHAYEY SARAH
וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה מֵאָה שָׁנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי שָׂרָה
KJ (King James translation): And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
BN (BibleNet translation): And the life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
Is there any significance in the number 127? In Yehudit letters it would be Kuph - Kaph - Zayin (קקז), which has no meaning. And if there is no significance, why mention it so precisely, given there were no birth and death certificates in those days, sohow did they know? If you would like to see what a 127 year old woman might look like, click here.
And, looking back to the calculations in the previous chapters, does this make Sarah older than Av-Raham?
23:2: VA TAMAT SARAH BE KIRYAT ARBA HI CHEVRON BE ERETS KENA'AN VA YAVO AV-RAHAM LISPOD LE SARAH VE LIVKOTAH
וַתָּמָת שָׂרָה בְּקִרְיַת אַרְבַּע הִוא חֶבְרוֹן בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וַיָּבֹא אַבְרָהָם לִסְפֹּד לְשָׂרָה וְלִבְכֹּתָהּ
KJ: 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.
BN: And Sarah died in Kiryat Arba - the same is Chevron - in the land of Kena'an; and Av-Raham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
VE LIVKOTAH: The Masoretic text has a reduced sized Kaf (כ) in VE LIVKOTAH (ולבכתה) which needs explanation; I do not have it so you will have to look elsewhere (you won't find an answer, but you can track down lots of speculation). There is a full list of the changed letters here - the explanation given there is as follows:
"The end of the verse says that Avraham Aveinu came to eulogize Sarah Imeinu, וְלִבְכֹּתָהּ and cry over losing her. וְלִבְכֹּתָהּ is inscribed with a small letter kaf. The commentary Baal Haturim says the little letter is telling us Avraham cried only a little because Sarah was an elderly woman. Hakham Shimshon Rafael Hirsch says that the word וְלִבְכֹּתָהּ, and to bewail her, is written with a small kaf to suggest that although Avraham's grief was infinite, the full measure of his pain was concealed in his heart and the privacy of his home".I am inclined to suggest that it is written with a small chaf because the scribe was tired and it came out that way.
KIRYAT ARBA: apparently the correct name for Chevron, which makes sense; we can therefore read Genesis 13:18 as such; but given that the stories have had them living in Be'er Sheva (or actually Be'er Shava in the Yehudit text) for some time now, and not in Chevron, it is odd that she should have died there; we know that she was buried there, but the latter does not infer the former. Genesis 13:18 most definitely states that he moved to Mamre at that time: we could read it as an error, and deduce that Av-Raham never lived in Chevron, but always in the deep south, around Be'er Sheva, but more likely, as suggested earlier, Sarah had several oracular shrines, including Chevron, while Av-Raham remained nomadic; and as god-goddess, the location of their tales depends on the locations of their shrines. Robin Hood, after all, lived in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, whereas Robin Goodfellow lived in the Warwickshire woods, and Arthur is as likely to be found in Tintagel or Glastonbury as in various parts of La Bretagne. Each version of the story localises; each offers its dialect variation. Either that or, we have to assume that Av-Raham and Sarah were separated, and if so,
Joshua 15:13 confirms Kiryat Arba as Chevron; it tells how certain Beney Yisra-Eli slew three giant chieftains, sons of Arba, the eponymous founding father. However, that would make the change of name to Chevron an anachronism in Genesis.
But note that Av-Raham came to mourn; I have pointed out on several previous occasions before this verse, as well as the inference of the paragraph above, that the two (puh-puh-puh), appear to have separated, with Av-Raham living at Be'er Sheva and Sarah at Chevron; and I wondered if this was simply the sheep-and-cattle farmer nomadising while his wife has become sedentary, or was he living by some Biblical equivalent of commuting to work, or had they actually separated, and if so, why? Might ith be that she threw him out after the incedent at Mor-Yah, the Akeda? This verse endorses my conviction that, at the very least, there has been some kind of a separation, even if not the full divorce.
23:3: VA YAKAM AV-RAHAM ME AL PENEY METO VA YEDABER EL BENEY CHET LEMOR
וַיָּקָם אַבְרָהָם מֵעַל פְּנֵי מֵתוֹ וַיְדַבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי חֵת לֵאמֹר
KJ: And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
BN: And Av-Raham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the Beney Chet saying...
BENEY CHET (חת): The Hittites.
