Machpelah
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Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
MACHPELAH.The name of a locality in which, according to the Priestly narrative of the Hexateuch, were situated a field and a cave purchased by Abraham from Ephron the Hittite, to serve as a burial-place for himself and his family (Gen_23:17-18). Here Sarah was buried by her husband; and subsequently Abraham himself, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob were laid to rest in the same spot (Gen_49:31). The appellation Machpelah, which seems in strictness to designate the site comprehensively, is also applied to the actual field and the cave within it, which are respectively called the field of Machpelah (Gen_23:19; Gen_49:30; Gen_50:18) and the cave of Machpelah (Gen_23:9; Gen_25:9). The place is described as being before Mamre (Gen_25:9), before usually meaning east of (see Gen_25:18, Jos_13:3, 1Ki_11:7), just as behind signifies west of (Num_3:23). Mamre, in Gen_23:19, is identified with Hebron, which is the modern el-Khalil (the Friend, i.e. Abraham, cf. Isa_41:3, Jam_2:23), a town built on the sides of a narrow valley, the main portion of it lying on the face of the E. slope. The traditional site of the cave of Machpelah is on the E. hill, so that it would appear that ancient Hebron was built to the west of the modern city, on the W. hill, and that it has subsequently extended into the valley and climbed the opposite declivity.
Above the supposed site of the cave there is now a rectangular enclosure called the Haram, measuring 181 ft. by 93 ft. internally (the longer axis running from N.W. to S.E.), and surrounded by massive walls 40 ft. high, which are conjectured to date from the time of Herod the Great, though some authorities incline to assign them to a still earlier period. At the S.E. end of the quadrangle is a mosque, once a Christian church, 70 ft. by 93 ft., parts of which are attributed to the 12th century. Within the mosque are cenotaphs of Isaac and Rebekah; in a porch on the N.W. side are those of Abraham and Sarah; whilst at the opposite end of the enclosure are those of Jacob and Leah. The Haram has been but rarely entered by Christians in modern times. King Edward vii. was admitted to it, when Prince of Wales, in 1862; and the present Prince of Wales, with his brother, visited it in 1882. The cave, which is reputed to be the real resting-place of the patriarchs and their wives, is below the floor of the mosque, and is thought to be double, in accordance with a tradition which perhaps is derived from the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] rendering of Machpelah as the double cave. The entrances to it, of which there are said to be three, are in the flagged flooring of the building. It is doubtful whether any Christian has been allowed to enter it in modern times.
G. W. Wade.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
The tract containing the field and cave in the end of Ephron's field, which Abraham bought as his burying ground from Ephron and the sons of Heth (Gen_23:9); his only possession in the land of promise. All ancient versions translated Machpelah "the double cave," from kaphal, "to divide or double". Either there were two entrances or two receptacles for bodies. Gesenius derives it from a root, "portion." A mosque now covers it. The sacred precinct (harem) is enclosed by a wall, the oldest in Palestine. The masonry is more antique than the S.W. wall of the haram at Jerusalem; one stone is 38 ft. long, 3 1/4 ft. deep. The beveling is shallow, and at latest belongs to the age of Solomon; Jewish ancient tradition ascribes it to David. It lay near Hebron. (See HEBRON.) The sepulchers of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah are shown on the mosque floor; but the real sepulchers are in the cave below the floor; the cave opens to the S., and the bodies were laid with their heads to the N.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Machpe'lah. (double, or a portion). See Hebron.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
mak-pē?la (המּכפּלה, ha-makhpēlāh, ?the Machpelah?; τὸ διπλοῦν, tó diploún, ?the double?): The name of a piece of ground and of a cave purchased by Abraham as a place of sepulcher. The word is supposed to mean ?double? and refers to the condition of the cave. It is translated ?double cave? (τὸ διπλοῦν σπήλαιον, tó diploún spḗlaion) in the Septuagint in Gen_23:17. The name is applied to the ground in Gen_23:19; Gen_49:30; Gen_50:13, and to the cave in Gen_23:9; Gen_25:9. In Gen_23:17 we have the phrase ?the field of Ephron, which was in (the) Machpelah.?
1. Scriptural Data:
The cave belonged to Ephron the Hittite, the son of Zohar, from whom Abraham purchased it for 400 shekels of silver (Gen_23:8-16). It is described as ?before,? i.e. ?to the East of? Mamre (Gen_23:17) which (Gen_23:19) is described as the same as Hebron (see, too, Gen_25:9; Gen_49:30; Gen_50:13). Here were buried Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. (Compare however the curious variant tradition in Act_7:16, ?Shechem? instead of ?Hebron.?)
