Sara’s death and burial in the field bought of Ephron.
Sara dying Abraham solemnizeth her funeral. 4. byeth a field with a duble caue of Ephron, 15. for four hundreth sicles. 19. and there burieth her.
1And Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.E visse Sara cento ventisette anni.AND Sara liued an hundred twentie seuen yeares.Vixit autem Sara centum viginti septem annis. 2And she died in the city of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of Chanaan: and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.E morì nella città di Arbee, che è Hebron nella terra di Chanaan: e andò Abramo a renderle gli ultimi uffizii, e a piangerla.And she died in the citie of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of Chanaan: And Abraham came to mourne, and weepe for her.Et mortua est in civitate Arbee, quæ est Hebron, in terra Chanaan: venitque Abraham ut plangeret et fleret eam. 3And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to the children of Heth, saying:E spedito che fu dalle cerimonie del funerale, parlò co' figliuoli di Heth dicendo:And after that he was risen vp from the funeral obsequies, he spake to the children of Heth, saying:Cumque surrexisset ab officio funeris, locutus est ad filios Heth, dicens: 4I am a stranger and sojourner among you: give me the right of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead.Io son forestiero, e pellegrino presso di voi: datemi tra voi il diritto di sepoltura, affinché io possa seppellire il mio morto.I am a stranger and pilgrime among you: geue me the right of a sepulchre with you, that I may burie my dead.Advena sum et peregrinus apud vos: date mihi jus sepulchri vobiscum, ut sepeliam mortuum meum. 5The children of Heth answered, saying:Risposero i figliuoli di Heth, e dissero:The children of Heth answered, saying:Responderunt filii Heth, dicentes: 6My lord, hear us, thou art a prince of God among us: bury thy dead in our principal sepulchres: and no man shall have power to hinder thee from burying thy dead in his sepulchre.Signore, ascoltaci: Tu sei presso di noi un principe di Dio: seppellisci il tuo morto in quella, che più a te piacerà, delle nostre sepolture: e nissuno sarà, che possa vietarti di seppellire il tuo morto nel suo monumento.My lord heare vs, thou art a prince of God among vs: in our principal sepulchres burie thou thy dead: and no man can let thee but that in his owne monument thou mayest burie thy dead.Audi nos, domine: princeps Dei es apud nos: in electis sepulchris nostris sepeli mortuum tuum, nullusque te prohibere poterit quin in monumento ejus sepelias mortuum tuum. 7Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to wit, the children of Heth:Si alzò Abramo, e s'inchinò al popolo della terra, vale a dire ai figliuoli d'Heth:Abraham rose vp, and adored the people of the land, towit the children of Heth:Surrexit Abraham, et adoravit populum terræ, filios videlicet Heth:
8And said to them: If it please your soul that I should bury my dead, hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron the son of Seor.E disse loro: Se piace a voi, che io seppellisca il mio morto, ascoltatemi, e intercedete per me presso Ephron figliuolo di Seor:and he said to them: If it please your soule that I burie my dead, heare me, and be intercessors for me to Ephron the sonne of Seor:dixitque ad eos: Si placet animæ vestræ ut sepeliam mortuum meum, audite me, et intercedite pro me apud Ephron filium Seor: 9That he may give me the double cave, which he hath in the end of his field: For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me before you, for a possession of a burying place.Affinché egli mi conceda la doppia caverna, che egli ha al fondo del suo campo: a prezzo giusto me la dia alla vostra presenza, affinché io sia padrone di farne una sepoltura.that he geue me the duble caue, which he hath in the vttermost part of his field: for money to the worth therof let him deliuer it to me before you for possession of a sepulchre.ut det mihi speluncam duplicem, quam habet in extrema parte agri sui: pecunia digna tradat eam mihi coram vobis in possessionem sepulchri. 10Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the children of Heth. And Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of all that went in at the gate of the city, saying:Or Ephron si stava in mezzo a' figliuoli di Heth. E rispose Ephron ad Abramo, a sentita di tutti quelli che entravano nella porta della città, dicendo:And Ephron dwelt in the middest of the children of Heth. And Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of al that went in at the gate of the citie, saying:Habitabat autem Ephron in medio filiorum Heth. Responditque Ephron ad Abraham, cunctis audientibus qui ingrediebantur portam civitatis illius, dicens: 11Let it not be so, my lord, but do thou rather hearken to what I say: The field I deliver to thee, and the cave that is therein; in the presence of the children of my people, bury thy dead.Non sia così, signor mio: ma fa' tu piuttosto a modo mio in quel ch'io ti dico: Io ti fo padrone del campo, e della caverna, che ivi è, alla presenza de' figliuoli del popol mio: seppellisci il tuo morto.No, it shal not be so, my lord, but thou rather harken to that which I doe say: The field I deliuer to thee, and the caue that is therin, in the presence of the children of my people, burie thy dead.Nequaquam ita fiat, domine mi, sed tu magis ausculta quod loquor. Agrum trado tibi, et speluncam quæ in eo est, præsentibus filiis populi mei; sepeli mortuum tuum. 12Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.S'inchinò Abramo dinanzi al popolo della terra:Abraham adored before the people of the land.Adoravit Abraham coram populo terræ.
