• Torah (T): Bereshiyt (Genesis) 23:1-20
• Prophets (P): 1 Kings 1:1-31
• Apostolic (A): Acts 7:1-8; Galatians 4:22-31
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 19:1-9

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Genesis 10:15-20 (T)
• Genesis 25:9-10, Genesis 49:28-32, Genesis 50:5-13 (T)
• Exodus 7:1-2; Genesis 20:6-7; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; John 10:31-38 (T)
• Numbers 13:17-33 (T)
• Joshua 14:6-15 (T)
• Judges 1:1-20 (T)
• Luke 3:34-38 (T)
• Genesis 33:17-20 (A)
• Joshua 24:32 (A)
• Isaiah 41:8 (ADD)
• 2 Chronicles 20:7 (ADD)
• Ya’aqov (James) 2:23 (ADD)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• Jubilees 3:32-33; 4:29 (T)
• Jubilees 10:28-36 (T)
• Jubilees 8:1-5 (T)
• Jubilees 9:4 (T)
• Jubilees 13:11-12 (T)
• Jubilees 46:8-10 (T, A)
• Genesis 23:1-20 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 1.14.1 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

23:1 Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah's life. 2 Sarah died in Kiriath Arba, [which is in the valley],^(LXX) also called Hebron, in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. 3 Abraham rose up from before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4 “I am a sojourner and a settler living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6 “Hear us, my lord. You are a lifted up elohim among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.” 7 Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth. 8 He talked with them, saying, “If you agree that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar [the Hethite],^(SP) 9 that he may sell me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him sell it to me among you as a possession for a burial place.” 10 Now Ephron was sitting in the middle of the sons of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, 11 “No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the face of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12 Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. 13 He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, “But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.” 14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 “My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.” 16 Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants' standard. 17 So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded 18 to Abraham for a possession in the face of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan. 20 The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as a possession for a burial place.

Prophets Portion (P)

1 Kings 1:1-31

1:1 Now king David was old and advanced in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he couldn’t keep warm. 2 Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king. Let her stand before the king, and cherish him; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may keep warm.” 3 So they sought for a beautiful young lady throughout all the borders of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The young lady was very beautiful; and she cherished the king, and served him; but the king didn’t know her intimately. 5 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” Then he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6 His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, “Why have you done so?” and he was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom. 7 He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him. 8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. 9 Adonijah killed sheep, cattle, and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel; and he called all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants; 10 but he didn’t call Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother. 11 Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Haven’t you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns, and David our lord doesn’t know it? 12 Now therefore come, please let me give you counsel, that you may save your own life, and your son Solomon’s life. 13 Go in to king David, and tell him, ‘Didn’t you, my lord, king, swear to your servant, saying, “Assuredly Solomon your son will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne?” Why then does Adonijah reign?’ 14 Behold, while you are still talking there with the king, I will also come in after you and confirm your words.” 15 Bathsheba went in to the king in his room. The king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king. 16 Bathsheba bowed, and showed respect to the king. The king said, “What would you like?” 17 She said to him, “My lord, you swore by YHWH your Elohim to your servant, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne.’ 18 Now, behold, Adonijah reigns; and you, my lord the king, don’t know it. 19 He has slain cattle and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the army; but he hasn’t called Solomon your servant. 20 You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered criminals.” 22 Behold, while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. 23 They told the king, saying, “Behold, Nathan the prophet!” When he had come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 24 Nathan said, “My lord, king, have you said, ‘Adonijah will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne?’ 25 For he has gone down today, and has slain cattle, fatlings, and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king’s sons, the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest. Behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live king Adonijah!’ 26 But he hasn’t called me, even me your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon. 27 Was this thing done by my lord the king, and you haven’t shown to your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?” 28 Then king David answered, “Call Bathsheba in to me.” She came into the king’s face and stood before the king. 29 The king swore, and said, “As YHWH lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity, 30 most certainly as I swore to you by YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place;’ I will most certainly do this today.” 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the land, and showed respect to the king, and said, “Let my lord king David live forever!”

