하나님나라를 꿈꾸며(Kingdom of God)

23 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 And Sarah died at dKiriath-arba (that is, eHebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,1 4 f“I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; ggive me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5 The Hittites answered Abraham, 6 “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God2 among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” 7 Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”

10 Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who hwent in at the gate of his city, 11 “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13 And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” 14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred ishekels3 of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” 16 Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham jweighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

17 So kthe field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, 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 east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 The field and the cave that is in it lwere made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.

d ch. 35:27; Josh. 14:15; Judg. 1:10

e ver. 19

1 Hebrew sons of Heth; also verses 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20

f ch. 17:8; 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 105:12; Heb. 11:9, 13

g Acts 7:5

2 Or a mighty prince

h ch. 34:20, 24; Ruth 4:1

i Ex. 30:13; Ezek. 45:12

3 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

j 1 Chr. 21:25; Jer. 32:9; Zech. 11:12

k ch. 25:9; 49:29–32; 50:13

l [Ruth 4:7–10; Jer. 32:10–14]

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 창 23:1–20.

본문은 크게 세부분으로 나뉘어진다. 1-2절은 사라의 죽음, 3-18절은 막벨라 굴의 매입, 19-20절은 사라를 장사함. 

1-4절) 사라가 127세를 향수하고 죽었다. 아브라함이 75세, 사라가 65세에 부르심을 받았다는 것을 생각한다면 그들은 62년동안 부르심에 순종하며 가나안 땅에서 유목민으로 생활한 것이다. 이때 아브라함은 137세, 이삭은 37세였다. 아브라함이 이삭을 바치려 했던 사건(22장)이 있은 후 약 20년 정도가 지난 것으로 보인다. 창세기에서 이스라엘의 선조들이 죽는 나이를 밝히는데 이렇게 아내가 죽을 때의 나이를 밝히는 것은 사라가 유일하다. 

이제 사라는 가나안 땅 헤브론 곳 기럇아르바에서 죽었다. 기럇아르바는 ‘네 마을’이라는 의미로 헤브론의 옛 이름이다. 사라가 죽기 전에 아브라함은 브엘세바에 살았다.(22:19) 헤브론과 브엘세바는 4km의 거리였다. 이 사라의 죽음으로 인해 아브라함이 슬퍼하며 애통하다가 이제 그 시신 앞에서 일어나 헷 족속에게 자신을 위해서 시신을 매장할 소유지를 허락해달라고 요청한다. 4절의 본문속에 보면 아브라함이 이 가나안 땅에서 자신을 어떻게 이해했는지를 볼 수 있다. 그는 지금 수십년간 이 곳에 거주하였음에도 자신을 나그네요 거류하는 자로 여겼고 실제로 자신의 소유의 땅을 가지지 못했기에 이런 요청을 하고 있는 것이다. 

당시 이방인이 땅을 구입하는 것은 매우 어려운 일이었다. 땅은 인척 외의 사람에게는 판매하지 않았고 또한 지역 공동체의 허락이 없이는 어느 땅도 묘지로 사용할 수 없었다. 그래서 땅을 구입하려면 먼저 땅 주인을 설득해 적당한 가격에 합의를 보고 공동체의 허락을 얻어야만 가능한 일이었다. 

5-6절) 헷 족속의 첫 번째 대답

아브라함이 자신을 나그네로 여겼던 반면 헷 족속은 아브라함을 ‘하나님이 세우신 지도자’라고 여겼다. 그들은 아브라함이 하나님과 특별한 관계에 있었다는 것을 알고 이를 인정했다. 이곳 헤브론에서 오랜 기간동안 여러가지 일들이 있었기에 헷 족속의 지도자들은 아브라함을 매우 존경했다. 그래서 사라를 장사하기 위해서 매장지를 요구하자 자신들의 묘지 가운데 좋은 것을 택하여 죽은 자를 장사하도록 제안한다. 그러면서 우리들 중에서 자기 묘실에 아브라함의 죽은자 장사함을 금할 자가 없을 것이다라고 말한다. 

본문에서 하나님이 세우신 지도자라는 표현은 ‘나시 엘로힘’으로 하나님의 왕자, 하나님의 두령이라는 의미이다. ’나시'는 지도자, 왕자, 고관, 두령이라는 의미인데 ‘나사’ 높이 들어올리다, 쳐들다, 제공하다의 명사형이다. 

