New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Genesis 23
1
Sarah lived to be 127 years old.
2
She died at Kiriath Arba. Kiriath Arba is also called Hebron. It's in the land of Canaan. Sarah's death filled Abraham with sorrow. He went to the place where her body was lying. There he sobbed over her.
Reference
📍 Kiriath-arba
3
Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife. He spoke to the Hittites. He said,
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 10:15
4
"I'm an outsider. I'm a stranger among you. Sell me some property here as a place for a family tomb. Then I can bury my wife's body."
Reference
5
The Hittites replied to Abraham,
6
"Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead wife in the best of our tombs. None of us will refuse to sell you his tomb for burying her."
Reference
7
Then Abraham bowed down in front of the Hittites, the people of the land.
8
He said to them, "If you are willing to let me bury my dead wife, then listen to me. Speak to Zohar's son Ephron for me.
People
9
Ask him to sell me the cave of Machpelah. It belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price. I want it as a place to bury my dead wife among you."
📍 Machpelah
10
Ephron the Hittite was sitting there among his people. He replied to Abraham. All of the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city heard him.
Reference
11
"No, sir," Ephron said. "Listen to me. I will sell you the field. I'll also sell you the cave that's in the field. I will sell it to you in front of my people. Bury your wife."
Reference
12
Again Abraham bowed down in front of the people of the land.
13
He spoke to Ephron so they could hear him. He said, "Please listen to me. I'll pay the price of the field. Accept it from me. Then I can bury my dead wife there."
14
Ephron answered Abraham,
15
"Sir, listen to me. The land is worth ten pounds of silver. But what is that between you and me? Bury your wife."
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 45:12
16
Abraham agreed to Ephron's offer. He weighed out for him the price he had named. The Hittites there had heard it. The price was ten pounds of silver. Abraham measured it by the weights that were used by those who bought and sold.
Reference
People
17
So Ephron sold his field in Machpelah near Mamre to Abraham. He bought the field and the cave that was in it. He also bought all of the trees that were inside the borders of the field. Everything was sold
Reference
📍 Locations
18
to Abraham as his property. He bought it in front of all of the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city.
19
Then Abraham buried the body of his wife Sarah. He buried her in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in the land of Canaan. Mamre is at Hebron.
📍 Locations
20
So the field and the cave that was in it were sold to Abraham by the Hittites. The property became a place for his family tomb.
Summary of Genesis 23
Genesis chapter twenty-three picks up where the last one leaves off. There is no grand covenant ceremony here. There is no dramatic test of faith. Instead, we find the much more restrained but no less important task of Abraham burying his wife.
The chapter opens to find Sarah living to be one hundred and twenty-seven years old, who dies at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham goes to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her. It is a simple statement that has the weight of much behind it. After the long journey from Ur, the doubts and faith between Abraham and Sarah about Isaac's birth, and the laughter over it, Abraham truly has nothing to weep over now.
When he has finished mourning, he is faced with a problem. He is a stranger sojourning in the land of the Hittites, and he does not have any land to bury his wife. He goes to the Hittites and makes a simple request of them. I am a foreigner and stranger among you, he says, sell me property for a burial plot, so that I may bury my dead.
They respond well to that. They say to Abraham, you are a great prince among us, and you may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs, none among us will withhold from you even a place for burial.
But Abraham has something more specific in mind. He wants actual land as a burial plot, not the use of someone's tomb. He asks them then to intercede for him with a man named Ephron son of Zohar, so that he may buy the cave of Machpelah that belongs to Ephron and is at the end of his field. Abraham wants to buy it outright, in front of everyone, so that it will become his own.
What happens next is a curious little exchange between Abraham and Ephron. Ephron is holding court amongst the Hittites at the gate of the city, and he responds to Abraham's request in front of everyone who has gathered there. No my lord, he says, listen to me, I give you the field and the cave that is in it, in the presence of my people, bury your dead there.
