Genesis 25:7-18
2008.Apr.05 03:46
The Other Son
Read Genesis 25:7-18 | Full Chapter
Abraham died at the ripe old age of one hundred seventy-five. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him east of Hebron in Machpelah Cave that was part of the field Abraham had bought from Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. Abraham was buried there beside his wife Sarah. God blessed Isaac after this, and Isaac moved to a place called "The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me."
(Genesis 25:7-11, CEV)
Abraham, grandfather of Israel, has died. He lived well, made some mistakes, but ultimately lived a life of faith (Hebrews 11:8-10). I don’t have a lot more to say about Abraham at this point.
This passage is also a bit of a coda on the life of Ishmael, Abraham’s eldest son. That Isaac and Ishmael apparently worked together to bury their father is at least a nice idea. These two sort of got stuck in the middle of the Abraham-Hagar-Sarah triangle, but I’ve seen no reason to assume that these two didn’t get on just fine (although Isaac maybe thought all this was normal, based on the favorites games he and Rebekah seem to play once they have children).
I hear some amount of talk about the struggles between modern day Arabs and Jews having its roots in Ishmael-Isaac–as opposed to, say, the complete fuck up of a job the government of Great Britain (and to be fair, other European powers and the US) did in the Middle East in the last century or so. But I digress. I really don’t see animosity between Ishmael and Isaac, and I think it’s foolish and distracting to place the blame for modern struggles on the actions of Biblical patriarchs. Yes, sure, many of their actions do have effect today (as shown by the fact that I am commenting on their stories), but I should not place blame on the distant past at the expense of recognizing the effects of my own actions and those of my contemporaries.
I guess I didn’t stop digressing, there.
Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the slave woman of Sarah. Ishmael had twelve sons, in this order: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. Each of Ishmael's sons was a tribal chief, and a village was named after each of them. Ishmael had settled in the land east of his brothers, and his sons settled everywhere from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt on the way to Asshur. Ishmael was one hundred thirty-seven when he died.
(Genesis 25:12-18, CEV)
So, Ishmael has twelve sons (an interesting complement to the twelve sons of Jacob), and the passage implies that they were a fairly powerful group of people. Ishmael settles somewhere, which is about all I can figure from the description. Well, it’s east of Egypt. So, God’s promise to Abraham that Ishmael too would be a great nation is fulfilled (Genesis 21:12). What I particularly don’t see in all this is God punishing Ishmael or his descendants for the actions of Abraham and Sarah. Instead, Yahweh brought Ishmael into his plan, and blessed the man who too often I think of as “the other son”.
Genesis 25:1-6
2008.Mar.28 04:49
Abraham’s Other Kids
Read Genesis 25:1-6 | Full Chapter
Abraham married another wife, whose name was Keturah. She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were all descendants of Abraham through Keturah.
(Genesis 25:1-4, NLT)
A lot of Abraham’s life from the point of view of the narrative of Genesis–indeed a lot of the book of Genesis–has been pretty focused on getting Isaac born and raised. Emphasis on the getting born part. Isaac is the child who is to specifically inherit Yahweh’s promise of giving Canaan to the descendants of Abraham (Genesis 17:17-21).
But after Sarah’s death, the spritely hundred-something year old Abraham gets married (I’m assuming after Sarah’s death) to a lady name Keturah. They have six sons, Midian being the only one with a particularly noted history.
Abraham gave everything he owned to his son Isaac. But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.
(Genesis 25:5-6, NLT)
Abraham clearly separates Isaac from his other sons, both Ishmael and the sons of Keturah. Isaac is not presented as inheriting a double portion in relation to his half-brothers, but rather as the sole heir of Abraham. Abraham doesn’t leave his other sons out to dry exactly, but gives them gifts, I imagine of some value. “Hey, sorry, no inheritance for you, but here’s some gold,” may be the way his other sons received this decision. One the one hand, it’s nice to be given something, but there may still have been a feeling that they’d been disinherited.