2. Tradition Regarding the Site:
Josephus (BJ, IV, ix, 7) speaks of the monuments (mnēmeı́a) of Abraham and his posterity which ?are shown to this very time in that small city (i.e. in Hebron); the fabric of which monuments are of the most excellent marble and wrought after the most excellent manner?; and in another place he writes of Isaac being buried by his sons with his wife in Hebron where they had a monument belonging to them from their forefathers (Ant., I, xxii, 1). The references of early Christian writers to the site of the tombs of the patriarchs only very doubtfully apply to the present buildings and may possibly refer to Rāmet el-Khalı̄l (see MAMRE). Thus the Bordeaux Pilgrim (333 AD) mentions a square enclosure built of stones of great beauty in which Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried with their wives. Antonius Martyr (circa 600) and Arculf (698) also mention this monument. Mukaddasi speaks (circa 985) of the strong fortress around the tombs of the patriarchs built of great squared stones, the work of Jinns, i.e. of supernatural beings. From this onward the references are surely to the present site, and it is difficult to believe, if, as good authorities maintain, the great buttressed square wall enclosing the site is work at least as early as Herod, that the earlier references can be to any other site. It is certain that the existing buildings are very largely those which the Crusaders occupied; there are many full references to this place in medieval Moslem writers.
3. The Charam at Hebron:
The Ḥaram at Hebron, which present-day tradition, Christian, Jewish and Moslem, recognizes as built over the cave of Machpelah, is one of the most jealousy guarded sanctuaries in the world. Only on rare occasions and through the exercise of much political pressure have a few honored Christians been allowed to visit the spot. The late King Edward VII in 1862 and the present King George V, in 1882, with certain distinguished scholars in their parties, made visits which have been chiefly important through the writings of their companions - Stanley in 1862 and Wilson and Conder in 1882. One of the latest to be accorded the privilege was C.W. Fairbanks, late vice-president of the United States of America. What such visitors have been permitted to see has not been of any great antiquity nor has it thrown any certain fight on the question of the genuineness of the site.
The space containing the traditional tombs is a great quadrangle 197 ft. in length (Northwest to Southeast) and 111 ft. in breadth (Northeast to Southwest). It is enclosed by a massive wall of great blocks of limestone, very hard and akin to marble. The walls which are between 8 and 9 ft thick are of solid masonry throughout. At the height of 15 ft. from the ground, at indeed the level of the floor within, the wall is set back about 10 inches at intervals, so as to leave pilasters 3 ft. 9 inches wide, with space between each of 7 ft. all round. On the longer sides there are 16 and on the shorter sides 8 such pilasters, and there are also buttresses 9 ft. wide on each face at each angle. This pilastered wall runs up for 25 ft., giving the total average height from the ground of 40 ft. The whole character of the masonry is so similar to the wall of the Jerusalem Ḥaram near the ?wailing place? that Conder and Warren considered that it must belong to that period and be Herodian work.
The southern end of the great enclosure is occupied by a church - probably a building entirely of the crusading period - with a nave and two aisles. The rest is a courtyard open to the air. The cenotaphs of Isaac and Rebecca are within the church; those of Abraham and Sarah occupy octagonal chapels in the double porch before the church doors; those of Jacob and Leah are placed in chambers near the north end of the Ḥaram. The six monuments are placed at equal distances along the length of the enclosure, and it is probable that their positions there have no relation to the sarcophagi which are described as existing in the cave itself.
4. The Cave:
It is over this cave that the chief mystery hangs. It is not known whether it has been entered by any man at present alive, Moslem or otherwise. While the cave was in the hands of the Crusaders, pilgrims and others were allowed to visit this spot. Thus Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, writing in 1163 AD, says that ?if a Jew comes, who gives an additional fee to the keeper of the cave, an iron door is opened, which dates from the times of our forefathers who rest in peace, and with a burning candle in his hand the visitor descends into a first cave which is empty, traverses a second in the same state and at last reaches a third which contains six sepulchres - those of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of Sarah, Rebecca and Leah, one opposite the other.... A lamp burns in the cave and upon the sepulchre continually, both night and day.? The account reminds us of the condition of many Christian tomb-shrines in Palestine today.