13And he spoke to Ephron, in the presence of the people: I beseech thee to hear me: I will give money for the field; take it, and so will I bury my dead in it.E parlò ad Ephron, stando tutt'all'intorno la moltitudine: Di grazia ascoltami: io darò il denaro per il campo: prendilo, e così vi seppellirò il mio morto.And he spoke to Ephron, his people standing round about: I beseech thee to heare me: I wil geue money for the field: take it, and so I wil burie my dead in it.Et locutus est ad Ephron circumstante plebe: Quæso ut audias me: dabo pecuniam pro agro: suscipe eam, et sic sepeliam mortuum meum in eo. 14And Ephron answered:Ed Ephron rispose:And Ephron answered:Responditque Ephron: 15My lord, hear me. The ground which thou desirest, is worth four hundred sicles of silver: this is the price between me and thee: but what is this? bury thy dead.Signor mio, ascoltami: Il terreno, che tu domandi, vale quattrocento sicli d'argento: questo è il prezzo tra me e te: ma che gran cosa è ella questa? seppellisci il tuo morto.My lord, heare me. The ground which thou desirest, is worth foure hundred sicles of siluer: this is the price between me and thee: but how much is this? burie thy dead,Domine mi, audi me: terra, quam postulas, quadringentis siclis argenti valet: istud est pretium inter me et te: sed quantum est hoc ? sepeli mortuum tuum. 16And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the money that Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred sicles of silver, of common current money.Udito ciò, Abramo pesò il denaro domandato da Ephron alla presenza de' figliuoli di Heth, quattrocento sicli d'argento di buona moneta mercantile.Which when Abraham had heard, he weyed the money, that Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth, foure hundred sicles of siluer of common currant money.Quod cum audisset Abraham, appendit pecuniam, quam Ephron postulaverat, audientibus filiis Heth, quadringentos siclos argenti probatæ monetæ publicæ. 17And the field that before was Ephron’s, wherein was the double cave, looking towards Mambre, both it and the cave, and all the trees thereof, in all its limits round about,E il campo una volta di Ephron, nel quale era una doppia caverna, che guardava verso Mambre, tanto esso, come la caverna, e tutte le piante, che erano all'intorno dentro de' suoi confini,And the field that before time was Ephrons, wherin was the duble caue, looking towards Mambre, aswel it, as the caue, and al the trees therof in al the lymits therof round about:Confirmatusque est ager quondam Ephronis, in quo erat spelunca duplex, respiciens Mambre, tam ipse, quam spelunca, et omnes arbores ejus in cunctis terminis ejus per circuitum, 18Was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the children of Heth, and of all that went in at the gate of his city.Fu ceduto in pien dominio ad Abramo alla presenza de' figliuoli di Heth, e di tutti quelli che entravano nella porta di quella città.was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the children of Heth, and of al that went in at the gate of his citie.Abrahæ in possessionem, videntibus filiis Heth, et cunctis qui intrabant portam civitatis illius.
19And so Abraham buried Sara, his wife, in the double cave of the field, that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron in the land of Chanaan.E così Abramo seppellì Sara sua moglie in quel campo nella doppia caverna, che guardava verso Mambre, la quale è Hebron nella terra di Chanaan.And so Abraham buried Sara his wife in the duble caue of the field, that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron in the land of Chanaan.Atque ita sepelivit Abraham Saram uxorem suam in spelunca agri duplici, quæ respiciebat Mambre. Hæc est Hebron in terra Chanaan. 20And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that was in it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.E i figliuoli di Heth confermarono ad Abramo il dominio del campo, e della caverna, che era in esso per servirsene di monumento.And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the caue, that was in it, for a possession to burie, in of the Children of Heth.Et confirmatus est ager, et antrum quod erat in eo, Abrahæ in possessionem monumenti a filiis Heth.