-   Abraham may think of himself as a gēr-weṯôšāḇ, but to these Hittites he is God’s elect one (Heb. neśîʾ ʾĕlōhîm, lit., “prince of God”). The expression is too graphic to be a greeting of formal courtesy. Despite Abraham’s self-denigration, his hosts greet him as an individual of some importance. Abraham is no marginal person. Given his contacts with people like Pharaoh (ch. 12) and Abimelech (ch. 20), one might expect that he would be considered royalty. Recall also that God promised that Abraham would be the father of kings (17:6).

This point is all the more clear in the LXX, which only here translates nāśîʾ with basileús, “king.”28 The normal LXX translation for nāśîʾ is árchōn, “leader, chieftain” (cf. Vulg. princeps, “prince”). In Hebrew society a nāśîʾ is an elected chieftain, one who is a presiding officer, the exact opposite of a gēr. Speiser connects nāśîʾ quite closely with nāśāʾ, and renders the phrase here “the elect of God” (so also NAB).29 Scholars still debate the possible connections between Heb. nāśîʾ, Egyp. nsw, “king” (in Upper Egypt), and Sum. ensi, “ruler.” To these two non-Hebrew words we can now add from Ebla na-se11, “prefect.”30

Having given Abraham a royal welcome, the residents of Hebron are quite willing to offer him space in which to bury Sarah. Perhaps they would even have given the plot to Abraham, much as Araunah offered the threshing floor to David gratis (2 Sam. 24:22). In refusing their generous offer Abraham is displaying the attitude he reflected earlier after the battle with the kings, when he did not help himself to the booty (14:22–23). This is the only instance in Genesis where a speech or address begins with some form of the verb šāmaʿ. This special form of address is found again only in Chronicles (1 Chr. 28:2; 2 Chr. 13:4; 15:2; 20:20; 28:11).31

LXX Septuagint

28 See C. H. Gordon, “Abraham the Basileus,” Jahrbuch für kleinasiatische Forschung 2 (1965) 227–30; M. H. Gottstein, “nsyʾ ʾlhm (Gen. xxiii, 6),” VT 3 (1953) 298–99.

LXX Septuagint

Vulg. Vulgate

NAB The New American Bible

29 See Speiser, Genesis, p. 170; idem, “Background and Function of the Biblical nāśī,” CBQ 25 (1963) 111–17, esp. p. 116. M. H. Gottstein (“nsyʾ ʾlhym [Gen. xxiii 6],” VT 3 [1953] 298–99) translates “one brought along by God.” In his larger discussion of nāśîʾ in Ezekiel (Theology of the Program of Restoration of Ezekiel 40–48, HSMS 10 [Missoula, MT: Scholars, 1976], p. 162), J. Levenson says of nāśîʾ in Gen. 23:6, “from context clearly an exalted position rather than a modest secular civil office.”

Egyp. Egyptian

Sum. Sumerian

30 See M. J. Dahood, “Ebla, Ugarit, and the Bible,” in Pettinato, Archives of Ebla, pp. 278–79.

31 See S. Japhet, “The Supposed common authorship of Chron. and Ezra-Neh. investigated anew,” VT 18 (1968) 358–59.

 Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18–50, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 129.

-   (nāśîʾ I), chief, king (#5954); < נָשָׂא (nāśāʾ), lift up (#5951).

ANE Cognates exist in an Aram. dialect, anši, and in Phoen.

OT 1. The word, occurring 131×, derives from נָשָׂא, lift, and appears to have originally signified “one lifted up, chief.” It occurs most often in Numbers, esp. in enumerations of the chiefs of the Israelite tribes (cf. Num 1, 2, 7, 34). They are typically described as “the leaders of their ancestral tribes … the heads (רָאשִׁים) of the clans of Israel” (1:16; cf. 7:2; Josh 22:14). Together they comprise the “twelve leaders of Israel” (Num 1:44; cf. 17:2 [17]), and are the “leaders of the community” (עֵדָה, 4:34; 31:13; cf. Exod 16:22; 34:31) or tribal “assembly” (עֵדָה, Josh 9:15, 18). The term can also be used for the leader of a clan (Num 25:14; cf. 1 Chron 4:38). Eleazer is the “chief leader” (נְשִׂיא נְשִׂיאִים) of the levitical clans (Num 3:32). Reference is also made to a wider body of 250 “leaders of the community” who rebelled against Moses (16:2). Abraham is called a “mighty נְשִׂיא” by the Hittites (Gen 23:6).

