Genesis 23:1-20 the Burial of Sarah Chavurah Shalom Sat 2/20/16 This

Genesis 23:1-20 The Burial of Sarah Chavurah Shalom Sat 2/20/16

This Sidrah shows respect for the dead and concern for the future. The Sages teach that Sarah died as a result of the Akedah of Isaac – that Satan told her that Abraham had actually slaughtered Isaac, which caused her death. This is why neither Abraham nor Isaac attended her death. ...In addition, the Torah records the birth of Rebecca before the death of Sarah in line with the traditions that a righteous person is not taken from the world until his or her successor has been born, as implied by the verse (Ecclesiastes 1:5), The sun rises and the sun sets (Sforno, Baal HaTurim).--Chumash, p. 116. This is the first actual burial mentioned in the Scripture. Perhaps due to the fact that how Israel treats the dead was different than the other nations, and this is the first recorded death of the Hebrew people. Interestingly enough in v. 1 the Scripture mentions the life of Sarah twice, her death once. We believe as Messianics, that it is appointed for a person once to die, but that we will live twice. First in the birth, second in the Resurrection. A belief in the resurrection pervaded the Hebrew concept of death and the proper respect shown to the body. The fact that Abraham “rose up from before his dead” in v. 3 gives rise to the concept in Hebrew customs for the dead of sitting on the ground, or sitting Shiva. The body is considered to be the vessel of the Spirit that is given by God, Proverbs 20:27. Therefore proper care and honor was accorded the body and the burial. Today, for a truly Jewish burial, internment must be completed as soon as possible after death, within 24 hours, Deuteronomy 21:23. No autopsies are permitted unless another life might be saved by it, or unless absolutely demanded by civil law. There is a respect for the creative work of God reflected in the body of the deceased. It is a return of the body to God as outlined in Scripture, Genesis 3:19, the famous from dust to dust passage. Tim Hegg suggested that the belief in the resurrection itself is enough to demand a bodily burial, leaving the body intact as much as possible. Since we shall be resurrected as a whole, the body should be buried in the same way. Hegg suggested that cremation is at the opposite end of the scale, stating that this is the end, there is no more existence! He further stated the need to remember the

- 1 - ones who have passed on, with the yearly Yarzeit reinforcing this memory and the hope of the resurrection of the body interned. He then stated categorically that cremation attempts to blot out the memory of the one who has passed, and to remove any physical proof of their existence. I personally believe that this is a leap of logic that cannot be imposed on everyone who cremates. It would, in my opinion, make the Holocaust Remembrance of those burned up in the furnaces less than what it has come to represent. Yarzeit is conducted for these yearly as well. He also mentioned the practice in Yeshua's day of gathering the bones of those who had passed away, who after a year in a limestone sarcophagus, would be nothing more than bones. These were gathered an put into a much smaller ossuary, just long enough for the longest bone, and deep enough to stack them together. This is just as much a moving away from keeping the body as together as possible as the cremation. Yet he regarded this as the forerunner to the Yarzeit practice, and it may be. His focus is that Torah teaches a resurrection, and that the way we bury the dead must reflect this belief as much as possible.-- Parahsah Twenty, p. 2. The preparation of the body is considered one of the more important mitzvoth. There is a cleansing and washing of the body in preparation for burial. The garment or wrappings of the body were modeled after the clothing of the priests in the temple. There are no pockets which are to symbolize that once one leaves this world, they carry no worldly possessions. There is to be a simplicity in both the burial dress and the casket, to symbolize the equality in death. Sarah died in Kiriath-Arba, which is Hebron. The first name means literally, the city of Four. This is due to the 4 giants who originally lived there when Israel came into the land, Numbers 13:22, 33. Hebron was later granted to Caleb, the Kenizzite, and at 85 he drove out the giants that remained in that place, Joshua 14:6-15; 15:13-14. This passage in Joshua 15:13 also identifies Arba as Anak, the progenitor of the Anakim, the giants whom Israelites later encountered as they entered into the Land of Promise, Deuteronomy 2:10-11, 21; 9:2. Sarah is the only woman whose age is mentioned in the Scriptures, because as the mother of the promised seed she became the mother of all believers (1 Pet. 3:6)....The place still exists, as a small town on the road from Jerusalem to Beersheba, in a valley surrounded by several mountains, and is called by the Arabs, with allusion to Abraham’s stay there, el Khalil, i.e., the friend (of God),