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Year of the World 2145, Year before Christ 1859.
City. Hebrew, Cariath arbah, Josue 14:15.
Which is Hebron. Serarius thinks it took its name from the society (cherber) between Abraham and the princes of the city. Hebron the son of Caleb possessed it afterwards.
Calmet
Came from Bersabee, (Chap. 22:19.) or to the place where the corpse lay, at Arbee, which signifies four; as Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their four wives, reposed there. (Calmet)
Kennicott
And weep. In the middle of this word, in the printed Hebrew, there is left a small c; whence the Rabbins ridiculously infer, that Abraham wept but a short time. But the retaining of greater, less, suspended and inverted letters in the Hebrew Bible, can be attributed to no other cause than a scrupulous veneration even for the faults of transcribers. (Kennicott)
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Haydock
Obsequies, or solemn mourning, accompanied with prayer. (Acts 8:2; Matthew 11:17) The Jews are still accustomed to say, when they bury their dead, "Ye fathers, who sleep in Hebron, open to him the gates of Eden;" herein agreeing with the Catholic doctrine, as they did in the days of Judas the Machabee. (Haydock)
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Haydock
Prince of God, powerful and holy, and worthy of respect. (Haydock)
Haydock
A great prince. See Acts 7:5, where St. Stephen says, that God did not give Abraham a foot of land, meaning as an inheritance; and that Abraham bought this double cave, for a sepulchre, of the sons of Hemor, the son of Sichem; (Calmet) from which latter he seems to derive the name of the place, which is here called Hebron. (Haydock)
Calmet
Nothing is more common, than for men and places to have two names; though some think, the name of Abraham has been inserted in the Acts by a mistake of the copyists, when Jacob was meant. See Genesis 33:19. (Calmet)
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Bowed down to the people. Adoravit, literally, adored. But this word here, as well as in many other places in the Latin Scriptures, is used to signify only an inferior honour and reverence paid to men, expressed by a bowing down of the body.
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Haydock
Sicles. About £50. (Haydock)
Menochius
It was no simony to buy land for a sepulchre, as it was not blessed. (Menochius)
Calmet
Current money, was such as passed among merchants, though probably not yet coined in any part of the world; and therefore we find, that Abraham and others weigh the pieces of silver or gold. In this manner were bargains concluded before witnesses, who in those days supplied the want of writings and lawyers. (Calmet)
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Bowed down to the people.... Adoravit, literally adored. But this word here, as well as in many other places in the Latin scriptures, is used to signify only an inferior honour and reverence paid to men, expressed by a bowing down of the body.
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A cleare example of religious office in burying the dead, See. 2. Reg. 1. and 2. Paral. 35.
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Adoration vsed for reuerence done to men. See also c. 27. v. 29. c 33. v 37 and S. Aug. q. 6•. in Gen.
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Fasting 17
“Old” you are, if we will say the truth, you who are so indulgent to appetite, and justly do you vaunt your “priority:” always do I recognise the savour of Esau, the hunter of wild beasts: so unlimitedly studious are you of catching fieldfares, so do you come from “the field” of your most lax discipline, so faint are you in spirit.
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Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 18
… We learn this from the case of Abraham, the father of the faithful, a man who enjoyed close intercourse with God. For when he requested of the sons of Heth a spot to bury Sarah in, he said to them, “Give me the possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 24
[4.] The saints were “strangers and sojourners.” How and in what way? And where does Abraham confess himself “a stranger and a sojourner”? Probably indeed he even himself confessed it:
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 35
… ( Gen. xviii .) And in Egypt too before this, when he had appeared so extraordinary a person, and had received back this very woman, his wife, and had enjoyed so great honor ( Gen. xii .) he showeth it to no man. And though the inhabitants of the place called him prince, he himself even laid down the price of the sepulchre. (
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St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On the Holy Spirit 1
… for “he bowed himself to the ground,” says the Scripture, “three times” ; and Joseph’s brethren, as long as they knew him not, and he pretended before them that he knew them not, by reason of the exaltation of his rank reverenced his sovereignty with this worship; and even the great Abraham himself “bowed himself
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.32
… And upon the death of Sarah his wife, when the Hittites were willing to bestow upon him a place where he might bury her, he declined it as a gift, but bought the burying-place (giving for it four hundred talents of silver) from Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite.
