(א) וַיִּהְיוּ֙ חַיֵּ֣י שָׂרָ֔ה מֵאָ֥ה שָׁנָ֛ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֑ים שְׁנֵ֖י חַיֵּ֥י שָׂרָֽה׃ (ב) וַתָּ֣מָת שָׂרָ֗ה בְּקִרְיַ֥ת אַרְבַּ֛ע הִ֥וא חֶבְר֖וֹן בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וַיָּבֹא֙ אַבְרָהָ֔ם לִסְפֹּ֥ד לְשָׂרָ֖ה וְלִבְכֹּתָֽהּ׃
(1) And the life of Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. (2) And Sarah died in Kiriatharba—the same is Hebron—in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to cry for her.
The word "cry" ["v'livkotah"] may have been written with a small bet to suggest that the full measure of of his weeping was kept private. His grief was infinite, but the full measure of his pain was concealed in his heart and in the privacy of his home.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on Genesis 23:2
Usually crying comes before a eulogy - but here it is reversed - because usually, mourning becomes less and less and as days go by, the dead person is forgotten. Abraham felt the loss of this righteous woman more and more in her absence; he felt the absence of her Torah and her good deeds that had been lost for all generations, and this is why "eulogy" is written before "crying."
Kli Yakar (16th c. Poland/17th c. Czechoslovakia) on Genesis 23:2
ויהיו חיי שרה (ב) ותמת שרה. אחר שנולדה רבקה הראויה למלאת מקום שרה ושנודע זה לאברהם מתה שרה כאמרם ז''ל שאין צדיק נפטר מן העולם אלא אם כן נולד צדיק כמותו שנאמר: "וזרח השמש ובא השמש":
Sarah died only after Rebecca, who had been destined to become her replacement on earth, had been born. A righteous person does not die until a replacement has been born for him. ... This concept is based on Solomon's saying in Ecclesiastes 1:5 - "The sun rises and the sun sets.”
(67) And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted for his mother.
(א) האהלה שרה אמו. ויביאה האהלה ונעשית דגמת שרה אמו, כלומר והרי היא שרה אמו, שכל זמן ששרה קימת היה נר דלוק מערב שבת לערב שבת, וברכה מצויה בעיסה, וענן קשור על האהל, ומשמתה פסקו, וכשבאת רבקה חזרו:
He brought her to Sarah's tent and she assumed the likeness of Sarah his mother; in a sense, she became Sarah. As long as Sarah was alive, a candle would stay lit from one Erev Shabbat to the next; a blessing would be found in the dough and a protective cloud would cover the tent. When she died, these things disappeared, and when Rebecca entered, they returned.
