Comentário sobre Gênesis 23:9

המכפלה MACHPELAH (the root, כפל, means double) — it had a lower and an upper cavern. Another explanation of why it was so called is, because it has the characteristic of being doubled on account of the couples who are buried there (see Rashi in verse 2) (Eruvin 53a).

THAT HE MAY GIVE ME. The intent of this is “that he may give it to me in such a way that I will consider it as a gift (even) if I will buy it from him for its full value.” It is for this reason that Abraham did not mention the word “selling.” A similar usage is found in the verse, Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink,³⁰Deuteronomy 2:28. meaning “for the water which is usually given as a gift I will give money.” It may be that such is the ordinary usage of the language to mention “giving” when describing sales transactions.

מערת המכפלה, any depression in the surface of the earth is called מכפלה, as the ככר הירדן, refers to the entire Jordan valley (13,10). This is substantiated by the Torah describing Efron’s field as being located in מכפלה in verse 18 of our chapter.

מערת המכפלה, a place known as machpela.

ויתן לי את מערת המכפלה, So that he may give me the cave of Machpelah. Abraham made a point of describing the transaction as a gift though perfectly aware that money would be changing hands, as indicated by the words "for full monetary value." Abraham was astute enough to purchase the cave in such a way that any future complaint was out of the question. He was also careful to add the words: "in your midst." The Zohar 1,128 points out that Efron never saw anything in that cave except darkness and calamity. This being so, Efron could have claimed later that in view of his having been unaware of the true value of the cave, his consent to sell it was based on a false premise, and he could have reversed the sale. This in spite of the rule that there is no validity to a claim of land having been over or underpriced at the time of sale. Abraham still worried about an idea expressed in the Jerusalem Talmud (compare Tossaphot Kidushin 42) that if the undercharge was 50% or more the sale is reversible although it is not reversible when the amount of the undercharge was between 15% and 50%.

ויתן לי את מערת, he did not ask anything from Efron other than the cave, not the field in which it was situated.

ויתן לי את מערת המכפלה, “so that he may give me the cave Machpelah which adjoins his field.” The reason it was called מכפלה is related to the expression כפל, “double.” Apparently G’d had “doubled” the height of the cave in order to bury Adam’s remains inside it. The local residents had been unaware of this. Efron himself was also unaware of any special significance of the cave in spite of its name. He had had no reason to suspect who, if anybody, had previously been buried inside that cave. [Seeing that this had occurred before the deluge, how could anybody have been aware, unless Noach had found the land of Israel intact after the deluge. Ed.]
When Avraham repeatedly spoke about Efron “giving” him the cave, he did not mean that he was unwilling to pay for it. He meant that he would consider transfer of the title to that cave to him as a gift, regardless of any commercial transaction they would conclude concerning it. In order not to be misunderstood, Avraham added the words (verse nine) בכסף מלא יתננה לי, “in return for full monetary compensation he shall give it to me.” Avraham neither asked for a gift, nor even for the field (which would have meant a loss to Efron, [seeing he could no longer till it. Ed.] All he asked for was the cave at the edge of Efron’s field.
Efron’s answer was couched in ethical/moral terms. “I have donated the field to you as well as the cave which is situated on it; it would not be fitting for someone of your stature to own merely the cave and not the field of which it is part.” He continued: “this is why I have given you the whole package as a gift, field as well as cave.” When Efron used the expression “I have given,” he meant “it is equivalent to a gift.” Avraham took him up on this expression and that is why he said: “I have given the money for the field, take it from me,” although Efron had not even named his price yet (verse thirteen). The entire transaction was intended to create the impression that Avraham had received a tremendous bargain by being allowed to pay an outrageous price.

Let him give me. That is, as a present. At the end of his field. Although it is not customary to sell one’s inheritance, the cave is not in the main part of the field but at an extremity. Let him give it to me for its full value. Publicly let it be a gift, but privately he will receive full value.

