Genesis 23 tells the story of a widower, a field with a cave and trees, and a questionable land sale. The passage offers a glimpse into the customs surrounding land and tree ownership at the time. Though this story is at least 3000 years old, in some ways it could have happened this morning.

After Sara dies, Abraham looks for a place to bury her. He finds a suitable place and then meets with Ephron to negotiate its price. In the end, “Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre - both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field - was deeded to Abraham…” Gen 23:17. I am always curious about trees within fields given my past studies at Michigan State University and my thesis on why Salvadoran farmers retained dispersed trees within their fields. So, when I read this story I saw immediately that this story has an intriguing back story about land and tree tenure. This is the first part of our reflection today.

Several things can be deduced about the tenure process happening here. First, a brief word about land and tree tenure. Land tenure refers to the relationship governing how land is held, used, and managed. Tree tenure is the right to access or use the trees within a property. 

Tree tenure is often tied to land tenure, as it is in this story. Buying the field also meant purchasing “the trees within the borders of the field”. In this case, Abraham receives both the land and the trees. He has the land tenure and the tree tenure. 

Tree tenure can also be separate from land tenure. Ephron could have sold  the field and the cave, while retaining his tenure over the trees. Why would he do this? Perhaps the trees provide a valuable commodity, like myrrh; perhaps he wants to maintain access to the medicinal property of leaves, roots, bark, flowers, or fruits; or perhaps he wants them for fuelwood or timber. Or, perhaps he actually planted the trees and gained the land tenure in the first place. This is not an uncommon situation in agricultural societies, where planting a tree is a way of claiming ownership of the field. 

Questions of land and tree tenure continue to shape farming communities today. Land and tree tenure are closely linked to good conservation methods, food security, and permanence of and in community. However, many farmer households often find themselves renting the land they farm. As renters they usually pay an amount of money or part of the harvest to the owner. Unfortunately, as renters, they will have little ability or interest to improve the land through better soil conservation. This is not a deficiency on their part or a lack of interest, it’s just that they most likely have no guarantee that they’ll benefit from the improvements in the coming years. Likewise, accessing the trees on a rented field for household needs can often be limited to those uses that do not remove or damage the tree. 

Despite not having access to land use for the long term as renters, the positive side of renting allows capital poor farmers access to land that they cannot afford to own. Overall, the permanence of land ownership lends itself to increased sustainability, food security, and longevity of community. Staying on the land to farm and provide for the family is the goal for many farmer households. Owning, not renting, makes this more feasible. 

The story also raises another issue, Ephron’s unscrupulous land sale. In the end, our man, Abraham, has a place to bury his wife and that he did. But how he acquired the property is, however, fraught with deception and greed on the part of Ephron. Abraham states that he is a “stranger and alien” in the land and needs to bury his wife. Ephron says “have my land”, but Abraham insists on purchasing it, perhaps to avoid any entanglements later on. In the end, Ephron agrees, but only if Abraham weighs out the silver, not on the official scales of the local treasury, but instead on the local market scales, which were unregulated and possibly dishonest. And so, besides paying more than the land is worth, Abraham is probably also cheated by how that amount is determined.

We live and work in societies where immigrants and refugees are arriving and settling everyday. Some of us work in ministries to care for and protect these same people. Matthew 25 has Jesus talking about caring for marginalized people (the poor, sick, lame, imprisoned, and alien). Let’s compare that to our story in Genesis: a grace-filled response by Ephron would have been to welcome Abraham, understand his need, and be fair in his dealings. Instead, he cheats him. 

We’re probably not buying and selling land, let alone trees, each day. However, this story remains relevant. We are still living in the Matthew 25 world where Jesus calls us to care for the marginalized. How we treat the refugee, alien, stranger and foreigner is a decision we make every day, often in ordinary interactions. Faithfulness is revealed in those moments.