Apostolic Portion (A)

Acts 7:1-8; Galatians 4:22-31

Acts 7:1 The high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The Elohim of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your land and away from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’ (cf. Genesis 12:1) 4 Then he came out of the land of the Kasdim and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, Elohim moved him into this land, where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he still had no child. 6 Elohim spoke in this way: that his seed would live as sojourners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 ‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said Elohim, ‘and after that they will come out, (cf. Genesis 15:13-14) and serve me in this place.’ (cf. Exodus 3:12) 8 He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Galatians 4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman. 23 However, the son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise. 24 These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. 25 For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, [and she is our mother].^(mss) 27 For it is written, “Rejoice, you barren who don’t bear. Break out and shout, you who don’t travail. For the desolate women have more children than her who has a husband.” (cf. Isaiah 54:1) 28 Now [you],^(LXX) brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 However, what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the servant and her son, for the son of the servant will not inherit with the son of the free woman.” (cf. Genesis 21:10) 31 So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant, but of the free woman.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

Jubilees 19:1-9

19:1 And in the first year of the first week in the forty-second jubilee [2010 A.M.], Abraham returned and dwelt opposite Hebron, that is Kiriath Arba, two weeks of years. 2. And in the first year of the †third† week of this jubilee the days of the life of Sarah were accomplished, and she died in Hebron. 3. And Abraham went to mourn over her and bury her, and we tried him [to see] if his spirit were patient and he were not indignant in the words of his mouth; and he was found patient in this, and was not disturbed. 4. For in patience of spirit he conversed with the sons of Heth, to the intent that they should give him a place in which to bury his dead. 5. And the Lord gave him grace before all who saw him, and he besought in gentleness the sons of Heth, and they gave him the land of the double cave over against Mamre, that is Hebron, for four hundred pieces of silver. 6. And they besought him, saying, “We will give it to thee for nothing”; but he would not take it from their hands for nothing, for he gave the price of the place, the money in full, and he bowed down before them twice; and after this he buried his dead in the double cave. 7. And all the days of the life of Sarah were one hundred and twenty-seven years, that is, two jubilees and four weeks and one year: these are the days of the years of the life of Sarah. 8. This is the tenth trial wherewith Abraham was tried, and he was found faithful, patient in spirit. 9. And he said not a single word regarding the rumour in the land how that Elohim had said that He would give it to him and to his seed after him, and he begged a place there to bury his dead; for he was found faithful, and was recorded on the heavenly tables as the friend of Elohim (cf. James 2:23).

Related Scriptures

10:15 Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth, 16 the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. 19 The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon—as you go toward Gerar—to Gaza—as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim—to Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations.

Genesis 10:21-24 (T)

10:21 Sons were also born to Shem, the elder brother of Japheth, the father of all the sons of Eber. 22 The sons of Shem were: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram were: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber.

Genesis 10:21-24 (LXX) Septuagint text as translated in the Apostolic Bible Polyglot by Charles VanderPool

10:21 And to Shem was born, even to him, the father of all the sons of Eber, brother of Japheth the greater. 22 Sons of Shem — Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Cainan. 23 And the sons of Aram — Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. 24 And Arphaxad procreated Cainan; and Cainan procreated Salah; and Salah procreated Eber.

Genesis 25:9-10, Genesis 49:28-32, Genesis 50:5-13 (T)

Genesis 25:9 Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is near Mamre, 10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife.

Genesis 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them, and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his own blessing. 29 He instructed them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah: 32 the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the sons of Heth.”

Genesis 50:5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.’ ” 6 Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear.” 7 Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. 9 Both chariots and horsemen went up with him. It was a very great company. 10 They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and severe lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days. 11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. 12 His sons did to him just as he commanded them, 13 for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, as a possession for a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, near Mamre.

Exodus 7:1-2; Genesis 20:6-7; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; John 10:31-38 (T)

Exodus 7:1 YHWH said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you Elohim to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. 2 You will speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh, that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

Genesis 20:6 [The Elohim]^(MTT) said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her. 7 Now therefore, return the man’s woman. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t return her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.”

Deuteronomy 18:15 YHWH your Elohim will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You will listen to him. 16 This is according to all that you desired of YHWH your Elohim in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear again YHWH my Elohim’s voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.” 17 YHWH said to me, “They have well said that which they have spoken. 18 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will speak to them all that I will command him. 19 It will happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he will speak in my name, I will require it of him.

