In the beginning of this week’s Parsha, Avraham mourns the death of his beloved wife, Sarah. The first order of business is to find a burial place for her body. He is particularly interested in the cave of Machpelah, which happens to also be the burial site of both Adam and Eve. This cave belonged to Ephron the Hettite, who was, as we would call it, a “smooth talker.” He eventually swindled Avraham into buying the cave for a very high price.

Our sages teach us that this swindling, through speech, made Ephron “wicked” by definition. This explanation is based on last week’s Parsha, Parshat Vayeira. When the three messengers of G-d came to visit Avraham, he offered them to sit under the tree and enjoy a small meal. Their response was, “Do so, just as you have said.” (Genesis 18:5) In their heavenly wisdom, the angels understood the importance of speech. This is where the sages make the assumption of the righteous versus the wicked: Those who are righteous will follow their own words, and those who are wicked may speak highly of their own actions, and never follow through. Therefore, Ephron was wicked, because he talked through the transaction and didn’t follow through on the offer he made to Avraham.

In Judaism, we call this principle, “Say little, but do much.” Avraham exemplified this attitude perfectly, as evident in last week’s parsha, when he told his guests to sit down and enjoy some food, and of course, followed through with his words and exceeded their expectations.  Ephron, on the other hand, undermined this principle with his excessive use of empty promises, and that in itself, was wicked.