Genesis 23
23
1And Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.
2And she died in the city of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of Chanaan: and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.
3And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to the children of Heth, saying:
4I am a stranger and sojourner among you: give me the right of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead.
5The children of Heth answered, saying:
6My Lord, hear us: Thou art a prince of God among us. Bury thy dead in our principle sepulchres: and no man shall have power to hinder thee from burying thy dead in his sepulchre.
7Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to wit, the children of Heth:
8And said to them: If it please your soul that I should bury my dead, hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron the son of Seor.
9That he may give me the double cave, which he hath in the end of his field. For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me before you, for a possession of a burying place.
10Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the children of Heth. And Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of all that went in at the gate of the city, saying:
11Let it not be so, my lord, but do thou rather hearken to what I say: The field I deliver to thee, and the cave that is therein, in the presence of the children of my people, bury thy dead.
12Abraham bowed down before the people of the land,
13And he spoke to Ephron, in the presence of the people: I beseech thee to hear me. I will give money for the field. Take it, and so I will bury my dead in it.
14And Ephron answered:
15My lord, hear me. The ground which thou desirest, is worth four hundred sicles of silver. This is the price between me and thee. But what is this? Bury thy dead.
16And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the money that Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred sicles of silver of common current money.
17And the field that before was Ephron's, wherein was the double cave, looking towards Mambre, both it and the cave, and all the trees thereof in all its limits round about,
18Was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the children of Heth, and of all that went in at the gate of his city.
19And so Abraham buried Sara his wife, in a double cave of the field, that looked towards Mambre. This is Hebron in the land of Chanaan.
20And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that was in it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.
An historical text 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.
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com