46 | Genesis 22:10
him on the al tar , on top of the wood . 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son . 11 But the an gel of the Lord called out to him from heav en , “ Abra ham ! Abra ham !” “ Here I am ,” he re plied .
12
“ Do not lay a hand on the boy ,” he said . “ Do not do any thing to him . Now I know that you fear God , be cause you have not with held from me your son , your only son .”
13
Abra ham looked up and there in a thick et he saw a ram a caught by its horns . He went over and took the ram and sac ri ficed it as a burnt of fer ing in stead of his son . 14 So Abra ham called that place The Lord Will Pro vide . And to this day it is said , “ On the moun tain of the Lord it will be pro vid ed .”
15
The an gel of the Lord called to Abra ham from heav en a sec ond time 16 and said , “ I swear by myself , de clares the Lord , that be cause you have done this and have not with held your son , your only son , 17 I will sure ly bless you and make your de scen dants as nu mer ous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the sea shore . Your de scen dants will take pos ses sion of the cit ies of their en e mies ,
18 and through your off spring b all na tions on earth will be blessed , c be cause you have obeyed me .”
19
Then Abra ham re turned to his ser vants , and they set off to geth er for Be er she ba . And Abra ham stayed in Be er she ba .
Nahor ’ s Sons
20
Some time lat er Abra ham was told , “ Mil kah is also a moth er ; she has borne sons to your broth er Na hor : 21 Uz the first born , Buz his broth er , Kemu el ( the fa ther of Aram ), 22 Ke sed , Hazo , Pil dash , Jid laph and Be thu el .” 23 Be thu el be came the father of Re bek ah . Mil kah bore these eight sons to Abra ham ’ s broth er Na hor . 24 His con cu bine , whose name was Reu mah , also had sons : Te bah , Ga ham , Ta hash and Ma a kah .
The Death of Sarah
Sar ah lived to be a hun dred and twenty-sev en years old . 2 She died at Kir i ath
23
Arba ( that is , He bron ) in the land of Ca naan , and Abra ham went to mourn for Sar ah and to weep over her .
3
Then Abra ham rose from be side his dead wife and spoke to the Hit tites . d He said , 4 “ I am a foreign er and strang er among you . Sell me some prop er ty for a buri al site here so I can bury my dead .” 5
The Hit tites re plied to Abra ham , 6 “ Sir , lis ten to us . You are a mighty prince among us . Bury your dead in the choic est of our tombs . None of us will refuse you his tomb for bury ing your dead .”
7
Then Abra ham rose and bowed down be fore the peo ple of the land , the Hit tites . 8 He said to them , “ If you are will ing to let me bury my dead , then lis ten to me and in ter cede with Ephron son of Zo har on my be half 9 so he will sell me the cave of Mach pe lah , which be longs to him and is at the end of his field . Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a buri al site among you .”
10
Ephron the Hit tite was sit ting among his people and he re plied to Abra ham in the hear ing of all the Hit tites who had come to the gate of his city . 11 “ No , my lord ,” he said . “ Lis ten to me ; I give e you the field , and I give e you the cave that is in it . I give e it to you in the pres ence of my peo ple . Bury your dead .”
a
13 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text , Samaritan Pentateuch , Septuagint and Syriac ; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text a ram behind him b
18 Or seed c
18 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings ( see 48:20 ) d
3 Or the descendants of Heth ; also in verses 5 , 7 , 10 , 16 , 18 and 20 e
11 Or sell
22:11 the angel of the Lord See note on Ge 16:7 . 22:12 Now I know The identity between the angel and God is blurred . The angel speaks in the first person as God , but also refers to God in the third person . See the table “ Angels in the Bible ” on p . 2120 . 22:17 the stars in the sky See 15:5 and note .
22:20 – 24 Chapter 22 concludes with an account of the offspring of Abraham ’ s brother , Nahor , who has not been mentioned since Abraham was introduced ( 11:29 ). The genealogy provides a transition to the account of Isaac , as it mentions his future wife , Rebekah ( v . 23 ; compare 24:15 – 16 ).
23:1 – 20 The account of Sarah ’ s death focuses on Abraham ’ s efforts to obtain her burial site . The Hittites ( see v . 3 and note ) offer their best tombs to Abraham ( v . 6 ). Abraham chooses the cave of Machpelah ( v . 9 ), purchases it and the surrounding area ( vv . 10 – 18 ), and buries Sarah ( vv . 19 – 20 ). Later Abraham himself will be buried here , as will many of his descendants .
23:1 Sarah See 11:29 ; 17:15 and note . 23:2 Kiriath Arba This place — which may be literally rendered “ city of Arba ” — was later named Hebron ( Jdg 1:10 ). Hebron is also mentioned by name in Ge 13:18 . Genesis uses both names here in 23:2 to reflect the updating of the name — a later editor may have added this note for clarity . 23:3 the Hittites There is no archeological evidence supporting a Hittite presence in Canaan ( south of Kadesh ) at this time . The Hittite Empire never reached as far south as Hebron . This apparent disagreement between the OT and extra-Biblical source material is compounded by the fact that the Hittites in the patriarchal narratives have Semitic names , when Hittite is not a Semitic language ( 23:8 ; 26:34 ; 36:2 ). However , the term Hittite was used of at least four distinct ethnic groups , and the Hittites of the patriarchal narratives in Genesis can be distinguished from the Hittites of the Hittite Empire : Neo-Assyrian and neo-Babylonian texts use the term “ Hatti ” for the combined area of Syria-Palestine . See note on 10:15 . 23:6 mighty prince This title is likely honorific , having no religious or governing significance for the Hittites . 23:10 all the Hittites who had come to the gate This could describe an assembly of free ( non-slave ) citizens assembled for a vote .