- 2 - which is the title given to Abraham by the Mohammedans.--Keil & Delitzsch. Sarah died at 127, 3 years before Isaac's marriage to Rivkah at age 40, Genesis 25:20. Genesis 24:67 tells us that in this marriage, Isaac found comfort after Sarah's death.

First, Abraham spent some time mourning and weeping over the loss of Sarah. Our text literally says, "Avraham rose up from upon the face of his dead." This is the picture of a true love, doting over the wife who has passed away. Avraham was a man, then, that had no problem expressing his sorrow with tears. Furthermore, we are told that Avraham came to Sarah to mourn and to weep towards her. This is a most normal, and cathartic expression of the pain we feel in our hearts over the loss of someone we truly love. The use of both terms together suggests that Abraham did not just weep aloud but carried out other traditional mourning customs, such as rending his garments, disheveling his hair, cutting his beard, scattering dust on his head,

- 3 - and fasting (Lev 21:5, 10; 2 Sam 1:11, 12; 13:31; Job 1:20; 2:12.--Word Biblical Commentary, p. 126. We don’t know how long Avraham mourned, the scripture does not tell us. Then we have the deliberations over Machpelah, the cave and burial site of the patriarchs. Machpelah means “double.” It was so named it is believed either because there were two chambers, an upper and a lower level, or because of the couples who would be buried there. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rivka, Jacob and Leah were all buried there. Some assert this is also the burial place of Adam and Chava. This becomes important in the Jewish thought regarding the afterlife. Later Jewish literature, non-biblical, have it that the choice of this cave was due to the entrance to Gan Eden. Gan Eden in turn is the Jewish term for Paradise. Thus from this Paradise was spoken of as Abraham’s Bosom. The Jewish thought of Resurrection thus begins with the Cave of Machpelah and the Patriarchs of the Faith. Judaism anticipates that the resurrection from the dead will begin here at Machpelah.--FFOZ, Torah Club Volume 5, p. 110. The purchase of this cave figures into three distinct places purchased by Israel, and chronicled to prove the Israeli ownership of the land. There was a deed which granted Abraham, and thus all of Israel, the rights to this land. Second, was the purchase of the Temple Mount by King David, 2 Samuel 24:18-25. Third, was the purchase of land in Shechem by Jacob, Genesis 33:19, which became the place of Joseph’s sepulcher, Joshua 24:32. None of these locations are under Jewish control today, and to a large extent the Jews are excluded from these sights. Herod the Great, 37-4 BCE, built a massive structure over the cave, making it a place of prayer. It has been used as a Christian Church, and then a mosque. The presence of a synagogue has been maintained since antiquity. This cave today is contested, and Jewish worshippers at times banned from the area.--Tim Hegg, Parashah Twenty, p. 3.

Hebron is in the hill country of Judah, some 20 miles south-west of Jerusalem, and the first seat of David's kingship, 2 Samuel 2:1-4; 5:1-5. It's principal claim upon the Jewish imagination over the centuries is owing to the biblical reports that not only Sarah, but also Abraham, Isaac and Rebecah, and Jacob and Leah, are buried there, Genesis 23:19; 35:27; 49:29-32; 50:13....The description of the purchasing of the land provides a contrast concerning Abraham that is ongoing throughout the Scripture: on the one hand he is but a resident alien without

