Book of Jasher, Chapter 24 — Sarah Buried in Machpelah; the Deed of Purchase; Eliezer Sent for Rebecca
1And the life of Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years, and Sarah died; and Abraham rose up from before his dead to seek a burial place, to bury his wife Sarah; and he went and spoke to the children of Heth, the inhabitants of the land, saying,
2I am a stranger and a sojourner with you in your land; give me a possession of a burial place in your land, that I may bury my dead from before me.
3And the children of Heth said to Abraham, Behold, the land is before you: in the choice of our sepulchers bury your dead, for no man shall withhold you from burying your dead.
4And Abraham said to them, If you are agreeable to this, go and entreat for me to Ephron, the son of Zochar, requesting that he give me the cave of Machpelah, which is at the end of his field; and I will purchase it from him for whatever he desires for it.
5And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth, and they went and called for him, and he came before Abraham; and Ephron said to Abraham, Behold, all that you require your servant will do. And Abraham said, No — but I will buy the cave and the field which you have, for value, in order that it may be a possession of a burial place forever.
6And Ephron answered and said, Behold, the field and the cave are before you: give whatever you desire. And Abraham said, Only at full value will I buy it from your hand, and from the hands of those who go in at the gate of your city, and from the hand of your seed forever.
7And Ephron and all his brothers heard this; and Abraham weighed out to Ephron four hundred shekels of silver, into the hands of Ephron and into the hands of all his brothers; and Abraham wrote this transaction — he wrote it and attested it with four witnesses.
8And these are the names of the witnesses: Amigal son of Abishna the Hittite, Adichorom son of Ashunach the Hivite, Abdon son of Achiram the Gomerite, and Bakdil the son of Abudish the Zidonite.
9And Abraham took the book of the purchase and placed it in his treasures; and these are the words that Abraham wrote in the book, namely:
10That the cave and the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite, and from his seed, and from those who go out of his city, and from their seed forever, are to be a purchase to Abraham and to his seed, and to those who go forth from his loins, for a possession of a burial place forever. And he put a seal to it, and attested it with witnesses.
11And the field, and the cave that was in it, and all that place, were made sure to Abraham and to his seed after him, from the children of Heth; behold, it is before Mamre in Hebron, which is in the land of Canaan.
12And after this Abraham buried his wife Sarah there, and that place and all its boundary became to Abraham and to his seed a possession of a burial place.
13And Abraham buried Sarah with pomp, such as is observed at the interment of kings, and she was buried in very fine and beautiful garments.
14And at her bier were Shem, his sons Eber and Abimelech, together with Anar, Ashcol, and Mamre; and all the grandees of the land followed her bier.
15And the days of Sarah were one hundred and twenty-seven years, and she died; and Abraham made a great and heavy mourning, and he performed the rites of mourning for seven days.
16And all the inhabitants of the land comforted Abraham and Isaac his son on account of Sarah.
17And when the days of their mourning had passed, Abraham sent away his son Isaac, and he went to the house of Shem and Eber, to learn the ways of the Lord and his instructions; and Abraham remained there three years.
18At that time Abraham rose up with all his servants, and they went and returned homeward to Beersheba; and Abraham and all his servants remained in Beersheba.
19And at the turn of the year, Abimelech king of the Philistines died in that year; he was one hundred and ninety-three years old at his death; and Abraham went with his people to the land of the Philistines, and they comforted the whole household and all his servants, and then he turned and went home.
20And it was after the death of Abimelech that the people of Gerar took Benmalich his son — he was only twelve years old — and they made him king in the place of his father.
21And they called his name Abimelech, after the name of his father, for so it was their custom to do in Gerar; and Abimelech reigned instead of Abimelech his father, and he sat upon his throne.
22And Lot the son of Haran also died in those days, in the thirty-ninth year of the life of Isaac; and all the days that Lot lived were one hundred and forty years, and he died.
23And these are the children of Lot, who were born to him by his daughters: the name of the firstborn was Moab, and the name of the second was Benami.
24And the two sons of Lot went and took themselves wives from the land of Canaan, and they bore children to them; and the children of Moab were Ed, Mayon, Tarsus, and Kanvil, four sons; these are fathers to the children of Moab to this day.
25And all the families of the children of Lot went to dwell wherever they might settle, for they were fruitful and increased abundantly.
26And they went and built themselves cities in the land where they dwelt, and they called the names of the cities they built after their own names.
27And Nahor the son of Terah, brother of Abraham, died in those days, in the fortieth year of the life of Isaac; and all the days of Nahor were one hundred and seventy-two years, and he died and was buried in Haran.
28And when Abraham heard that his brother was dead, he grieved sadly, and he mourned over his brother many days.
29And Abraham called for Eliezer, his head servant, to give him orders concerning his house; and he came and stood before him.
30And Abraham said to him, Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death, for I am advanced in days. Now therefore rise up, go out — and do not take a wife for my son from this place and from this land, from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom we dwell.
31But go to my land and to my birthplace, and take from there a wife for my son; and the Lord God of heaven and earth, who took me from my father's house and brought me to this place, and said to me, To your seed I will give this land for an inheritance forever — he will send his angel before you and prosper your way, that you may obtain a wife for my son from my family and from my father's house.
32And the servant answered his master Abraham and said, Behold, I will go to your birthplace and to your father's house, and take a wife for your son from there; but if the woman is not willing to follow me to this land, shall I take your son back to the land of your birthplace?
33And Abraham said to him, Take heed that you do not bring my son back there again; for the Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel before you and prosper your way.
34And Eliezer did as Abraham ordered him, and Eliezer swore to Abraham his master upon this matter; and Eliezer rose up and took ten camels of the camels of his master, and ten men from his master's servants with him, and they rose up and went to Haran, the city of Abraham and Nahor, in order to fetch a wife for Isaac the son of Abraham; and while they were gone, Abraham sent to the house of Shem and Eber, and they brought his son Isaac from there.
35And Isaac came home to his father's house in Beersheba, while Eliezer and his men came to Haran; and they stopped in the city by the watering place, and he made his camels kneel down by the water, and they remained there.
36And Eliezer, Abraham's servant, prayed and said, O God of Abraham my master, send me, I pray you, good speed this day, and show kindness to my master, that you may appoint this day a wife for my master's son from his family.
37And the Lord listened to the voice of Eliezer, for the sake of his servant Abraham; and he happened to meet with the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, brother of Abraham; and Eliezer came to her house.
38And Eliezer related to them all his concerns, and that he was Abraham's servant, and they rejoiced greatly over him.
39And they all blessed the Lord who had brought this thing about, and they gave him Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, as a wife for Isaac.
40And the young woman was of very beautiful appearance; she was a virgin; and Rebecca was ten years old in those days.
41And Bethuel and Laban and his children made a feast on that night; and Eliezer and his men came and ate and drank and rejoiced there that night.
42And Eliezer rose up in the morning, he and the men who were with him, and he called to the whole household of Bethuel, saying, Send me away, that I may go to my master. And they rose up and sent away Rebecca and her nurse Deborah, the daughter of Uz, and they gave her silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and they blessed her.
43And they sent Eliezer away with his men; and the servants took Rebecca, and he went and returned to his master, to the land of Canaan.
44And Isaac took Rebecca and she became his wife, and he brought her into the tent.
45And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca, the daughter of his uncle Bethuel, as a wife.