Genesis 23:8

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,

Genesis 23:8 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 23:8

And he communed with them
Entered into a discourse and conversation with them upon the above subject: saying, if it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight;
that is, in some place belonging to them, otherwise they could have no objection to the burying of his wife anywhere else: if now what they had said were not spoken in a complaisant way, but it was their real mind and will, and they were sincere and hearty in it, and very desirous of obliging him with a place among them for the interment of his dead; then he had this favour to ask of them: hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar;
a principal man among the Hittites, who had a field and a cave in it, near where Abraham dwelt, and very convenient for him, and for this purpose of his now under consideration: this man seems to be present at this time, as appears from ( Genesis 23:10 ) ; but Abraham did not think fit to address him himself, lest he should not so well and so easily succeed; and therefore entreats the princes of Heth to unite in a request to Ephron for the favour after mentioned, which he supposed they would not be backward to, if they were hearty in this affair; and, if Ephron was present, as he seems to be, it was a very handsome, honourable, and modest address to him through his brethren, which he could not with any politeness well withstand. The request follows:

Genesis 23:8 In-Context

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}."

10 Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city, [and] said,

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "if there is with your inner selves / souls"