It would appear from the description of modern observers that all entrance to the cave is now closed; the only known approaches are never now opened and can only be reached by breaking up the flags of the flooring. Through one of the openings - which had a stone over it pierced by a circular hole 1 ft. in diameter - near the northern wall of the old church, Conder was able by lowering a lantern to see into a chamber some 15 ft. under the church. He estimated it to be some 12 ft. square; it had plastered walls, and in the wall toward the Southeast there was a door which appeared like the entrance to a rock-cut tomb. On the outside of the Ḥaram wall, close to the steps of the southern entrance gateway is a hole in the lowest course of masonry, which may possibly communicate with the western cave. Into this the Jews of Hebron are accustomed to thrust many written prayers and vows to the patriarchs.
The evidence, historical and archaeological seems to show that the cave occupies only the south end of the great quadrilateral enclosure under part only of the area covered by the church. See HEBRON.
Literature.
PEF, III., 333-46; PEFS, 1882, 197; 1897, 53; 1912, 145-150; HDB, III., article ?Machpelah,? by Warren; Stanley, SP and Lectures on the Jewish Church; ?Pal under the Moslems,? PEF; Pilgrim Text Soc. publications.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Machpe?lah (twofold, double), the name of the plot of ground containing the cave which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite for a family sepulcher (Gen_23:9; Gen_23:17) [HEBRON].
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Machpelah
(Heb. Makpelah', מִכְפֵּלָה, probably a portion, but, according to others, double, and so the Sept. διπλοῦς, Vulg. duplex), the name of the plot of ground in Hebron containing the cave which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite for a family sepulcher (Gen_23:9), where it is described as being located in one extremity of the field, and in Gen_23:17 it is stated to have been situated before Mamre, and to have likewise contained trees. SEE MAMRE.
The only persons mentioned in Scripture as buried in this cemetery are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their wives Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah (Gen_23:19; Gen_25:9; Gen_49:30; Gen_1:13). Beyond the passages already cited, the Bible contains no mention either of the name Machpelah or of the sepulcher of the patriarchs. Unless this was the sanctuary of Jehovah to which Absalom had vowed, or pretended to have vowed, a pilgrimage, when absent in the remote Geshur (2Sa_15:7), no allusion to it has been discovered in the records of David's residence at Hebron, nor vet in the struggles of the Maccabees, so many of whose battles were fought in and around it (Smith). It is a remarkable fact that none of the sacred writers refer to this celebrated tomb after the burial of Jacob, though it was unquestionably held in reverence by the Jews in all ages. Josephus, in his short notice of the burial of Sarah, says that both Abraham and his descendants built themselves sepulchres at Hebron (Ant. 1:14), and in another passage he states that the monuments of the patriarchs are to this very time shown in Hebron, the structure of which is of beautiful marble, wrought after the most elegant manner' (War, 4:9,7).
Jerome mentions the mausoleum of Abraham at Hebron as standing in his day (Onomast. s.v. Arboch); and in the Jerusalem Itinerary, a work of the 4th century, it is described as a quadrangular structure built of stones of wonderful beauty (Itin. Hieros. ed. Wessel. p. 599). It is also mentioned by Antoninus Martyr in the beginning of the 7th century (Itin. 30); by Arculf towards its close (Early Travels in Pal., Bohn, p. 7); by Willibald in the 8th (ib. p. 20); by Sewulf in the 12th (ib. p. 45); and by numerous others (see Ritter, Pal. und Syr. 3:237 sq.). From these notices, it appears to be certain that the venerable building which still stands is the same which Josephus describes. Hebron lies in a narrow valley which runs from north to south between low ridges of rocky hills. The modern town is built partly in the bottom of the vale and partly along the lower slope of the eastern ridge. On the hill-side, above the latter section of the town, rise the massive walls of the Haram, forming the one distinguishing feature of Hebron, conspicuous from all points. The building is rectangular, about 200 feet long by 115 wide, and 50 high. The walls are constructed of massive stones varying from 12 to 20 feet in length, and from 4 to 5 in depth. Dr. Wilson mentions one stone 38 feet long and 3 feet 4 inches in depth, of ancient workmanship (Lands of the Bible, 1:366). The edges of the stones are grooved to the depth of about two inches, so that the whole wall has the appearance of being formed of raised panels, like the Temple-wall at Jerusalem. SEE MASONRY.