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 66.11
… You are the first of monks in the first city of the world: you do right therefore to follow the first of the patriarchs. Let Lot, whose name means ‘one who turns aside’ choose the plain and let him follow the left and easy branch of the famous letter of Pythagoras. But do you make ready for yourself a monument like Sarah’s
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Arbee, which is Hebron. -- Why Hebron was called Arbee, I shall say in Josue XV. Sara died in the year of her age 127, which was Abraham's 137th year, two years after the death of Thare; for Thare died in Abraham's 135th year. And Abraham came to mourn and weep for her. -- Some think that Sara died in Abraham's absence, and therefore Moses said: And Abraham came. But to come among the Hebrews often means to begin something, to prepare oneself to do something. Thus Abraham here came, that is, prepared himself, to mourn Sara. Whence some translate, Abraham began to mourn Sara. Note: Mourning is distinguished from weeping, and signifies solemn lamentation, and the pomp of mourning and funeral. Thus they made great mourning for Stephen, that is, great pomp of mourning and funeral, Acts VIII. Thus David with solemn funeral and song mourned Saul and Jonathan, slain in battle, II Kings I, 17. Thus all Judah and Jerusalem mourned and lamented the death of King Josias, most beloved, II Paralipomenon XXXV, 24.
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The right of burial. -- In Hebrew it is achussat keber, that is, the possession of a burial place, or sepulchral: for Abraham does not ask to be mingled with the sepulchres of idolaters, but seeks for himself a separate place, in which both Sara and he himself and his posterity may be buried. Mystically, Abba Pastor in the Lives of the Fathers, being asked by someone: "What shall I do to be saved?" answered: "When Abraham came into the land of promise, he procured for himself a monument, and through the sepulchre received the land as an inheritance." That is to say, Thus also thou through the thought of death shalt strive toward salvation in heaven. And the brother said: "What is a sepulchre?" The old man answered: "A place of weeping and mourning." My dead, -- that is my dead one, namely my wife. Thus St. Augustine. Secondly, more simply "my dead," namely the body or corpse; whence Vatablus translates, my funeral. Add, after death there is no distinction of sex considered in the body; whence we rightly call it dead, whether it be a man or a woman.
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Thou art a prince of God among us, -- as if they said: We have and revere thee as a prince, and as the Septuagint translates, a holy king, who art dear to God and in His care, and therefore art notable and illustrious, and eminently to be venerated. We look up to thee because of thy virtues, and because of God's favor, care and protection toward thee; just as if thou wert a great prince fallen from heaven to us. In the choicest, -- in the most select sepulchres of ours bury Sara. They did not understand Abraham's mind, who did not wish to be mingled and buried with the Hethites, as idolaters. And no one shall be able to forbid thee, -- no one shall be so bold as to dare and wish to forbid thee.
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He adored. -- In Hebrew it is iistachu, that is, Abraham bowed himself, giving thanks, and exhibiting civil honor and reverence to the Hethites: thus Cajetan and others.
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The double cave. -- It was double, either because it had two crypts, one for burying men, another for women, as Procopius wishes; or because one was interior, another exterior, in which the interior was as if enclosed. Thus Aben-Esra. A worthy price, -- a just price.
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The Gate of the City. -- From this it appears that in the gates, as in a public place where all, even foreigners, could easily gather, commerce and judicial proceedings were formerly accustomed to be conducted. In the gates, therefore, judges, magistrates and consuls formerly sat, and there they handled all matters both public and private, just as they now sit and conduct business in the civic building.
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I will give money for the field. -- Abraham did not wish to have the field for nothing, but to buy it at a just price, both because this is the mark of an honest, generous and kingly spirit; and lest the heirs of Ephron should later reclaim the field, or demand a common burial place in it. Thus generous men contend with one another in liberality, just as the avaricious contend in stinginess. Aelianus relates that Alcibiades sent the most splendid gifts to his teacher Socrates; Socrates rejected them with great spirit, though his wife Xantippe urged him greatly: "The gifts are Alcibiades' own," he said, "let our ambition also be our own: Alcibiades shows his liberality in giving, Socrates in not receiving." You will say: To buy a burial place and the right of burial is simony. St. Thomas answers first, II II, Question C, article 4, to the third objection, that Abraham did not buy the right of burial, but only the field in which he might bury Sarah: but the field is in itself vendible. Secondly, Abulensis: A sepulchre, he says, becomes sacred in such a way that it cannot be sold without simony, not by the burial itself, but by the placing of the dead in it; therefore it was not yet sacred when Abraham bought it. This is true by the civil law of the Romans, by which the place becomes religious by the very placing of the corpse. But this makes nothing to the crime of simony, which is ecclesiastical, not civil; so that a burial place cannot be sold without simony, it must be sacred by ecclesiastical consecration or blessing, as theologians and canonists commonly teach. In the time of Abraham, there was not yet consecration or ecclesiastical blessing (for the Christian Church instituted this), by which a place would be consecrated for burial; hence it could be sold without simony. Thus Cajetan, Lipomanus and others. Add that sepulchres, like the priesthoods of the Gentiles, being those of idolaters, are not sacred but profane; indeed their priesthoods are diabolical, and therefore to buy them is not simony. Yet the Gentiles selling them, from an erroneous conscience, by which they thought them to be sacred, sinned by simony. Thus St. Thomas.
