The provided teaching clips do not reveal Abraham's stated motive, but Scripture records his insistence on paying and Les highlights the enduring importance of the burial place he purchased.
In Genesis 23, Ephron the Hittite first offers Abraham the field of Machpelah, but Abraham insists on paying for it and weighs out four hundred shekels of silver (Genesis 23:13,16). Les Feldick does not speculate about Abraham's private reason; instead, he stresses that this same cave, the cave of Machpelah in Hebron, is still a holy site held in reverence by Jews and Muslims, and that Jacob later paid for the same burial place again (Clip 2).
Genesis 23:13 — Shows Abraham's direct words insisting that he will pay money for the field rather than accept it as a gift.
Genesis 23:16 — Records the actual payment of four hundred shekels of silver to Ephron.
Genesis 23:20 — Confirms the field and cave were made sure to Abraham as a possession for a buryingplace.
After Sarah's death, Abraham asks the Hittites for a place to bury her. Ephron the Hittite tells Abraham the field is his to use, saying, 'the field give I thee' (Genesis 23:11), but Abraham answers, 'I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there' (Genesis 23:13). Abraham then weighs out the four hundred shekels of silver Ephron had named (Genesis 23:16). The chapter ends by stating that 'the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace' (Genesis 23:20). The biblical account records Abraham's action but does not give a direct statement of his inner motive.
In the provided clips, Les Feldick does not attempt to explain Abraham's personal reason for paying instead of accepting the field as a gift. Instead, he uses the purchase to draw attention to the cave of Machpelah itself. He points out that Abraham bought this burial place from the Canaanites and that Jacob later had to pay for it again, showing how seriously the patriarchal family treated this burial site (Clip 2). Les also notes that the cave of Machpelah is still a holy site for both Muslims and Jews, and that Hebron remains a city under constant controversy because both groups claim Abraham as their father and associate themselves with this burial place (Clips 1 and 2).
Les says the cave of Machpelah is the burial place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah (Clip 2). He adds that Hebron, where the cave is located, is still a valid city in Palestine and is under constant controversy between Arabs and Jews because both associate themselves with the burial place (Clip 1). For Les, Abraham's purchase is not just an ancient transaction; it explains why the same site is still revered in the Middle East today.
No. Although Ephron initially told Abraham to take the field, Abraham insisted on paying, saying, 'I will give thee money for the field; take it of me' (Genesis 23:13). He then weighed out 400 shekels of silver, and the field and cave were made sure to him as a possession for a buryingplace (Genesis 23:16,20). The transcripts do not record Les giving an additional explanation for Abraham's refusal of the gift.
Sarah's Death at 127
Les introduces Genesis 23 by noting Sarah's age, setting the scene for Abraham's need to find a burial place.
The Cave of Machpelah in Hebron
Les explains that the cave of Machpelah is the burial place of Abraham and Sarah and that Hebron is still contested because Jews and Arabs both claim Abraham.
Abraham Bought the Cave; Jacob Paid Again
Les points out that Abraham purchased the burial cave from the Canaanites and that Jacob later paid for it again, showing the enduring significance of this particular burial site.
Jacob Becomes Israel — What Romans 9 Says About True Faith
But after about 50 years, Abraham got impatient, and he delved back into the pagan customs of using a surrogate mother, and so Sarah really thought of it first, and suggested that they have a son by their slave girl Hagar. And Abraham of course quickly agreed to that, and so from that fleshly idea comes the man Ishmael, again the natural son.
Who is the Angel of the Lord? Genesis 16 Bible Study
But you know, the wheels of God grind slowly, but surely, and Abraham, or Abram as he's still called here, and Sarai, and we want to definitely keep those names as such until we see it change, and I'm going to explain why they're changed. But Abram and Sarai are now getting rather impatient, and as we pointed out then last week, without any instruction from God, without God being in this whatsoeve…
Why the New Testament Starts With Abraham — Matthew 1:1 Explained
So Abraham�s whole life is in segments of fives and twenty-fives. But anyhow, he tells him now to get out of his father�s house, get out of his homeland, and go to a land that God will show him. Now verse 2, now look at the pronoun. It�s God speaking all the way through. Abraham hasn�t said a word yet, nor will he. He just simply takes it.
Abraham, Sarah, and the Allegory of Law vs. Grace | Genesis 20-21
Sure enough, old Abraham wasn't worried for nothing." Verse 3, but God intervenes, because after all, God is intensely interested now in this promised child, Isaac. And so God came to Abimelech, this pagan king, in a dream by night, and said to him, "...behold, thou art but a dead man. For the woman which thou hast taken, she is a man's wife." Now remember, he gets this by way of a dream.
Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord? Genesis 18 & God in Human Form
And I imagine the Lord is speaking, and Abraham says, Behold, in the tent. And again, I think you've got to kind of get the Middle Eastern setting back in those days. You want to remember, the old patriarch had his own tent, and his wives, if he had more than one, had tents set out in the back. I remember when Irish and I were privileged to go to Israel many years ago.
Genesis 23:1: And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
Introduces the chapter in which Abraham seeks a burial place for Sarah.
Genesis 23:13: And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
Records Abraham's direct insistence on paying for the field instead of taking it as a gift.
Genesis 23:16: And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
Shows that Abraham followed through with the payment of 400 shekels of silver.
Genesis 23:20: And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.
Confirms the transaction made the cave a permanent possession for burial.
The biblical text does not give a stated motive; it records that Abraham said he would pay money for the field and then weighed out 400 shekels of silver (Genesis 23:13,16). In the provided clips, Les does not speculate on Abraham's motive, but he emphasizes the lasting importance of the burial site.
Les said Abraham bought it from the Canaanites, that Jacob later paid for it again, and that it is the burial place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah. He also said the site remains holy for both Muslims and Jews today.
Les identifies it as being in Hebron, which he says is still a valid city in Palestine and a place of ongoing controversy between Arabs and Jews because of its connection to Abraham and the patriarchal burials.
Watch the Teaching: Abraham’s Test of Faith: Why God Asked for Isaac – Bible Study