John 10:31 Therefore the Judeans took up stones again to stone him. 32 Yeshua answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” 33 The Judeans answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself Elohim.” 34 Yeshua answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are Elohim?’ 35 If he called them Elohim, to whom the word of Elohim came, and the Scripture can’t be broken, 36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of Elohim?’ 37 If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. 38 But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

Numbers 13:17-33 (T)

13:17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country. 18 See the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; 19 and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; 20 and what the land is, whether it is fertile or poor, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes. 21 So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. 22 They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there. 25 They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. 26 They went and came to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the sons of Anak there. 29 Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country. The Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.” 30 Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!” 31 But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” 32 They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

Joshua 14:6-15 (T)

14:6 Then the sons of Judah came near to Joshua in Gilgal. Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the thing that YHWH spoke to Moses the man of Elohim concerning me and concerning you in Kadesh Barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of YHWH sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8 Nevertheless, my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed YHWH my Elohim. 9 Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where you walked will be an inheritance to you and to your sons forever, because you have wholly followed YHWH my Elohim.’ 10 “Now, behold, YHWH has kept me alive, as he spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that YHWH spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. Now, behold, I am eighty-five years old, today. 11 As yet I am as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, to go out and to come in. 12 Now therefore give me this hill country, of which YHWH spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and great and fortified cities. It may be that YHWH will be with me, and I will drive them out, as YHWH said.” 13 Joshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he followed YHWH, the Elohim of Israel wholeheartedly. 15 Now the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba, after the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.

Judges 1:1-20 (T)

1:1 After the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel asked of YHWH, saying, “Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 YHWH said, “Judah will go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.” 3 Judah said to Shimon his brother, “Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot.” So Shimon went with him. 4 Judah went up, and YHWH delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand. They struck ten thousand men in Bezek. 5 They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him. They struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. 7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so Elohim has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8 The sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem, took it, struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 9 After that, the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland. 10 Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron. The name of Hebron before that was Kiriath Arba. They struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir before that was Kiriath Sepher. 12 Caleb said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it.” 13 Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, so he gave him Achsah his daughter as his wife. 14 When she came, she got him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, “What would you like?” 15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing; because you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” Then Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. 16 The sons of the Kenite, Moses’ brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the sons of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. 17 Judah went with Shimon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border. 19 YHWH was with Judah, and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there.

Luke 3:34-38 (T)

3:34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arpachshad, the son of Shem, the son of Noaḥ, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of Elohim.

Genesis 33:17-20 (A)

33:17 Jacob traveled to Sukkot, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Sukkot. 18 Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan Aram; and encamped before the city. 19 He bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. 20 He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.

Joshua 24:32 (A)

24:32 They buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the sons of Joseph.

Isaiah 41:8 (ADD)

41:8 “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend

2 Chronicles 20:7 (ADD)

20:7 Didn’t you, our Elohim, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it to the seed of Abraham your friend forever?

Ya’aqov (James) 2:23 (ADD)

2:23 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed Elohim, and it was accounted to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of Elohim.

Related Additional Readings

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

Jubilees 3:32-33; Jubilees 4:29 (T)

3:32 And on the new moon of the fourth new moon, Adam and his wife went forth from the Garden of Eden, and they dwelt in the land of ‘Eldâ*, in the land of their creation. 33. And Adam called the name of his wife Eve.

4:29 And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year thereof, Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he was the first to be buried in the land.

Jubilees 8:8-21 (T)