Significant here is Graves' research, which throws up one Phoroneus, a Beney Chet (Hittite) deity, clearly the same as Ephron in the verses to follow; see his "Greek Myths" for more details. To the Greeks Phoroneus was the first human created by the gods, which, given the placing of the Eden story at Chevron and the belief that Adam was buried in the Cave of Machpelah, makes for an interesting coincidence. For more background click here.
23:4: GER VE TOSHAV ANOCHI IMACHEM TENU LI ACHUZAT KEVER IMACHEM VE EKBERAH METI MI LIPHANAI
גֵּר וְתוֹשָׁב אָנֹכִי עִמָּכֶם תְּנוּ לִי אֲחֻזַּת קֶבֶר עִמָּכֶם וְאֶקְבְּרָה מֵתִי מִלְּפָנָי
KJ: 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.
BN: "I am a stranger and a temporary dweller among you; give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
The first biblical burial, with accompanying rites (see "rose up from before his dead" in v3, implying vigil or shiva - yet another occasion when the sacred number seven becomes significant). But in all this time, has no one really died in all Av-Raham's clan? We know that this can't be true, especially as he fought a war. So he must have buried dead before – but never someone of this status. This is about purchasing a royal grave – a sepulchre in the next verse - not just any burial-plot.
Interesting that Av-Raham regards himself as "a stranger and a sojourner" - which he would be, if he is indeed resident at Be'er Sheva, which the previous references have told us were lands of the Pelishtim at that time (which is probably an anachronism). At what point does the divine covenant become effective and the promise of the land as a permanent residency obtains, so to speak, its green card?
Or is Av-Raham simply using the self-effacing rhetoric of diplomacy? See verse 6.
23:5: VA YA'ANU VENEY CHET ET AV-RAHAM LEMOR LO
וַיַּעֲנוּ בְנֵי חֵת אֶת אַבְרָהָם לֵאמֹר לוֹ
KJ: And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
BN: And the Beney Chet answered Av-Raham, saying to him:
23:6: SHEMA'ENU ADONI NESI ELOHIM ATAH BETOCHENU BE MIVCHAR KEVAREYNU KEVOR ET METECHA ISH MIMENU ET KIVRO LO YICHLEH MIMCHA MI KEVOR METECHA
שְׁמָעֵנוּ אֲדֹנִי נְשִׂיא אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה בְּתוֹכֵנוּ בְּמִבְחַר קְבָרֵינוּ קְבֹר אֶת מֵתֶךָ אִישׁ מִמֶּנּוּ אֶת קִבְרוֹ לֹא יִכְלֶה מִמְּךָ מִקְּבֹר מֵתֶךָ
KJ: 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.
BN: "Hear us, my lord, you are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead; none of us shall withhold from you his sepulchre, so that you may bury your dead."
ADONI (אדני): my lord? - after SHEMA'ENU (שמענו) = hear us! – this cannot be right - perhaps ADONI like ADONAI is really the Phoenician god Adonis, who Av-Raham would have known as Tammuz from his Babylonian days, and the phrase is a kind of oath-swearing "in the god's name hear us".
NESI...BETOCHENU (נשיא אלהים אתה בתוכנו): in other words he is too powerful to be refused what he wants; but the phrase means "a prince of god" and not "a mighty prince." What is happening here, yet again, is an act of "conquest", in the religious rather than the military or political sense, the powerful Av-Raham taking over the ancient royal tombs of Chevron from the Beney Chet.
Our acceptance of this depends on our understanding of the Cave of Machpelah. Av-Raham isn't buying a plot of land in a cemetery, or even a corner of a field; he is asking for, and being granted, a space in one of the world's most ancient burial caves, where the ancient troglodytic Anakim buried their dead kings, probably for millennia. Click here for more on the archaeology.
Though first there is a slow negotiation. Here he has only asked for a burial plot, and he could mean anywhere; next he will ask for a burial plot inside the cave; only in verse 9 will he ask for the cave itself.
23:7: VA YAKAM AV-RAHAM VA YISHTACHU LE AM HA ARETS LIVNEY CHET
וַיָּקָם אַבְרָהָם וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ לְעַם הָאָרֶץ לִבְנֵי חֵת
KJ: And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
BN: And Av-Raham rose up, and prostrated himself before the people of the land, the Beney Chet.
YISHTACHU (וישתחו): since they have just called him a prince of Elohim, an expression of obvious respect, his gesture of humility is not without significance.
