Journey of Faith – Sarah dies, Abraham takes another wife

[As we’ve explained, this Journey of Faith series reflects Sinaite’s discussion; it is usually followed by another post on the same chapter with 3 other commentaries. Translation:  Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses.]

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Because the account of the death of Sarah follows the account of the binding of Isaac, some Jewish commentators make the connection between the two events in the journey of Abraham. They say that the reason Sarah died so soon after was because she was heartbroken over the fact that she knew what Abraham had set out to do when he and Isaac left for Mount Moriah.  

If Sarah bore Isaac at 90 and died at age 127 and Isaac was 37, the time frame is about right so perhaps the rabbis are correct.  The question foremost in our mind is — did Sarah live long enough to know that Isaac’s life was spared? Unfortunately the narrative does not elaborate.

Genesis/Bereshith 23

Now Sara’s life was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years, (thus) the years of
Sara’s life.

2 Sara died in Arba-town, that is now Hevron, in the land of Canaan. Avraham set about to
lament for Sara and to weep over her;

The end of Chapter 23 says Abraham settled in Beer-Sheba but scripture says Sarah died in Keriath-Arba, what was to be called later as Hebron in Canaan.  The wording of vs 2 suggests Abraham had to leave Beersheba to go to Hebron.

 Why was Isaac not with Abraham to mourn and weep for his mother? In fact he is not mentioned in the following text regarding Abraham’s purchase of a burial cave. 

3 then Avraham arose from the presence of his dead and spoke to the Sons of Het, saying:
4 I am a sojourner settled among you; give me title to a burial holding among you, so that I may
bury my dead from my presence.
5 The Sons of Het answered Avraham, saying to him:
6 Hear us, my lord! You are one exalted by God in our midst- in the choicest of our burial-sites
you may bury your dead, no man among us will deny you his burial-site for burying your dead!

Abraham’s reputation as “a prince of God among us” [AST]  or ‘the one with whom is Elohim’ has spread in the area.  Through him and his travels, the reputation of his God through his life-witness is known among the people he interacted with.

7 Avraham arose, he bowed low to the People of the Land, to the Sons of Het,
8 and spoke with them, saying: If it be then according to your wish that I bury my dead from my
presence, hear me and interpose for me to Efron son of Tzohar,
9 that he may give me title to the cave of Makhpela, that is his, that is at the edge of his field, for
the full silver-worth let him give me title in your midst for a burial holding.
10 Now Efron had a seat amidst the Sons of Het, and Efron the Hittite answered Avraham in the
ears of the Sons of Het, of all who had entry to the council-gate of his city, saying:
11 Not so, my lord, hear me! The field I give to you, and the cave that is therein, to you I give it;
before the eyes of the Sons of My People I give it to you- bury your dead!
12 Avraham bowed before the People of the Land
13 and spoke to Efron in the ears of the People of the Land, saying: But if you yourself would
only hear me out! I will give the silver-payment for the field, accept it from me, so that I may bury my
dead there.
14 Efron answered Avraham, saying to him:
15 My lord-hear me! A piece of land worth four hundred silver weight, what is that between me
and you! You may bury your dead!
16 Avraham hearkened to Efron: Avraham weighed out to Efron the silver-worth of which he
had spoken in the ears of the Sons of Het- four hundred silver weight at the going merchants’ rate there.

Abraham insists on paying for what would be the burial ground for Sarah and him.  This is the second recorded incident where he refuses a free offer, the other occasion was when he paid a visit to Melchizedek.

Genesis/Bereshith 14

21 The king of Sedom said to Avram: Give me the persons, and the property take for yourself.
22 Avram said to the king of Sedom: I raise my hand in the presence of YHVH, God Most-High,
Founder of Heaven and Earth,
23 if from a thread to a sandal-strap-if I should take from anything that is yours . . . ! So that you
should not say: I made Avram rich.
24 Nothing for me! Only what the lads have consumed, and the share of the men who went with
me-Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, let them take their share.

In the days of Abraham, perhaps it was wise not to accept charity when one was well able to afford, because a debt, or even a free gift makes one beholden somehow to the giver.

17 Thus was established the field of Efron, that is in Makhpela, that faces Mamre, the field as
well as the cave that is in it, and the trees that were in all the field, that were in all their territory round
about,
18 for Avraham as an acquisition, before the eyes of the Sons of Het, of all who had entry to the
council-gate of his city.
19 Afterward Avraham buried Sara his wife in the cave of the field of Makhpela, facing Mamre,
that is now Hevron, in the land of Canaan.
20 Thus was established the field as well as the cave that is in it for Avraham as a burial holding,
from the Sons of Het

It’s not as though Sarah died and Abraham remarried immediately.  There is a whole chapter in between about Abraham’s servant on an errand to find a wife for Isaac [Journey of Faith 9: The Servant Matchmaker].

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Genesis/Bereshith 25

The Jewish commentators are split in their opinion as who Keturah was: some say she was Hagar, others don’t agree. Hagar was of Egyptian roots while Keturah’s ethnic connection is not stated in Scripture.  Those who do not think Keturah is Hagar refer to verse 3 (below) which mentions the sons of Abraham’s “concubines” [plural].

5 But Avraham gave over all that was his to Yitzhak.

Further, 1 Chronicles 1: 29-33 names Abraham’s descendants from these two women: 

• These were Abraham’s descendants by Hagar, through Ishmael: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 
• The sons born to Keturah: Zimram, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. 

The commentators say that Abraham truly fulfilled his title as “father of all nations” through the three women with whom he had descendants, although the lineage through Sarah’s son Isaac is the biblical focus.

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 NSB@S6K