< Genesis 23 >
1 When Sarah was 127 years old,
2 she died at Kiriath-Arba [town], which is now called Hebron, in the Canaan region. After Abraham mourned for her,
3 he left the body of his wife and [went and] spoke to some of the descendants of Heth, saying,
4 “I am a foreigner [DOU] living among you, [so I do not own any land here]. Sell me some land here so that I can bury my wife’s body.”
5 They replied to him,
6 “Sir, you are a powerful prince among us. Choose one of our finest tombs and bury your wife’s [body] in it. None of us will refuse to sell land to you for a tomb for your relatives’ bodies.”
7 Then Abraham stood up and bowed [in respect] in front of the people who owned the land, the descendants of Heth.
8 He said to them, “If you say that you are willing for me to bury my wife’s body here, listen to me, and ask Ephron, the son of Zohar for me,
9 to sell to me the cave in the Machpelah area, which is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price he wants, so that I can have a burial ground among you.”
10 Ephron was sitting among the people near the city gate where many [HYP] descendants of Heth had gathered. He heard what Abraham said to them.
11 [So, just to make the customary reply to start the real discussion about a price], Ephron said, “No, sir, listen to me. I will give to you the field and the cave in it, without charge, with the people here as witnesses.”
12 Abraham again bowed before the people who lived in the area,
13 and said to Ephron, as all the others were listening, “[No], listen to me. If you are willing, I will pay for the field. You tell me what the price is, and I will give it to you. If you accept it, the field will become mine, and I can bury my wife’s body there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
15 “Sir, listen to me. The land is worth 400 pieces of silver. But the price is not important to you and me. Give me the money and bury your wife’s body there.”
16 Abraham agreed with Ephron about the price, and weighed for Ephron the 400 pieces of silver he had suggested, as everyone was listening, using the standard weights for silver used [in that area] by people who sold things.
17 So Ephron’s field in the Machpelah area, near Mamre, and the cave in the field, and all the trees that were in the field inside the boundaries of the land, became Abraham’s possession.
18 It became Abraham’s property as all the descendants of Heth were listening there at the city gate.
19 After that, Abraham buried his wife Sarah’s body in the cave in the field in the Machpelah area near Mamre, which is now called Hebron [city], in the Canaan region.
20 So the field and the cave in it were officially sold to Abraham by the descendants of Heth, to be used as a burial ground.
