The life of Sarah Part 1 (Gen 23:1-2)

Sarah's Death and Burial

1 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.

Sarah lived 127 years (literally, 100 years, 20 years and 7 years)—The reason the word “years” is written at every term is to tell you that each term must be explained by itself as a complete number: at the age of one hundred she was as a woman of twenty as regards sin—for just as at the age of twenty one may regard her as having never sinned, since she had not then reached the age when she was subject to punishment, so, too, when she was one hundred years old she was sinless—and when she was twenty she was as beautiful as when she was seven (Bereishit Rabbah 58:1).

The years of the life of Sarah—All of them equally good.

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” GEN 17:17

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2 And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

At Kiriath-arba literally, the city of the four, and it was so called because of the four giants who lived there: Ahiman, Sheshai, Talmai and their father (Num 13:22). Another explanation is that it was so called because of the four couples who were buried there, man and wife—Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah (Bereishit Rabbah 58:4).

And Abraham went in from Beersheba.

To mourn for Sarah and to weep for her—The narrative of the death of Sarah follows immediately on that of the binding of Isaac, because through the announcement of the binding—that her son had been made ready for sacrifice and had almost been sacrificed—she received a great shock (literally, her soul flew from her) and she died (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 32).

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Bava Kamma 93a:3

In connection with the incident of Abraham and Abimelech mentioned in the mishna, the Gemara quotes a related statement. Rabbi Ḥanan says: One who passes the judgment of another to heaven is punished first, as it is stated: “And Sarai said to Abram, ‘May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me’ ” (Gen 16:5). Sarai stated that God should judge Abram for his actions. And it is written: “And Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her” (Gen 23:2), as Sarah died first. The Gemara comments: And this matter applies only in a situation where he has someone to do judgment for him on earth and has no need to appeal to the heavenly court.

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Rosh Hashanah 16b:5

And Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Three matters evoke a person’s sins, and they are: Endangering oneself by sitting next to an inclined wall that is about to collapse; expecting prayer to be accepted, as that leads to an assessment of one’s status and merit; and passing a case against another to heaven, for Rabbi Avin said: Anyone who passes a case against another to God is punished first. Praying for God to pass judgment on another causes one’s own deeds to be examined and compared with the deeds of the other, as it is stated: “And Sarai said to Abram, ‘My anger be on you! I have given my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt; let the Lord judge between you and me’ ” (Gen 16:5), and it is written afterward: “And Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her” (Gen 23:2). Sarah called upon heaven to pass judgment between her and her husband, and therefore she was punished and died first.

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Sanhedrin 46b:21

The Gemara suggests: Come and hear a proof from the verse that states: “And Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and weep over her” (Gen 23:2), indicating that Sarah’s funeral was delayed until Abraham returned from Beersheba to Hebron to mourn forher. And if you say that a eulogy is delivered due to the honor of the living, would they have unduly delayed burying Sarah due to Abraham’s honor? The Gemara rejects this argument: It was satisfactory to Sarah herself that her funeral was delayed so that Abraham could be honored by eulogizing her. Since Sarah herself would prefer that Abraham mourn for her, there was no disgrace in waiting for Abraham to arrive.

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