Genesis 23-what does it mean?

[Piano Hero]

This is the ESV version:
Sarah's Death and Burial
23:1 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, 4 “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5 The Hittites answered Abraham, 6 “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” 7 Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”

10 Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, 11 “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13 And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” 14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “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.” 16 Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

17 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.




From what I see, this is a chapter meant to record events and history, but I was wondering why a big chunk of the chapter involves Abraham trying to convince the Hittites to let him pay for a burial site for Sarah. They just go back and forth, until finally, Abraham pays for the field and buries Sarah.


I know everything is in the Bible for a reason, but it's puzzling to me that a big portion of this chapter is so detailed on something that might seem insignificant (I'm not saying it is; I'm just pointing it out).

Is this just a historical record, or is there some lesson to be learned from this?

 

[Jack K]

I wrote a devotional on this passage several months ago. Here's a excerpt:

Life’s toughest moments, like the death of a spouse, often reveal where we place our faith. In Abraham’s case, the death of Sarah shows his faith in God’s promises.

God had a longstanding promise to Abraham to give his descendants the whole land of Canaan, where Abraham lived as a foreigner with no property rights. When Sarah died, Abraham set out to respond in a way that fit the promise God had made. He asked the Hittites, who lived in the land, to sell him a piece of property as a burial place.

The Bible describes the negotiations in detail because we need to see that Abraham could’ve had a burial site for free. But he insisted on paying to buy his own plot. He got the landowner to quote a price—a whopping 400 pieces of silver—and paid it without haggling. In this way God gave Abraham some real dirt to go along with the promise. The Bible makes sure we understand it was official title to specific property.

If Abraham had been a typical foreigner, the free use of a tomb would have been fine. Or if he’d doubted God’s promise, he might have buried Sarah back in his family’s homeland. But Abraham knew his true homeland was Canaan, even though he didn’t own it yet. God’s promise so filled his heart and powered his hopes that he eagerly overpaid to get that first chunk of promised land.

So it can be with us. We too have a future homeland, a promise from God to all who are in Jesus. “We are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). It is a hope, like Abraham’s and Sarah’s, that outlasts the grave—because Jesus rose from his own tomb to secure it.

I need daily help to believe that promise as deeply as Abraham believed the one God made to him. So let me mention that however trustworthy the promise was to Abraham, however indisputable his land claim, however tangible the dirt in which he laid Sarah, our hope in Jesus is even more sure: “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

 

[py3ak]

It shows plainly that Abraham did not yet possess any of the land which God had promised. Hebrews 11:13 helps explain the significance of that. If you have access to Matthew Henry's commentary on the passage, I'm sure you'll find it very instructive.