AM HA ARETS (לעם-הארץ): usually means "proletariat" or "ignoramoi"; though obviously here it just means "the people of the land"; possibly some kind of tribal assembly.
23:8: VA YEDABER ITAM LEMOR IM YESH ET NAPHSHECHEM LIKBOR ET METI MI LEPHANAI SHEMA'UNI U PHIG'U LI BE EPHRON BEN TSOCHAR
וַיְדַבֵּר אִתָּם לֵאמֹר אִם יֵשׁ אֶת נַפְשְׁכֶם לִקְבֹּר אֶת מֵתִי מִלְּפָנַי שְׁמָעוּנִי וּפִגְעוּ לִי בְּעֶפְרוֹן בֶּן צֹחַר
KJ: 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,
BN: And he discussed the matter with them, saying, "If you are minded to assist me in burying my dead out of my sight, hear me, and put my request to Ephron ben Tsochar."
EPHRON BEN TSOCHAR (עפרון בן צחר): possibly from the root APHAR (עפר) meaning "white", though it is rarely used as such, generally standing instead for "dust" or "dry earth", sometimes for "clay" or "loam". This meaning is unlikely however in this context, given that TSOCHAR also means "white", in its case regularly an epithet for the moon. EPHRON BEN TSOCHAR would thus mean "white son of white", which is unlikely, but not impossible; many Celtic names do the same, as in Tavish Mactavish, or Jack Johnson; and in the Bible we have Og Magog (Mag here being the source of the Scottish Mac).
However, there is also the root APHAR (עפר) which gives EPHER for "a young calf", OPHER for the fawn of a deer, gazelle or goat, and quite probably EPHRAYIM, the name of one of Yoseph's two sons. EPHRON BEN TSOCHAR would then take us into the realms of "the white cow", which sounds somewhat Disneyesque until we explore the legends surrounding Ephron more closely; his sister, Io, who in Yehudit becomes Yah, the goddess of the full moon and the addressee of many of the Psalms, was transformed into a white cow and forced to wander the world, until she ended up in Mitsrayim (Egypt) and became known as Eshet (Isis); the tale is long and complex, but hugely revealing of much that is in the early Bible as well as in Homer and Virgil; you can find it by clicking here.
However, there is also the root APHAR (עפר) which gives EPHER for "a young calf", OPHER for the fawn of a deer, gazelle or goat, and quite probably EPHRAYIM, the name of one of Yoseph's two sons. EPHRON BEN TSOCHAR would then take us into the realms of "the white cow", which sounds somewhat Disneyesque until we explore the legends surrounding Ephron more closely; his sister, Io, who in Yehudit becomes Yah, the goddess of the full moon and the addressee of many of the Psalms, was transformed into a white cow and forced to wander the world, until she ended up in Mitsrayim (Egypt) and became known as Eshet (Isis); the tale is long and complex, but hugely revealing of much that is in the early Bible as well as in Homer and Virgil; you can find it by clicking here.
The name appears in Genesis 46:10 as a son of Shim'on (Simeon), and in Exodus 6:15 as an error for Zerach of Numbers 26:13, and in 1 Chronicles 4:7 as one of the three sons of Ashur.
So similar are the legends of Phoroneus to the those of Orpheus that it is probable the two are dialect variations of the same person; for a fuller picture of the life of King David than is presented in the Bible, a reading of a life of Orpheus will be the best starting-point. In the Beney Yisra-Eli astrological charts, the Star of David is Oreph, the lyre.
And just to add one more dimension to that surprising interconnection, Orpheus pursued his beloved Eurydice into the Underworld, and secured her rescue, but was instructed not to turn back and look, but simply to trusst that she was right behind him; but he turned back, and she turned into a pillar of salt. Sound familiar to a recent chapter of Genesis?
And just to add one more dimension to that surprising interconnection, Orpheus pursued his beloved Eurydice into the Underworld, and secured her rescue, but was instructed not to turn back and look, but simply to trusst that she was right behind him; but he turned back, and she turned into a pillar of salt. Sound familiar to a recent chapter of Genesis?
PHIGU: "Entreat for me": Is he asking them to speak to the tribal chief who owns the site, or to the deity who inhabits it? Because previously he asked for "a" sepulchre in the Cave, but now he is asking for a very specific sepulchre; and in the next verse he will ask for the cave itself. This is Jupiter, taking over from Zeus.