The exterior is further ornamented with pilasters, supporting without capitals a plain molded cornice. The building is thus unique; there is nothing like it in Syria. The style of its architecture, independent even of the historical notices above given, proves it to be of Jewish origin; and it cannot be much, if at all, later than the days of Solomon. The interior of this massive and most interesting building was described about fifty years ago by a Spaniard, who conformed to Islamism and assumed the name of Ali Bey (Travels, 1:232). The Rev. J. L. Porter was assured when at Hebron, and subsequently by a mollah of rank who had visited the tombs of the patriarchs, that there is an entrance to the cave, which consists of two compartments, and that the guardian can on special occasions enter the outer one (Handbook, p. 69). With this agree the statements of M. Pierotti, of Benjamin of Tudela, who gives a description of the caves (Itin. by Asher, p. 76 sq.), and of others (Wilson, Lands of the Bible, 1:364 sq.). We cannot doubt that the cave of Machpelah, in which the patriarchs were buried, is beneath this venerable building, and that it has been guarded with religious jealousy from the earliest ages; consequently, it is quite possible that some remains of the patriarchs may still lie there. Jacob was embalmed in Egypt, and his body deposited in this place (Genesis 1, 2-13). It may still be there perfect as an Egyptian mummy. The Moslem traditions and the cenotaphs within the Haram agree exactly with the Biblical narrative, and form an interesting commentary on Jacob's dying command And he charged them... bury me with my fathers... in the cave which is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre... There they buried Abraham, and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac, and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah' (Gen_49:29-31).
There also they buried Jacob. Now within the enclosure are the six cenotaphs only, while the belief is universal among the Mohammedans that the real tombs are in the cave below. Projecting from the west side of the Haram is a little building containing the tomb of Joseph-a Moslem tradition states that his body was first buried at Shechem, but was subsequently transferred to this place (Stanley, Jewish Church, 1:498). The Jews cling around this building still, as they do around the ruins of their ancient Temple-taking pleasure in its stones, and loving its very dust. Beside the principal entrance is a little hole in the wall, at which they are permitted at certain times to pray. A belief seems to prevail in the town that the cave communicates with some one of the modern sepulchers at a considerable distance outside of Hebron (Lowe, in Zeitung des Judenth., June 1, 1839). The ancient Jewish tradition ascribes the erection of the mosque to David (Jichus ha-Aboth in Hottinger, Cippi Hebr. 30), thus making it coeval with the pool in the valley below; but, whatever the worth of this tradition, it may well be of the age of Solomon, for the masonry is even more antique in its character than that of the lower portion of the south and south-western walls of the Haram at Jerusalem, which many critics ascribe to Solomon, while even the severest allows it to be of the date of Herod. The date must always remain a mystery, but there are two considerations which may weigh in favor of fixing it very early.
1. That, often as the town of Hebron may have been destroyed, this, being a tomb, would always be spared.
2. It cannot, on architectural grounds, be later than Herod's time, while, on the other hand, it is omitted from the catalogue given by Josephus of the places which he rebuilt or adorned. The fullest historical notices of Machpelah will be found in Ritter, Pal. und Syr. vol. 3, and Robinson, Bib. Res. vol. 2. The chief authorities are Arculf (A.D. 700); Benjamin of Tudela (A.D. cir. 1170); the Jewish tract Jichlus ha-Aboth (in Hottinger, Cippi hebraici; and also in Wilson, 1:365); Ali Bey (Travels, A.D. 1807, 2:232,233); Giovanni Finati (Life by Bankes, 2:236); Monro (Summer Ramble in 1833, 1:243); Lowe, in Zeittung des Judenth., 1839, p. 272, 288. In a note by Asher to his edition of Benjamin of Tudela (2:92), mention is made of an Arabic MS. in the Bibliotheque Royale at Paris, containing an account of the condition of the mosque under Saladin. This MS. has not yet been published. The travels of Ibrahim el-Khijari in 166970, a small portion of which, from the manuscript in the Ducal Library at Gotha, has been published by Tuch, with translation, etc. (Leipzig, 1850), are said to contain a minute description of the mosque (Tuch, p. 2). The best description of the interior is that of Stanley, Jewish Church and Sermons in the East (the two are identical), in which he gives the singular narrative of rabbi Benjamin, and a letter of M. Pierotti, which appeared in the Times immediately after the prince of Wales's visit. A plan of the mosque is attached to Stanley's narrative. The description given by Ali Bey (Travels, vol. 2) is substantially the same as that of Dean Stanley. A few words about the exterior, a sketch of the masonry, and a view of the town, showing the enclosure standing prominently in the foreground, will be found in Bartlett's Walks, etc., p. 216-219. A photograph of the exterior, from the East (?), is given as No. 63 of Palestine as it is, by Rev. G. W. Bridges. A ground-plan exhibiting considerable detail, made by two Moslem architects who lately superintended some repairs in the Haram, and given by them to Dr. Barclay of Jerusalem, is engraved in Osborn's Palestine, Past and Present, p. 364. Thomson, Land and Book, 2:385 sq., gives some additional particulars; also Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 393 sq. SEE HEBRON.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
MACHPELAH.The name of a locality in which, according to the Priestly narrative of the Hexateuch, were situated a field and a cave purchased by Abraham from Ephron the Hittite, to serve as a burial-place for himself and his family (Gen_23:17-18). Here Sarah was buried by her husband; and subsequently Abraham himself, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob were laid to rest in the same spot (Gen_49:31). The appellation Machpelah, which seems in strictness to designate the site comprehensively, is also applied to the actual field and the cave within it, which are respectively called the field of Machpelah (Gen_23:19; Gen_49:30; Gen_50:18) and the cave of Machpelah (Gen_23:9; Gen_25:9). The place is described as being before Mamre (Gen_25:9), before usually meaning east of (see Gen_25:18, Jos_13:3, 1Ki_11:7), just as behind signifies west of (Num_3:23). Mamre, in Gen_23:19, is identified with Hebron, which is the modern el-Khalil (the Friend, i.e. Abraham, cf. Isa_41:3, Jam_2:23), a town built on the sides of a narrow valley, the main portion of it lying on the face of the E. slope. The traditional site of the cave of Machpelah is on the E. hill, so that it would appear that ancient Hebron was built to the west of the modern city, on the W. hill, and that it has subsequently extended into the valley and climbed the opposite declivity.
