Genesis 23 · The promise through Isaac
Sarah dies at 127, and Abraham mourns. The chapter gives extended attention to a legal purchase because the promised family still lives among others in a land it does not possess. A grave becomes its first explicitly purchased holding in this narrative.
The biblical text
1And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
2And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
3And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
4I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
5And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
6Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
7And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
8And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
9That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.
10And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,
11Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.
12And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.
13And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
15My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
16And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
17And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure
18Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.
19And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
20And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.
King James Version. Text from eBible.org. Edition and rights.
Original study notes
Abraham mourns Sarah and identifies himself as a stranger and sojourner. The local people speak respectfully of him, but he must negotiate for a burial place. Promise has not removed grief or the ordinary need to deal honorably with neighbors.
Abraham asks for Ephron's cave of Machpelah and insists on paying. The exchange takes place before witnesses, and the silver is weighed according to recognized commercial practice. The narrator preserves the cost and procedure rather than treating the land as an unrecorded gift.
The field, cave, trees and boundaries are confirmed in the transaction. Sarah is buried, and the property is established as Abraham's burial possession. Later burials will make the site a repeated statement of family belonging and hope in Canaan.
Do not turn the negotiation into a simple story about a dishonest seller. The narrator records a formal transaction and its witnesses without giving every participant's motive.
Explore difficult questions →The description establishes a recognized, witnessed holding for the family.
Abraham mourns fully while securing a burial place in the land associated with the promise.
Read these passages in context. Notice what they repeat, develop or clarify.
