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
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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