Above the supposed site of the cave there is now a rectangular enclosure called the Haram, measuring 181 ft. by 93 ft. internally (the longer axis running from N.W. to S.E.), and surrounded by massive walls 40 ft. high, which are conjectured to date from the time of Herod the Great, though some authorities incline to assign them to a still earlier period. At the S.E. end of the quadrangle is a mosque, once a Christian church, 70 ft. by 93 ft., parts of which are attributed to the 12th century. Within the mosque are cenotaphs of Isaac and Rebekah; in a porch on the N.W. side are those of Abraham and Sarah; whilst at the opposite end of the enclosure are those of Jacob and Leah. The Haram has been but rarely entered by Christians in modern times. King Edward vii. was admitted to it, when Prince of Wales, in 1862; and the present Prince of Wales, with his brother, visited it in 1882. The cave, which is reputed to be the real resting-place of the patriarchs and their wives, is below the floor of the mosque, and is thought to be double, in accordance with a tradition which perhaps is derived from the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] rendering of Machpelah as the double cave. The entrances to it, of which there are said to be three, are in the flagged flooring of the building. It is doubtful whether any Christian has been allowed to enter it in modern times.
G. W. Wade.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
The tract containing the field and cave in the end of Ephron's field, which Abraham bought as his burying ground from Ephron and the sons of Heth (Gen_23:9); his only possession in the land of promise. All ancient versions translated Machpelah "the double cave," from kaphal, "to divide or double". Either there were two entrances or two receptacles for bodies. Gesenius derives it from a root, "portion." A mosque now covers it. The sacred precinct (harem) is enclosed by a wall, the oldest in Palestine. The masonry is more antique than the S.W. wall of the haram at Jerusalem; one stone is 38 ft. long, 3 1/4 ft. deep. The beveling is shallow, and at latest belongs to the age of Solomon; Jewish ancient tradition ascribes it to David. It lay near Hebron. (See HEBRON.) The sepulchers of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah are shown on the mosque floor; but the real sepulchers are in the cave below the floor; the cave opens to the S., and the bodies were laid with their heads to the N.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Machpe'lah. (double, or a portion). See Hebron.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
mak-pē?la (המּכפּלה, ha-makhpēlāh, ?the Machpelah?; τὸ διπλοῦν, tó diploún, ?the double?): The name of a piece of ground and of a cave purchased by Abraham as a place of sepulcher. The word is supposed to mean ?double? and refers to the condition of the cave. It is translated ?double cave? (τὸ διπλοῦν σπήλαιον, tó diploún spḗlaion) in the Septuagint in Gen_23:17. The name is applied to the ground in Gen_23:19; Gen_49:30; Gen_50:13, and to the cave in Gen_23:9; Gen_25:9. In Gen_23:17 we have the phrase ?the field of Ephron, which was in (the) Machpelah.?
1. Scriptural Data:
The cave belonged to Ephron the Hittite, the son of Zohar, from whom Abraham purchased it for 400 shekels of silver (Gen_23:8-16). It is described as ?before,? i.e. ?to the East of? Mamre (Gen_23:17) which (Gen_23:19) is described as the same as Hebron (see, too, Gen_25:9; Gen_49:30; Gen_50:13). Here were buried Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. (Compare however the curious variant tradition in Act_7:16, ?Shechem? instead of ?Hebron.?)
