B'resheet (Gen) 23
23
Parashah 5: Hayyei-Sarah (Sarah’s life) 23:1–25:18
1Sarah lived to be 127 years old; these were the years of Sarah’s life. 2Sarah died in Kiryat-Arba, also known as Hevron, in the land of Kena‘an; and Avraham came to mourn Sarah and weep for her. 3Then he got up from his dead one and said to the sons of Het, 4“I am a foreigner living as an alien with you; let me have a burial site with you, so that I can bury my dead wife.” 5The sons of Het answered Avraham, 6“Listen to us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us, so choose any of our tombs to bury your dead — not one of us would refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”
7Avraham got up, bowed before the people of the land, the sons of Het, 8and spoke with them. “If it is your desire to help me bury my dead, then listen to me: ask ‘Efron the son of Tzochar 9to give me the cave of Makhpelah, which he owns, the one at the end of his field. He should sell it to me in your presence at its full value; then I will have a burial site of my own.”
10‘Efron the Hitti was sitting among the sons of Het, and he gave Avraham his answer in the presence of the sons of Het who belonged to the ruling council of the city: 11“No, my lord, listen to me: I’m giving you the field, with its cave — I’m giving it to you. In the presence of my people I give it to you.” 12Avraham bowed before the people of the land 13and spoke to ‘Efron in their hearing: “Please be good enough to listen to me. I will pay the price of the field; accept it from me, and I will bury my dead there.” 14But ‘Efron answered Avraham, 15“My lord, listen to me. A plot of land worth 400 silver shekels — what is that between me and you? Just bury your dead.” 16Avraham got the point of what ‘Efron had said, so he weighed out for ‘Efron the amount of money he had specified in the presence of the sons of Het, 400 silver shekels of the weight accepted among merchants [ten pounds].
(ii) 17Thus the field of ‘Efron in Makhpelah, which is by Mamre — the field, its cave and all the trees in and around it — were deeded 18to Avraham as his possession in the presence of the sons of Het who belonged to the ruling council of the city.
19Then Avraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Makhpelah, by Mamre, also known as Hevron, in the land of Kena‘an. 20The field and its cave had been purchased by Avraham from the sons of Het as a burial-site which would belong to him.
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B'resheet (Gen) 23: CJB
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Learn More About Complete Jewish BibleGenesis 23
23
Sarah’s Death
1Sarah lived to be 127 years old. This was the length of her life. 2She died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to cry about her death.
3Then Abraham left the side of his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites, 4“I’m a stranger with no permanent home. Let me have some of your property for a tomb so that I can bury my dead wife.”
5The Hittites answered Abraham, 6“Listen to us, sir. You are a mighty leader among us. Bury your dead in one of our best tombs. Not one of us will withhold from you his tomb for burying your dead.”
7Abraham got up in front of the Hittites, the people of that region, and bowed with his face touching the ground. 8He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife, listen to me. Encourage Ephron, son of Zohar, 9to let me have the cave of Machpelah that he owns at the end of his field. He should sell it to me for its full price as my property to be used as a tomb among you.”
10Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. He answered Abraham so that everyone who was entering the city gate could hear him. He said, 11“No, sir, listen to me. I’m giving you the field together with the cave that is in it. My people are witnesses that I’m giving it to you. Bury your wife!”
12Abraham bowed down again in front of the people of that region. 13He spoke to Ephron so that the people of that region could hear him. He said, “If you would only listen to me. I will pay you the price of the field. Take it from me so that I can bury my wife there.”
14Ephron answered Abraham, 15“Sir, listen to me. The land is worth ten pounds of silver. What is that between us? Bury your wife!”
16Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms. So he weighed out for Ephron the amount stated in front of the Hittites: ten pounds of silver at the current merchants’ exchange rate.
17So Ephron’s field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, was sold 18to Abraham. His property included the field with the cave in it as well as all the trees inside the boundaries of the field.#23:18 The last part of verse 17 (in Hebrew) has been placed in verse 18 to express the complex Hebrew sentence structure more clearly in English. The Hittites together with all who had entered the city gate were the official witnesses for the agreement.
19After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre (that is, Hebron). 20So the field and its cave were sold by the Hittites to Abraham as his property to be used as a tomb.
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