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.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 23
23
Sarah's death and burial
1-2When Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years old, she died in Kiriath-Arba, better known as Hebron, in the land of Canaan. After Abraham had mourned for her, 3he went to the Hittites and said, 4“I live as a foreigner in your land, and I don't own any property where I can bury my wife. Please let me buy a piece of land.”#He 11.9,13; Ac 7.16.
5-6“Sir,” they answered, “you are an important man. Choose the best place to bury your wife. None of us would refuse you a resting place for your dead.”
7Abraham bowed down 8and replied, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife here, please ask Zohar's son Ephron 9to sell me Machpelah Cave at the end of his field. I'll pay what it's worth, and all of you can be witnesses.”
10Ephron was sitting there near the city gate, when Abraham made this request, and he answered, 11“Sir, the whole field, including the cave, is yours. With my own people as witnesses, I freely give it to you as a burial place for your dead.”
12Once again, Abraham bowed down 13and said to Ephron, “In front of these witnesses, I offer you the full price, so I can bury my wife. Please accept my offer.”
14-15“But sir,” the man replied, “the property is worth only four hundred pieces of silver. Why should we haggle over such a small amount? Take the land. It's yours.”
16-18Abraham accepted Ephron's offer and paid him the four hundred pieces of silver in front of everyone at the city gate. That's how Abraham got Ephron's property east of Hebron,#23.16-18 Hebron: The Hebrew text has “Mamre”, a place just north of Hebron. which included the field with all its trees, as well as Machpelah Cave at the end of the field. 19So Abraham buried his wife Sarah in Machpelah Cave that was in the field 20he had bought from the Hittites.
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012