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Four hundred shekels of silver, -- namely 400 Brabantine florins; concerning the shekel I shall say more at Exodus XXX, 13. Of approved public money. -- Hebrew, silver passing among merchants; the Septuagint, silver approved by merchants: for merchants are accustomed especially to discern, weigh and approve money, and especially demand what is good and approved.
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The field was confirmed, -- that is to say, by the purchase this field, with its double cave, was firmly and stably transferred by right into the dominion of Abraham. Consider, Abraham in Canaan had no house, no field of his own, but only a sepulchre of his own; because by God's direction he wished to be a sojourner in life, and to tend toward heaven; but in death, as it were at the boundary and confine of heaven, he sought a place for himself and his faithful people, lest he rest with the unfaithful: for in death there is a distinction between the faithful and the unfaithful; therefore it is fitting that the same distinction be in the sepulchre. See how great was the care of the ancient patriarchs for burial, and how great it ought now to be for the faithful, that they be buried in sacred places with the faithful and saints, and this on account of the hope of blessed resurrection with them; for the unfaithful and heretics have their ass's burial. For this reason in this sepulchre of Sarah were buried Abraham, Isaac, Rebecca and Leah; indeed Jacob wished to be transferred to it from Egypt. Thus, as the history of Kings has it, Samuel, Saul, Jonathan, the prophet slain by a lion, III Kings XIII, Josias the king and others were honorably buried with their own. Thus Tobias kindly showed the office of burial to the bodies of the faithful, slaughtered by the tyrant. Thus John the Baptist was carefully taken from prison to burial by his disciples. Thus Joseph of Arimathea asked the body of Christ from Pilate, and laid it in his new monument, which he had hewn out of the rock. Thus St. Anthony was sent by God to St. Paul the first Hermit to bury him, and when he had no spade, two lions dug his sepulchre for him with their claws. Ephron. -- St. Stephen in Acts VII asserts that this field was bought not from Ephron, but from the sons of Hemor, and has some other things which do not seem to agree sufficiently with this place, but these must be discussed at Acts VII.
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Mamre, this is Hebron. -- Hebron was called Arbee, and was also called Mamre from the adjacent valley, which was called Mamre, from the mighty man Mamre, who possessed it, and who fought with Abraham against four kings, chapter XIV, verse 13.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 4 « Vixit autem Sara centum viginti septem annis ». Notat Per. huius primae recenseri mulieris aetatem , quod mater ex- Sarae, quam ultimam appositionem a LXX Vulg. non expressam Dilim. configit , quod non ita sit e genio elohistae : sic studio systematis s. textui violenta infertur manus. Memento LXX Vulg., quod sapientium translatorum est, non consuevisse vertere de verbo ad verbum.
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v. 2 « Et mortua est in. civitate Arbee, quae est Hebron, in terra Chanaan » , quo Abraham, quod « advena et peregrinus » esset, rursum commigraverat (Ca?.). Chanaanitide sedes non habebant et quo Bersabee, ubi prius Abraham credendus est esse moratus, non erat uti postea in finibus Chananaeorum sed Philisthaeorum. riente absens fuerit » (Bonfr.), quod volunt Ps. lIon., Targ. Hier.; « sed funebri vestitu et comitatu multorum adit locum, ubi depositum fuerat cadaver » (Per.), « ut plangeret et fleret eam », qui sacrificaturus filium non fleverat (Per.).
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v. 3 « Cumque surrexisset ab officio funeris », Hebr. : a facie mortui sui, « locutus est ad filios Heth dicens » :
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V. & « Advena sum et peregrinus apud vos », et qua talis nullam terrae partem meo iure possideo (Kn.) : « date mz: zus sepulcri vobiscum , ut sepeliam mortuum meum » , *325n (cf. v. 8), de coram me; angl. out of sight. Haec in porta v. 10 loquebatur Abraham, ubi negotia expediebantur. Hebr. : possessionem sepulcri, non petit licentiam utendi sepulturis Hethaeorum (Ca?.), nolebat suos post mortem misceri incirceumcisorum cadaveribus (Bonf7.) , ipsum locum emere desiderat.
