Genesis 23:19

Gen 23:19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same [is] Hebron in the land of Canaan.

Ver. 19. And Abraham buried Sarah his wife.] The last office of love to bring the deceased saints honourably to their "long home," {Ecc 12:5} to lay them in their last "bed," {Isa 57:2} to put them into the grave, as into a haven and harbout, where they may rest from their labours, "till their change shall come." {Job 14:14} This is to "deal kindly with the dead"; {Rth 1:8} "to show mercy to them," {2Sa 2:5} especially when "the mourners go about the streets," {Ecc 12:5} when there is a "great mourning made over them," as for Stephen, {Act 8:2} and a "great burning for them," as for Asa, {2Ch 16:14} - of whom also it is further added, as an honour, that he was "buried in his own sepulchre, which he had dug for himself among the kings of Israel in the city of David, and laid in the bed that was filled with sweet odours," &c. Of Joram, Joas, and Ahaz, it is expressly noted in the Chronicles, that they were buried in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings of Judah. A worse place was thought good enough for them, unless they had been better. As of Tiberius the emperor it is storied, that he was so hated for his tyranny, that when he was dead, some of the people would have had him thrown into the river Tiber; {a} some, hanged up at such another place as Tyburn. Others also made prayer to mother Earth, to grant him, now dead, no place but among the wicked. {b} Contrarily when Dio died, the people of Syracuse would have gladly redeemed his life with their own blood; which because they could not, they buried him very honourably in an eminent place of their city. {c} Whereas anciently, as Lambinus well noteth, {d} kings and princes, in Homer and other poets, are not read to have been buried, but without the gates, somewhere in the fields and gardens; as the patriarchs also were, looking for the return of that everlasting spring.

{a} Scalae Gemoniae, [a place in Rome where condemned persons were cast down from a pair of stairs into the Tiber. - Ainsworth].

{b} Quidam etiam Terrain matrem orarent, &c. - Pareus.

{c} Cornel. Nepos in Vita Dionis.

{d} Dionys. Lambin. in Annot. ad locum.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Abraham buried Sarah--Thus he got possession of Machpelah and deposited the remains of his lamented partner in a family vault which was the only spot of ground he owned.

Next: Genesis Chapter 24

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

19. After this, Abraham buried Sarah — He has now one secure possession wherein to bury his dead. Here he himself was afterwards buried, (Gen_25:9,) and here also Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah. Gen_49:31; Gen_50:13. Is it not noticeable of Abraham and his seed that their first and last possession in the land of promise is — a grave?

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife with what funeral rites can only be conjectured. Monumental evidence attests that the practice of embalming the dead existed in Egypt in the reign of Amunophth I (B.C. 1500), though probably originating, earlier. (Sharpe"s "Egypt, vol. 1. p. 31); and an examination of the Mugheir vaults for burying the dead shows that among the early Chaldaeans it was customary to place the corpse upon a matting of reed spread upon a brick floor, the head being pillowed on a single sun-dried brick, and the body turned on its left side, the right arm falling towards the left, and the fingers resting on the edge of a copper bowl, usually placed on the palm of the left hand (vide Rawlinson s "Ancient Monarchies," vol. 1. p. 87)in the cave of the field of Machpelah before: Mamre. In which also in succession his own remains and those of Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah were deposited, Rachel alone of the great patriarchal family being absent. This last resting-place of Abraham and his sons, as of Sarah and her daughters, has been identified with Ramet-el-Kalil, an hour"s journey to the north of Hebron (which is too distant), where the foundations of an ancient heathen temple are still pointed out as Abraham"s house; but is more probably to be sought for in the Mohammedan mosque Haram, built of colossal blocks, and situated on the mountain slope of Hebron towards the east (Robinson, Thomson, Stanley, Tristram), which, after having been for 600 years hermetically sealed against Europeans, only three during that period having gained access to it in disguise, was visited in 1862 by the Prince of Wales and party (vide Stanley, "Lectures on Jewish Church," App. 2.). The same is Hebron in the land of Canaan (vide Ver. 2).

HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD Vers. 19, 20.

The death and burial of Sarah.

