English: This teaches that the eulogy is for the honor of the deceased. For if you should think it is for the honor of the living, would they have delayed Sarah [in burial] merely for the honor of Avraham?
On the daf / in context: The discussion turns on whether a eulogy (hesped) is primarily for the dead or for the living. The delay implied in Avraham’s coming to mourn Sarah is taken as evidence that the eulogy honors the deceased; practical consequences follow for one who forbids his own eulogy and for charging heirs the cost of a eulogy.
Type of Learning
Custom (Bavli — nature and purpose of hesped)
What Is Learned
A eulogy is fundamentally for the honor of the deceased. Therefore one who commands that no eulogy be delivered for him is generally heeded when the purpose is the dead’s honor; the cost may be taken from the estate under the same principle.