Genesis 23
23
1And the life of Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years: these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
3And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spake unto the children of Heth, saying, 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. 5And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, 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. 7And Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. 8And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, 9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a buryingplace. 10Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of 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, 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. 12And Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. 13And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me: I will give the price of the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. 14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, 15My lord, hearken unto me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
16And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. 17So 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 border thereof round about, were made sure 18unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that 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 (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. 20And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the children of Heth.
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Genesis 23: RV1885
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 23
23
1Sarah lived to be 127, 2and then she died at Kiriath-arba (or Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went in#23:2. “Went in”: possibly into the tent where the body lay. to mourn her death and to weep over her.
3Then Abraham got up from beside his wife's body and went to talk with the leaders of the Hittites. 4“I am a foreigner, a stranger living among you,” he said. “Please let me buy a burial site so I can bury my dead wife.”
5The Hittites answered Abraham, telling him, 6“Listen, my lord, you are a highly-respected prince among us. Choose the very best of our burial sites to bury your dead. None of us will say no to you.”
7Abraham got up and bowed low before the Hittites, the local people, 8and said to them, “If you agree to help me bury my dead, listen to my proposal. Could you please ask Ephron, son of Zohar, 9to sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him, down at the end of his field. I'm willing to pay him the full price here in your presence so I can have my own burial site.”
10Ephron the Hittite was sitting there among his people. He replied to Abraham in the presence of the Hittites who were there at the town gate. 11“No, my lord,” he said. “Please listen to me. I give you the field and the cave that is there. I give it to you and my people are my witnesses. Please go and bury your dead.”
12Abraham bowed low before the local people, 13and said to Ephron so everyone could hear, “Please listen to me. I will pay the price for the field. Take the money and let me go and bury my dead there.”
14Ephron replied to Abraham, telling him, 15“My lord, please listen to me. The land is worth four hundred pieces of silver.#23:15. “Four hundred pieces of silver”: it is generally agreed that this was an exorbitant amount. But what's that between us? Go and bury your dead.”
16Abraham accepted Ephron's offer. Abraham weighed out and gave to Ephron the four hundred pieces of silver he'd mentioned, using the standard weights used by merchants, and with the Hittites acting as witnesses.
17So the property was legally transferred. It comprised Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre, both the field and the cave there, as well as all the trees in the field, and all the area up to the existing boundaries. 18This all became Abraham's property, and the transaction was witnessed by the Hittites who were there at the town gate.
19Then Abraham went and buried Sarah his wife in the cave in the field at Machpelah near Mamre (or Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20Ownership of the field and the cave there was transferred from the Hittites to Abraham to serve as his burial place.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com