And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
Sarah lived 127 years, and the verse marks the end of her life in her death. Her death came while Abraham was living at Beer-sheba. The verse stands in the continuing account of Genesis 12 to 24 of God's progressive dealings with Abraham, the father of the faithful, from his call to the time when he fully trusted God and sent his tried servant to obtain a wife for Isaac. It belongs to God's repeated lessons in the school of faith and to the account of His providential care and special providences over Abraham and his family, the chosen family through which the Seed would come.
That larger story traces Abraham's gradual development of faith, reveals the characters of Abram and Lot and the influence of worldly associations upon a good man, shows God's providential favor to him who chooses unselfishly and His warnings before punishment, and points to the Promised Seed. Sarah's death led Abraham to seek and purchase a burial place for her from the children of Heth, the Hittites, specifically the cave of Machpelah in Canaan. His only permanent possession in Canaan during his lifetime was that burial place, which he bought at full price. The chapter thus shows Eastern duplicity in the transaction, for the children of Heth said they would give the land, apparently offering it without charge, but expected Abraham to reward them munificently.
When compelled to name the price they asked more than it was worth, about $250. Although the burial place was offered apparently without charge, Abraham paid its full value and full price, giving an example of paying fairly for what one receives. Though heir to the promise of the whole earth, Abraham lived as a sojourner in the promised land and owned none of it as an inheritance during his lifetime, being so poor in that land that he had to buy a burial place. This proves the promise of the land, which included the whole world, was not fulfilled to Abraham in the possession of Canaan in his lifetime but remained chiefly a promise passed on to the next generation.
That promise is to be received in the future with all who died in faith at Christ's coming and the resurrection of the righteous. The statement of Sarah's age at death is used to establish how long after her death Isaac married Rebecca.
Sarah lived 127 years, and the verse marks the end of her life in her death. Her death came while Abraham was living at Beer-sheba. The verse stands in the continuing account of Genesis 12 to 24 of God's progressive dealings with Abraham, the father of the faithful, from his call to the time when he fully trusted God and sent his tried servant to obtain a wife for Isaac. It belongs to God's repeated lessons in the school of faith and to the account of His providential care and special providences over Abraham and his family, the chosen family through which the Seed would come.
That larger story traces Abraham's gradual development of faith, reveals the characters of Abram and Lot and the influence of worldly associations upon a good man, shows God's providential favor to him who chooses unselfishly and His warnings before punishment, and points to the Promised Seed. Sarah's death led Abraham to seek and purchase a burial place for her from the children of Heth, the Hittites, specifically the cave of Machpelah in Canaan. His only permanent possession in Canaan during his lifetime was that burial place, which he bought at full price. The chapter thus shows Eastern duplicity in the transaction, for the children of Heth said they would give the land, apparently offering it without charge, but expected Abraham to reward them munificently.
When compelled to name the price they asked more than it was worth, about $250. Although the burial place was offered apparently without charge, Abraham paid its full value and full price, giving an example of paying fairly for what one receives. Though heir to the promise of the whole earth, Abraham lived as a sojourner in the promised land and owned none of it as an inheritance during his lifetime, being so poor in that land that he had to buy a burial place. This proves the promise of the land, which included the whole world, was not fulfilled to Abraham in the possession of Canaan in his lifetime but remained chiefly a promise passed on to the next generation.
That promise is to be received in the future with all who died in faith at Christ's coming and the resurrection of the righteous. The statement of Sarah's age at death is used to establish how long after her death Isaac married Rebecca.