23:1And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
23:2And 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.
23:3And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
23:4I 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.
23:5And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
23:6Hear 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.
23:7And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
23:8And 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,
23:9That 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.
23:10And 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,
23:11Nay, 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.
23:12And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.
23:13And 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.
23:14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
23:15My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
23:16And 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.
23:17And 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
23:18Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.
23:19And 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.
23:20And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.
Sarai is introduced as a wife and, in the same breath, as barren. Abram took a wife, and her name was Sarai; but Sarai was barren, she had no child. The doubling of the statement is deliberate: the Book of Genesis says it twice so that no reader will forget it through the next fourteen chapters. Her name means princess, and 20:12 will tell us she is Abram's half-sister, daughter of Terah by another mother. She goes with Terah, Abram and Lot from Ur toward Canaan, and stops with them in Haran. The promise of chapter 12 will be made to a man whose wife cannot have children, and that fact is the whole difficulty God chooses to work through.