in Hebron) the fabric of which monuments are of the most excellent marble and wrought after the most excellent manner" and in another place he writes of Isaac being buried by his sons with his wife in Hebron where they had a monument belonging to them from their forefathers (Ant., I, xxii, 1). Josephus (BJ, IV, ix, 7) speaks of the monuments (mnemeia) of Abraham and his posterity which "are shown to this very time in that small city (i.e. (Compare however the curious variant tradition in Acts 7:16, "Shechem" instead of "Hebron.") Here were buried Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. "to the East of" Mamre ( Genesis 23:17) which ( Genesis 23:19) is described as the same as Hebron (see, too, Genesis 25:9 Genesis 49:30 Genesis 50:13). The cave belonged to Ephron the Hittite, the son of Zohar, from whom Abraham purchased it for 400 shekels of silver ( Genesis 23:8-16). In Genesis 23:17 we have the phrase "the field of Ephron, which was in (the) Machpelah." The name is applied to the ground in Genesis 23:19 Genesis 49:30 Genesis 50:13, and to the cave in Genesis 23:9 Genesis 25:9. It is translated "double cave" (to diploun spelaion) in the Septuagint in Genesis 23:17. The word is supposed to mean "double" and refers to the condition of the cave. Mak-pe'-la (ha-makhpelah, "the Machpelah" to diploun, "the double"): The name of a piece of ground and of a cave purchased by Abraham as a place of sepulcher. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia MACHPELAH (See Palestine Quarterly Statement, October 1882). In 1881 it was visited by the two sons of the Prince of Wales, accompanied by Sir C. It was also visited in 1866 by the Marquis of Bute, and in 1869 by the late Emperor (Frederick) of Germany, then the Crown Prince of Prussia. An interesting account of this visit is given in Dean Stanley's Lectures on the Jewish Church. The interior of the mosque was visited by the Prince of Wales in 1862 by a special favour of the Mohammedan authorities. Here it may be that the body of Jacob, which was embalmed in Egypt, is still preserved (much older embalmed bodies have recently been found in the cave of Deir el-Bahari in Egypt, see PHARAOH), though those of the others there buried may have long ago mouldered into dust. Between the cenotaphs of Isaac and Rebekah there is a circular opening in the floor into the cavern below, the cave of Machpelah. On the floor of the mosque are erected six large cenotaphs as monuments to the dead who are buried in the cave beneath. It is looked upon as the most ancient and finest relic of Jewish architecture. This building, from the immense size of some of its stones, and the manner in which they are fitted together, is supposed by some to have been erected in the days of David or of Solomon, while others ascribe it to the time of Herod. The whole is surrounded by the el-Haram i.e., "the sacred enclosure," about 200 feet long, 115 broad, and of an average height of about 50. This church has been converted into a Mohammedan mosque. Over the cave an ancient Christian church was erected, probably in the time of Justinian, the Roman emperor. It was on the slope of a hill on the east of Hebron, "before Mamre." Here were laid the bodies of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah ( Genesis 23:19 25:9 49:31 50:13). It is one of those Bible localities about the identification of which there can be no doubt. Easton's Bible DictionaryPortion double cave, the cave which Abraham bought, together with the field in which it stood, from Ephron the Hittite, for a family burying-place ( Genesis 23).
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