TORAH: Genesis 23:1-25:18
HAFTARAH: 1 Kings 1:1-31
GOSPEL: John 4:3-14
Portion Summary
The fifth reading from the book of Genesis is named Chayei Sarah. It means “Sarah lived,” because the narrative begins with the words “Now Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years” (Genesis 23:1). This portion of the Torah is filled with romance and sorrow. It tells the story of how Abraham mourned his wife after her passing, and how he procured a wife for his son Isaac. At the end of this portion, Abraham is laid to rest beside his beloved wife.
Portion Outline:
Torah
Genesis 23:1 | Sarah’s Death and Burial
Genesis 24:1 | The Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah
Genesis 25:1 | Abraham Marries Keturah
Genesis 25:7 | The Death of Abraham
Genesis 25:12 | Ishmael’s Descendants
Prophets
1Ki 1:1 | The Struggle for the Succession
1Ki 1:28 | The Accession of Solomon
Portion Commentary:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Ever feel strange or like you don’t quite fit in? You’re in good company. Abraham described himself as a stranger in a strange land. He lived as a nomad and a stranger in a land that did not belong to him.
God promised Abraham the whole land of Canaan, but the reality was that Abraham did not even own enough land to bury his wife. Abraham was a stranger in Canaan without any property of his own. He did not have a family tomb. He had to purchase property from the locals. Abraham approached the Hittites who lived at Hebron and said, “I am a stranger and a sojourner among you.” The author of the book of Hebrews paraphrased that statement in his remarks on Abraham’s sojourn in Canaan:
By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:9-10)
Having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the [land]. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16)
The author of the book of Hebrews inferred from Abraham’s statement “I am a stranger and a sojourner among you” that Abraham was seeking after Messianic Jerusalem and the kingdom of heaven on earth. He looked for “the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” and “a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” If he had merely been seeking a homeland to call his own, he could have returned to Aram in Mesopotamia where his family still had holdings.
Read complete commentary at First Fruits of Zion.
