Four hundred shekels of silver. That was the price Abraham paid for a patch of dirt in Hebron—just enough ground to bury his wife. Sarah had died at one hundred and twenty-seven years old, and the Canaanites, in a rare act of generosity, publicly granted the grieving patriarch a burial plot. Abraham purchased the field from Ephron the Hittite, and there he laid her to rest. That cave at Hebron would become the family tomb for generations—the first permanent foothold the Israelites ever owned in the promised land.
But Abraham was not finished building a legacy. After Sarah's death, he married Keturah, and she bore him six sons—Zambran, Jazar, Madan, Madian, Josabak, and Sous. Men of courage and sharp minds, according to Josephus. Abraham settled them all in distant colonies, stretching from the cave-dwelling regions of Troglodytis to the coasts of Arabia Felix along the Red Sea. One grandson, Ophren, reportedly conquered Libya, and his descendants named the entire continent of Africa after their clan.
Then came Isaac's marriage. Abraham sent his oldest servant to Mesopotamia with strict instructions—find a wife from Abraham's own kindred, not from among the Canaanites. The servant prayed for a sign at the well: the woman who offered water freely would be the one. Every girl refused him except one. Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel and sister of Laban, not only gave him water but rebuked the others for their stinginess. The servant knew immediately. He produced bracelets and ornaments, and Rebekah brought him home to her family. The match was made. Isaac married Rebekah, and Abraham died soon after at one hundred and seventy-five years old—buried beside Sarah in Hebron by his sons Isaac and Ishmael together.