Sepulchre: First mentioned as purchased by Abraham for Sarah from Ephron the
Hittite
(Genesis 23:20) This was the "cave of the field of Machpelah,"
where also Abraham and Rebekah and Jacob and Leah were burried
(Genesis 49:29-32) In
(Acts 7:16) it is said that Jacob was "laid in the
sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor
the father of Sychem." It has been proposed, as a mode of reconciling
the apparent discrepancy between this verse and
(Genesis 23:20) to read
(Acts 7:16) thus: "And they [i.e., our fathers] were carried over
into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum
of money of the sons of Emmor [the son] of Sychem." In this way the
purchase made by Abraham is not to be confounded with the purchase
made by Jacob subsequently in the same district. Of this purchase by
Abraham there is no direct record in the Old Testament.