Another explanation: It is doubled with couples. [You might ask: Why did Rashi need to bring two explanations? The answer is:] These two explanations reflect two opinions in Eiruvin 53a. They are telling us not to mistakenly think that the cave itself was double—one cave within the other, or one cave on top of the other—for then it should have said מערה הכפולה, “the double cave.” Since מערה lacks the ת of the construct state, כפולה [would consequently be an adjective and] its feminine ה would refer back to [the feminine] מערה. But with מערת in the construct state, המכפלה is a noun meaning “doubleness.” Thus, מערת המכפלה denotes “a cave of some other doubleness.” One opinion is that it was so named for the doubleness of the building (a house with an upper level above it) and the other opinion is that it was so named for the doubleness of the couples. And since Rashi does not decide which is closer to the plain meaning of Scripture, he cites both; they are equally good. A further answer: Rashi held that each explanation on its own raises the question: Why was the cave called מכפלה, after its doubleness, thereby omitting the main reason for its name? It should have been called after the main reason: according to one opinion, “Cave of House and Upper Level” or “Cave of Double Building”. And according to the other opinion, “Cave of Couples” or “Cave of Doubled Couples.” This is why Rashi brings both explanations—to say that it was called after the fact that it has certain things which relate to doubleness. These are: building and couples. But it was not called so for relating to only one matter. Alternatively, it was [so called] for the sake of brevity, to include two things in the word מכפלה. [Since both are equally hinted to,] both are included. We explained the name “Kiryas Arba” along similar lines.

בקצה שדהו. Die Höhle liegt ganz am Ende seines Feldes, die Abtretung der Höhle beeinträchtigt eigentlich die fernere Benutzung des Feldes nicht. — בכסף מלא usw. Es scheint, dass Abraham sich erboten, gleichwohl, da doch irgend - wie der Gebrauch, den er von der Höhle machen will den Wert des Feldes schmälern könnte, für die Höhle den ganzen Wert des Feldes zu zahlen. Um den Erwerb des Feldes wagte er als Fremder nicht zu bitten.

ויתן לי, “so that he will give me, etc.” Avraham never suggested that he wanted the cave of Machpelah as a gift; on the contrary, he considered that even after having paid a substantial amount of money for it, he would still view this as a gift bestowed upon him by Efron.

בכסף מלא FOR ITS FULL VALUE IN SILVER — מלא means שלם so that the phrase means all that it is worth. Thus, too, did David say to Ornan, (1 Chronicles 21:22) “for full money”.

Compare verse 17 ויקם שדה עפרון אשר במכפלה אשר בקצה שדהו, “Efron’s field which is situated in machpela at the edge of his field, stood, etc.” The details provided by the Torah are intended to prove to us, the reader, that by selling the cave to Avraham Efron did not suffer any loss of face, he had no reason to feel embarrassed about what he had done.

המכפלה, the word is a noun describing a subordinate function. If it were an adjective the word מערת should have had the prefix ה. Our sages disagree concerning the meaning of the word מכפלה. Some think that it describes a cave above another cave, (root כפל, double) others claim it means a cave within another cave. Alternately, the word describes this particular location, i.e. that the whole cave was known as the “cave machpelah” on account of the dual cave contained in that field; this is also why the field itself was considered as almost subordinate to the cave in question.

את מערת המכפלה,”the cave Machpelah;” Rashi explains the word מכפלה as related to כפול, double, and that it was named so because couples were buried side by side, starting with Adam and his wife Chavah. Nachmanides disagrees seeing that the Torah described it as שדה עפרון אשר במכפלה, “the field of Efron situated at Machpelah.” The phrasing makes it clear that “Machpelah” is the name of a location that contained the cave. There is no need to investigate why certain locations had been named in a certain manner by the locals of the time In Bereshit Rabbah, 23,8 we are told that G’d miraculously reduced the size of Adam’s body when he died so, that the cave could accommodate his earthly remains. If so, the name Machpelah dates back to the time of Adam’s burial in that cave. Clearly, this had not been known to Efron as he would have multiplied the amount he asked for that cave from Avraham had he known that the first human being had been buried in that cave.

