She died in the land of Canaan, where she had been above sixty years a sojourner. He did not only perform the ceremonies of mourning according to the custom of those time, as the mourners that go about the streets, but he did sincerely lament the great loss he had of a good wife, and gave proof of the constancy of his affection to her to the last. His sorrow was not counterfeit, but real. He came to her tent, and sat down by the corpse, there to pay the tribute of his tears, that his eye might affect his heart, and that he might pay the greater respect to the memory of her that was gone. Note, It is not only lawful, but it is a duty, to lament the death of our near relations, both in compliance with the providence of God, who thus calls to weeping and mourning, and in honour to those to whom honour is due.
Tears are a tribute due to our deceased friends.
When a body is sown, it must be watered. The Cave of Machpelah. And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land. Observe here, 1.