- 4 - hereditary land-rights or a secure place in the social and legal order. On the other, he is the elect of God, to whom the whole land has been promised. Else- where in the Tanakh, the entire people Israel is described as resident aliens, living on land owned by God (Leviticus 25:23), and the same terms are used to describe the transience of human life and the unworthiness of human beings in the face of God's bounty (1 Chronicles 29:15).--The Jewish Study Bible, p. 47. The Apostolic Writings speak much the same way of the follower of Messiah: 1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13-17. The actual Hebrew describing Abraham is ger ve-toshav, literally "alien and resident," or put together, a resident alien. There is a single notion being expressed by the use of these two similar terms. A resident alien was not normally able to purchase property, and if he did, was not necessarily able to hold it in perpetuity. Nontheless, Abraham seeks to purchase a burial place for Sarah. The Hebrew is used 7 times in the course of these negotiations, and it means ,נָתַן ,word natan "to give, sell, or pay." Thus we have a lengthy interchange of commerce between Avraham and the Hittites at this city, in order first of all to establish that he could indeed purchase property, second to own it in perpetuity, and third establish a place for Israel in the Land of Promise. We are later told that the Hittites would be dri- ven out and Israel would inherit the Land, Deuteronomy 7:1-7. Avraham then speaks to "the sons of Chet. This is normally then transliterated to חִתִּי Het, and the Hittites. A son of Canaan and the eponymous ancestor of the (Gen 10:15; 1 Chr 1:13). The name occurs fourteen times, twice in the phrase “daughters of Heth” (Gen 27:46), and ten times in the phrase “sons of Heth” (23:3, 5, 7, 10 [twice], 23:16, 18, 20; 25:10; 49:32). It is plain from the colloca- -cf. 23:10; 25:9, 10; 49:30, 32) that they are equiva) חִתִּי tion of this phrase with lent.--Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. The response of the Hittites reveals that Abraham has achieved some level of status among the general populace as well as with the leadership. The literal Hebrew used to describe their recognition of Abraham is "our lord, prince of God," or Nasi Elohim. This is translated "mighty prince" in the NASB, and "elect of God" in the JPS Tanach. Victor P. Hamilton in Genesis 18-50 in the New International Com- mentary on the Old Testament, asserts that this title is too graphic to be a greet- ing of formal courtesy. Despite Abraham's self-denigration, his hosts greet him as an individual of some importance. Abraham is no marginal person. Given his contacts with people like Pharaoh and Abimelech, one might expect that he

- 5 - would be considered royalty...Hamilton went on to note that: In Hebrew society a nasi is an elected chieftan, one who is a presiding officer, the exact opposite of a ger. Thus he notes that the Hittites gave Abraham a royal welcome.--p. 129. Thus Abraham overcame the first hurdle, he received permission from the commu- nity at large to purchase the land and to bury his dead. The bow was simply a formal thank you and a courtesy to the people of the land for their permission to bury his dead. Now Abraham was free to negotiate with Ephron for the Cave of Machpelah. It is obvious that they are sitting at the city gates in order to conduct their business, v. 9-10. The fact that Abraham first seeks to extend the negotiations through the ones gathered at the gates suggests that Ephron may have been of nobility or royalty. Ephron however, also elevated Abraham in that he needed no intermediary between them. Ephron made this transaction quite public so that everyone would know of his offer to Abraham of the cave without price. Abraham however, pushes for a legal purchase of the land. The Chumash noted that Abraham did not haggle over the price, but chose the finest burial site available, and paid the price asked. This illustrates Abraham's love for Sarah.--p. 119. The amount specified is often made out to be an exorbi- tant amount, while most Scholars suggest it is not possible to know whether or not this was an inflated amount. Hamilton noted that 400 shekels would be more thanb 100 pounds of silver! David paid only one-eighth that amount, 50 shekels of silver....One wonders if the 400 shekels came from the 1,000 pieces of silver Abraham received from Abimelech for Sarah, Genesis 20:16. --p. 135. The JPS Torah Commentary noted that: It is of interest that three texts from Ugarit, written in Akkadian and dating from the fourteenth-thirteenth centuries B.C.E., record real estate transactions involving a purchase price of 400 shekels of silver....Literally, “weighed,” regularly used of payment in commercial transactions because the metal was literally weighed each time on a pair of scales. at the going merchants’ rate - That is, the rate that is current among merchants, a specification necessary and important in view of the variations in the shekel weight.--p.159. There is a strong similarity with the purchase of the Temple Mount by King David as he sought to stay the plague afflicting Israel when he bought the threshing floor

