Bible Trivia - 10/23/2008

Question: What is the name of the cave where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried?

Answer: Machpelah. (Genesis 23:19, 49:29-31)

Comments: Three generations of Israel's patriarchs and matriarchs were buried in the Cave of Machpelah. The burial plot was originally purchased after the death of Sarah. Abraham purchased it from Ephron the Hittite for the exorbitant price of four hundred shekels of silver.

So Ephron's field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were within all the confines of its border, were deeded over to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. (Genesis 23:17-18, NASB)

Machpelah means "doubled" in Hebrew. Some have speculated this is due to the prestigious couples are buried there: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah (Genesis 23:19, 25:9, 49:31, 50:13). (Rachel was buried elsewhere in Bethlehem.)

Note: This illustration is of Abraham weighing out the four hundred shekels of silver he paid for the Cave of Machpelah. (Genesis 23:16). The engraving by Gerard Hoet and Gillem van der Gouwen was first published in 1728.