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v. 5 « Responderunt filiàà Heth dicentes » :
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v. 6 « Audi nos, domine, princeps Dei es apud nos » , i. e. eximius et singulari praestantia (Vat.); ut principem te tractabimus, non ut peregrinum (Calm.). « In electis sepulcris nostris sepelài mortuum tutum, nullusque te prohibere |poterit|, quin in monumento etus sepelias mortuum tuum ». Pronomen 35 post *2N5 scribi haud consuevit (Houb.) : hinc Sam. LXX hic et v. 14 vocem trahunt ad sequentia. Sed ipsiscribunt negationem N5, nequaquam, domine, quae tamen h. 1. negatio admitti nequit, nisi cum LXX ordinem verborum invertas *2"N NO "iyw. Melius hie et v. 14 punctes *5 : Audi nos, quaeso, domine (Hitzig). Quae lectio conformatur exquisitae urbanitati huius colloquii. Ita orientales vel hodie eiusmodi negotia peragunt. Ad urbis portam accedunt, ubi coram testibus transigitur res, Idem agit Abraham. Advenae nomine benevolentiam captat, sepulcri possessionem postulat. Illi urbane suorum sepulcrorum usum offerunt. Conditionis gratias ille rependit profunde inclinatus, verum ut sibi vendatur sepulcrum insistit. Illud, quod prae ceteris in votis est, sepulcrum designat, Ephronis. Non tamen virum ailoquitur, sed reliquos ut apud eum intercedant orat. Ephron sepulcrum dono offert : huius rursus conditionis gratias Abraham profunde inclinatus rependit. Tandem emit. Of. Vigourouz, La Bible I. 444 sqq. Idem auctor adnotat, Abraham nobis primum in scriptura exemplum dare condendorum, non cremandorum cadaverum.
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v. 7 « Surrexit Abraham et adoravit populum terrae, filios videlicet Heth » ,
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v. 8 « dixitque ad eos : Si placet animae vestrae, ut sepeliam mortuum meum , audite me et intercedite pro meapud Ephron, filium Seor, » — Nomen ^n etiam habet Simeonita 406,10; Ex. 6,15 et Iudaeus 1 Par. 4,7. Sam. nnn ^n, scriptio nominis etiam alias incerta —
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v. 9 « ut det mihi speluncam duplicem », — Vulg. vertit nomen secundum etymologiam ; sed verius Vat. retinet nomen proprium Machpelah — « quam habet in extrema parte agri sut. Pecunia digna (radat eam mihi coram vobis in possessionem sepulcri ». v. 10 « Habitabat » — melius LXX sedebat — « autem. Ephron in medio filiorum Heth ». Praesens aderat : aut illum Abraham facie non noverat, aut hoc etiam erat urbanitatis, ut ab illis non immediate ad Ephron converteret sermonem, sed ut intercederent rogaret. « Respond?tque Ephron ad Abraham cunctis audientibus, qui ingrediebantur portam civitatis illius, dicens » :
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v. 11 « Nequaquam ita fiat, domine mi, sed tu magis ausculta quod loquor. Agrum trado tibi et speluncam, quae ?n eo est, praesentibus filiis populi mei », « publice, non privatim » (Vat.), cui rei iterum iterumque insistitur, cum ea maxime constet validitas contractus. « Sepeli mortuum tuum ». Ingredientes civitatem, uti 34,24 egredientes civitate, simpliciter sunt cives (Dillm.). Hebr. : ín (3) auribus filiorum Heth et (b) omnibus ingredientibus portam civitatis. Duae expressiones videntur esse synonymae. Dillm. putat alteram limitare priorem : quotquot ingrediebantur etc.
