Genesis 23:9

Machpelah. This name has been explained in various ways. Some have taken it as a proper name, others as descriptive of some peculiarity of the cave. It is from the root kaphal “to double,” suggesting that it may have been a double cave, or perhaps one with two entrances. The first interpretation seems preferable. In this cave were deposited, successively, the remains of Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob (Genesis 25:9; 49:31; 50:13). Rachel alone, of the great patriarchal family, was absent (Genesis 35:19). Machpelah has been identified with two caves, one above the other, beneath a Mohammedan mosque on a slope near Hebron. Access was forbidden for centuries, but an exception was made in 1882 for the future George V of England and his brother. Since the first world war several Christians have had the opportunity of visiting the upper cave, which contains stone markers bearing the names of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, and Leah. These slabs are supposed to mark their actual tombs, in the rock-hewn cave below. Whether this very ancient tradition agrees with the facts cannot be determined until scientific study is permitted in the lower cave.