8:8 And in the sixth year thereof, she bare him a son, and he called his name Peleg; for in the days when he was born the children of Noaḥ began to divide the land amongst themselves: for this reason he called his name Peleg. 9. And they divided (it) secretly amongst themselves, and told it to Noaḥ. 10. And it came to pass in the beginning of the thirty-third jubilee that they divided the land into three parts, for Shem and Ham and Japheth, according to the inheritance of each, in the first year in the first week, when one of us, who had been sent, was with them. 11. And he called his sons, and they drew nigh to him, they and their children, and he divided the land into the lots, which his three sons were to take in possession, and they reached forth their hands, and took the writing out of the bosom of Noaḥ, their father. 12. And there came forth on the writing as Shem’s lot the middle of the land which he should take as an inheritance for himself and for his sons for the generations of eternity, from the middle of the mountain range of Râfâ, from the mouth of the water from the river Tînâ. and his portion goeth towards the west through the midst of this river, and it extendeth till it reacheth the water of the abysses, out of which this river goeth forth and poureth its waters into the sea Mê’at, and this river floweth into the great sea. And all that is towards the north is Japheth’s, and all that is towards the south belongeth to Shem. 13. And it extendeth till it reacheth Kârâsô: this is in the bosom of the tongue which looketh towards the south. 14. And his portion extendeth along the great sea, and it extendeth in a straight line till it reacheth the west of the tongue which looketh towards the south; for this sea is named the tongue of the Egyptian Sea [i. e. the Gulf of Akaba (Aqaba)]. 15. And it turneth from here towards the south towards the mouth of the great sea on the shore of (its) waters, and it extendeth to the west to ‘Afrâ [Africa] and it extendeth till it reacheth the waters of the river Gihon, and to the south of the waters of Gihon, to the banks of this river. 16. And it extendeth towards the east, till it reacheth the Garden of Eden, to the south thereof, [to the south] and from the east of the whole land of Eden and of the whole cast, it turneth to the †east,† and proceedeth till it reacheth the east of the mountain named Râfâ, and it descendeth to the bank of the mouth of the river Tînâ. 17. This portion came forth by lot for Shem and his sons, that they should possess it for ever unto his generations for evermore. 18. And Noaḥ rejoiced that this portion came forth for Shem and for his sons, and he remembered all that he had spoken with his mouth in prophecy; for he had said: Blessed be the Lord Elohim of Shem, And may the Lord dwell in the dwelling of Shem.” 19. And he knew that the Garden of Eden is the holy of holies, and the dwelling of the Lord, and Mount Sinai the centre of the desert, and Mount Zion–the centre of the navel of the land: these three were created as holy places facing each other. 20. And he blessed the Elohim of Elohim, who had put the word of the Lord into his mouth, and the Lord for evermore. 21. And he knew that a blessed portion and a blessing had come to Shem and his sons unto the generations for ever–the whole land of Eden and the whole land of the Red Sea, and the whole land of the east, and India, and on the Red Sea and the mountains thereof, and all the land of Bashan, and all the land of Lebanon and the islands of Kaftûr, and all the mountains of Sanîr and ‘Amânâ, and the mountains of Asshur in the north, and all the land of Elam, Asshur, and Bâbêl, and Sûsân and Mâ‘ĕdâi and all the mountains of Ararat, and all the region beyond the sea, which is beyond the mountains of Asshur towards the north, a blessed and spacious land, and all that is in it is very good.

Jubilees 10:28-36 (T)

10:28 And Ham and his sons went into the land which he was to occupy, which he acquired as his portion in the land of the south. 29. And Canaan saw the land of Lebanon to the river of Egypt that it was very good, and he went not into the land of his inheritance to the west (that is to) the sea, and he dwelt in the land of Lebanon, eastward and westward from the border of Jordan and from the border of the sea. 30. And Ham, his father, and Cush and Mizraim, his brothers, said unto him: “Thou hast settled in a land which is not thine, and which did not fall to us by lot: do not do so; for if thou dost do so, thou and thy sons will fall in the land and (be) accursed through sedition; for by sedition ye have settled, and by sedition will thy children fall, and thou shalt be rooted out for ever. 31. Dwell not in the dwelling of Shem; for to Shem and to his sons did it come by their lot. 32. Cursed art thou, and cursed shalt thou be beyond all the sons of Noaḥ, by the curse by which we bound ourselves by an oath in the face of the holy judge, and in the face of Noaḥ our father.” 33. But he did not hearken unto them, and dwelt in the land of Lebanon from Hamath to the entering of Egypt, he and his sons until this day. 34. And for this reason that land is named Canaan. 35. And Japheth and his sons went towards the sea and dwelt in the land of their portion, and Madai saw the land of the sea and it did not please him, and he begged a (portion) from Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad, his wife’s brother, and he dwelt in the land of Media, near to his wife’s brother until this day. 36. And he called his dwelling-place, and the dwelling-place of his sons, Media, after the name of their father Madai.

Jubilees 8:1-5 (T)

8:1 In the twenty-ninth jubilee, in the first week, in the beginning thereof Arpachshad took to himself a woman and her name was Râsû’ĕjâ, [the daughter of Sûsân,] the daughter of Elam, and she bare him a son in the third year in this week, and he called his name Kâinâm (also spelled Cainan or Cainan). 2. And the son grew, and his father taught him writing, and he went to seek for himself a place where he might seize for himself a city. 3. And he found a writing which former (generations) had carved on the rock, and he read what was thereon, and he transcribed it and sinned owing to it; for it contained the teaching of the Watchers in accordance with which they used to observe the omens of the sun and moon and stars in all the signs of the heavens. 4. And he wrote it down and said nothing regarding it; for he was afraid to speak to Noaḥ about it lest he should be angry with him on account of it. 5. And in the thirtieth jubilee, in the second week, in the first year thereof, he took to himself a woman, and her name was Mêlkâ, the daughter of Madai, the son of Japheth, and in the fourth year he begat a son, and called his name Shelah; for he said: “Truly I have been sent.”

