Genesis Chapter 23
The death and burial of Sarah is detailed in the 23rd Chapter of Genesis. The chapter begins with the notation of Sarah’s age at more than 127 years. From the 17th Chapter we had already learned that Sarah was 90 years old when first told she would bear a son.
The 23rd chapter of Genesis is relatively short and deals primarily with Abraham’s making of the arrangements for the burial of his wife.
The description of Abraham’s arrangements of Sarah’s death and burial gives us early insight as to the meaning and tradition behind some of our laws today — especially as it regards the transfer of land and family burial plots.
Sarah died while she and Abraham were in the area of Kirjatharba. This later became known as the city of Hebron in Canaan. We are told Abraham first mourned for Sarah, and then dealt with the local Hittite people to buy a burial location in their land.
Abraham admitted he was a visitor to their land and requested a small place to bury his beloved wife. Among the "sons of Heth" Abraham was praised as a well-known "mighty prince" or prince of God. They granted more than he asked.
The well-known custom of that day was that individuals had to perform certain "feudal" functions on their land for the king. Abraham had requested only a small spot (a cave) for his burial ground. However, Ephron, who owned the land upon which the requested cave was located, insisted Abraham take the entire piece of land, including the cave, the field and its trees.
By taking only the cave, or a small piece of a tract of land, Abraham could have avoided the obligations to the king. Ephron sold the entire tract of land to Abraham thus keeping it intact with all rights and obligations. The reference in the 17th verse, and again in the 20th verse, that the "field of Ephron", including the field, the cave and all trees in the field that made its borders "were made sure" is a reference to the full deed of property rights which were passed to Abraham.
Under the old laws of that day, title to land was made by reference to the dirt and to the trees that usually bordered the land. In fact, deed to the property was usually transferred from one person by giving to another person, in front of witnesses, a clod of dirt and a tree branch from the land. The 23rd chapter of Genesis bears out these old traditions of law by the specific references to the land and its trees and the commitments of payment and transfer, all done in front of witnesses.
Abraham, with full ownership of the land and the burying cave, then proceeded to make the property a family cemetery, with the cave as a sepulcher.
We learn later at the end of Genesis that the cave became Abraham’s family burial cemetery. Eventually buried in the cave was not only Sarah, but also Abraham. Isaac and wife Rebekah were also buried there, as were Leah and Jacob. See Genesis 49:32. The exception is Jacob’s second wife Rachel who was buried near Bethlehem. Genesis 35:19.