Taking the Long View
Machpelah, Tomb of the Patriarchs, in Hebron
Parashat Chayei Sarah, Genesis 23:1–25:18
Chaim Dauermann, Brooklyn, NY
For the Jewish people, Eretz Yisrael is never far out of mind. This has been especially true in the month since the October 7th massacre perpetrated by Hamas, which took the lives of 1400 people in Israel and led to over 200 hostages being brought into Gaza.
As in past times of conflict in Israel, the validity of Jewish presence in the Land has become a matter of uncomfortable public debate. Many of Israel’s latest detractors may be unaware, or otherwise unwilling to consider, that the Zionist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was typified not by the “illegal” land grabs they might imagine, but by something far more mundane: land purchases made in full accordance with the law. And it was on the foundation of these land purchases that the Jewish diaspora was regathered in the Land and, eventually the State of Israel was formed.
This week’s parasha brings us the account of the very first land purchase in the Land of Promise. As the portion begins, Sarah has died in Kiriath-arba—or Hebron—near the Oaks of Mamre, where Abraham has been dwelling for some time. Seeking a place to bury his wife, he approaches a local landowner to purchase the cave of Machpelah, which was on his property.
And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the ears of the sons of Heth, all those who enter the gate of his city, saying, “No, my lord, listen to me. The field—I hereby give it to you. Also the cave that is in it—I hereby give it to you. In the eyes of the sons of my people, I hereby give it to you. Bury your dead one.” (Gen 23:10b–11)
Abraham, however, insists upon paying for the field and cave. And when Ephron quotes him a price of 400 shekels, he does not hesitate or bargain. There has been much debate among commentators as to whether this was a good deal. It’s ultimately unclear. But, high price or not, a key thing to note is Abraham’s insistence on paying the full price. By avoiding taking the Machpelah cave and field as a gift, or even at a discount, Abraham helped insure himself against dispute, such as in the event of Ephron’s death. In doing so, he secured a site not only for Sarah’s burial, but also for his own, and for Isaac and Jacob’s after him.
Abraham had his eye fixed on the future. God had already revealed to him that the promise of the Land was a promise deferred:
Then He said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. . . . Then in the fourth generation they will return here.” (Gen 15:13, 16a)
Abraham knew his own days were numbered. He made his land purchase while looking to a promise he himself would not see fulfilled. He was thinking of the not-yet.
Jewish tradition sees the Machpelah purchase as quite consequential, and many traditions surround its history and meaning. One suggests that the purchase was made in order to inspire the future inheritors of the Land.
The interpretation of Rava is recorded, who states, “It teaches that Caleb separated himself from the counsel of the spies, and went and threw himself upon the graves of the patriarchs. My fathers, cried he, pray for me, that I may escape the counsel of the spies.” (Sotah 34b)
In this telling, the Machpelah site plays a key role in Caleb’s experience as one of the twelve spies to go scout out the land (Num 13). Perhaps it was the knowledge of this ancestral possession that inspired his confidence concerning the Land, even as ten other spies ultimately failed to believe it could be taken.
Abraham’s purchase is not the only instance in Scripture where land is bought as a foundation for promises with a deferred fulfillment. The prophet Jeremiah records that, even as Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonians—with its destruction and the Captivity imminent—God commanded him to purchase a field in Anathoth, a place only a short distance north of the city. When Jeremiah inquired of the Lord as to why he would command such a purchase at this time, he replied, “Just as I have brought all this great evil on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. So fields will be bought in this land . . . because I will bring them back from exile” (Jer 32:42–43a, 44b).
Elsewhere, we read of King David purchasing (for full price) the threshing floor of Ornan, a place where one day the Temple would stand, although David would not live to see it.
In hindsight, there is a bit of an irony here. Today, the Jewish people are in the Land after the miraculous restorations of 1948 and 1967. All three of these locations, however—Hebron, the site of the ancient city of Anathoth, and the Temple Mount—are currently outside of Israeli control. Just as Abraham, Jeremiah, and David all made their purchases with a long view toward the fulfillment of God’s plans, today the Jewish people continue in a similar not-yet. And as believers in Yeshua, our sense of expectation and eager longing for fulfillment have a scope that is similarly broad.
The author of Hebrews tells us that Abraham has a longer vision than we might understand from the text in Genesis alone. He says that Abraham was “waiting for the city that had foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). He later calls this, “The city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (12:22). John the Apostle records for us that when Yeshua was preparing his disciples for his departure, he told them he was going to prepare a place where they—and by extension, we—can be with him, a place with “many dwelling places” (John 14:2–3). Later, in Revelation, John gives a glimpse of a “city to come,” saying, “I also saw the holy city—the New Jerusalem—coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21:2). As for when John’s vision will come to fruition, only God knows. But the witness of Scripture gives us faith in its coming, even if its timing may transcend our earthly lives.
God’s relationship with us has always been built on his faithful nature. He keeps his promises. In times of uncertainty, even (or especially) when we cannot see God’s promise in full, let us, like Abraham, take a long view of God’s redemptive plans. Let us strive to be a Caleb among unfaithful spies.
Meanwhile, let us also pray unceasingly for every hostage’s safe return from Gaza, and for a new and lasting peace in the Land.
Scripture references are from the Tree of Life Version (TLV).