A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

key to death. Still, even when the most spiritual Christian dies, despite our eschatological
knowledge, there is still a sense of loss. Abraham experienced both grief and tears over the
deceased.
Sarah died in Kirjath Arba, later called Hebron. The name Kirjath Arba means the City of
Arba (35:27). Arba was one of the original inhabitants of the town and the father of a race of
giants (Josh. 14:15; 15:13; 21:11). When Caleb conquered the city he renamed it Hebron
meaning place of fellowship. The reference to both names here is a reminder that Sarah died in
the midst of the world, yet she was still in fellowship with God.
Abraham’s response at the death of his wife would not sit well with some misguided
Christians today. The Scriptures describe him with the phrase liseppod ... welibekkothah, “to
mourn ... and to weep for her” (Gen. 23:2). Some Christians believe it is wrong to mourn or
weep for a deceased Christian, citing 1 Thessalonians 4:13. But that verse does not teach
Christians do not sorrow at the loss of a loved one, only that their sorrow is not as severe as one
who is without hope. When Sarah died, Abraham experienced the two common feelings of grief
all men encounter at such times. First there were the immediate tears which come as a natural
physical response to the shock of the sense of loss. This was followed by a longer period of
mourning. The Scripture does not reveal the length of the mourning period, but as it was
concluded before Sarah was buried, it was probably not more than a few days. Later Joseph
mourned for his father seventy days in Egypt before returning to bury his father and then
remained there an additional week. Depending on a variety of factors, the mourning period of a
person following the death of a loved one may last from a few days to sometimes several years.
THE PURCHASE OF A GRAVE (Gen. 23:3-16)
It took the death of Sarah for Abraham to realize the beginning of the fulfillment of
another aspect of the promise of God. In purchasing a grave for Sarah, Abraham held title to his
first piece of Canaan. For over fifty years he had lived with the promise knowing he would
eventually inherit all of Canaan, though he did not know how or when. The purchase of ground
was another step of faith that God would give him the Promised Land.
Just as there is a time to mourn and weep over the loss of a loved one, so there is a time
to depart. At death there must be a detachment from the deceased. The Bible records, “Then
Abraham stood up from before his dead” (Gen. 23:3). The Hebrew verb wayyakam paints a vivid
picture of what probably took place. The verb literally means “and he rose up from.” It is
common for those mourning the dead in the East to fall prostrate before the body of the deceased
or to sit before it in mourning. Yet as the time of mourning came to an end, Abraham got up
from his place of mourning to deal with the matter of a burial.
The place of burying was no small matter to Abraham. The grave he would purchase for
Sarah would also serve as the family grave for at least four generations.
Abraham referred to himself as “a foreigner” in the land as he made his appeal to buy a
grave (v. 4). The Hebrew word qer is a technical term meaning he was a resident alien with some
kind of relation to the community but also having restricted rights. In Israel, such a stranger
could not own land. It is not known what restrictions were applied to the stranger in the Hittite
society.
Abraham’s stated purpose in wanting to purchase a grave was “that I may bury my dead
out of my sight” (v. 4). It was customary in Ur to place the bodies of the dead in clay containers
and store them in a room or basement of the family home. The effect of such a practice must
have been to prolong the grief of those living in the home as the sight of the casket was a