Jubilees 9:4 (T)

9:4 And for Arpachshad came forth the third portion, all the land of the region of the Chaldees to the east of the Euphrates, bordering on the Sea of Reeds, and all the waters of the desert close to the tongue of the sea which looketh towards Egypt, all the land of Lebanon and Sanîr and ‘Amânâ to the border of the Euphrates.

Jubilees 13:11-12 (T)

13:11 And Abram went into Egypt in the third year of the week, and he dwelt in Egypt five years before his wife was torn away from him. 12. Now Tanais (i.e. Zoan) in Egypt was at that time built seven years after Hebron.

Jubilees 46:8-10 (T, A)

46:8 And Joseph died in the forty-sixth jubilee, in the sixth week, in the second year [2242 A.M.], and they buried him in the land of Egypt, and all his brethren died after him. 9 And the king of Egypt went forth to war with the king of Canaan in the forty-seventh jubilee, in the second week in the second year [2263 A.M.], and the sons of Israel brought forth all the bones of the children of Jacob save the bones of Joseph, and they buried them in the field in the double cave in the mountain. 10. And the most (of them) returned to Egypt, but a few of them remained in the mountains of Hebron, and Amram thy father remained with them.”

Genesis 23:1-20 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 23 And the days of the life of Sarah were an hundred and twenty and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kiryath Arba, which is Hebron. [JERUSALEM. And Sarah died in the city of the giants.]

And Abraham came from the mountain of worship, and found that she was dead; and he sat to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from the sight of the face of his dead, and spake with the sons of Hittah, saying, I am a sojourner and dweller with you; I pray sell me the inheritance of a sepulchre among you, and I will bury my dead there. And the sons of Hittah responded unto Abraham, saying to him, Attend to us, our lord. Great before the Lord art thou among us, in the best of our sepulchres bury thy dead: there is not a man of us who will refuse thee his sepulchre, that thou mayest bury thy dead. And Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Hittah. And he spake with them, saying, If it be with the consent of your mind that I bury my dead from before my face, receive of me, and intercede for me before Ephron bar Zochar that he sell me his double cave which is built in the side of his field, for the full price in silver let him give it me among you, for an inheritance of sepulture. But Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the face of the sons of Hittah, of all who entered the gate of his city, saying, My lord, listen to me: the field I give thee, and the cave which is in it, to thee I give it, as a gift before the sons of my people I give it to thee; go, bury thy dead. And Abraham bowed before the sons of Hittah. And he spake with Ephron before the people of the land, saying, Nevertheless, if thou art willing to do me a favour, hear me: I will give thee in silver the price of the field; take (it) of me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron answered Abraham, saing to him, My lord, hear me: the land, as to its price, would be four hundred sileen of silver; between me and thee what is that? Bury thy dead. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named before the sons of Hittah, four hundred sileen of silver, good, passing at every table, and receivable in all transactions. [JERUSALEM. Four hundred sileen of silver, passing at every table, and receivable in all transactions.] And he confirmed the purchase of the field of Ephron, in which (was) the double (cave) which is before Mamre, The field, and the cave that is therein, and all the trees that were in the field, in all the boundaries thereof round about,–Unto Abraham, for a purchased possession, in the face of the sons of Hittah, (even) of all who entered in at the gate of the city. And afterwards Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field Kapheilta which is before Mamre, that is, Hebron in the land of Kenaan. And the field and the cave therein were confirmed unto Abraham for an inheritance of sepulture from the sons of Hittah.

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Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 1.14.1 (T)

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

1.14.1. Now Sarah died a little while after, having lived one hundred and twenty-seven years. They buried her in Hebron; the Canaanites publicly allowing them a burying-place; which piece of ground Abraham bought for four hundred shekels, of Ephron, an inhabitant of Hebron. And both Abraham and his descendants built themselves sepulchers in that place.

2.8.2. (A) Joseph also died when he had lived a hundred and ten years; having been a man of admirable virtue, and conducting all his affairs by the rules of reason; and used his authority with moderation, which was the cause of his so great felicity among the Egyptians, even when he came from another country, and that in such ill circumstances also, as we have already described. At length his brethren died, after they had lived happily in Egypt. Now the posterity and sons of these men, after some time, carried their bodies, and buried them at Hebron: but as to the bones of Joseph, they carried them into the land of Canaan afterward, when the Hebrews went out of Egypt, for so had Joseph made them promise him upon oath. But what became of every one of these men, and by what toils they got the possession of the land of Canaan, will be shown hereafter, when I have first explained upon what account it was that they left Egypt. (cf. Jubilees 46:8-10)