“No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.” – Genesis 23:11

Today's Scripture Reading (October 4, 2024): Genesis 23

When I was a teenager, my family made a trip to California. While we were visiting with a family friend in San Diego, someone suggested that we make a quick trip to Mexico. So, the next day, we went with our guide to Tijuana. This trip was almost fifty years ago, so Tijuana was a much different city than it is today. And there was a bit of a culture shock in the visit. First, our guide warned us about driving our car into Mexico, and so we walked across the border and had a Taxi take us to the where we wanted to go. The taxi ride was wild, and quickly reinforced the idea that this was not a place we wanted to drive a car.

I have no idea where it was that we visited in the city, but it was a place where there seemed to be a lot of street vendors selling their wares. I was also pretty sure I witnessed an act of violence during our visit, but was convinced by the others with us to turn the other way and just keep walking. It was a world that was far from the suburbs where we made our home, and it was a world the likes of I had never before visited.

One of the warnings we received was that if we wanted to make a purchase, negotiating was expected. Basically, we would ask for a price on the item, the price we would be given would be high, and the expected reaction was that we would negotiate from there. According to our host, to not negotiate would be considered an insult.

As Abraham undertakes the task of burying Sarah, the first consideration was to buy a piece of land. And so, he finds the land and the owner of the land, and now all that remains is making the purchase. But there is an expected drama taking place here. Culture demanded that the first move would be by the one owning the item. According to the culture, his first action would be  to offer the item for free, with the understanding that this offer would be rejected by the purchaser. The next price, while the seller would argue that it would be a modest price, would be high. And from here, the negotiation between the parties would continue until a final price was reached.

Abraham and Ephron were engaged in a cultural dance that had been defined many years earlier. And at the end of the dance, the solemn task of burying Sarah would take place.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 24