Genesis 23: the Burial of Sarah

Recap of our Discussion on Aug 9, 2009
Genesis 21: 22-34 and 23
Two business transactions

I neglected to take good notes, so this will be sketchy and inaccurate.

Genesis 21: 22-34
Abraham and Abimelech make a covenant about the well at Beersheba.
Abimelech recognized that God is with Abraham. Note that Abimelech and Phicol are not just random dudes but are powerful men with an army at their command. These powerful people find it to their advantage to make a treaty with Abraham.

Genesis 23
The Burial of Sarah
1. Who are the characters in this passage? Abraham, the Hittites, Ephron.

2. What major characters from recent chapters of Genesis are not mentioned in this passage? Isaac (we presume he did not return with Abraham, after the event on Mount Moriah). Hagar, Ishmael.
Abimelech.
God. Does the fact that God is not mentioned explicitly mean that God is not involved?
No- Abraham has been tight with God all along.

3, 4 & 6. The nature of the transaction
This is a classic case of Middle-Eastern bargaining. Each side must retain dignity throughout the transaction. The Hittites had to offer the best burial sites in order to not look bad. The mute understanding is that they really don’t mean it, and the other side is supposed to respond appropriately by refusing the “gift”. Abraham responds by asking for a different site.

American culture assumes that we will honestly state upfront what we expect from a transaction. Not so in the culture of Genesis 23.

5. Why did Abraham pick this site for burial? What were some of the other options that he must have rejected?
Abraham is at the mercy of the Hittites – he needs to bury Sarah so he needs a burial space, and quick.
Perhaps he had some pressure to take Sarah’s body back to Ur where he was originally from?


9. Who is buried in Grant’s tomb? Who else was eventually buried in the cave at Machpelah? Gen 25:8-9; 49: 29-32; 50:12-13
Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Rebecca...

Joseph's bones - final resting place

Another question: Where were Joseph’s bones laid to rest after they were brought back from Egypt? One answer is found in Joshua 24:32
32 And Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants.

8. How would you eulogize Sarah? We leave this question hanging, for lack of enough time to discuss it...

Genesis 21: Birth of Isaac; Hagar and Ishamel Sent Away

A recap of our discussion
of Genesis 21
on 7/19/09

Some questions that came out of our discussion:
Did Moses write the first five books of the Bible?
Why is it that people in the Bible always go up on a mountain to speak to God?

The birth of Isaac
How Sarah feels, after Isaac is born: Disbelief. Giddy. Tired. Joyful.
How can Sarah and Abraham’s experience encourage us to be more patient while we wait for prayers to be answered? - S &A didn’t have patience, and that made a mess! ... The secret to patience is to do something while you wait.
Who was laughing? Whose was the joke? Sarah laughs, Abraham laughs. It is God’s joke on A & S.

Hagar and Ishmael are sent away
Sarah’s motive for sending H & I away – it could be jealousy, maternal instinct, she could see that there would be friction between the two sons, she wanted her son to have the birthright, rather than the firstborn. Footnote said that the treatment of Hagar was in accordance with the Code of Hammurabi, ancient lawbook.

From God’s point of view, H & I had to be sent away because: maybe in order to relieve household tension. “When Sarah ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”

If we were in Sarah’s place, it would be hard to do what she did. Maybe the events didn’t unfold the way God intended them to, but God used the situation for his purposes. Sarah seems fickle, competitive.

God didn’t really exclude Ishmael. God thought it would turn out differently than it did.

Genesis Chapter 17

May 10, 2009
Genesis 17

Today we talked about the happy topic of circ*umci*sion!

This is also the passage where God changes Abram's name to Abraham, and Sarai's name to Sarah. A few of the questions we discussed are:

In what ways does baptism for Christians serve a similar function as circumcision for Jews?

Can ceremonies and rituals (e.g. sacraments) become powerless and perfunctory, or do they have power in themselves whether or not the participants take them seriously?

Next week: The Three Visitors (Genesis Chapter 18)