- 6 - of Araunah, even to the point of insisting on paying the full price, 2 Samuel 24:18-25; 1 Chronicles 21:22-25. Machpelah is associated with many as the whole area, the cave and the field in which it was located, Genesis 49:30; 50:13. It is traditionally identified with the site the Arabs call the haṛ am el-khalil, “the sacred precinct of the friend (of God),” in present-day Hebron. The magnificent surrounding wall of hewn stones goes back at least to the time of Herod. During the Byzantine period a church was built over the sepulcher, but Jews were allowed to pray within the area. After the Arab invasion and conquest of the Land of Israel in the seventh century C.E., the church was converted into a mosque. In 1267 Sultan Baybars forbade Jews and Christians to enter the cave. Thereafter, “infidels” were not allowed to ascend beyond the seventh step of the outer wall leading to the court of the mosque. This situation endured for the next 700 years until Hebron was liberated by the Israel Defense Forces in June 1967. Jews, Christians, and Muslims were then given the freedom to worship inside the cave.--JPS Torah Commentary, p. 159. Vv. 17-20 Legal Summary The JPS Torah Commentary suggests that the language of vv. 17-18 reflect written deeds of sale. However, in our present text, this is all verbal without any indication of it being written. It does however, sound much like even a modern deed. There is the identity of the seller, the location of the property, the contents of the property, the identity of the buyer, the selling price, the execution of the matter conducted at the gates of the city before all who came out and went in at those gates. The description is of the field, the cave that is in that field, and all the trees in the field and in all the borders around it. Indeed a very detailed description of the property. The literal Hebrew is: "Thus arose the field of Ephron which is in Machpelah, which is to the face of Mamre, the field and the cave which is in it, and all the trees which are in the field, which are in all its borders surrounding it. To Avraham for a possession in the eyes of the sons of Heth, all coming in through the gates of his city." The field arose into the possession of Avraham. A legal term. The final words concerning Sarah's burial are short and terse, seemingly devoid of the mourning with which we began this chapter. It is in fact, part of the actual process of the purchase. A part of the original setting of the agreement in v. 15,

- 7 - where the price is set, included the actual burial of Sarah in the cave. So the final statement of v. 19 is simply the finalizing of the original agreement. The burial of Sarah is described in the formal completion of the arrangement. In some sense, Abraham is settling all of his affairs. He bought the cave where not only Sarah, but he himself would be buried. Our next chapter reflects Abraham arranging a marriage for his son Isaac. And then Abraham dies in Chapter 25. Furthermore, it was in a place associated with some of her happiest memories. It was at Mamre that the LORD had promised her that she would give birth to a child within the year (18:1–15). Indeed, most of the great promises of land, descendants, and covenant blessing seem to be associated with their years in Mam- re, according to 13:14–18:15. And in a sense the purchase of the plot of land at Macpelah was a first step toward Abraham and his descendants’ acquisition of the whole land of Canaan. For this reason, Genesis draws attention twice to the rather obvious point that Hebron is in the land of Canaan (23:2, 19) and repeat- edly insists that the negotiations and payment for the land were conducted pub- licly before the elders of the city (vv 10, 13, 16, 18). There was no doubt that this part of Canaan justly belonged to Abraham and his heirs.--Word Biblical Com- mentary, p. 130. This location, Hevron, becomes associated with the phrase "Abraham's Bosom," Luke 16:22-23. This Greek word is found also at Luke 6:38; John 1:18; 13:23; and Acts 27:39. Luke 6:38 translates "lap," while Acts 27:39, speaking of the shoreline, translates "bay." Our two passages in John describe the closeness or nearness of Yeshua to ADONAI, as the Only Begotten; and of Yochanan resting his head on Yeshua's chest at the Last Passover. chayq. The “bosom,” like ,חֵ יק In the Septuagint this word translates the Hebrew other physical terms (e.g. “bones,” “kidneys,” and “heart”) may serve as an em- phatic, intimate term for the person himself.--Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. This is the sense in which it is used in our Luke 16 passage. It indi- cates a closeness to Avraham, to be with Avraham in his ultimate state. This is then understood to be Paradise, the place of the righteous upon their death. In the New Testament and in Jewish writings [Abraham's Bosom] a term signify- ing the abode of bliss in the other world. According to IV Macc. xiii. 17, the righteous who die for their faith are received by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in paradise (compare Matt. viii. 11: "Many shall come from the east and the west

