Genesis 23:1-9

1 And the life of Sarah is a hundred and twenty and seven years -- years of the life of Sarah;

2 and Sarah dieth in Kirjath-Arba, which [is] Hebron, in the land of Caanan, and Abraham goeth in to mourn for Sarah, and to bewail her.

3 And Abraham riseth up from the presence of his dead, and speaketh unto the sons of Heth, saying,

4 `A sojourner and a settler I [am] with you; give to me a possession of a burying-place with you, and I bury my dead from before me.

5 And the sons of Heth answer Abraham, saying to him,

6 `Hear us, my lord; a prince of God [art] thou in our midst; in the choice of our burying-places bury thy dead: none of us his burying-place doth withhold from thee, from burying thy dead.'

7 And Abraham riseth and boweth himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth,

8 and he speaketh with them, saying, `If it is your desire to bury my dead from before me, hear me, and meet for me with Ephron, son of Zoar;

9 and he giveth to me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which [is] in the extremity of his field; for full money doth he give it to me, in your midst, for a possession of a burying-place.'

Genesis 23:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 23

This chapter treats of the age, death, and funeral of Sarah, and the place of her interment: of her age, Ge 23:1; of her death, Ge 23:2; of the motion Abraham made to the sons of Heth, to obtain a burial place among them, Ge 23:3,4; of the answer of them to him, giving him leave to bury in any of their sepulchres, Ge 23:5,6; of a second motion of his to them, to use their interest with Ephron the Hittite, to let him have the cave of Machpelah for the above purpose, Ge 23:7-9; of Ephron's consent unto it, Ge 23:10,11; of the purchase Abraham made of it for four hundred shekels of silver, Ge 23:12-16; and of its being secured unto him, which he interred Sarah his wife, Ge 23:17-20.