Shared Word Translation
Genesis 23
The Death of Sarah
Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
Abraham Requests a Burial Place
Then Abraham rose from before his dead and spoke to the Hittites, saying, “I am a sojourner and a foreigner among you. Give me property among you for a burial place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
The Hittites answered Abraham, “Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to prevent you from burying your dead.”
Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the Hittites. And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me for its full price among you as property for a burial place.”
The Purchase of the Cave of Machpelah
Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who entered the gate of his city, saying, “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.”
Then Abraham bowed before the people of the land. And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If only you would hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.”
Ephron answered Abraham, “My lord, listen to me. A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between me and you? Bury your dead.” Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver according to the standard weight current among the merchants.
So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole boundary, was transferred to Abraham as a possession in the sight of the Hittites, before all who entered the gate of his city.
Sarah Buried in Canaan
After 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. Thus the field and the cave that is in it were transferred to Abraham from the Hittites as property for a burial place.