Genesis 23:1-20
Sarah lived 127 years.
Hittites saw Abraham as a prince of God among them.
Abraham weighted 400 shekels of silver bought the cave of Machpelah as a burying place, according to the weights current among the merchants. 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.
The Hittites occupying the Hebron area may have been early settlers drawn south by trade from the Hittite Empire in Turkey(found about 1800 BC). The deal is vividly described, conforming in deal to Hittite law (the mention of the trees, the weighing of the silver by current standards, and the proclamation in the presence of witnesses at the city gate).
Why?
Abraham won the honor and respect among the Hittite, so they like to give him a land for bury his wife.
Abraham , as a resident alien, has no rights to land. He 'has not received the things promised', and must bargain even for a place to bury his wife. This chapter and chapter 21 record the first legal rights of Abraham's family in Canaan.
Family tombs, often caves or cut from rock, were also customary. The traditional site of the burial-cave at Hebron is today covered by a mosque(清真寺), for Islam holds Abraham in high regard.
How?
Can we get the honor and respect among alien like a prince of God?
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