Genesis 23
23
1And the life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years: these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2And Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba: that 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 spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me a possession of a sepulchre with you, that I may bury my dead from before me. 5And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6Hear us, my lord: thou art a prince of God#GodHebrew: Elohim among us: in the choicest of our sepulchres bury thy dead: none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre for burying thy dead. 7And Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth, 8and spoke to them, saying, If it be your will that I should bury my dead from before me, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is his, which is at the end of his field; for the full money let him give it to me amongst you for a possession of a sepulchre. 10And Ephron was dwelling among the sons of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, in the ears of the sons of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, 11No, my lord: hear me. The field give I thee; and the cave that is in it, to thee I give it; before the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. 12And Abraham bowed down before the people of the land; 13and he spoke to Ephron, in the ears of the people of the land, saying, But if only thou wouldst listen to me, I give the money for the field: take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. 14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15My lord, hearken to me. A field of four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
16And Abraham hearkened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the money that he had named in the ears of the sons of Heth — four hundred shekels of silver, current with the merchant. 17So the field of Ephron, which was at Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all its borders round about, 18were assured to Abraham for a possession before the eyes 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 at Machpelah, opposite to Mamre: that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. 20And the field and the cave that was in it were assured to Abraham for a possession of a sepulchre by the sons of Heth.
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Genesis 23: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Genesis 23
23
Sarah’s Burial
1Now Sarah lived 127 years; these were all the years of her life. 2Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron # Gn 35:27; Jos 14:15; 15:13; 21:11; Jdg 1:10) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites: # Or sons of Heth ; also in vv. 5,7,10,16,18,20 4“I am a foreign resident among you. # Gn 17:8; Lv 25:23; 1Ch 29:15; Ps 39:12; 105:12; Heb 11:9,13 Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.” # Lit dead from before me # Gn 49:30; Ac 7:16
5The Hittites replied to Abraham, # Lit Abraham, saying to him 6“Listen to us, lord. # Lit my lord You are God’s chosen one # Or prince of God, or mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place. # Or finest graves None of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead.”
7Then Abraham rose and bowed down to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8He said to them, “If you are willing for me to bury my dead, listen to me and ask Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9to give me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me in your presence, for the full price, as a burial place.”
10Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. So in the presence # Lit ears of all the Hittites who came to the gate of his city, # Gn 34:20,24; Ru 4:1 Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham: 11“No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence # Lit in the eyes of the sons of my people. Bury your dead.”
12Abraham bowed down to the people of the land 13and said to Ephron in the presence # Lit ears of the people of the land, “Please listen to me. Let me pay the price of the field. Accept it from me, and let me bury my dead there.”
14Ephron answered Abraham and said to him, 15“My lord, listen to me. Land worth 400 shekels of silver # Ex 30:13; Ezk 45:12 — what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” 16Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had agreed to in the presence # Lit ears of the Hittites: 400 shekels of silver at the current commercial rate. # Jr 32:9; Zch 11:12 17So Ephron’s field # Gn 25:9; 49:29-32; 50:13 at Machpelah near Mamre — the field with its cave and all the trees anywhere within the boundaries of the field — became 18Abraham’s possession in the presence of all the Hittites who came to the gate of his city. 19After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20The field with its cave passed from the Hittites to Abraham # Jr 32:10-14 as a burial place.
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