Abraham sends these young men and their mothers (possibly referring to Keturah, Hagar, and maybe one or more other concubines not mentioned?) away to some land east of where Isaac is staying. I would guess this means east of Canaan in general, but that’s not clear to me. I don’t have a good guess as to Abraham’s motives. A couple of possibilities would be to decrease possible economic and/or political competition towards Isaac, or because Abraham thought these kids would for whatever reason be detrimental to Isaac’s dedication to Yahweh (It seems to me that Isaac’s faith was less solid than his parents’).
Another comment, quite aside from these speculations is to note that Abraham does not stop living with the birth of his “promised son”. It’s possible to let a “this is my calling” attitude impede our growth and reception of God’s blessings, when the opportunity to “walk in that calling” is unavailable, including because that function is finished. This happens even for people who don’t buy into the ‘one calling’ mentality, but are simply for a time over focused on something. When God gives me breaks, it’s often for a reason, be it that I need a break or he wants me doing something else for a bit.
Genesis 24:5-8
2008.Feb.08 00:30
Read Genesis 24:5-8 | Full Chapter
Abraham, as noted last entry, is assigning his eldest household servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Abraham, in asking the servant to accomplish this task gives him two restrictions. The first was that the servant must seek a bride for Isaac from among Abraham’s relatives, not from among the Canaanites. Now, we come to second:
The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I have your son go back to the land you came from?" Abraham answered him, "Make sure that you don't take my son back there. The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from my native land, who spoke to me and swore to me, 'I will give this land to your offspring '— He will send His angel before you, and you can take a wife for my son from there. If the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are free from this oath to me, but don't let my son go back there."
(Genesis 24:5-8, Holman)
The servant, while heading back to Abraham’s native country, is to ensure that Isaac stays in Palestine. Abraham and Isaac are, I assume, fairly nomadic. Abraham and Sarah certainly have moved around a lot. And while Abraham has taken hold of Yahweh’s promise that his descendants will inherit the land of the Canaanites, there’s no indication that Isaac wouldn’t migrate on back to the ancestral homeland. Especially if he went back there to get married.
For me, there’s often the temptation to return to what is comfortable. Having grown up as an alien may have been very trying for Isaac. Returning as the heir of Abraham’s success to his relatives and there “settling down” would, I think, have been tempting. And yet it was not in line with Yahweh’s plans. Welcome to earth. This is one of the key differences of pick-and-choose religion for my immediate benefits verses obeying God, that obedience to Yahweh means doing what is uncomfortable, even when I will not inherit the promise of that obedience. Because inheriting the land will not be Isaac, nor his children.
Genesis 24:1-4
2008.Feb.02 20:43
Read Genesis 24:1-4 | Full Chapter
Well, we’ve spent a while now looking at the lives of Abraham and Sarah. Finally, somebody else is going to get married! Yay. Chapter 24 of Genesis is about Isaac marrying Rebekah. Isaac, of course, is not a central figure in this story. And even Rebekah is not the principal actor. It is instead the oldest of Abraham’s household servant, to whom Abe has assigned the task of finding a wife for Isaac.
Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way. Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, "Please place your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
(Genesis 24:1-4, NASB)
The job is finding a spouse for the heir of Yahweh’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. Abraham assigns this job to the eldest of his household servants, which indicates to me that this is very important to Abraham. As I reckon it should be. Of course, as the eldest servant, we might assume he’s, well, old, so it is also a testament to his devotion to Abraham (whether out of love, fear, or something else), that he agrees to this adventure.
Now, we come to the point that it is extremely important to Abraham that Isaac does not marry a native of Canaan. This does have a nice logical ring to it: it would be difficult for Isaac’s descendants to dispossess the Canaanites of Palestine if they are, in fact, all Canaanites. Throughout the next four books of the Bible, too, are warnings against inter-marrying with the then-inhabitants of Palestine, due to the probability that the Israelites would adopt the prominent religions of the land, forsaking Yahweh. For example:
People of Israel, the LORD your God will help you take the land of the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. These seven nations have more people and are stronger than Israel, but when you attack them, the LORD will force them out of the land. Then you must destroy them without mercy. Don't make any peace treaties with them, and don't let your sons and daughters marry any of them. If you do, those people will lead your descendants to worship other gods and to turn their backs on the LORD. That will make him very angry, and he will quickly destroy Israel.