2. Tradition Regarding the Site:
Josephus (BJ, IV, ix, 7) speaks of the monuments (mnēmeı́a) of Abraham and his posterity which ?are shown to this very time in that small city (i.e. in Hebron); the fabric of which monuments are of the most excellent marble and wrought after the most excellent manner?; and in another place he writes of Isaac being buried by his sons with his wife in Hebron where they had a monument belonging to them from their forefathers (Ant., I, xxii, 1). The references of early Christian writers to the site of the tombs of the patriarchs only very doubtfully apply to the present buildings and may possibly refer to Rāmet el-Khalı̄l (see MAMRE). Thus the Bordeaux Pilgrim (333 AD) mentions a square enclosure built of stones of great beauty in which Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried with their wives. Antonius Martyr (circa 600) and Arculf (698) also mention this monument. Mukaddasi speaks (circa 985) of the strong fortress around the tombs of the patriarchs built of great squared stones, the work of Jinns, i.e. of supernatural beings. From this onward the references are surely to the present site, and it is difficult to believe, if, as good authorities maintain, the great buttressed square wall enclosing the site is work at least as early as Herod, that the earlier references can be to any other site. It is certain that the existing buildings are very largely those which the Crusaders occupied; there are many full references to this place in medieval Moslem writers.
3. The Charam at Hebron:
The Ḥaram at Hebron, which present-day tradition, Christian, Jewish and Moslem, recognizes as built over the cave of Machpelah, is one of the most jealousy guarded sanctuaries in the world. Only on rare occasions and through the exercise of much political pressure have a few honored Christians been allowed to visit the spot. The late King Edward VII in 1862 and the present King George V, in 1882, with certain distinguished scholars in their parties, made visits which have been chiefly important through the writings of their companions - Stanley in 1862 and Wilson and Conder in 1882. One of the latest to be accorded the privilege was C.W. Fairbanks, late vice-president of the United States of America. What such visitors have been permitted to see has not been of any great antiquity nor has it thrown any certain fight on the question of the genuineness of the site.
The space containing the traditional tombs is a great quadrangle 197 ft. in length (Northwest to Southeast) and 111 ft. in breadth (Northeast to Southwest). It is enclosed by a massive wall of great blocks of limestone, very hard and akin to marble. The walls which are between 8 and 9 ft thick are of solid masonry throughout. At the height of 15 ft. from the ground, at indeed the level of the floor within, the wall is set back about 10 inches at intervals, so as to leave pilasters 3 ft. 9 inches wide, with space between each of 7 ft. all round. On the longer sides there are 16 and on the shorter sides 8 such pilasters, and there are also buttresses 9 ft. wide on each face at each angle. This pilastered wall runs up for 25 ft., giving the total average height from the ground of 40 ft. The whole character of the masonry is so similar to the wall of the Jerusalem Ḥaram near the ?wailing place? that Conder and Warren considered that it must belong to that period and be Herodian work.
The southern end of the great enclosure is occupied by a church - probably a building entirely of the crusading period - with a nave and two aisles. The rest is a courtyard open to the air. The cenotaphs of Isaac and Rebecca are within the church; those of Abraham and Sarah occupy octagonal chapels in the double porch before the church doors; those of Jacob and Leah are placed in chambers near the north end of the Ḥaram. The six monuments are placed at equal distances along the length of the enclosure, and it is probable that their positions there have no relation to the sarcophagi which are described as existing in the cave itself.
4. The Cave:
It is over this cave that the chief mystery hangs. It is not known whether it has been entered by any man at present alive, Moslem or otherwise. While the cave was in the hands of the Crusaders, pilgrims and others were allowed to visit this spot. Thus Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, writing in 1163 AD, says that ?if a Jew comes, who gives an additional fee to the keeper of the cave, an iron door is opened, which dates from the times of our forefathers who rest in peace, and with a burning candle in his hand the visitor descends into a first cave which is empty, traverses a second in the same state and at last reaches a third which contains six sepulchres - those of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of Sarah, Rebecca and Leah, one opposite the other.... A lamp burns in the cave and upon the sepulchre continually, both night and day.? The account reminds us of the condition of many Christian tomb-shrines in Palestine today.
