Abraham’s tact (vv. 7-16). In the East in that day, most business transactions were carried on at the city gate (Gen. 23:10) with the people as witnesses (v. 7). Arriving at a final price for a piece of property usually involved a great deal of bargaining and deferential politeness that sometimes covered up greed and intrigue. But Abraham was open and honest in his request: He wanted to buy the cave of Machpelah from Ephron, who was in the crowd at the time.

Following the custom of the East, Ephron offered to give Abraham not only the cave but the whole field in which the cave was located. Of course, this was only a clever maneuver on his part, for he had no intentions of giving away a valuable piece of property, especially to a man as wealthy as Abraham. But Ephron’s reply gave Abraham two pieces of information: Ephron was willing to sell, but he wanted to sell the whole field and not just the cave.

Ephron had Abraham in a corner, and he knew it. Sarah had to be buried soon, and Ephron had the only piece of property that met Abraham’s needs. So, Abraham agreed to buy both the cave and the field even before Ephron named the price. That is really living by faith! Ephron’s price was far too much, but Abraham paid it and claimed the property for himself.

In Acts 7:15-16, Stephen seems to contradict the Genesis record by saying that Abraham bought the property from Hamor and it was located in Shechem rather than Hebron (Gen. 23:19). But surely two different burial places are in view here. It is likely that Abraham bought a second burial plot from Hamor in Shechem and that Jacob had to buy it back years later (33:18-19). Since Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob moved about quite a bit, it would be difficult for the residents of the land to keep track of them and their family real estate.

In our business dealings with the people of the world, we must be careful to maintain honesty and integrity and to put our witness for the Lord ahead of monetary gain. Abraham knew that Ephron had him trapped and that it was foolish to haggle over the price, as much as Easterners love to do it.