I don’t know if this is particularly Abraham’s concern. Indeed (and I may just be missing something obvious), it’s not clear to me why this is so important to Abraham. The results represented in the rest of this chapter certainly suggest that Yahweh supports and agrees with this decision. Then, it’s not necessary to know the precise reason for each action of the patriarchs and matriarchs of Judeo-Christian tradition. Trying to do so is one of those things that I, at least, can get caught up in at the expense of really seeking God himself.
Genesis 23:3-16
2008.Jan.19 22:42
Negotiation
Read Genesis 23:3-16 | Full Chapter
And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
(Genesis 23:3-4, ESV)
Sarah has died and Abraham is mourning for her. He decides to bury her. I assume that burial (as opposed to cremation, etc.) is the custom of Abraham’s culture (remember, even though he’s mostly viewed as a father of a people, he’s also the child of a people, whose culture influences him even as his life influences later cultures, including, naturally, mine). I don’t know that there’s any useful thing to say about Abraham’s decision to bury Sarah.
We now embark on a fascinating negotiation between Abraham and the local people–the Children of Heth, as it were. I should probably research the details of this negotiation custom, full of “I’m going to pay you”, “We’ll give it to you” back and forth, and I believe I’ve seen some footnotes about it here and there, but I think the process speaks for itself.
"Sir," they answered, "you are an important man. Choose the best place to bury your wife. None of us would refuse you a resting place for your dead." Abraham bowed down and replied, "If you are willing to let me bury my wife here, please ask Zohar's son Ephron to sell me Machpelah Cave at the end of his field. I'll pay what it's worth, and all of you can be witnesses." Ephron was sitting there near the city gate, when Abraham made this request, and he answered, "Sir, the whole field, including the cave, is yours. With my own people as witnesses, I freely give it to you as a burial place for your dead." Once again, Abraham bowed down and said to Ephron, "In front of these witnesses, I offer you the full price, so I can bury my wife. Please accept my offer." "But sir," the man replied, "the property is worth only four hundred pieces of silver. Why should we haggle over such a small amount? Take the land. It's yours." Abraham accepted Ephron's offer and paid him the four hundred pieces of silver in front of everyone at the city gate. That's how Abraham got Ephron's property east of Hebron, which included the field with all of its trees, as well as Machpelah Cave at the end of the field.
(Genesis 23:5-16, CEV)
Basically Abraham wants to buy a plot of land in which to bury Sarah, and has one picked out, belonging to Ephron. Ephron and his kinsmen tell Abraham he can have any land he wants. Ephron states the price, in terms of “Why should we haggle over this”, Abraham accepts and the sale is closed in front of witnesses.
I have no deep spiritual, or for that matter cultural or historical insight to offer. I just want to make a couple of comments. First is that I kind of like this method of negotiation. The Hittites are able to show their respect for Abraham and their willingness to give him land out of that respect, without being put in the situation where they do it out of embarrassment. Likewise, Abraham is able to receive their respect while still purchasing the property as he desires. No doubt, there’s a lot more going on than that.
I’ve been in several situations in which I’ve mentioned wanting something and someone chose to give it as a gift but it either a) became way too complicated a situation, much as I appreciated the gift itself, or b) for reasons (sometimes bad reasons, such as pride), it was important to me to make the purchase on my own. I think Abraham’s case is the latter, and the Hittites, while stating their willingness to give him something freely, do not deny him the opportunity to show respect for his wife by paying for her burial ground.
The second thing I want to note is the presence of a contract, different from a covenant, but still significant. There’s no long-term binding between Abraham and Ephron over this field, but they do show value for each other by establishing this contract in the presence of others.
