there, and made a permanent possession in the family. The grave of the ancestor buried in the family estate, was the strongest evi dence that could be adduced to prove title. "And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, My Lord, Iiearkcn unto me, land worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that between thee and me? Only bury thy dead." Generous Ephron! — according to the Bible commentators. Four hundred shekels of silver was a fortune in those days, but Ephron apparently speaks of it as a mere bagatelle. But Abraham understood Ephron better than the Biblical commenta tors understood him. This was the formal hint that the price was fixed and the ne gotiation about to close. Hence Abraham "hearkened " unto Ephron, or, as it is translated in the Leeser Bible, " Abraham understood the meaning of Ephron." And indeed after Ephron had fixed his price there was nothing more to be said. Abra ham produced the silver and " weighed un to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hun dred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant." The weighing was probably done by the public libripcns, a functionary well known to us through the Roman law. The shekel here mentioned is not a coin but a weight. The word " shekel " means weight. At a later time a certain weight of silver became the shekel, the standard weight of money, very much as a certain weight of English gold became the pound. The act of weighing and handing over the silver ended the formality and thereby the land became a possession for an inheritance unto Abraham forever. The chronicler in the book of Genesis was a careful- scrivener. In terms which must excite the admiration of the modern con veyancer he describes the transaction :
"And the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was therein, and all the trees which were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city." Very carefully does the chronicler enumer ate the field, the cave, the trees, even all those in all its borders lest any right to fell wood remain in the grantor. All these, he says, were made sure unto Abraham before the public council of the Hittites by whose presence the conveyance was made sure. Thereupon Abraham took possession and exercised his first act of ownership. •• And after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre : the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan." It seems that this record was made long after the event, for the memory of a later generation had to be refreshed by the statement that the place known to them as Hebron had formerly been called Kirjath Arba, which was before Mamre. Both the latter names were merely vague memories of ancient days. The record in the book of Genesis then ends with a clause like a clause of warranty. " And the field and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the sons of Heth." In the presence of the sons of Heth the formal transfer of Ephron's rights was made, and by them, representing the whole community, the title was made sure unto Abraham. The He brew text may be translated " were made sure from the sons of Heth," as though it was the transfer of the title by the tribe rather than that by the individual terre tenant that was required to warrant it against all claimants.