2. The נְשִׂיאִים, leaders, chiefly appear as leaders and tribal representatives alongside Moses (Num 36:1), with the priest Aaron (4:46) or his son Eleazar (27:2), and later with Joshua (Josh 9:15) and the priest Phinehas (22:32). Reference is primarily made to them in contexts concerned with tribal matters, such as the census of the tribes (Num 1:5, 44; 4:46), the arrangement of the camp (2:3, 5, etc.), the assignment of land (32:2; 34:18), and the settling of questions of inheritance (27:2; 36:1; cf. Josh 17:4). The leaders ratify Joshua’s treaty with the Gibeonites by swearing an oath and later insist on keeping their word despite the complaints of the Israelites (Josh 9:15–21). They also represent the tribes in religious affairs. They present the offerings for the tabernacle (Num 7:11; cf. Exod 35:27), and they and Phinehas are sent by the Israelites to reproach the tribes in Transjordan for apostasy (Josh 22:14). Lev 4:22 makes provision for the forgiveness of unintentional sin by a נָשִׂיא. Cursing a נָשִׂיא, alongside blaspheming God, is prohibited (Exod 22:28 [27]).

3. In Ezek, נָשִׂיא is commonly used as a royal title in preference to מֶלֶךְ, king. The latter is mostly reserved for the monarchs of the imperial powers of Babylon (Ezek 17:12; 19:9) and Egypt (29:3; 30:21). Thus, the word is applied to the last kings of Judah (19:1), esp. to Zedekiah (7:27; 12:10, 12; 21:25 [30]) and his royal house (21:12 [17]; 22:6). These passages center on the failure and judgment of the Israelite monarchy. In this context, the term may reflect an evaluation of the rulers against an ideal of leadership of God’s people drawn from the tribal era. At all events, in the context of Israel’s restoration, the term is used constructively to define the proper status and role of the ruler within the religious community in subordination to the priests as against the absolutist claims associated with the word מֶלֶךְ (cf. 1 Sam 8:11–18). This perspective is developed in Ezek 40–48, where the duties (45:16, 17, 22; 46:4) and privileges (44:3; 45:7–9) of the נָשִׂיא are carefully set out. In less priestly and more prophetic vein, the word is also used in Ezek to designate the Davidic ruler whom God will appoint to “shepherd the flock,” in contrast with the rulers and leaders who cared for themselves instead of the flock (34:23–24; cf. vv. 2, 21). The “king over them” (37:24–25) will be a “נָשִׂיא among them” (34:24).

< derived from

ANE Ancient Near East(ern)

Phoen. Phoenician

 Willem VanGemeren, ed., New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 171.

7-9절) 이제 아브라함이 헷 족속이 자신에게 매우 관대한 마음을 가지고 있는 것을 확인하고 그들을 향해 몸을 굽히고 그들에게 말했다. ‘내가 나의 죽은 자를 장사하는 것을 당신들이 허락하고 기뻐한다면 내 말을 듣고 나를 위하여 소할의 아들 에브론에게 구하여 그의 땅 끝에 위치한 막벨라 굴을 주도록 하되 충분한 대가를 받고 그 굴을 내게 주어 매장할 소유지가 되게 해달라’고 요청했다. 

그는 이미 어느 곳에 사라를 장사하면 좋을지에 대한 고민을 마치고 있는 상태였다. 

10-11절) 이 대화는 헷 족속의 성문에서 이루어지고 있었던 것으로 보인다. 성문은 이처럼 공식적인 판결이 이루어지고 개인의 매매가 인증되는 곳이었다.(삿 4:1-11) 아브라함의 이야기를 듣고 이 땅의 주인이었던 에브론이 일어나 성문에서 모든 자가 듣는곳에서 공개적으로 대답하였다. ‘돈을 지불하신다니요. 그럴 필요 없습니다. 내가 그 밭을 당신에게 드리고 그 속의 굴도 당신에게 드릴테니 당신의 죽은 자를 장사하소서’라고 말했다. 

에브론의 이 발언이 얼마나 진심이었는지는 알 수 없다. 그는 지금 앞서 아브라함이 공개적으로 자신이 값을 지불하겠다라는 말에 대해서 애써서 그럴 필요 없다고, 공짜로 드리겠다라고 말하고 있지만 그의 본심은 그렇지 않았던 것으로 보인다. 