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v. 19 « Adoravit Abraham coram populo terrae »,
23:13
v. 13 « et locutus est ad Ephron circumstante plebe : Quaeso, «ut audias me. Dabo pecuniam pro agro : suseipe eam et |szc| sepeliam mortuum meum zn eo ». Donum declinat, pretium offert Abraham. | Sensus planus, sed lectiones discrepantes. Sam. LXX Targ. : *àg'av :5 ànN BN T profecto, si tu mihi, audi me; ubi evidenter aliquid supplendum, v. g. Chald. : $i tu mihi conferre vis misericordiam, seu brevius : si tu me audis, nam y13u etiam cum p construitur. Hebr. : *3y'ou 19 nanN DON jh. profecto, si tu, audi quaeso me, constructio priore etiam magis truncata. Cuius asperitatem persentiens Vulg. priorem partem suppressit. Syr. explicat : si tu vis, audi me. « Truncata sententia, quae optativo QN inchoabatur, pergitur urbaniore etiam :9 cum imperativo » (Dillm.). Sed longe planiorem explicationem tradit Hitzig nw interpretatus non pronomen sed kal verbi Tx : Profecto, si tu consentis, audi quaeso me; vel: si tu mihi consentis, audi me; nam explicatio haec lectioni tam p, quam Y9 adaptatur. Neque obiicias, eius verbi kal secus non usu venire. Reapse verbum quater tantum legitur et quidem eoniugalione niphal (34,15. 22. 23; 4 Reg. 12,9) : quid igitur mirum kal nonnisi semel, sc. hoc textu, legi? v. 15 « Responditque Ephron » :
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v. 15 « Domine mi, audi me. Terra, [guam postulas|, quadringentis siclis argenti [valet , istud est pretium] inter me et te, [sed| quantum est hoc? Sepeli mortuum tuum ».Iungendum est aut : Terra quadringentorum siclorum inter me et te, i. e. si de ea quaeratur inter nos, quid est hoc? aut cum LXX : Terra quadringentorum siclorum, quid est hoc inter me et te? Sensus erit idem ; non sane cum Sa (cf. Vat.) : « tam vili vendo propter te », cum ita oratio ab exquisita urbanitate ad avaritiam pudoris nesciam deflecteret. Sed verius Ca:. illud quid hoc interpretatur « parvi momenti est », « quasi dicat : non decet te vel me, qui et amici et divites sumus, de tantula summa sollicitari » (Menoch.). Praetextu iterum declinandae emptionis, pretium indicat homo. Ita etiamnum agere orientales, vide apud Vigourouz l.c. et Del. — Ad textum cf. , quae diximus ad v. 6. LXX pro 335v erronee 'n7Dv.
23:16
v. 16 « Quod cum audisset Abraham », — Hebr.: et audivit Abraham Ephronem , quod recte interpretatur Drus. « acquievit et assensit ei » — « appendit pecuniam , quam Ephron postulaverat audientibus filiis Heth, quadringentos siclos argenti probaiae monetae publicae ». Ponderavit argentum : eandem expressionem habent etiam Assyri (Schrader KAT). Unde infert Bonfr., non fuisse « signatas » argenti laminas, quod serius fecere Phoenices, sed gratuito coniicit De/. factum etiam esse Abrahae tempore. Si siclá supponantur babylonici, quos debuit Abraham nosse e Chaldaea profectus, tum quadringenti illi aequabant 6732 grammata (cf. Schrader). A babylonico differebat quidem aliquantum Hebraeorum siclus posteriorum ; at num siclus, quo Abraham utebatur, debuit esse idem, quem Hebraei habebant ex Aegypto reduces? Quem vero valorem repraesentent quadringenti illi sicli definire haud valemus, cum, quod fuerit eo tempore argenti pretium, penitus ignoremus. Illi sicli certe non erant nummi, sed argenti frusta probabilius in laminas tusa. Erant autem n5 "I3Y, (ransientes negotiatori seu, ut Chald. explicat, quod accipitur pro mercibus in omnibus provinciis. Erant iusti ponderis, non deficientis. Conferunt hic aliqui « pondus regium » 2 Reg. 14,26. Plura hoc textu docemur, quae aliis textibus et orientis antiquitatibus confirmantur : fuisse tum veri nominis negotiatores, qui mercaturae exercendae causa circumirent (11D), merces non commutarent tantum, puta vestes pro frumento, sed auri et argenti pretio aestimarent.
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v. 17 « Confirmatusque est » — i. e. in firmam et permanentem possessionem cessit — « ager [quondam] Ephronis , n quo erat spelunca duplez , respiciens Mambre » , — verte : qui erat en Machpelah, quod erat ad orientem Mambre — « tam ipse quam spelunca et omnes arbores eius n cunctis terminis etus per circuitum »,
23:18
v. 18 « Abrahae in possessionem , videntibus filiis Heth et cunctis, qui ?ntrabant portam civitatis illius ». Hebr. Sam. Chald. 523, sed LXX Vulg. Syr. 5»1 : sensus utique est idem atque v. 10. Res empta accuratissime describitur, neque in eiusmodi instrumento iuridico aliqua verborum redundantia admirationem habet.
