Genesis 23:7

7 And Abraham rose up and bowed to the people of the land, to the Hittites.

Genesis 23:7 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 23:7

And Abraham stood up
For, having made his speech to the children of Heth, he sat down waiting for an answer; or rather perhaps they obliged him to sit down, out of reverence to so great a personage; and when they had done speaking, he rose up: and bowed himself to the people of the land;
the principal of them, in token of the grateful sense he had of the honour they had done him, and of the great civility with which they had used him: [even] to the children of Heth;
this seems to be added to distinguish them from the common people, and as an explanation of the preceding clause; (See Gill on Genesis 23:3).

Genesis 23:7 In-Context

5 And the Hittites answered Abraham [and] said to him,

6 "Hear us, my lord, you [are] a mighty prince in our midst. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites. None of us {will withhold his burial site} from you [for] burying your dead."

7 And Abraham rose up and bowed to the people of the land, to the Hittites.

8 And he spoke with them, saying, "{If you are willing} [that] I bury my dead from before me, hear me and intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar,

9 that he may sell to me the cave of Machpelah which {belongs to him}, which [is] at the end of his field. At full value let him sell [it] to me in your midst as {a burial site}."

Footnotes

• [a] Or "sons of Heth"