There was also the concern that landowners of the adjoining property could claim that the land should have been sold to them in preference to an outsider, something known in Jewish law as דין המצר. Another consideration of Abraham was that after the transfer of the cave someone might present a lien dated prior to the transaction which would require him to give up his claim. For all these reasons Abraham used both the expression of "gift" and "sale" when referring to the way he wanted to acquire the cave. This would protect his claim also under the heading of what is known in Jewish law as דין חליפין, i.e. acquisition by means of a symbolic transfer. Under this heading there is no such law as אונאה, reversal of the sale due to unfair pricing. This דין חליפין applies to transactions involving either real estate or chattels whereas such acquisition by a symbol representing the ultimate object does not apply to money, i.e. coins. Hence Abraham's reference to receiving the land as a gift. Our sages in Bechorot 50 phrased it thus: Rabbi Chaninah stated that every time the word "כסף" i.e. silver or money appears in the Torah, the meaning is "סלעים", 25 silver coins of a standard denomination; the exception is the use of the word "shekel" in connection with the transaction involving Abraham and Efron. In that instance the meaning is קנטרין, a coin weighing four times the usual weight of the "shekel." This is the meaning of the Torah (Genesis 23,15) defining the "shekel" as being "four hundred shekel acceptable at any merchant." The fact that Efron arbitrarily changed the usual definition of the value of the "shekel," made the transaction unassailable in the future seeing he himself had set the terms of the sale. Concerning Abraham's fear that the דין מצר might be invoked by a neighbour in the future, Abraham ensured the presence and consent of all the local populace who would jointly act as his broker in the transaction. This would preclude any claim at a later date. It also demonstrated that there was no outstanding lien against the property as any such lienholder should have spoken up at that time, seeing he was present.

THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH. Rashi comments: “It had a lower and an upper cave. Another explanation [of why it was called Machpelah — the root of which is keiphel (double)] — is that it was ‘doubled’ on account of the four couples who were buried there: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah”. But this is incorrect since Scripture states, the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah.³¹Verse 17 here. Thus we see that it is the name of the place in which the field was located, and there is no need to search for a reason for the names of places.
In Bereshith Rabbah, the Sages have said:³²55:10. “The Holy One, blessed be He, bent double the stature of the first man and He buried him there.” In their opinion, this entire place was always called Machpelah though the people did not know the reason for it for Ephron sold him everything for the price of the field unaware that there was a grave in it. Abraham, on the other hand, desired only that he should sell him the cave which was in the end of the field, and the field might be retained by Ephron. But Ephron by way of good conduct or trickery, [possibly hoping to receive a higher price for the larger transaction], said that he would give him the field and the cave which was in it since it would be unbecoming for such an honorable person to own the cave as a possession for a burial-place while the field belonged to another. Abraham rejoiced at this suggestion, and he purchased it in its entirety for the price that Ephron mentioned.

בקצה שדהו, “at the edge of his field;” in other words, using of that corner as a burial ground will not interfere with his having continued full use of his field for agricultural purposes.

בכסף מלא, I do not want that he grant me a reduction from its real worth as a gesture to you.

כסף מלא, each coin would be of full weight, like a brand new coin which had not lost some of its original weight through being in circulation. The Torah makes this clear by adding the words עובר לסוחר, acceptable by any merchant.

אשר בקצה שדהו, “which is at the edge of his field.” Avraham mentioned this, implying that his burying Sarah there would not in the least interfere with Efron’s activities on the field itself. Avraham would not even need to walk across the field as it was situated at the edge, allowing access from another direction. Avraham requested to purchase only the cave from Efron, leaving him in possession of the adjoining field. Efron, ingeniously, implying that it would be unseemly for a distinguished personage such as Avraham to bury his dead in a cave without having title to the adjoining land, suggested that he would deed to him both cave and field. Avraham replied that he had already set aside the money required to purchase the entire field. [He had realised that the price was likely to be sky high. Ed.]

Abraham used the term אחוזת קבר, "a burial plot held in perpetuity," leaving Efron the option to use the remainder of the field if he so chose. Had Abraham not used the term אחוזה, Efron could have denied him access to Sarah's grave once he had buried her there.

בתוככם, in the presence of all of you. I do not ask for time to come up with the payment but am willing to pay cash at once. Compare verse 16 where Avraham does in fact pay cash immediately.

לאחוזת קבר, Avraham wanted complete freedom to do what he wanted to in the property once he had acquired it. This is the privilege granted to anyone owning an ancestral heritage. Avraham wanted it understood that as a result of the sale Efron would not be able to dictate to him how close to his own property Sarah or other members of his family could be buried.