Genesis 23

Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years old. These were the years of Sarah's life.

1And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.

2Sarah died in Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

2And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

NoteKirjatharba means "city of Arba," the older name for Hebron, a town in the hill country of southern Canaan about nineteen miles south of what later became Jerusalem. Mourning in this world was public and formal: loud weeping and lament carried out where the community could see and hear it, not private grief.

3Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and spoke to the sons of Heth. He said,

3And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

Note"Sons of Heth" (elsewhere "Hittites") is the name Genesis gives to the people who held the land around Hebron. "Sons of" or "children of" is ordinary Hebrew for "members of the group," not a statement about anyone's father. Whether these people were connected to the Hittite empire far to the north, in what is now Turkey, is disputed.

4"I am a foreigner living among you as an outsider. Give me a piece of land I can own as a burial place among you, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight."

4I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

NoteA "foreigner living among you as an outsider" translates two Hebrew terms for a resident alien: someone permitted to live, graze flocks and trade in a territory, but with no right to own land in it. This is the whole problem of the chapter, Abraham cannot simply bury his wife on ground he holds, because he holds none, and he must get the community's consent to acquire any. "My dead" is the normal Hebrew way of referring to a family member who has died and is awaiting burial.

5The children of Heth answered Abraham. They said to him,

5And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,

6"Listen to us, my lord. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. Not one of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead."

6Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

NoteThe Hebrew behind "mighty prince" reads literally "a prince of God" or "a prince of the gods." In Hebrew this construction can work as a superlative, "a very great chief", or can mean that God has singled the man out; translators divide over which is meant here. Either way it is high courtesy addressed to a man they are about to bargain with. Their "tombs" are burial caves, natural or cut into the rock, in which a family laid its dead over several generations.

7Abraham stood up and bowed down to the people of the land, the children of Heth.

7And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

NoteBowing low before others was the standard gesture of respect in a formal public negotiation, like a deep bow or a hat removed. It is politeness, not worship.

8He talked with them and said, "If it is your wish that I should bury my dead out of my sight, listen to me, and ask Ephron son of Zohar for me,

8And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,

9so that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the far end of his field. Let him give it to me for the full price it is worth, as property for a burial place among you."

9That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.

NoteMachpelah is a place name; the Hebrew word suggests "double," perhaps describing a cave with two chambers. Abraham insists on the full price rather than accepting a gift, because in this legal world an outright purchase gave a title no one could later dispute, while a gift could be revoked by the giver or reclaimed by his heirs.

10Ephron was living among the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham where the children of Heth could hear, all who came in at the gate of his city. He said,

10And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,

NoteThe gate of a walled town was its courthouse and marketplace, the open space where elders sat, contracts were struck and witnesses gathered. Saying the deal was made "in front of all who came in at the gate" is the ancient equivalent of saying it was done publicly and on the record.

11"No, my lord, listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In front of my own people I give it to you. Bury your dead."

11Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

NoteAn opening offer to give the property away was a recognized move in Near Eastern bargaining, not a serious proposal; the buyer was expected to decline it and ask the price, which is exactly what Abraham does. Ephron's repeated "in front of my own people" stresses that witnesses are present.

12Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.

12And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.

13He spoke to Ephron where the people of the land could hear. He said, "If only you would listen to me. I will give you money for the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there."

13And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.

14Ephron answered Abraham. He said to him,

14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,

15"My lord, listen to me. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that between me and you? So bury your dead."

15My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

NoteA shekel was a weight, not a coin, roughly two fifths of an ounce, about eleven or twelve grams. Four hundred shekels is something like ten pounds of silver, a very large sum: elsewhere in the Bible a field is bought for seventeen shekels and a threshing floor for fifty. "What is that between me and you?" is a polite bargaining formula dismissing the amount as trivial between friends, while naming it firmly.

16Abraham listened to Ephron. He weighed out for Ephron the silver he had named while the sons of Heth listened: four hundred shekels of silver, by the weight that merchants used.

16And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

NoteCoined money did not yet exist; silver was measured out on scales, and the buyer's and seller's weights could differ. "By the weight that merchants used" means the recognized commercial standard, so the amount could not be disputed afterwards.

17So Ephron's field in Machpelah, which was near Mamre (the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees in the field, out to the edges all around) was made over

17And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure

Note"Made over" translates a legal term for property formally transferred and confirmed. The careful listing of the field, the cave, the trees and the boundaries follows the wording of ancient Near Eastern deeds of sale, which itemised exactly what passed to the buyer, trees mattered because they were valuable and permanent. Mamre was a place near Hebron, known for its great trees, where Abraham had camped earlier.

18to Abraham as his property, in front of the children of Heth and all who came in at the gate of his city.

18Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.

19After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah near Mamre, which is Hebron in the land of Canaan.

19And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.

20So the field, and the cave that is in it, were made over to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.

20And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

NoteThe transfer is stated twice, in verses 17-18 and again here, in the manner of a legal record closing with a summary of what was conveyed and by whom. This burial plot is the only piece of Canaan Genesis ever says Abraham owned.