Be Willing to Pay the Price. Genesis 23:10-20

May the mumbling commence!

The fleecing of the vulnerable is never right.  Look to Ephron the Hittite for one of the many notes on that truth.  Read from Peterson’s The Message:

            Ephron was part of the local Hittite community.  Then Ephron the Hittite spoke up, answering Abraham with all the Hittites who were part of the town council listening, “Oh no, my master!  I couldn’t do that.  The field is yours – a gift.  I’ll give it and the cave to you.  With my people as witnesses, I give it to you.  Bury your deceased wife.”

Abraham bowed respectfully before the assembled council and answered Ephron: “Please allow me – I want to pay the price of the land; take my money so that I can go ahead and bury my wife.”

Then Ephron answered Abraham, “If you insist, master.  What’s four hundred silver shekels between us?  Now go ahead and bury your wife.”

Abraham accepted Ephron’s offer and paid out the sum that Ephron had named before the town council of Hittites – four hundred shekels at the current exchange rate.

That’s how Ephron’s field next to Mamre – the field, its cave, and all the trees within its borders – became Abraham’s property.  The town council of Hittites witnessed the transaction.  Abraham then proceeded to bury his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah that is next to Mamre, present-day Hebron, in the land of Canaan.  The field and its cave went from the Hittites into Abraham’s possession as a burial plot.  (Genesis 23:10-20)

Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:

Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city.  "No, my lord," he said. "Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead." 

Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land and he said to Ephron in their hearing, "Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there." 

Ephron answered Abraham, "Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between me and you? Bury your dead." 

Abraham agreed to Ephron's terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants. 

So Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre – both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field – was deeded to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city.  Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.  So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.  (Genesis 23:10-20)

Once again the differences between Peterson’s work and the NIV are mostly cosmetic – the heart and the Spirit of the Word are left intact.   

By adding the land around the cave to the transaction, Ephron led Abraham into owning land rather than only the burial cave.  It would give him more of a voice in the community.  It would give him some standing… and more responsibility.

But Ephron also took advantage of Abraham by asking a pretty steep price for the field.  Abraham was devoted to God’s plan for his life, which included this land.  He paid the price asked for without question or recourse.

May we be willing to count the cost of following our Lord.  May we be willing to pay that price.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out