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From: Genesis 23:1-4, 19; 24:1-8, 62-67

Abraham Buys the Cave of Mach-pelah

[1] Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life
of Sarah. [2] And Sarah died at Kiriatharba (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, “I am a stranger and a so-
journer among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may
bury my dead out of my sight.”

[19] After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Mach-pe-
lah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

The Marriage of Isaac

[1] Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the Lord had blessed
Abraham in all things. [2] And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his
house, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, [3]
and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and of the earth, that
you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among
whom I dwell, [4] but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for
my son Isaac.” [5] The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be wil-
ling to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from
which you came?” [6] Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my
son back there. [7] The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s
house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To
your descendants I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you
shall take a wife for my son from there. [8] But if the woman is not willing to fol-
low you, then you will be free form this oath of mine; only you must not take my
son back there.”

The Meeting between Rebekah and Isaac (Continuation)

[62] Now Isaac had come from Beer-Iahai-roi, and was dwelling in the Negeb.
[63] And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted up his
eyes and looked, and behold, there were camels coming. [64] And Rebekah lifted
up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel, [65] and said
to the servant, “Who is the man yonder, walking in the field to meet us?” The ser-
vant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. [66] And the
servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. [67] Then Isaac brought her into
the tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac
was comforted after his mother’s death.

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Commentary:

23:1-20. The story of Abraham ends, strictly speaking, with the episode, which
shows the initial fulfillment of God’s promise of the land to Abraham. By acquiring
a sepulchre and a small plot, he ceases to be a mere resident alien and acquires
rights over this country.

The style of the account and the courtesy conventions used, as well as the con-
tract of sale, indicate, by their similarity to Hittite customs, the antiquity of this
event. The Hittites, or sons of Heth, carved out a huge empire in Asia Minor in the
second millennium BC. It is not easy to explain their presence in Canaan in Abra-
ham’s time, unless it was that small isolated groups of Hittites lived there. Or it
could be that all non-Semites living in the country were loosely referred to as “Hit-
tites”. In any event, what the passage does show is that even during Abraham’s
lifetime the promise begins to be fulfilled, though by purchase and scarcely more
than in a symbolic way. This is very much in contrast with God’s later outright gift
of the entire land to Abraham’s descendants.

23:19. In this same spot were buried Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah and Jacob,
so it became as it were a symbol to the Israelites of the fact that this was their
land, even during their time in Egypt. A mosque today stands on the spot which
tradition assigns to the tomb of the patriarchs, venerated by Jews, Christians and
Moslems.

24:1-67. Isaac’s marriage is narrated before Abraham’s death to underline the con-
tinuity between the story of Abraham and that of Isaac. The next stage of the his-
tory of the patriarchs will focus on the sons of Rebekah—Esau and Jacob (cf. 25:
19ff). Apparently Isaac and Abraham are no longer based at Mamre (cf. 23:19),
but more to the south, in the Negeb desert (cf. 24:62).

This account is very much in line with the context and customs of the patriarchal
period, but its style is more artistic and it has a particularly discreet way of descri-
bing God’s intervention. The story is told in five scenes and five dialogues, inter-
leaved with short narrative notes. In the first scene Abraham and his servant ap-
pear (vv. 1-9); in the second, the servant and Rebekah (vv. 10-28); in the third, in
Rebekah’s house, the servant and Laban (vv. 29-53); in the fourth, at the moment
of parting, Rebekah and her family (54-61); and in the fifth, Rebekah, the servant
and Isaac (vv. 62-67). The narrator seems to savor these vignettes and dialogues.
As regards God’s intervention, it should be noted that, although it is never obvi-
ous, he is still really the protagonist, because he is providentially steering the
course of events.

24:1-9. The tone of this passage suggests that Abraham feels he is nearing his
end and he can see that God’s promise with regard to his descendants and the
land is being kept. Therefore the patriarch is concerned to find a wife for his son
from among his own family, in line with the customs of semi-nomadic peoples of
that time. However, Abraham is clearly adamant that Isaac shall not give up li-
ving where he is. The form of oath, with the hand under the thigh (cf. 47:29),
which Abraham makes his servant take, an exceptionally strong one: it obliges
the servant, whose faithfulness is evident, to do exactly what he swears to do.
Here, once again, Abraham’s faith copes with all the difficulties his servant fore-
sees. He is fully confident that God in his providence will sweep away all these
obstacles, which is what happens, as one can gather from the end of the ac-
count.

Abraham’s decision about the wife Isaac should take points to the importance a
wife has in sustaining her husband’s faith and that of her family. St Ambrose com-
ments that “often a woman’s seduction deceives even the strongest of husbands
and causes them to give up religion. [...] For the first thing that should be sought
in conjugal life is religion. [...] Learn, therefore, what to seek in a woman: Abra-
ham sought not gold or silver or property, but the gift of a good heart” (”De Abra-
ham”, 1, 9, 84-85).

24:66-67. In the beautiful conclusion to the story (”He loved her and so was com-
forted after his mother’s death”) we see borne out the words of Genesis 2:24 a-
bout the creation of Eve: “A man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to
his wife, and they become one flesh.” Jewish and Christian tradition see the mar-
riage of Isaac and Rebekah as a model of conjugal love.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.