Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 23:8

And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,

8. communed with ] Heb. “spake with.” The word “communed” is unnecessarily formal as a translation, cf. Gen 18:33.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 8. Entreat for me to Ephron] Abraham had already seen the cave and field, and finding to whom they belonged, and that they would answer his purpose, came to the gate of Hebron, where the elders of the people sat to administer justice, &c., and where bargains and sales were made and witnessed, and having addressed himself to the elders, among whom Ephron was, though it appears he was not personally known to Abraham, he begged them to use their influence with the owner of the cave and field to sell it to him, that it might serve him and his family for a place of sepulture.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Heb. If it be with, i.e. agreeable to, your soul, that is, your will, or good pleasure; for so the soul is sometimes taken, as Deu 23:24; Psa 27:12; 41:2.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And he communed with them,…. Entered into a discourse and conversation with them upon the above subject:

saying, if it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; that is, in some place belonging to them, otherwise they could have no objection to the burying of his wife anywhere else: if now what they had said were not spoken in a complaisant way, but it was their real mind and will, and they were sincere and hearty in it, and very desirous of obliging him with a place among them for the interment of his dead; then he had this favour to ask of them:

hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar; a principal man among the Hittites, who had a field and a cave in it, near where Abraham dwelt, and very convenient for him, and for this purpose of his now under consideration: this man seems to be present at this time, as appears from Ge 23:10; but Abraham did not think fit to address him himself, lest he should not so well and so easily succeed; and therefore entreats the princes of Heth to unite in a request to Ephron for the favour after mentioned, which he supposed they would not be backward to, if they were hearty in this affair; and, if Ephron was present, as he seems to be, it was a very handsome, honourable, and modest address to him through his brethren, which he could not with any politeness well withstand. The request follows:

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

8. If it be in your mind. Abraham constitutes them his advocates with Ephron, to persuade him to sell the double cave. (456) Some suppose the cave to have been so formed that one part was above, and the other below. Let every one be at liberty to adopt what opinion he pleases; I, however, rather suppose, that there was one entrance, but that within, the cave was divided by a middle partition. It is more pertinent to remarks that Abraham, by offering a full price, cultivated and maintained equity. Where is there one to be found, who, in buying, and in other business, does not eagerly pursue his own advantage at another’s cost? For while the seller sets the price at twice the worth of a thing, that he may extort as much as possible from the buyer, and the buyers in return, by shuffling, attempts to reduce it to a low price, there is no end of bargaining. And although avarice has specious pretexts, it yet causes those who make contracts with each other, to forget the claims of equity and justice. This also, finally deserves to be noticed; that Abraham often declares that he was buying the field for a place of sepulture. And Moses is the more minute in this matter, that we may learn, with our father Abraham, to raise our minds to the hope of the resurrection. He saw the half of himself taken away; but because he was certain that his wife was not exiled from the kingdom of God, he hides her dead body in the tomb, until he and she should be gathered together.

(456) Hebrews מערח המכפלה, ( mearath hummakpelah,) ‘the double cave.’ See Septuagint Our translators have preferred rendering the word Machpelah as a proper name. — Ed

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

8. He communed with them Thus it appears there was a large amount of talking on the occasion .

Entreat for me He seeks the mediation and help of these Hittites that he may obtain his desire . Much depends, in such transactions, on influence brought to bear on the owner .

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Gen 23:8 And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,

Ver. 8. If it be your mind that I should bury my dead. ] Alexander the Great lay unburied thirty days together. His conquests above ground purchased him no title for habitation underground. So Pompey the Great,

“ Nidus pascit aves, iacet in qui possidet orbem,

Exiguae telluris inops .” – Claudian.

Ut cui modo ad victoriam terra defuerat, deesset ad sepulturam , saith Paterculus. So William the Conqueror’s corpse lay unburied for three days; his interment being hindered by one that claimed the ground to be his. a Abraham therefore doth well to make sure of a place of sepulture for him and his; and this at Hebron – which signifieth society or conjunction – for there lay those reverend couples, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, &c. These died upon the Promised Land, and being there buried, kept possession, as it were, for their posterity; as those that are dead in Christ do of heaven, for the saints that survive them. Sepulchres are symbols of the communion of saints, and of the resurrection of the dead. Hence the Hebrews call church yards Bethchajim , the house of the living. b Job also calls the grave “the congregation house of all living”. Job 30:23 As the apostle after him calleth heaven “the congregation house of the firstborn”. Heb 12:23 The Hebrews call it gnolam hammalachim , the world of angels; and the author to the Hebrews, saith that the saints are come by Christ “to an innumerable company of angels”. , Heb 12:23 When godly men die, they are said to be gathered to their people. They do no more than repatriasse , as Bernard hath it; they are not put out of service, but removed only out of one room into another, out of the outter houses into the presence chamber. They change their place, but not their company, as good Dr Preston said upon his death bed. They are gathered by Christ’s hand, as lilies, Son 6:2 and transplanted into the Paradise of God. And this, Plotinus the Philosopher had a notion of, when breathing his last, he said, That in me that is divine, I resign up to the First Divine, that is, to God. c As for the body it is but the case, the cabinet, the suit, the slough, the sheath of the soul, as Daniel calleth it. Scaligeri quod reliquum est , d was Julius Scaliger’s epitaph. It returns to its original dust, and is sown as seed in the ground till the resurrection. 1Co 15:35

a Daniel’s Chron., fol. 50.

b Veteres sepulchrum mortuorum domicilium credebant, et portum corporis appellabant . – Turneb.

c . – Synes., epist. 139.

d .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

mind = soul. Hebrew. nephesh, App-13.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

entreat: 1Ki 2:17, Luk 7:3, Luk 7:4, Heb 7:26, 1Jo 2:1, 1Jo 2:2

Reciprocal: Gen 49:30 – Abraham bought 2Sa 24:21 – To buy