- 8 - and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven"). In Ḳid. 72b, Adda bar Ahaba, a rabbi of the third century, is said to be "sitting in the bosom of Abraham," which means that he has entered paradise. With this should be compared the statement of R. Levi (Gen. R. xlviii.): "In the world to come Abraham sits at the gate of Gehenna, permitting none to enter who bears the seal of the covenant"--Jewish Encyclopedia. This concept has traditionally been taught in Christian circles as the righteous side of Sheol prior to the entering into Paradise. Paradise is, however, most often associated with Heaven, or the World to come in Scripture. Some regard Paradise as the righteous side of Sheol prior to entering into the World to Come or Heaven. This is typically based upon the statement of Yeshua to the thief on the cross next to Him, "This day you shall be with Me, in Paradise." However, we have dealt with this term in connection with Gan Eden, and with the future Kingdom of God. 2 Corinthians 12:4 reveals that this is not a reference to any compartment in Sheol, but is rather a description of coming into the Presence of God. Revelation 2:7, the only other place in the Apostolic Writings where this word is found, we have described New Jerusalem, where is found the Tree of Life, which once again also connects us with Gan Eden. We ran that theme some time ago, I don't recall the actual study, and found a very positive connection between the Greek term for Paradise, Gan Eden, and the King- dom of God, aka Heaven or The World to Come. Abraham's Bosom - The place where the good go at the moment of death, and where judgment is enacted as preliminary and perhaps probationary to the Final Judgment at the end of the age. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the beggar at death is carried by angels to Abraham's bosom, and is separated by a great chasm from the tormented rich man in Hades (Luke 16:22-23). Older Jewish literature makes no mention of that part of Sheol reserved for the righteous dead, nor any localizing of Paradise in Sheol, though in II Esdras 7:36 the "pit of torment" and the "place of rest" are set over against each other at the Last Judgment. Interpreters are divided as to whether in this parable Hades in- cludes both men or only the rich man. Some believe that such figurative topo- graphical details can be pressed no further here than in Enoch, where in ch. 22 (ca. 100 BC) the dead are separated into three groups in the underworld until the

- 9 - Day of Judgment. Enoch 22 bears many resemblances to Luke 16:19ff, and may represent the popular view of Sheol in Jesus' day. Jewish literature of the NT period contains many references to Father Abraham, together with the patriarchs Isaac and Jacob, as eschatological figures. Rab- binic Judaism sometimes spoke of rest in Abraham's bosom in relation to the meal of the blessed in the world to come, which was enjoyed by the righteous after death (Matthew 8:11; Midrash on Exodus 16:4; cf. John 13:23). But at times the rest in Abraham is unrelated to the meal and signifies the blissful fellowship enjoyed with the patriarch. in IV Maccabees 13:17 the patriarchs welcome the seven martyr brothers. The bosom of Abraham as the dwelling place of the righteous is referred to in the Midrash on Lamentations and the Pesik. R. 43, and in the T.B. Kid 72 a/b. In the Lukan parable the metaphor probably indi- cates a blessed communion of the faithful, as of a parent and child (cf. John 1:18), apart from any reference to a heavenly banquet.--Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, pp. 21-22. As this last note emphasizes, not everyone perceives that the parable depicts two compartments in Sheol, but may simply suggest a separation between those in Heaven and those in Hell. Understanding parables means that we don't press them too far, or try to take too many details from them. They are meant to give one general point to the hearers. The main point of the Parable in Luke 16 is to make your life right with God prior to your death. There is a great reversal of situation between the rich man and Lazarus, but neither could do anything about their position after their death. The context of the chapter strongly suggests that the issue is a trust in money verses a trust in God, and those who justify themselves before man verses those whom God justifies.

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