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And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
15 My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
16 And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
Genesis 23:13-16
It all started way back when with the shekel being the standard unit of measure moving around then. It seems that Abraham here had just lost some of his family members, kin, servants, close relatives, or friends to old age or whatever thing lurked unforeseen through their midst. I don’t know about you but I’m also new to that time, not having been around, when shekels were first introduced. Back then, people tended to go a bit crazy around money, especially when foreigners and strangers it seemed. Well, they still do to this day just the same sort of way. Think of how the stock markets have all gone a bit crazy and everything that can be gets inflated really. Basically, it’s just a fancy way of saying they jack up the prices from there. Certainly not because it’s wanted or needed or industry standard of course. Rather it’s done for want of a better term the lack of a fold. I don’t know about you but four hundred shekels for a piece of land in the deal all seems rather much. Here Abraham got himself gyped in the bargain. Not to mention the loss of his own kin made him all the more anxious to grieve. Thus, he would’ve settled for whatever Ephron suggested. Far cry really from when he paid out to Abimelech only seven things of the fold. I’d quite forgotten if they were sheep or some oxen. Either way though, Abimelech was more than happy to see them if you’ll remember. Sure, Ephron could’ve had other reasons such as times of war or disaster when it was actually needed. Still though, we’re not quite sure how much a shekel is though not quite this sum. Sure, Abraham could’ve easily gotten it through minting or trading. I mean, after the Lord blessed him and his rescue of Lot from going after the kings, it seems he only made his way up in the world. Then again, he would’ve had a lot of possessions. enough to travel with ease wherever he pleased. Along with him were herdsmen and flocks, though it’s not quite clear if these were paid or else had a living with what’s termed as a wage. Basically, that would’ve meant that their food and shelter was covered along with everything else actually needed. Since money wasn’t considered a need when your living was already paid, Abraham could’ve just held on to the profits from there. One more thing you’ll need to know about this matter of funds. The shekel has remained till this day though not quite possessing its original value. What that was, we’re not too sure from the start. Perhaps it’ll tell us as we go on much later.