It would appear from the description of modern observers that all entrance to the cave is now closed; the only known approaches are never now opened and can only be reached by breaking up the flags of the flooring. Through one of the openings - which had a stone over it pierced by a circular hole 1 ft. in diameter - near the northern wall of the old church, Conder was able by lowering a lantern to see into a chamber some 15 ft. under the church. He estimated it to be some 12 ft. square; it had plastered walls, and in the wall toward the Southeast there was a door which appeared like the entrance to a rock-cut tomb. On the outside of the Ḥaram wall, close to the steps of the southern entrance gateway is a hole in the lowest course of masonry, which may possibly communicate with the western cave. Into this the Jews of Hebron are accustomed to thrust many written prayers and vows to the patriarchs.
The evidence, historical and archaeological seems to show that the cave occupies only the south end of the great quadrilateral enclosure under part only of the area covered by the church. See HEBRON.
Literature.
PEF, III., 333-46; PEFS, 1882, 197; 1897, 53; 1912, 145-150; HDB, III., article ?Machpelah,? by Warren; Stanley, SP and Lectures on the Jewish Church; ?Pal under the Moslems,? PEF; Pilgrim Text Soc. publications.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Machpe?lah (twofold, double), the name of the plot of ground containing the cave which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite for a family sepulcher (Gen_23:9; Gen_23:17) [HEBRON].
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Machpelah
(Heb. Makpelah', מִכְפֵּלָה, probably a portion, but, according to others, double, and so the Sept. διπλοῦς, Vulg. duplex), the name of the plot of ground in Hebron containing the cave which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite for a family sepulcher (Gen_23:9), where it is described as being located in one extremity of the field, and in Gen_23:17 it is stated to have been situated before Mamre, and to have likewise contained trees. SEE MAMRE.
The only persons mentioned in Scripture as buried in this cemetery are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their wives Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah (Gen_23:19; Gen_25:9; Gen_49:30; Gen_1:13). Beyond the passages already cited, the Bible contains no mention either of the name Machpelah or of the sepulcher of the patriarchs. Unless this was the sanctuary of Jehovah to which Absalom had vowed, or pretended to have vowed, a pilgrimage, when absent in the remote Geshur (2Sa_15:7), no allusion to it has been discovered in the records of David's residence at Hebron, nor vet in the struggles of the Maccabees, so many of whose battles were fought in and around it (Smith). It is a remarkable fact that none of the sacred writers refer to this celebrated tomb after the burial of Jacob, though it was unquestionably held in reverence by the Jews in all ages. Josephus, in his short notice of the burial of Sarah, says that both Abraham and his descendants built themselves sepulchres at Hebron (Ant. 1:14), and in another passage he states that the monuments of the patriarchs are to this very time shown in Hebron, the structure of which is of beautiful marble, wrought after the most elegant manner' (War, 4:9,7).
Jerome mentions the mausoleum of Abraham at Hebron as standing in his day (Onomast. s.v. Arboch); and in the Jerusalem Itinerary, a work of the 4th century, it is described as a quadrangular structure built of stones of wonderful beauty (Itin. Hieros. ed. Wessel. p. 599). It is also mentioned by Antoninus Martyr in the beginning of the 7th century (Itin. 30); by Arculf towards its close (Early Travels in Pal., Bohn, p. 7); by Willibald in the 8th (ib. p. 20); by Sewulf in the 12th (ib. p. 45); and by numerous others (see Ritter, Pal. und Syr. 3:237 sq.). From these notices, it appears to be certain that the venerable building which still stands is the same which Josephus describes. Hebron lies in a narrow valley which runs from north to south between low ridges of rocky hills. The modern town is built partly in the bottom of the vale and partly along the lower slope of the eastern ridge. On the hill-side, above the latter section of the town, rise the massive walls of the Haram, forming the one distinguishing feature of Hebron, conspicuous from all points. The building is rectangular, about 200 feet long by 115 wide, and 50 high. The walls are constructed of massive stones varying from 12 to 20 feet in length, and from 4 to 5 in depth. Dr. Wilson mentions one stone 38 feet long and 3 feet 4 inches in depth, of ancient workmanship (Lands of the Bible, 1:366). The edges of the stones are grooved to the depth of about two inches, so that the whole wall has the appearance of being formed of raised panels, like the Temple-wall at Jerusalem. SEE MASONRY.