It is not a request, but a gift. But Abraham, being perhaps a more traditional businessman, bows down before the people of the land and asks to pay the full price for it. Listen to me, he says, I will pay the price of the field, accept it from me so that I may bury my dead there.
Ephron is not deterred, and replies with the price of four hundred shekels of silver, but that is nothing between you and me, bury your dead there. Then Abraham agrees with no opposition, weighing out four hundred shekels of silver according to the weight standard of the merchants, and the money is paid to Ephron son of Zohar. The land and cave become Abraham's, and the transaction is witnessed by the Hittites and those who had come to the gate of the city.
After that, Abraham buries Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. The chapter closes with the statement that the field and the cave were legally deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as his burial site.
At first glance, it might seem that this is a chapter about the details of land law, but that is not really what is going on here. This is the first actual piece of land that Abraham has owned in Canaan. God has told him that the land will be his, but until now he has been living as a stranger and sojourner in it. Now he has a small foothold to call his own, bought at great expense from the local people.
It is also touching in a way, since the first piece of the promised land that Abraham manages to secure for his family is a burial cave. It is the place where his wife dies and is laid to rest, and it is also the place where he himself is buried, along with Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah. But in a story that is about the promise of the future and the land stretching out before the people in all directions, chapter twenty-three is a reminder that it is the love and mourning of the people that really anchors the story in the real world.
The chapter opens to find Sarah living to be one hundred and twenty-seven years old, who dies at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham goes to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her. It is a simple statement that has the weight of much behind it. After the long journey from Ur, the doubts and faith between Abraham and Sarah about Isaac's birth, and the laughter over it, Abraham truly has nothing to weep over now.
When he has finished mourning, he is faced with a problem. He is a stranger sojourning in the land of the Hittites, and he does not have any land to bury his wife. He goes to the Hittites and makes a simple request of them. I am a foreigner and stranger among you, he says, sell me property for a burial plot, so that I may bury my dead.
They respond well to that. They say to Abraham, you are a great prince among us, and you may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs, none among us will withhold from you even a place for burial.
But Abraham has something more specific in mind. He wants actual land as a burial plot, not the use of someone's tomb. He asks them then to intercede for him with a man named Ephron son of Zohar, so that he may buy the cave of Machpelah that belongs to Ephron and is at the end of his field. Abraham wants to buy it outright, in front of everyone, so that it will become his own.
What happens next is a curious little exchange between Abraham and Ephron. Ephron is holding court amongst the Hittites at the gate of the city, and he responds to Abraham's request in front of everyone who has gathered there. No my lord, he says, listen to me, I give you the field and the cave that is in it, in the presence of my people, bury your dead there.
It is not a request, but a gift. But Abraham, being perhaps a more traditional businessman, bows down before the people of the land and asks to pay the full price for it. Listen to me, he says, I will pay the price of the field, accept it from me so that I may bury my dead there.
Ephron is not deterred, and replies with the price of four hundred shekels of silver, but that is nothing between you and me, bury your dead there. Then Abraham agrees with no opposition, weighing out four hundred shekels of silver according to the weight standard of the merchants, and the money is paid to Ephron son of Zohar. The land and cave become Abraham's, and the transaction is witnessed by the Hittites and those who had come to the gate of the city.
After that, Abraham buries Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. The chapter closes with the statement that the field and the cave were legally deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as his burial site.
At first glance, it might seem that this is a chapter about the details of land law, but that is not really what is going on here. This is the first actual piece of land that Abraham has owned in Canaan. God has told him that the land will be his, but until now he has been living as a stranger and sojourner in it. Now he has a small foothold to call his own, bought at great expense from the local people.
It is also touching in a way, since the first piece of the promised land that Abraham manages to secure for his family is a burial cave. It is the place where his wife dies and is laid to rest, and it is also the place where he himself is buried, along with Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah. But in a story that is about the promise of the future and the land stretching out before the people in all directions, chapter twenty-three is a reminder that it is the love and mourning of the people that really anchors the story in the real world.