Biblical Tombs
A number of rock-cut tombs are mentioned in the Bible. The first was purchased by Abraham for Sarah from Ephron the Hittite (Gen. 23:20). Traditionally, this tomb, which may have been either a rock-cut or a natural cave, is identified with the Cave of the Patriarchs (also called the Cave of Machpelah). According to very old traditions, Abraham, Rebekah and Jacob and Leah were also buried there (79:29-32). In Acts 7:16, it is said that "Their (Jacob and his family) bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money." Mentions of rock-cut tombs are also found in the Judges 8:32; 2 Samuel 2:32; Second Kings 9:28; 23:30; 21:26; 23:16; Matthew 27:60).
Read more about this topic: Rock-cut Tombs In Israel
Famous quotes containing the word tombs:
“How old the world is! I walk between two eternities.... What is my fleeting existence in comparison with that decaying rock, that valley digging its channel ever deeper, that forest that is tottering and those great masses above my head about to fall? I see the marble of tombs crumbling into dust; and yet I don’t want to die!”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)