23:9: VE YITEN LI ET ME'ARAT HA MACHPELAH ASHER LO ASHER BI KETSEH SADEHU BE CHESEPH MAL'E YITNENAH LI BETHOCH'CHEM LA ACHUZAT KAVER
וְיִתֶּן לִי אֶת מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה אֲשֶׁר לוֹ אֲשֶׁר בִּקְצֵה שָׂדֵהוּ בְּכֶסֶף מָלֵא יִתְּנֶנָּה לִי בְּתוֹכְכֶם לַאֲחֻזַּת קָבֶר
KJ: 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.
BN: "That he might give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full asking price, so that I may possess a burial-place amongst you."
MACHPELAH (מכפלה): meaning "double" from KAPEL (כפל)? It is important to get the exact meaning of this, and also KETSEH (קצה) and ME'ARAH (מערה); what really was it, a cave, a temple shrine, a skull-grave, an oracular site? For further details of the limited archaeology undertaken at the site here, click here.
23:10: VE EPHRON YOSHEV BETOCH VENEY CHET VA YA'AN EPHRON HA CHITI ET AV-RAHAM BE AZNEY VENEY CHET LE CHOL BA'EY SHA'AR IRO LEMOR
וְעֶפְרוֹן יֹשֵׁב בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי חֵת וַיַּעַן עֶפְרוֹן הַחִתִּי אֶת אַבְרָהָם בְּאָזְנֵי בְנֵי חֵת לְכֹל בָּאֵי שַׁעַר עִירוֹ לֵאמֹר
KJ: 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,
BN: Now as it happened Ephron was sitting with the Beney Chet. And Ephron of the Beney Chet answered Av-Raham in the hearing of the Beney Chet, of everyone who was coming in through the city gate, saying:
Witnesses to prove it. Note it is "his" city. Sitting presumably as chief elder, or tribal sheikh, or even priest-king, chairing a formal city meeting, something probably not unlike the weekly Kalwah of the modern Druze (see my note to Exodus 33:7); the only other people who ever sat in the city gate were alms-beggars, prostitutes or scribes.
BETOCH BENEY CHET (בתוך בני חת): Or was it an ikon of the god himself, placed centrally to give the meeting religious status, and oracles recited; the phrasing is odd otherwise?
BE AZNEY (באזני): this likewise is an odd form of phrasing which, used elsewhere, also seemed to suggest an oracle. The god of the skull cave is agreeing to share it with another god? No - giving it. Or actually selling it.
23:11: LO ADONI SHEMA'ENI HA SADEH NATATI LACH VE HA ME'ARAH ASHER BO LECHA NETATIYHA LE EYNEY VENEY AMI NETATIYHA LACH KVOR METECHA
לֹא אֲדֹנִי שְׁמָעֵנִי הַשָּׂדֶה נָתַתִּי לָךְ וְהַמְּעָרָה אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ לְךָ נְתַתִּיהָ לְעֵינֵי בְנֵי עַמִּי נְתַתִּיהָ לָּךְ קְבֹר מֵתֶךָ
KJ: 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.
BN: "No, my lord, hear me; the field is yours as my gift, and the cave that is in it, this too I give to you. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead."
Considering the value of such a field and such a cave, considering its antiquity and cultural significance, considering the rights to the land that owning the cave will give a "stranger and sojourner"... this is extraordinarily generous! And Ephron doesn't even get a sister-wife in exchange...but then, he has one of his own already, so he doesn't need one.
23:12: VA YISHTACHU AV-RAHAM LIPHNEY AM HA ARETS
וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אַבְרָהָם לִפְנֵי עַם הָאָרֶץ
KJ: And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.
BN: And Av-Raham prostrated himself before the people of the land.
This is even odder, that he should prostrate himself yet again before them - no, surely he's worshipping the god; or not less than a king. This is liturgy, not politics.
23:13: VA YEDABER EL EPHRON BE AZNEY AM HA ARETS LEMOR ACH IM ATAH LU SHEMA'ENI NATATI KESEPH HA SADEH KACH MIMENI VE EKBERAH ET METI SHAMAH
וַיְדַבֵּר אֶל עֶפְרוֹן בְּאָזְנֵי עַם הָאָרֶץ לֵאמֹר אַךְ אִם אַתָּה לוּ שְׁמָעֵנִי נָתַתִּי כֶּסֶף הַשָּׂדֶה קַח מִמֶּנִּי וְאֶקְבְּרָה אֶת מֵתִי שָׁמָּה
KJ: 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.
