Parashat Chayei Sarah - First Aliyah
Read the biblical text and try to understand it on your own, before reading the commentary.
Sarah dies in Hebron at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven. Abraham comes to mourn her and weep for her, then rises and asks the Hittites for a burial place. They receive him with honor and offer him the choice of their finest graves. But Abraham asks for something specific: the cave of Machpelah at the edge of Ephron’s field, as a burial property he will purchase at full price. Genesis 23:1-9
Ephron publicly offers the field and the cave as a gift. Abraham insists on paying, and Ephron names a sum: four hundred shekels of silver. Abraham weighs out the silver before the Hittites. Within the story of parting from Sarah, the Torah makes room for every stage of this conversation. What lies behind the request for a burial property? Genesis 23:10-16
How can someone be both a stranger and a resident?
Abraham says to the Hittites:
ger vetoshav anochi imachem
Translation: I am a stranger and a resident among you.
The two words pull in different directions: a stranger is someone who has come from elsewhere; a resident is someone who lives here. Abraham places them in the same sentence, in which he also asks:
tnu li achuzat kever imachem
Translation: Give me a burial property among you.
Ramban explains that each word tells a different part of his story. Abraham is a stranger because he came from another land and inherited no ancestral burial place here. He is a resident because he has chosen to live in this land, and therefore asks for a permanent burial property, like one of the local people. In Ramban’s reading, the Hittites’ response is generous too: they are willing to give him a place that will be his forever. Ramban on Genesis 23:4
We can thus hear a past and a future in these two words: he comes from a family with no burial place here; now he seeks a property that will remain with his family in the land where he has chosen to live. Just as he parts from Sarah, the question of where he belongs becomes very concrete.
Rashi also brings a midrash that sharpens the tension between the words: if the Hittites agree, Abraham will act as a stranger seeking their consent; if not, he will claim the place as his right, on the strength of God’s promise to give the land to his descendants. In the midrash’s reading, the man standing before them asking for a burial place also carries a promise concerning the land. Rashi on Genesis 23:4
The price hidden within the courtesy
Ephron says he has given Abraham the field and the cave, and Abraham asks to pay. Then comes this sentence:
eretz arba me’ot shekel kesef beini uveinecha mah hi
Translation: A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me?
The sum has already been named, though wrapped in words that play down its importance. Genesis 23:11-15
The next verse opens:
vayishma Avraham el Efron
Translation: Abraham listened to Ephron.
Rashbam comments briefly: “A hint is enough for the wise.” Abraham understands the hint in Ephron’s words and weighs out the sum mentioned. Rashbam on Genesis 23:16
Rashi reads the ending more sharply: Ephron promised much but did not do even a little. Rashi explains that, beyond his talk of a gift, he collected large shekels, following the Sages’ interpretation of the words describing silver accepted by merchants. Rashi on Genesis 23:16
The conversation that initially sounds generous thus ends with a precise payment. The words of honor did not spare Abraham the price.
A promised land, a grave that must be bought
God promised the land to Abraham’s descendants. But when Sarah dies, Abraham still has to approach the landowners and buy a place to bury her. This is the difficulty Ramban brings in the name of the Sages as one of Abraham’s tests: the great promise does not spare him the search for a burial place or the need to pay for it. Ramban makes clear that the promise concerning the whole land will be fulfilled through his descendants; buying the cave is not yet the fulfillment of that promise. Ramban on Genesis 23:19
From here we can return to “stranger and resident” and hear the tension that remains throughout the conversation: the land is his family’s future, yet in the present he must buy even a place to bury his wife from someone else. Abraham seeks a burial property for Sarah, and within that request lies a living person’s choice as well: this is where he wants to stay. Sarah’s death leads him to establish a place in the land that will belong to the family for generations.
More Questions on the Parsha
Why Is a Vav Missing from Ishmael’s Generations?
One letter separates the spellings for Ishmael’s and Isaac’s generations. Masoretic tradition and a midrash open a question about loss and continuity.
Why Is Isaac Named Before Ishmael at Abraham’s Burial?
Isaac and Ishmael bury their father together. Rashi finds repentance in the order of their names, inviting reflection on honor, family and continuity.
Why Does Abraham Eulogize Sarah Before Weeping for Her?
Why does Sarah’s eulogy come before the tears? Sforno, Malbim and Kli Yakar offer a starting point for reflecting on honor, grief and action.