“Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Makhpela, in the field of Efron, son of Tzohar the Hitite, that is before Mamre” (Genesis 25:9). “Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Makhpela” – here the maidservant’s son [Ishmael] accorded honor to the mistress’s son [Isaac, by allowing him to go first]. “The field that Abraham purchased from the children of Ḥet; there Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife” (Genesis 25:10).
“The field that Abraham purchased” – Rabbi Tanḥuma said: Were there not thirty-eight years between Sarah’s burial and Abraham’s burial? And yet you say here: “There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife”?9Why is Sarah’s burial mentioned at this point, being that it had happened so many years in the past? The explanation is that it is to teach you that everyone who performed kindness to Sarah [in attending her funeral] was privileged to perform kindness for Abraham [in attending his funeral as well].
Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: Shem and Ever were walking before his bier, and they saw an empty spot alongside her [Sarah] for our patriarch Abraham, and they buried him in that adjacent plot, in the place that was prepared and designated for him.10And that is why Sarah’s burial is mentioned at this point.