Genesis 23
23
Sarah’s Death and Burial
1Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2And Sarah died at #ch. 35:27; Josh. 14:15; Judg. 1:10 Kiriath-arba (that is, #ver. 19Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,#23:3 Hebrew sons of Heth; also verses 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20 4#ch. 17:8; 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 105:12; Heb. 11:9, 13 “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; #Acts 7:5give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5The Hittites answered Abraham, 6“Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God#23:6 Or a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” 7Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”
10Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who #ch. 34:20, 24; Ruth 4:1went in at the gate of his city, 11“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” 14Ephron answered Abraham, 15“My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred #Ex. 30:13; Ezek. 45:12shekels#23:15 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” 16Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham #1 Chr. 21:25; Jer. 32:9; Zech. 11:12weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
17So #ch. 25:9; 49:29-32; 50:13the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over 18to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20The field and the cave that is in it #[Ruth 4:7-10; Jer. 32:10-14]were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Genesis 23
23
Sarah Dies and Abraham Buys a Burial Ground
1Sarah lived to be 127 years old. 2She died in Hebron in the land of Canaan, and Abraham mourned her death.
3He left the place where his wife's body was lying, went to the Hittites, and said, 4#Heb 11.9, 13; Acts 7.16“I am a foreigner living here among you; sell me some land, so that I can bury my wife.”
5They answered, 6“Listen to us, sir. We look upon you as a mighty leader; bury your wife in the best grave that we have. Any of us would be glad to give you a grave, so that you can bury her.”
7Then Abraham bowed before them 8and said, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife here, please ask Ephron son of Zohar 9to sell me Machpelah Cave, which is near the edge of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for its full price, here in your presence, so that I can own it as a burial ground.”
10Ephron himself was sitting with the other Hittites at the meeting place at the city gate; he answered in the hearing of everyone there, 11“Listen, sir; I will give you the whole field and the cave that is in it. Here in the presence of my own people, I will give it to you, so that you can bury your wife.”
12But Abraham bowed before the Hittites 13and said to Ephron, so that everyone could hear, “May I ask you, please, to listen. I will buy the whole field. Accept my payment, and I will bury my wife there.”
14Ephron answered, 15“Sir, land worth only 400 pieces of silver — what is that between us? Bury your wife in it.” 16Abraham agreed and weighed out the amount that Ephron had mentioned in the hearing of the people — 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard weights used by the merchants.
17That is how the property which had belonged to Ephron at Machpelah, east of Mamre, became Abraham's. It included the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees in the field up to the edge of the property. 18It was recognized as Abraham's property by all the Hittites who were there at the meeting.
19Then Abraham buried his wife Sarah in that cave in the land of Canaan. 20So the field which had belonged to the Hittites, and the cave in it, became the property of Abraham for a burial ground.
Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.