‘And Abraham rose up from before his dead and spoke to the children of Heth, saying, “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you. Give me a possession of a burial place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight”.'
Abraham seeks out the leadership of the people of the land at the city gate (Genesis 23:10). There the leaders, who know his purpose, are gathered in their official function to consider his request.
This is a unique moment in Abraham's life. He seeks official ownership of part of the land of Canaan. He states clearly the situation. He is ‘a stranger and sojourner'. He has no land rights. But now he seeks to become an official landowner holding the deeds of the property.
No one would have hindered him from burying Sarah. People were being buried all the time and its necessity was recognised. But this is something different. Abraham would cease being ‘a stranger and a sojourner'. He wants ‘a possession'. He would become a recognised inhabitant of the land with certain rights and responsibilities accruing.