Genesis 23
23
Sarah’s Death and Burial
1Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2So Sarah died in #Gen. 35:27; Josh. 14:15; 15:13; 21:11Kirjath Arba (that is, #Gen. 13:18; 23:19Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of #Gen. 10:15; 15:20; 2 Kin. 7:6Heth, saying, 4#(Gen. 17:8); Lev. 25:23; 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12; 105:12; 119:19; (Heb. 11:9, 13)“I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. #Acts 7:5, 16Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
5And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6“Hear us, my lord: You are a #Gen. 13:2; 14:14; 24:35mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.”
7Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me, 9that he may give me the cave of #Gen. 25:9Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.”
10Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who #Gen. 23:18; 34:20, 24; Ruth 4:1, 4, 11entered at the gate of his city, saying, 11#2 Sam. 24:21–24“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”
12Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land; 13and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there.”
14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15“My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred #Ex. 30:13; Ezek. 45:12shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.” 16And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham #2 Sam. 14:26; Jer. 32:9, 10; Zech. 11:12weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.
17So #Gen. 25:9; 49:29–32; 50:13; Acts 7:16the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded 18to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20So the field and the cave that is in it #Jer. 32:10, 11were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.
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Genesis 23: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 23
23
Sarah Dies
1Sarah lived to be 127 years old. 2She died in the city of Kiriath Arba (Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham was very sad and cried for her there. 3Then he left his dead wife and went to talk to the Hittites. He said, 4“I am only a foreigner staying in your country. I have no place to bury my wife. Please give me some land so that I can bury her.”
5The Hittites answered Abraham, 6“Sir, you are a great leader#23:6 great leader Literally, “God’s prince.” among us. You can have the best place we have to bury your dead. You can have any of our burying places that you want. None of us will stop you from burying your wife there.”
7Abraham got up and bowed to the people. 8He said to them, “If you really want to help me bury my dead wife, speak to Ephron the son of Zohar for me. 9I would like to buy the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to Ephron. It is at the end of his field. I will pay him the full price. I want all of you to be witnesses that I am buying it as a burial place.”
10Ephron was sitting there among the people. He answered Abraham, 11“No, sir. Here in front of my people, I give you that land and the cave on it so that you can bury your wife.”
12Abraham bowed before the Hittites. 13He said to Ephron before all the people, “But I want to give you the full price for the field. Accept my money, and I will bury my dead.”
14Ephron answered Abraham, 15“Sir, listen to me. Ten pounds#23:15 Ten pounds Literally, “400 shekels” (4.6 kg). Also in verse 16. of silver mean nothing to you or me. Take the land and bury your dead wife.”
16Abraham understood that Ephron was telling him the price of the land.#23:16 Abraham understood … the land Literally, “Abraham heard.” So Abraham paid him for the land. He weighed out ten pounds of silver for Ephron and gave it to the merchant.#23:16 merchant Someone who earns their living by buying and selling things. Here, this is probably a person who was helping Abraham and Ephron write the contract in verses 17 and 18.
17-18So the field of Ephron changed owners. This field was in Machpelah, near Mamre. Abraham became the owner of the field, the cave in it, and all the trees in the field. Everyone in the city saw the agreement between Ephron and Abraham. 19After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of that field near Mamre (Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20Abraham bought the field and the cave in it from the Hittites. So this became his property to be used as a burial place.
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