Q. I have always believed that Abraham and Ephron played out a typical bargaining/price haggling over Sarah’s burial cave—something that happened all the time in the ancient world:
“Please, take it for free.”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly.”
It seems that they did a little dance until they agreed on a price. I haven’t found anything written to corroborate or refute my idea. Do you have a thought?
I agree with your understanding of this passage. It actually gives us a fascinating window into the practices of the ancient world.
Abraham starts by humbly and diplomatically describing himself to the Hittites as “a foreigner and stranger among you” who needs to buy a burial cave. The Hittites call him in response, just as diplomatically, “a mighty prince among us,” and they tell him that he can ask any of them to sell him a cave.
Abraham then asks the community to speak with Ephron on his behalf (the rules of the game seem to dictate that he cannot speak to Ephron directly at this point), and Ephron, who is listening, says he will give Abraham the cave.
Abraham knows that this is actually further diplomatic language, and he responds by asking Ephron please to accept the price of the cave from him. That is Ephron’s signal, apparently, to name a price, but to do so without specifically asking for it: “The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me?” This seems to be a fair price, since there is no further negotiation; Abraham weighs out the shekels with the other Hittites watching to certify the transaction.
Sometimes people from other cultures can appreciate this kind of ancient diplomacy more naturally than people can who have been raised in contemporary American culture. I was once leading a Bible study on Judges and we were discussing the passage in which a man named Othniel captures a city and wins Aksah, the daughter of the clan leader Caleb, as his bride. However, the couple then found that their land lacked water, and it was Aksah who approached Caleb to ask for some further land that had springs on it. Someone in the study asked why Othniel hadn’t done this himself, and another person in the study, who was from another culture, answered, “He didn’t have the standing to approach Caleb.” Contemporary American culture might see Othniel as a hero who had achieved status through his exploits, but apparently in his culture he was still the son-in-law who needed to show due deference to the clan leader. But the leader’s daughter could approach him.
Good Question 