BN: And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "But if you will, I beg you, hear me. I will pay the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there."
There is something oddly impersonal about saying "my dead" instead of "Sarah" or "my wife".
23:14: VA YA'AN EPHRON ET AV-RAHAM LEMOR LO
וַיַּעַן עֶפְרוֹן אֶת אַבְרָהָם לֵאמֹר לוֹ
KJ: And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
BN: And Ephron answered Av-Raham, saying to him:
23:15: ADONI SHEMA'ENI ERETS ARBA ME'OT SHEKEL KESEPH BEYNI U VEYNCHA MA HI VE ET MET'CHA KVOR
אֲדֹנִי שְׁמָעֵנִי אֶרֶץ אַרְבַּע מֵאֹת שֶׁקֶל כֶּסֶף בֵּינִי וּבֵינְךָ מַה הִוא וְאֶת מֵתְךָ קְבֹר
KJ: 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.
BN: "My lord, listen to me. A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead."
A wonderfully Yiddish way of phrasing the whole bargain - what is the reverse of an anachronism, i.e. a phrase three thousand years ahead of its time!? I guess that's still an anachronism.
400 shekels was a good deal of money. In the Hammurabic Code a working-man's annual wages were fixed at between 6 and 8 shekels. So only a very rich Ephron would wave his hand at 400 shekels in this manner - or do we read it as a very Arab way of stating his initial bargaining position?
MET'CHA: Why is it MET'CHA (מֵתְךָ) on this occasion, but MET'ECHA (מֵתֶךָ) in verse 11? A small change in the pointing (in the original, which is unpointed, a reader would be unable to see a difference, if there actually is one).
23:16: VA YISHMA AV-RAHAM EL EPHRON VA YISHKOL AV-RAHAM LE EPHRON ET HA KESEPH ASHER DIBER BE AZNAY VENEY CHET, ARBA ME'OT SHEKEL KESEPH OVER LA SOCHER
וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָהָם אֶל עֶפְרוֹן וַיִּשְׁקֹל אַבְרָהָם לְעֶפְרֹן אֶת הַכֶּסֶף אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר בְּאָזְנֵי בְנֵי חֵת אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שֶׁקֶל כֶּסֶף עֹבֵר לַסֹּחֵר
KJ: 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.
BN: And Av-Raham hearkened to Ephron; and Av-Raham weighed out the silver for Ephron, as he had stated in the hearing of the Beney Chet, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
EPHRON (עפרן): this time without a vav (ו).
YISHKOL: Do you, like me, find that phrasing a little odd, that he "weighed out the silver"? I am sensing a word play, and it isn't the obvious one, that this is the root of the shekel, the Biblical as well as the modern Israeli currency. Might it connect to another very important moment at Chevron, the one in Numbers 13 when the spies come to check out the land, and reach Chevron, and:-
21. So the men explored the land from the Desert of Tsin to the border of Chamat. 22 They went through the Negev and came to Chevron, where Achi-Man, Sheshai, and Talmai lived, descendants of Anak. (Chevron was built seven years before Tso'an in Mitsrayim.) 23 When they came to the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch with only one bunch of grapes on it. They carried it on a pole between two of them. They also brought some pomegranates and figs. 24 So they called that valley Eshkol because of the bunch of grapes the Beney Yisra-El cut off there.
Aurally, the play on words speaks for itself. An Eshkol is a bunch of grapes (an eshkoliyot is a grapefruit). Spelled with a Kaf (כ) though, not a Kuph (ק), where the shekel is spelled with a Kuph (ק), not a kaph (כ), so it isn't symmetrical, it doesn't allow one in any way to parallel or equate to the other; and yet the word-play is clearly there.
OVER LA SOCHER (עבר לסחר): "at current value"; but that word OVER (עבר), the root of "Hebrew", is there again.
End of first fragment; for some reason the break is not lettered either with a Samech (ס) or a Pey (פ).
23:17: VA YAKAM SEDEH EPHRON ASHER BA MACHPELAH ASHER LIPHNEY MAMRE HA SADEH VE HA ME'ARAH ASHER BO VE CHOL HA ETS ASHER BA SADEH ASHER BE CHOL GEVULO SAVIV
וַיָּקָם שְׂדֵה עֶפְרוֹן אֲשֶׁר בַּמַּכְפֵּלָה אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵי מַמְרֵא הַשָּׂדֶה וְהַמְּעָרָה אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ וְכָל הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר בְּכָל גְּבֻלוֹ סָבִיב
KJ: 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.
