Genesis 23
23
Chapter 23
Sarah dies and Abraham buries her
1Sarah lived for 127 years. 2She died in the land of Canaan, at Kiriath Arba. That place is also called Hebron. Abraham was very sad. He went to her tent and he cried very much, because she was dead.
3Then Abraham went to the Hittite people and he said to them, 4‘I am living as a stranger among you. Please, sell me some land here, so that it belongs to me. Then I can use it to bury my wife properly.’
5The Hittites replied, 6‘Sir, please listen to what we say. We respect you as a great and powerful person. We have good places where we bury our people who have died. Choose the best one that you like. None of us will refuse to give you the place that you choose. Then you will be able to bury your dead wife there.’
7Abraham stood up. He turned his face towards the ground to respect the Hittites who lived in that place. 8He said to them, ‘Since you have agreed to help me, please do this. Speak to Zohar's son, Ephron, for me. 9Ask him to sell the cave of Machpelah to me. It belongs to Ephron. It is at the edge of his field. You will see that I pay the proper price to him. Then it will belong to me. I can bury my family there when they die.’
10Ephron was sitting there with his people, at the city gate. He spoke so that all the Hittites could hear him. 11Ephron said, ‘No sir. Please listen to me. You may take my field as well as the cave. I promise in front of my people that I will give all this to you. Then you can bury your dead wife there.’
12Abraham again turned his face towards the ground to respect the people who lived in that place. 13While they were listening, he said to Ephron, ‘Let me say this. I will pay you the price to buy the field. Please accept the money from me. Then I can bury my dead wife there.’
14Ephron replied to Abraham, 15‘Listen to me, sir. The land is worth 400 shekels of silver. But the price is not important, because we are friends. Now bury your dead wife there.’ #23:15 People used shekels to measure weight. Ephron is telling Abraham how much the land will cost. He knows that Abraham will not accept the field as a gift. This is the way that people would agree to a price.
16Abraham agreed to the price that Ephron had asked for. He weighed the correct amount of silver to give to Ephron. The Hittites there knew that it had been done properly. The weight of 400 shekels agreed with the weights that people used at that time.
17In that way, Ephron's field in Machpelah, near Mamre, now belonged to Abraham. This included the field, the cave in the field and all the trees in the field as far as its edge. 18All the Hittite people who were sitting there at the city gate agreed that Abraham was the new owner.
19After this, Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, in the cave in the field of Machpelah. This field was near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. That place is also called Hebron. 20That is how Abraham bought the field and the cave that was in it from the Hittite people. He bought it so that he could bury there his family who died.
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Genesis 23
23
1 Now Sarah lived for one hundred and twenty-seven years.
2 And she died in the city of Arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.
3 And when he had risen up from the funeral duties, he spoke to the sons of Heth, saying:
4 "I am a newcomer and a sojourner among you. Give me the right of a sepulcher among you, so that I may bury my dead."
5 The sons of Heth responded by saying:
6 "Hear us, O lord, you are a leader of God among us. Bury your dead in our chosen sepulchers. And no man shall be able to prohibit you from burying your dead within his memorial."
7 Abraham arose, and he reverenced the people of the land, namely, the sons of Heth.
8 And he said to them: "If it pleases your soul that I should bury my dead, hear me, and intercede on my behalf with Ephron, the son of Zohar,
9 so that he may give me the double cave, which he has at the far end of his field. He may transfer it to me for as much money as it is worth in your sight, for the possession of a sepulcher."
10 Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the sons of Heth. And Ephron responded to Abraham in the hearing of everyone who was entering at the gate of his city, saying:
11 "Let it never be so, my lord, but you should pay greater heed to what I say. The field I will transfer to you, and the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people, bury your dead."
12 Abraham reverenced in the sight of the people of the land.
13 And he spoke to Ephron, standing in the midst of the people: "I ask you to hear me. I will give you money for the field. Take it, and so I will bury my dead in it."
14 And Ephron responded: "My lord, hear me.
15 The land that you request is worth four hundred shekels of silver. This is the price between me and you. But how much is this? Bury your dead."
16 And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the money that Ephron had requested, in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, of the approved public currency.
17 And having confirmed that the field, in which there was a double cave overlooking Mamre, formerly belonged to Ephron, both it and the sepulcher, and all its trees, with all its surrounding limits,
18 Abraham took it as a possession, in the sight of the sons of Heth and of everyone who was entering at the gate of his city.
19 So then, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the double cave of the field that overlooked Mamre. This is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
20 And the field was confirmed to Abraham, with the cave that was in it, as a memorial possession before the sons of Heth.
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