Genesis 23:2, commentary and pictures

Sarah died at the age of 127 at Kirjath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan, while Abraham was dwelling at Beer-sheba. The verse belongs to the continuing Genesis account that follows the family through whom the Seed was to come, carrying the promises from Abraham on to Isaac and then to Jacob. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her when she died.

Together with verse 19, the verse shows that after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, where after means behind, subsequently to, and following her death. To bury her, Abraham bought the cave and field of Machpelah as a burial place from the children of Heth, the Hittites, paying full price rather than accepting it as a gift. This burial place was his only permanent possession in Canaan, for he had no inherited possession there. The Hittites' stated willingness to give the land concealed an expectation of payment, and when Abraham required them to name a price they asked about $250, more than the land was worth.

By paying for the burial place rather than accepting it as a gift, Abraham sets an example of honestly paying for what one receives. Although the promise to Abraham included the whole earth, his having to buy a burial place proves the meek have not yet inherited the earth, for Abraham as father of all them that believe sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country and with Isaac and Jacob as fellow heirs died without receiving the promise, seeing its fulfillment in the future and confessing they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Although God promised Abraham all the land he could see, even the whole world, Abraham owned none of it in his lifetime and was so poor he had to buy the cave of Machpelah to bury his dead. He did not expect this present world or the possession of Canaan to fulfill the promise, but confessed he was a stranger and pilgrim on the earth, looking with all the faithful to a still future time when he with all who die in faith shall receive the long-desired home as joint-heirs with Christ at His coming and the resurrection of the righteous. The record that Sarah died shows that her name, like other proper names, does not identify anything in a person that escapes death.