Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Genesis 23
Sarah’s Death
Sarah lived 127 years. Those were the years of Sarah's life. She died at Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, in Canaan. Abraham came to mourn Sarah and weep for her.
A Burial Property
Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites: “I am a stranger living among you. Give me a burial property here, so I can bury my dead out of my sight.”
The Hittites answered Abraham, “Listen to us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold a tomb from you.”
Abraham stood and bowed to the people of the land, the Hittites.
He said to them, “If you are willing for me to bury my dead out of my sight, listen to me and appeal for me to Ephron son of Zohar. Ask him to sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him at the end of his field. Let him give it to me for the full price, in your presence, as a burial property.”
Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. He answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of everyone entering his city's gate:
“No, my lord, listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave in it. In the presence of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”
Abraham bowed before the people of the land.
He said to Ephron, in the people's hearing, “Please, listen to me. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so that I can 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 you and me? Bury your dead.”
Abraham agreed to Ephron's terms and weighed out the silver Ephron had named in the Hittites' hearing: four hundred shekels, at the weight used by merchants.
The Field and the Cave
So Ephron's field at Machpelah, facing Mamre—the field, the cave in it, and all the trees within its boundaries— became Abraham's purchased property in the presence of the Hittites, of everyone entering the city's gate.
Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, that is, Hebron, in Canaan.
The field and its cave were confirmed as Abraham's burial property, transferred from the Hittites.