The Tomb of Abraham

Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε τὸν ἀββᾶν Ποιμένα, λέγων· Τί ποιήσω; Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Ἀβραὰμ ὅτε εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, μνημεῖον ἠγόρασεν ἑαυτῷ καὶ διὰ τοῦ τάφου ἐκληρονόμησε τὴν γῆν. Λέγει ὁ ἀδελφός· Τί ἐστι τάφος; Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Τόπος κλαυθμοῦ καὶ πένθους. Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

A brother questioned father Poimen, saying, 'What should I do?' The elder said, 'When Abraham came to the land of promise he bought a tomb for himself, and through the tomb he inherited the land.'1 The brother said, 'What is a tomb?' The elder said, ' A place of weeping and mourning.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia  1 Gen 23