BN: So Ephron's field, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was in the field, and all the trees that were in the field, that provided the field with a boundary-marker...
The language of this and the next verse sound so highly legalistic, they might well be quotes from the actual document (a clay tablet or a carved stone); certainly they echo the language of such contracts of the time that archaeologists have discovered.
VA YAKAM (ויקם): meaning what exactly, in this context? The verb, LAKUM, means "to stand up", which is clearly not the intention here. The Tanach is awash with examples of the verb's usage in other senses, all derived from the construct of something standing: rebuilding ruins, ground-pegging a tent, endorsing a prediction when it comes to pass, or here the validation of a contract. The problem for the English reader lies in the syntax; in the English VA YAKOM moves to the end of the verse, and then elides into the verse that follows.
HA ETS (העץ): At first it might seem curious that the trees within the field are specified, given that he is buying a field for its cave in order to to bury his dead wife, but the holy scriptures bother to mention that he got all the trees, right up to the very boundaries of the field. And the boundaries too matter. Because the cave is a burial-ground, a holy place, like any cemetery today; and in those days the trees were fundamental to the sanctity. Indeed, generally, that was how a place became chosen. Three hundred year old oak trees, ridiculously tall sequoia, lightning-struck beech trees, vast-spreading cedars: the older, the more fertile, the more sacred, because the gods lived in those trees - indeed, the word El = "god" yields the word EL-ON, which stands for an oak tree.
But it also denotes the boundaries of what is now Beney Yisra-Eli land, if and when Av-Raham decides to settle here, nomadically or permanently. Chevron, long before Yeru-Shala'im.
23:18: LE AV-RAHAM LE MIKNAH LE EYNEY VENEY CHET BE CHOL BA'EY SHA'AR IRO
לְאַבְרָהָם לְמִקְנָה לְעֵינֵי בְנֵי חֵת בְּכֹל בָּאֵי שַׁעַר עִירוֹ
KJ: Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.
BN: ... was secured by Av-Raham for a possession in the presence of the Beney Chet, before everyone who came in through his city gate.
This business of doing business in front of all who sat in the gate is of interest, whether as an ancient way of doing deals, or because it has some other significance. On several other occasions we will have cause to question statements made about people sitting in the city gate (see Lot, for example, and the issue of RECHOV/RACHAV in Genesis 19:1; this verse gives us usable evidence.
And again it says "his" city, meaning Ephron's, but mostly it allows the contract witnesses (cf Jeremiah 32:12).
23:19: VE ACHAREY CHEN KAVAR AV-RAHAM ET SARAH ISHTO EL ME'ARAT SEDEH HA MACHPELAH AL PENEY MAMRE HI CHEVRON BE ERETS KENA'AN
וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן קָבַר אַבְרָהָם אֶת שָׂרָה אִשְׁתּוֹ אֶל מְעָרַת שְׂדֵה הַמַּכְפֵּלָה עַל פְּנֵי מַמְרֵא הִוא חֶבְרוֹן בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן
KJ: 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.
BN: And after this, Av-Raham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre - the same is Chevron - in the land of Kena'an.
Now we are told that Mamre is Chevron, where previously we were told that Kiryat Arba was Chevron. And this is problematic, because in Genesis 13:18 (see my notes to verse 2 of this chapter) he came to Mamre and built an altar there, immediately following the covenant that promised him the land. He didn't have to buy any land then for his altar, and there was no negotiation with the Beney Chet (Hittites – see the notes there). That passage ended abruptly too, as if incomplete; does it in fact continue now? But if so, that was a young Av-Ram, and still Sarai. This needs more work.
23:20: VA YAKAM HA SADEH VE HA ME'ARAH ASHER BO LE AV-RAHAM LA ACHUZAT KAVER ME ET BENEY CHET
וַיָּקָם הַשָּׂדֶה וְהַמְּעָרָה אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ לְאַבְרָהָם לַאֲחֻזַּת קָבֶר מֵאֵת בְּנֵי חֵת
KJ: 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.
BN: And the field, and the cave that is in it, were secured by Av-Raham as a possession, for a burial-place, by the Beney Chet.
This verse essentially repeats verse 17, but not quite. Why the repetition? Why the variations?
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Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
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