Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 23
Overview
This index is meant to help the reader explore Biblical parallels, be they two accounts of the same event, stories with similar motifs and themes, or units of text which are linguistically similar and perhaps alluding one to the other. The page includes links to tools that aid in comparison, primary sources that touch upon the parallels, and summaries of and links to articles which analyze them in depth.The Death of Sarah
The account of Sarah’s death is the first in a series of accounts of the deaths of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. A comparison of the various stories of death in Tanakh highlights that it is somewhat rare for Tanakh to discuss the death of a woman at length, and that Sarah is the only woman in all of Tanakh whose lifespan is recorded.
Tools
- Tanakh Lab1 demonstrates that the chapters that are most linguistically similar to Bereshit 23 are Bereshit 49-50, describing the death and burial of Yaakov, and Bereshit 25, which tells of the death of Avraham and Yishmael. See here and here to compare the various chapters. One of the similarities is the emphasis in each on the burial "in the Cave of Makhpelah which Avraham bought from Efron the Hittite as a burial plot".
Articles
- See חיי שרה: מותה של שרה אימנו by R. Yonatan Grossman for an exploration of why it is so important in the eyes of the Torah to detail the death of Sarah, when normally Matriarchal deaths are not mentioned. He suggests that the purpose of the narrative is to give background for the acquisition of the Cave of Makhpelah. Moreover, the Torah’s inclusion of the extensive dialogue between Avraham and the residents of the land serves to emphasize how important it was to Avraham to own his personal burial plot rather than to assimilate with the people around him, and to convey that value to his descendants.