Jo’s Place

​ Jacob’s Death and Burial Then Jacob instructed them, “Soon I will die and join my ancestors.  Bury me with my father and grandfather, in the cave, in the field of Ephron the Hittite.  This is the cave, in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, (the one) Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite, as a permanent burial site (for his family).  There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried.  There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried.  And there I buried Leah.  It is the plot of land and the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites.”  When Jacob had finished (giving) this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.  Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him.  Then Joseph told the physicians who served him, to embalm his father’s body; so Jacob was embalmed.  The embalming process took the usual forty days.  And the Egyptians mo...

The Burial of Sarah When Sarah was 127 years old, she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan.  There Abraham mourned and wept for her.  Then, leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders,  “Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you.  Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”  The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Listen, my lord, you are an honored prince among us.  Choose the finest of our tombs and bury her there.  No one here will refuse to help you in this way.”  Then Abraham bowed low before the Hittites and said,  “Since you are willing to help me in this way, be so kind as to ask Ephron son of Zohar to let me buy his cave at Machpelah, down at the end of his field.  I will pay the full price in the presence of witnesses, so I will have a permanent burial place for my family.”  Ephron was sitting there among the others, and he answered Abraham as the others listened, sp...