1Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.2And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. (Ge 23:19; Ge 35:27; Jos 14:15; Jud 1:10)3And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,[1]4“I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” (Ge 17:8; 1Ch 29:15; Ps 105:12; Ac 7:5; Heb 11:9; Heb 11:13)5The Hittites answered Abraham,6“Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God[2] among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.”7Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.8And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar,9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”10Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, (Ge 34:20; Ge 34:24; Ru 4:1)11“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”12Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.13And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.”14Ephron answered Abraham,15“My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels[3] of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” (Ex 30:13; Eze 45:12)16Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants. (1Ch 21:25; Jer 32:9; Zec 11:12)17So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over (Ge 25:9; Ge 49:29; Ge 50:13)18to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.20The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites. (Ru 4:7; Jer 32:10)
Genesis 23
New International Version
The death of Sarah
1Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old.2She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.3Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites.[1] He said,4‘I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so that I can bury my dead.’5The Hittites replied to Abraham,6‘Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.’7Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites.8He said to them, ‘If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf9so that he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.’10Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city.11‘No, my lord,’ he said. ‘Listen to me; I give[2] you the field, and I give[3] you the cave that is in it. I give[4] it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.’12Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land13and he said to Ephron in their hearing, ‘Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so that I can bury my dead there.’14Ephron answered Abraham,15‘Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels[5] of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.’16Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.17So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre – both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field – was legally made over18to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city.19Afterwards Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.20So the field and the cave in it were legally made over to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.