Efron the Hittite was a big talker.  Such a big talker that the Mishna uses him as an example of someone who talks a big game but doesn’t deliver.

 

Abraham is looking for a burial spot to bury Sara.  He comes to Hebron and meets the chief Efron the Hittite. Efron says, ‘what is a couple of Shekel between brothers. Go bury your dead, money shouldn’t be an issue between us’.

 

At the end he charges Avraham 400 Silver Shekel!

 

Why did Avraham not insist that Efron give him a deal? He could have called him out on his offer.  The verses seem to indicate that Avraham was more than willing to give him the top dollar.

 

One of the lessons is that even when people are flamboyant with their proclamations, we need to read beneath the surface.  What did Efron really mean?  What was his intention of making this big announcement? 

 

Avraham understood that Efron was just puffing up his feathers to show his tribe that he was important and that he was needed.  But, he never intended to give Avraham a deal.

 

The lesson for us is strong. Sometimes we get stuck on people’s words, holding them to the word.  If we show up with real empathy we can and should listen to what is beneath the surface and the underlying intention and respond accordingly.

 

Good Shabbos!