Genesis - Parashath Chayei Sarah.

 GENESIS - PARASHATH CHAYEI SARAH.

ALIYAH 1 [23:1 - 16] - A RESTING PLACE FOR SARAH.

We are not told how much time elapsed between the binding of Isaac and the death of Sarah.  Tradition holds that Sarah died immediately after.  However, if Isaac was a young boy at the time of the binding, many years would have passed.  (Adin Steinsaltz, p. 116.)  

Sarah dies at the age of 127 years, and from the way the text expresses her age, tradition infers that she lived a full life and exhibited the same good qualities throughout.  Abraham negotiates with Ephron and the Children of Heth, i.e. the Hittites (or a branch of the Hittites - Steinsaltz, p. 117, note on 23:3) and purchases a cave to bury Sarah.  He pays Ephron 400 shekels, an extravagant price, without haggling.  

The site is the Cave of Machpelah, today known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and also the location of the Ibrahimi Mosque.  The tomb and mosque have been under Israeli control since 1967, although due to the location security is tight and a number of incidents of violence have occurred.  I visited the site on a trip to Israel many years ago.

ALIYAH 2 [23:17 - 24:9] - A WIFE FOR ISAAC.

With Sarah laid to rest, Abraham turns to the matter of finding a wife for Isaac.  He tasks his chief servant Eliezer with this mission, emphasizing that Eliezer must go "to the land of my birthplace" and bring back to Canaan a wife for Isaac; under no circumstances should Isaac travel back to Ur, nor should he take a wife from the Canaanite women.  

ALIYAH 3 [24:10 - 26] - ELIEZER AND REBECCA.

Eliezer travels to the city of Aram-Naharaim, home of Abraham's brother Nahor [נָחֽוֹר].  Robert Alter (p. 78, note on 24:10) notes that the camels in this scene are an anachronism, as the camel was not domesticated in the Ancient Near East until centuries after the Patriarchal period.  Nevertheless, camels play a key role in this narrative.  

Eliezer, approaching the city, asks for a Divine sign to confirm his choice of a mate for Isaac, and resolves to select the girl who offers water not only to Eliezer himself but also to his camels.  Rebecca appears and promptly fulfills this test.  (Alter notes that ten thirsty camels would consume many gallons of water, so Rebecca "would have had to be a nonstop blur of motion"; p. 80, note on 24:20.)  Eliezer learns that she is the daughter of Bethuel and the granddaughter of Nahor.

ALIYAH 4 [24:27 - 52] - ELIEZER MEETS LAVAN.

Eliezer is invited in to meet Lavan, and introduces himself and relates the events of his mission from Abraham.  He asks Lavan for Rebecca as a bride for Isaac, and Lavan agrees, saying, "This has come from the L-rd, and we can say neither bad nor good about it."  (His terse invitation to Eliezer to "take her and go" - just two words in Hebrew [ קַ֣ח וָלֵ֑ךְ | qach v'lekh ] - echoes Pharaoh's dismissal of Sarai in 12:19.)

ALIYAH 5 [24:53 - 67] - ELIEZER BRINGS REBECCA HOME TO ISAAC.

There are gifts given to Rebecca's family, and a celebratory feast, and Eliezer spends the night.  In the morning, Rebecca's brother and mother ask for a delay before the marriage, but Eliezer urges, "Do not delay me."  (Steinsaltz notes that Eliezer "can therefore justify his hurry to return, not only to bring the girl to Isaac, but also to report to an elderly Abraham that a wife has been found for his son." - p. 128, note on 24:56.)  The matter is put to Rebecca, and she agrees to go right away.  Isaac marries Rebecca and finds consolation over the loss of his mother.

ALIYAH 6 [25:1 - 11] - ABRAHAM'S FINAL YEARS.

Abraham remarries; the text reports that the woman's name is Keturah [קְטוּרָֽה].  Some commentators believe that Keturah is in fact another name for Hagar, while others take the straightforward reading that this is a new wife.  (Steinsaltz, p. 131, note on 25:1.)  She bears him many children, but Abraham sends them to lands far to the east, and gives all that he owns to Isaac.  Abraham dies at the age of 175 and is buried next to Sarah and the Cave of Machpelah.

ALIYAH 7 [25:12 - 18] - SONS OF ISHMAEL.

As Ishmael "definitively leaves the scene of narration" (Alter, p. 85, note on Ch. 25), his descendants are listed, "twelve princes" (25:16) like the future sons of Jacob.  Ishmael dies at the age of 137.  [761]