Mamre, identified with Hebron in the land of Canaan, is a recurring setting in the ancestral narratives: Abraham settles there and builds an altar, and the terebinths of Mamre frame the LORD’s appearance and promise of a son to Sarah. The place also becomes a geographical reference for the burial estate at Machpelah, linking Abraham’s residence and worship to the family’s enduring claim to a burial place in Canaan.

Abraham’s Settlement and Worship

After Lot separates from him, Abraham moves his tent and settles by the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron. There he builds an altar to the LORD. The location therefore marks both a settled point in Abraham’s movement through Canaan and a site of worship following the renewed promise of land and descendants.

The Visit at the Terebinths

The LORD appears to Abraham by the terebinths of Mamre while Abraham sits at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He welcomes three visitors, arranges water and food for them, and serves them beneath a tree. During the visit, the promise is made that Sarah will have a son; Sarah hears it from inside the tent and laughs, and the LORD challenges her denial. Mamre thus becomes the setting where hospitality and the promised birth of Isaac meet.

Mamre and the Family Burial Place

Sarah dies at Kiriath-arba, identified as Hebron, and Abraham purchases the cave of Machpelah from Ephron as a burial possession. The account locates the field and cave at Machpelah before Mamre, and later identifies the same place as the burial site of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Leah. Mamre’s association with Hebron consequently connects Abraham’s settlement to the family’s burial history in Canaan.