…listen to us
…listen to me
…listen to me
…listen to me
…listen to me
The haggling over Sarah’s burial is strange. A modern western hearing of the story could hear it as Abraham trying to do the right thing and the others being kind. However it is worth hearing this story through the honour and shame filter. Abraham is trying to be honorable and so are the Hittites. This makes the story more complex. Are the Hittites hedging their bets? Is Abraham worried about being obliged to them?
Abraham ceases the argument. These words aren’t doing their work. His action sounds over the words and he gets his way.
Words have a way of becoming noisy and meaningless. Abraham breaks what seems to be the ‘listen to me’ feedback loop and buries his fellow wanderer, the one he lied about and the one he laughed with.