-  Ephron hears Abraham’s request and does not need the message brought to him by intermediaries. He wants to make this transaction public so that not only his fellow Hittites know of his offer to Abraham, but so will anyone coming into the city (hence, even of all). E. A. Speiser has argued that the phrase “all those who entered at the gate of his [i.e., Ephron’s] city” is an idiomatic expression for a group that has a voice in community affairs, that is, the highest city authorities, the city fathers.15 But our translation suggests that the phrase simply designates anybody—including the city fathers—who enter the city in their daily business.16 The number of witnesses is swelled by the addition of these passersby. Ephron will do nothing furtively. His willingness to be honest with Abraham contrasts with Abraham’s earlier unwillingness to be honest with Pharaoh (ch. 12) and with Abimelech (ch. 20).

Four times Abraham has used the verb nāṯan (vv. 4, 9 [2 times], 13). Each time I translated this term by “sell” or “pay.” Abraham wishes to buy a portion of Ephron’s property from him. He is not looking for a hand-out. Ephron uses the verb nāṯan three times in v. 11, and here I have translated it “give.”17 Trying to obtain ownership rights to some property, Abraham is the buyer. Owning the property, Ephron will impress Abraham with his magnanimity—he is the giver.

15 E. A. Speiser, “ ‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate,” BASOR 144 (1956) 20–23. Cf. also H. Reviv, “Early Elements and Late Terminology in the Descriptions of Non-Israelite Cities in the Bible,” IEJ 27 (1977) 189–91.

16 See G. Evans, “ ‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate—A Discussion of Professor Speiser’s Paper,” BASOR 150 (1958) 28–33; F. S. Frick, The City in Ancient Israel, SBLDS 36 (Missoula, MT: Scholars, 1977), pp. 118–19.

17 Speiser (Genesis, p. 168) also retains the sell/give nuances of nāṯan in Gen. 23; Westermann (Genesis, 2:370) renders “give/make a present.”

 Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18–50, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 134.

12-13절) 아브라함이 에브론의 이야기를 듣고 다시 백성 앞에 몸을 굽히고 대답했다. ‘당신이 합당히 여긴다면 내가 그 밭 값을 당신에게 주리니 당신은 내게서 받으시오. 그리고 내가 나의 죽은자를 장사하겠소’라고 말한다. 

아브라함은 에브론의 밭과 굴에 대해서 충분한 값을 지불하겠다라고 주장한다. 아브라함이 그 소유지를 공개적으로 헷 족속 앞에서 구입하는 것은 중요한 의미를 지닌다. 왜냐하면 실질적인 매매를 통해서 아브라함은 매장지에 대한 법적인 권리를 온전히 얻을 수 있기 때문이다. 

14-16절) 이에 에브론은 아브라함에게 땅 값은 은 400세겔이지만 그것이 나와 당신 사이에 무슨 문제가 될 수 있습니까? 당신은 당신의 죽은자를 장사하소서라고 말한다. 마치 그 값이 400세겔이나 하지만 우리사이에 돈을 받을 수 없습니다라고 말하지만 그 이면에는 다른 의도가 숨겨져 있는 것이다. 이에 아브라함이 에브론의 말을 따라서 헷족속이 듣는 데서 말한대로 상인이 통용하는 은 400세겔을 달아 에브론에게 주었다. 

당시 토지 거래 방식에 의하면 갖은 생색과 예우를 동원하여 상대방의 체면을 최대한 세워주고 후에 자신이 원하는 금액을 슬그머니 제시하는 방식을 취했다. 만약 아브라함이 에브론의 빈 말을 곧이곧대로 믿고 이 땅을 공짜로 받겠다고 했다면 큰일 났을 것이다. 당시 관례에 의하면 부동산을 남에게 무료로 줄 경우에는 그 당을 소유했던 자의 후손들이 이후에 언제든 그 땅에 대한 소유권을 행사할 권리가 있었기에 영구적으로 땅을 소유하기 위해서는 반드시 땅 값을 치러야 했다. 

아브라함은 에브론이 제시한 금액을 전혀 흥정하여 깍지 않고 그 값을 정확하게 건네준다. 

당시 한 사람의 1년 수입이 5-10세겔이었다는 점을 감안한다면 묘지로 지불된 400세겔은 매우 큰 액수이다. 

사사기 17:10 (NKRV)

10미가가 그에게 이르되 네가 나와 함께 거주하며 나를 위하여 아버지와 제사장이 되라 내가 해마다 은 열과 의복 한 벌과 먹을 것을 주리라 하므로 그 레위인이 들어갔더라

아브라함이 지불한 은의 무게만 따져 보아도 4.6kg 이상이 된다. 다윗이 성전터를 구입하면서 은 50세겔을 지불했고(삼하 24:24) 예레미야가 사촌의 땅을 사면서 은 17세겔을 지불했던 것(렘 32:9)을 감안하면 매우 비싼 값을 주고 땅을 구입한 것이다. 