The exterior is further ornamented with pilasters, supporting without capitals a plain molded cornice. The building is thus unique; there is nothing like it in Syria. The style of its architecture, independent even of the historical notices above given, proves it to be of Jewish origin; and it cannot be much, if at all, later than the days of Solomon. The interior of this massive and most interesting building was described about fifty years ago by a Spaniard, who conformed to Islamism and assumed the name of Ali Bey (Travels, 1:232). The Rev. J. L. Porter was assured when at Hebron, and subsequently by a mollah of rank who had visited the tombs of the patriarchs, that there is an entrance to the cave, which consists of two compartments, and that the guardian can on special occasions enter the outer one (Handbook, p. 69). With this agree the statements of M. Pierotti, of Benjamin of Tudela, who gives a description of the caves (Itin. by Asher, p. 76 sq.), and of others (Wilson, Lands of the Bible, 1:364 sq.). We cannot doubt that the cave of Machpelah, in which the patriarchs were buried, is beneath this venerable building, and that it has been guarded with religious jealousy from the earliest ages; consequently, it is quite possible that some remains of the patriarchs may still lie there. Jacob was embalmed in Egypt, and his body deposited in this place (Genesis 1, 2-13). It may still be there perfect as an Egyptian mummy. The Moslem traditions and the cenotaphs within the Haram agree exactly with the Biblical narrative, and form an interesting commentary on Jacob's dying command And he charged them... bury me with my fathers... in the cave which is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre... There they buried Abraham, and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac, and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah' (Gen_49:29-31).
There also they buried Jacob. Now within the enclosure are the six cenotaphs only, while the belief is universal among the Mohammedans that the real tombs are in the cave below. Projecting from the west side of the Haram is a little building containing the tomb of Joseph-a Moslem tradition states that his body was first buried at Shechem, but was subsequently transferred to this place (Stanley, Jewish Church, 1:498). The Jews cling around this building still, as they do around the ruins of their ancient Temple-taking pleasure in its stones, and loving its very dust. Beside the principal entrance is a little hole in the wall, at which they are permitted at certain times to pray. A belief seems to prevail in the town that the cave communicates with some one of the modern sepulchers at a considerable distance outside of Hebron (Lowe, in Zeitung des Judenth., June 1, 1839). The ancient Jewish tradition ascribes the erection of the mosque to David (Jichus ha-Aboth in Hottinger, Cippi Hebr. 30), thus making it coeval with the pool in the valley below; but, whatever the worth of this tradition, it may well be of the age of Solomon, for the masonry is even more antique in its character than that of the lower portion of the south and south-western walls of the Haram at Jerusalem, which many critics ascribe to Solomon, while even the severest allows it to be of the date of Herod. The date must always remain a mystery, but there are two considerations which may weigh in favor of fixing it very early.
1. That, often as the town of Hebron may have been destroyed, this, being a tomb, would always be spared.
2. It cannot, on architectural grounds, be later than Herod's time, while, on the other hand, it is omitted from the catalogue given by Josephus of the places which he rebuilt or adorned. The fullest historical notices of Machpelah will be found in Ritter, Pal. und Syr. vol. 3, and Robinson, Bib. Res. vol. 2. The chief authorities are Arculf (A.D. 700); Benjamin of Tudela (A.D. cir. 1170); the Jewish tract Jichlus ha-Aboth (in Hottinger, Cippi hebraici; and also in Wilson, 1:365); Ali Bey (Travels, A.D. 1807, 2:232,233); Giovanni Finati (Life by Bankes, 2:236); Monro (Summer Ramble in 1833, 1:243); Lowe, in Zeittung des Judenth., 1839, p. 272, 288. In a note by Asher to his edition of Benjamin of Tudela (2:92), mention is made of an Arabic MS. in the Bibliotheque Royale at Paris, containing an account of the condition of the mosque under Saladin. This MS. has not yet been published. The travels of Ibrahim el-Khijari in 166970, a small portion of which, from the manuscript in the Ducal Library at Gotha, has been published by Tuch, with translation, etc. (Leipzig, 1850), are said to contain a minute description of the mosque (Tuch, p. 2). The best description of the interior is that of Stanley, Jewish Church and Sermons in the East (the two are identical), in which he gives the singular narrative of rabbi Benjamin, and a letter of M. Pierotti, which appeared in the Times immediately after the prince of Wales's visit. A plan of the mosque is attached to Stanley's narrative. The description given by Ali Bey (Travels, vol. 2) is substantially the same as that of Dean Stanley. A few words about the exterior, a sketch of the masonry, and a view of the town, showing the enclosure standing prominently in the foreground, will be found in Bartlett's Walks, etc., p. 216-219. A photograph of the exterior, from the East (?), is given as No. 63 of Palestine as it is, by Rev. G. W. Bridges. A ground-plan exhibiting considerable detail, made by two Moslem architects who lately superintended some repairs in the Haram, and given by them to Dr. Barclay of Jerusalem, is engraved in Osborn's Palestine, Past and Present, p. 364. Thomson, Land and Book, 2:385 sq., gives some additional particulars; also Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 393 sq. SEE HEBRON.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
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