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v. 19 « Atque ?ta sepelivit Abraham Saram uzorem suam in spelunca agri duplici, quae respiciebat Mambre », — verte : in spelunca agri Machpelah , ad orientem Mambre — « haec est Hebron ?n terra Chanaan ». Ergo Hebron est Mambre : ad cuius orienlem reapse est Moschea Charam speluncas habens, quae traditur habere patriarcharum sepulera. Sed christiani cum ab illa, praeter paucissimos viros nobiles, religiose excludantur, locus nondum satis exploratus est. Cf. Baedeker-Socin p. 172 sq.
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v. 20 « Et confirmatus est ager et antrum, quod erat in eo, Abrahae tn. possessionem monumenti a filis Heth ». mM Arg. — Abraham a nuptiis Chananaearum abhorrens mittit servum seniorem domus in Mesopotamiam ad quaerendam filio Isaac uxorem. eamque Isaac nanciscitur uxorem. Narrationem omnes permittunt iahvistae, i. e. ei auctori, quem nos censemus reliqua etiam Abrahae acta enarrasse. Cap. XXIV v.1 « Erat autem Abraham senex dierumque multorum », senex non comparatione maiorum, quorum aliqui longe diutius vitam produxerant, sed aequalium (Per.); unde inferas, aetatem centum septuaginta quinque annorum vel Abrahae aevo fuisse extraordinariam. « Et Dominus in cunctis benedizerat ei ». Nihil supererat praestandum, nisi ut filio rite de uxore provideretur atque ita divinae benedictiones seniorem domus suae, qui praeerat omnibus, quae habebat » (cf. quae diximus ad 15,2. sq.): « Pone manum tuam subter femur meum »;
23:1
… The transaction for the purchase is narrated with an abundance of precise details, because that was the first piece of land stably possessed by the Hebrews in Canaan (Gen. 23, 1-20). Another narrative, rich in oriental folklore, reproduces the negotiations conducted by A.'s faithful servant to choose a wife for Isaac. …
23:2
Hebron (Hebrew: Hebrōn «Union, league»; Septuagint: Χέβρων)
… St. Jerome (Onomasticon, 84, 10) had instead seen in the name an allusion to the four patriarchs buried in H. The name H. is already mentioned in Gen. 23:2; 35:27, and in Josh. 20:7. At present it is called el-Halil ("the friend," understood of God) because of the appellation given to Abraham already in antiquity, as in Jubilees, 19:9.
23:4
The system of burial was inhumation, usually not in the earth, but in a cave or in loculi, often family ones, and this desire for cohabitation after death finds its realization in the successive Jewish cemeteries, cut into rocky walls, but also artificial ones (cf. for Abraham and Sarah: Gen. 23, 4-20; for Deborah: ibid. 35, 8; for Jacob, ibid. 49, 29-30; for Moses: Deut. 34, 6; for Joshua: Ios. 24, 30-33; for David: I Reg. 2, 10; for Solomon: ibid. 11, 43; etc.). …
Following the example of Abraham (Gen. 21:23; 23:4), of Moses (Ex. 2:22; Acts 7:29), of Israel drawn by God away from the pagan world (Wis. 18:3; Hab. 3:16: παρενία is a synonym of x.), every Christian is and must feel himself …
23:9
… It belonged to Ephron the Hittite, and Abraham (v.) bought it as a family burial place (Gen. 23:9-19). There were buried Sarah (ibid. 23:19), Abraham (ibid. 25:9), Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah (ibid. 49:50; 50:13).
23:12
… Thus Holy Scripture tells us that Abraham adored Ephron the Hittite (Gen. 23, 12), that Joseph was adored by his brothers (Gen. 43, 26), David by Mephibosheth, Joab, Absalom, etc. (II Kings 9, 6 and 8; 14, 22 and 33); but it also tells us that Mordecai refused …
23:15
… the term d. is found, while in the Greek text there is mention of simple drachmas; in the Septuagint, moreover, the Hebrew shekel ("shekel", v.) is often improperly translated with this word, though it actually had twice the value of the Attic d. (Gen. 23:15-16; Ex. 21:32 etc.). …
23:19
… It belonged to Ephron the Hittite, and Abraham (v.) bought it as a family burial place (Gen. 23:9-19). There were buried Sarah (ibid. 23:19), Abraham (ibid. 25:9), Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah (ibid. 49:50; 50:13).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.