1세겔은 11.5g임으로 400세겔은 4.6kg에 해당한다. 

-  Four hundred shekels of silver is a substantial price—equivalent to about seven and a quarter pounds of silver. Compared to other land purchases, Omri bought the site of Samaria for 6,000 shekels (1 Kings 16:24), while David bought the site of the temple for 600 gold shekels (1 Chron. 21:25) with the threshing floor itself fetching 50 shekels (2 Sam. 24:24). Jeremiah bought property at greatly deflated prices for 17 shekels (Jer. 32:9). Abraham’s payment was more likely viewed as exorbitant rather than discounted, for rather than negotiating, he pays the inflated initial quote. Abraham refuses the offer to receive the land as a gift because then Ephron’s heirs could reclaim the land after Ephron’s death. In fact, Abraham is likely anxious to pay full price because a discounted price could be later connected to family debt problems and also allow the heirs of Ephron to reclaim the land. A laborer or artisan at ten shekels per year would not expect to make this much in a lifetime.1

1 Adapted from Walton, Matthews, and Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, 54.

 John H. Walton, Genesis, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), 528–529.

세겔의 의미

-  1. The basic sense of the vb., which is used 22×, seems to be that of weighing. So, e.g., Absalom weighs the hair of his head (2 Sam 14:26).

2. Most often the vb. is used to refer to the weighing out of gold or silver in payment. Abraham purchased a burial place for his wife Sarah by weighing out 400 silver shekels to Ephron “according to the weight current among the merchants” (עֹבֵר לַסֹּחֵר; Gen 23:16). Jeremiah purchased a field by weighing out “on the scales” (בְּמֹאזְנָיִם) seventeen silver shekels (Jer 32:10). Ezra carefully weighed out the silver, gold, and bronze that had been donated as an offering for the house of the Lord in Jerusalem (Ezra 8:24–34). Isaiah refers to those who weigh out silver “on the scales” (בַּקָּנֶה) and then hire craftsmen to make idols out of it (Isa 46:6).

3. Since, however, the gold and silver weights in essence became the currency of the ANE (and coinage in the postexilic era), on many occasions שָׁקַל is simply a term that means pay or purchase, without an act of weighing necessarily involved (Exod 22:17 [16]; 2 Sam 18:12; 1 Kgs 20:39; Job 28:15; Esth 3:9; 4:7; Isa 33:18; 55:2; Zech 11:12).

ANE Ancient Near East(ern)

 Willem VanGemeren, ed., New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 235–236.

17-20절) 마므레 앞 막벨라에 있는 에브론의 밭, 그 밭과 거기에 속한 굴과 주위에 둘린 모든 나무가 성 문에 들어온 모든 헷 족속이 보는 데서 아브라함의 소유로 확정되었다. 이후 아브라함이 그 아내 사라를 가나안 땅 마므레 앞 막벨라 굴에 장사하였다. 

본문에서 계속해서 성문 에서 헷 족속앞에서 공개적으로 이 계약이 진행되었다는 사실을 강조한다. 아브라함, 이삭, 야곱, 리브가와 레아가 이 굴에 묻히게 된다. 

하나님께서 가나안 땅 전체를 아브라함의 후손들에게 주실 것을 약속해주셨는데 왜 아브라함은 값을 치르고 땅을 샀던 것일까? 아브라함이 땅은 사는 것은 언젠가 하나님께서 이 땅을 그의 후손들에게 꼭 주실 것이라는 신앙과 확신의 고백이었다. 이런 이유로 훗날 감옥에 갇혀 있던 예레미야도 사촌에게서 땅을 샀다.(렘 32:6-15) 어떤 면에서 가나안 정복은 선조들의 땅을 되찾는 의미가 담겨 있다. 

-  Precious little in this chapter is given over to Sarah’s death (one verse—v. 1) and burial (one verse—v. 19). Vv. 2–18 describe transactions between death and interment. The grief Abraham experienced at Sarah’s death (vv. 2b–3a) does not reappear at her time of burial. Later, Abraham himself will be buried here (25:9), as will Isaac (35:27–29) and Jacob (49:30; 50:13). God has no concern about burying the patriarchs privately in an unmarked grave as he did with Moses (Deut. 34:6), for there is no danger, as there was with Moses, that after the demise of the patriarchs a cult of the dead would flourish in their memory and honor. To none of the patriarchs did the people of Israel owe immediate debt as they did to Moses.

 Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18–50, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 136.