And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.

2And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

3And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

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.

5And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,

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.

7And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

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,

9That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which isin 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.

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,

11Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that istherein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

12And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.

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.

14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,

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.

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.

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

18Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.

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.

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

And Sarah was an hundred and seuen and twenty yeeres olde: these were the yeeres of the life of Sarah.

2And Sarah died in Kiriath arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: And Abraham came to mourne for Sarah, and to weepe for her.

3 And Abraham stood vp from before his dead, & spake vnto the sonnes of Heth, saying,

4I am a stranger and a soiourner with you: giue me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

5And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying vnto him,

6Heare vs, my Lord, thou art a mightie Prince amongst vs: in the choise of our sepulchres bury thy dead: none of vs shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

7And Abraham stood vp and bowed himselfe to the people of the land, euen to the children of Heth.

8And hee communed with them, saying, if it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, heare me, and entreat for me to Ephron the sonne of Zohar:

9That he may giue me the caue of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field: for as much money as it is worth he shall giue it mee, for a possession of a burying place amongst you.

10And Ephron dwelt amongst the children of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, euen of all that went in at the gates of his citie, saying,

11Nay, my lord, heare mee: the field giue I thee, and the caue that is therein, I giue it thee, in the presence of the sonnes of my people giue I it thee: bury thy dead.

12And Abraham bowed downe himselfe before the people of the land.

13And he spake vnto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt giue it, I pray thee, heare mee: I will giue thee money for the field: take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.

14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying vnto him,

15My lord, hearken vnto mee: the land is worth foure hundred shekels of siluer: what is that betwixt mee and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

16And Abraham hearkened vnto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the siluer, which he had named, in the audience of the sonnes of Heth, foure hundred shekels of siluer, currant money with the merchant.

17 And the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the fielde and the caue which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure

18Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gates of his Citie.

19And after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the caue of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.

20And the field, and the caue that is therein, were made sure vnto Abraham, for a possession of a burying place, by the sonnes of Heth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV == Gen 17:8 ; 1st Chr 29:15 ; Ps 105:12 ; Acts 7:5 ; Heb 11:9 , 13

 

 

VI == Gen 13:2 ; 14:14 ; 24:35

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X == gen 34:20 , 24 ; Ruth 4:4

 

 

 

XI == 2nd Sam 24:21-24

 

 

XV ==
Ex31:13 ; Ezek 45:12

 

XVI == Jer 32:9

 

= Gen 25:9 49:30-32 ; 50:13 ; Acts 7:16

 

 

 

 

 

XX == Ruth 4:7-10 ; Jer 32:10-11

 

1 The span of Sarah's life was one hundred and twenty-seven years.

2 She died in Kiriatharba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham performed the customary mourning rites for her.

3 Then he left the side of his dead one and addressed the Hittites:

4 "Although I am a resident alien among you, sell me from your holdings a piece of property for a burial ground, that I may bury my dead wife."

5 The Hittites answered Abraham: "Please, sir,

6 listen to us! You are an elect of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites. None of us would deny you his burial ground for the burial of your dead."

7 Abraham, however, began to bow low before the local citizens, the Hittites,

8 while he appealed to them: "If you will allow me room for burial of my dead, listen to me! Intercede for me with Ephron, son of Zohar, asking him

9 to sell me the cave of Machpelah that he owns; it is at the edge of his field. Let him sell it to me in your presence, at its full price, for a burial place."

10 Now Ephron was present with the Hittites. So Ephron the Hittite replied to Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites who sat on his town council:

11 "Please, sir, listen to me! I give you both the field and the cave in it; in the presence of my kinsmen I make this gift. Bury your dead!"

12 But Abraham, after bowing low before the local citizens, addressed Ephron in the hearing of these men:

13 "Ah, if only you would please listen to me! I will pay you the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there."

14 Ephron replied to Abraham, "Please,

15 sir, listen to me! A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver - what is that between you and me, as long as you can bury your dead?"

16 Abraham accepted Ephron's terms; he weighed out to him the silver that Ephron had stipulated in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver at the current market value.

17 Thus Ephron's field in Machpelah, facing Mamre, together with its cave and all the trees anywhere within its limits, was conveyed

18 to Abraham by purchase in the presence of all the Hittites who sat on Ephron's town council.

19 After this transaction, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

20 Thus the field with its cave was transferred from the Hittites to Abraham as a burial place.

v 1,2. Kiriath-arba is city of Arba, who was a great man among the Anakims, a race of giants dwelling in southern Canaan, Josh. 14:15. The name was later changed to Hebron, and is about 20 miles south of Jerusalem and 20 miles north of Beersheba, or well of the seven fold oath.

v 3,4. Abraham requests a burial place from these people of Heth, or Hittites.

v 5,6. These Hittites recognized Abraham as a “prince of God” (ASV) because the way God had blessed him, and offered him the choice of their land. (They may have thought giving him a plot would keep him from owning land among them.)

v 7-9. Abraham had in mind the place he wanted and offered to pay the price. Bowed down to the people: Adoravit, literally adored. But this word here, as well as in many other places in the Latin scriptures, is used to signify only an inferior honour and reverence paid to men, expressed by a bowing down of the body.

v 10,11. Here begins Oriental haggling. Ephron offered it free, knowing that the custom would be for Abraham to ask him to set a price. This reminds me of when I was a kid and after church someone would say, “Won’t you come home to dinner with us?”, knowing that Mother’s answer would be, “We can’t today, but another time.”

v 12,13. True to form, Abraham insists he will pay for it.

v 14,15. Ephron declines accepting money, but casually mentions that the field is worth what would be an outlandish figure. Then Abraham should offer a smaller amount and after so much haggling, they would come to a reasonable price.

v 16. Ephron was quite surprised when Abraham paid the asking price, many thousands of dollars in today’s money. Abraham was consistent with his refusal to accept the captured goods of the five kings in Gen. 14:22-24.

v 17,18. The field was accurately described and the transaction sealed at the gate of the city, the customary business place. This is the first land Abraham owned here.

v 19,20. Soon after, Sarah was buried there. Later, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah were buried, and Jacob requested his bones be returned and buried there.