I TRUE RELIGION SANCTIFIES NATURAL RELATIONSHIPS. Those who know themselves blessed of God do not only feel that their human affections are precious and true, but do, in obedience to his will, preserve the greatest respect for their bodily frame, and for their dead who died in the Lord, and whose dust is committed tenderly to his keeping.

II THE PEOPLE OF GOD WERE UPHELD BY FAITH IN THEIR CARE FOR THE DEAD. They looked beyond the grave. Some say there is no evidence of the doctrine of immortality in the Old Testament until after the captivity Surely Abraham"s feelings were not those of one who sorrowed without hope. The purchase of the field, the securing possession for all time of the burying-place, pointed to faith, not the lack of it. Where there is no sense of immortality there is no reverence for the dead.

III THE PURCHASE OF THE FIELD was not only its security, but a testimony to the heathen that the people of God held in reverence both the memory of the dead and the rights of the living. All social prosperity has its root in religious life. R.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

After this

"After he bought the field"

the cave of the field

"the cave in the field"

the field of Machpelah

"the field in Machpelah"

that is, Hebron

Possible meanings are 1) Mamre was another name for Hebron or 2) Hebron was formerly called Mamre or 3) Mamre was very near the larger city of Hebron, so people usually called it Hebron.

passed to Abraham as a property for a burial place from the sons of Heth

"became Abraham's property for a burial ground when he bought it from the sons of Heth"

the sons of Heth

Here "sons" stands for those who descended from Heth. See how you translated this in Genesis 23:3. AT: "the descendants of Heth" (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

Abraham

Sarah

Hebron

Canaan

grave

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

AND AFTER THIS, ABRAHAM BURIED SARAH HIS WIFE IN THE CAVE OF THE FIELD OF MACHPELAH BEFORE MAMRE — THE SAME IS HEBRON — IN THE LAND OF CANAAN. The reason why Scripture reverts to clarify the field, the place and the land is that the whole section mentioned the sons of Heth and Ephron the Hittite. Therefore Scripture mentions at the conclusion that the field was in the land of Canaan which is the land of Israel. And so it said at the beginning of the section: in Kiryath arba — the same is Hebron — in the land of Canaan. All this is to explain that the righteous woman died in the land of Israel, and there she was interred, as the Hittites were of the families of Canaan., 10:15.In my opinion, the reason for the verses is only to mention that this was the land of Canaan, not the land of the Philistines. Having said, And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days, 21:34. and since all his habitats were in that land — in Gerar, 20:1. and the valley of Gerar, and Beer-sheba, and from there to Hebron and back — Scripture therefore mentioned that Hebron is in the land of the Canaanite who dwelt in that hill country, not in the land of the Philistines, which is mentioned in connection with Abraham. And in the end Scripture added a phrase to inform us that the cave was in the field of Machpelah before Mamre, for this was the name by which it was known.This section was written to inform us of G-d’s kindnesses to Abraham, i.e., that in the land in which he came to live he was regarded as a prince of G-d, and each individual as well as all the people called him “my lord” although he did not tell them that he was a prince and a great man. Also, in his lifetime G-d fulfilled His promise to him: And I will make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing., 12:2. Moreover, his wife died and was buried in the inheritance of the Eternal. Further, Scripture wanted to inform us of the place of the burial of the patriarchs since we are obligated to honor the burial place of our holy ancestors. Our Rabbis said that this also was one of the trials of Abraham: he desired a place to bury Sarah but did not find it until he purchased it, [despite G-d’s promise that the entire land would be given to him].I do not know a reason for the words of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, who says that the purpose of this section is to let us know the superiority of the land of Israel as regards the living and the dead, and also to fulfill the word of G-d which promised him that the land would be an inheritance of his. But what superiority of the land was thus demonstrated? Abraham would not have carried her to another land to bury her, and the word of G-d to Abraham applied to the whole land, and that was fulfilled only with his seed.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ואחרי כן...אל מערת, the preposition אל means the same as the prefix ב, i.e. במערת שדה המכפלה. Compare Exodus 25,21 ואל הארון תתן את העדות instead of בארון.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.