Sarah dies at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven, thirty-seven years after the birth of Isaac. She is conspicuously absent from the events of chapter 22. The last city she lives in is Kiriath-arba, “city of the four,” which is another name for Hebron. Abraham is not a man without emotion. He mourns and weeps for her.

For at least a third time in Genesis Abraham is an alien and a stranger. His hosts this time are the Hittites. Every time a key figure in Genesis 12–50 interacts with non-Israelites (Egyptians, Philistines, Hittites), those “outsiders” come across as decent, courteous, law-abiding, moral people. This is the opposite…