Section 41 of 10423:1–20Genesis

Go to another section

Jump to a verse

King James VersionGenesis 23:1–20

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

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

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

I 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.

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

Hear 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.

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

And 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,

That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in 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.

And 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,

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

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

And 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.

And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,

My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

And 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.

And 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

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

And 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.

And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Genesis 23:1–20

Abraham Buys a Burial Place for Sarah

Grief, then a purchased grave

Sarah dies at Hebron. Abraham mourns and weeps, then asks the local community for a burial possession. He remains a resident outsider even when they honor him. He insists on paying Ephron fully, in public, for the field and cave of Machpelah.

The field, cave, trees, boundaries, witnesses, and confirmation all matter. This is the family's first narrated foothold in Canaan, secured for Sarah's body, not a formula for modern real-estate success.

How this should shape us

Let mourning and practical responsibility stand together. Use clear, fair, witnessed agreements, and treat resident outsiders and grieving families as neighbors rather than as people to exploit.

Teach it back

Why does Genesis devote so much space to the purchase after reporting Sarah's death, and what does Abraham's status as a resident outsider help explain?

Explain the section in your own words

Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.

Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

What did Ephron's public offer mean?

Best judgment:

How certain? probable

Was four hundred shekels an inflated price?

Best judgment:

How certain? uncertain

Who were the sons of Heth?

Best judgment:

How certain? uncertain

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Displayed wording, death and mourning, negotiation, payment, conveyance, burial, and later family-tomb connections.

Genesis 23:1–20 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 25:9–10; 35:19–20, 27–29; 49:29–32; 50:13

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Supports: Mourning and weeping roots, ger vetoshav, burial possession, full silver, gate, weighing, merchant standard, boundary, acquisition, and confirmation language.

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 23:1–20

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Supports: Resident-outsider terminology, prince-of-God idiom, sons-of-Heth caution, sale/conveyance language, gate setting, weighed silver, merchant standard, and property-confirmation wording.

NET Bible, Genesis 23 and translator notes 1–44

Genesis

Supports: Final-form placement, death and generational transition, land-promise development, and later family burial.

Genesis commentary, Abraham narrative discussion of Genesis 22–25

Genesis 16 and 22: Abraham and Isaac — Study Guide

Supports: Abraham-cycle placement and promise context only.

Open Yale Courses RLST 145, Abraham cycle lectures

Genesis

Supports: Literary placement and commentary navigation only.

Genesis, official Cambridge contents and introduction; commentary locator for Genesis 23

Abraham Negotiates to Buy the Cave of the Machpelah in the Promised Land

Supports: Three-round negotiation, local people and gate, gift-versus-sale alternatives, field/cave/trees conveyance, and the purchase's literary relationship to the land promise.

TheTorah.com, 'Abraham Negotiates to Buy the Cave of the Machpelah in the Promised Land,' especially sections on the first request, Ephron, payment, witnesses, and first acquired land rights; footnotes inspected

Abraham's Purchase of Ephron's Land in Anthropological Perspective

Supports: Burial language, group rights, land tenure, Abraham's status, and transaction formalities; use limited to public abstract.

Biblical Interpretation 21(2), 2013, pages 153–170; official abstract and metadata

Purchase of the Cave of Machpelah

Supports: Legal-form complexity, gift/purchase debate, and caution against declaring the 400-shekel amount unfair without adequate comparison evidence.

Israel Law Review 6(1), 1971, pages 29–38; Cambridge official extract and metadata

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Displayed wording, death and mourning, negotiation, payment, conveyance, burial, and later family-tomb connections.

Exact location: Genesis 23:1–20 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 25:9–10; 35:19–20, 27–29; 49:29–32; 50:13

Open source ↗

hebrew text morphology and lemma data

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project

Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026

Supports: Mourning and weeping roots, ger vetoshav, burial possession, full silver, gate, weighing, merchant standard, boundary, acquisition, and confirmation language.

Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 23:1–20

Open source ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026

Supports: Resident-outsider terminology, prince-of-God idiom, sons-of-Heth caution, sale/conveyance language, gate setting, weighed silver, merchant standard, and property-confirmation wording.

Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 23 and translator notes 1–44

Open NET Genesis 23 ↗

modern open whole book commentary

Genesis

T. Desmond Alexander

The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023

Supports: Final-form placement, death and generational transition, land-promise development, and later family burial.

Exact location: Genesis commentary, Abraham narrative discussion of Genesis 22–25

Open source ↗

modern critical open study guide

Genesis 16 and 22: Abraham and Isaac — Study Guide

Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study

Yale Divinity School, 2021 course; page inspected 2026

Supports: Abraham-cycle placement and promise context only.

Exact location: Open Yale Courses RLST 145, Abraham cycle lectures

Open source ↗

modern scholarly commentary publisher material

Genesis

Bill T. Arnold

Cambridge University Press, 2009

Supports: Literary placement and commentary navigation only.

Exact location: Genesis, official Cambridge contents and introduction; commentary locator for Genesis 23

Open source ↗

open modern specialist literary and historical study

Abraham Negotiates to Buy the Cave of the Machpelah in the Promised Land

Diana Edelman

TheTorah.com, 2021; updated 2026

Supports: Three-round negotiation, local people and gate, gift-versus-sale alternatives, field/cave/trees conveyance, and the purchase's literary relationship to the land promise.

Exact location: TheTorah.com, 'Abraham Negotiates to Buy the Cave of the Machpelah in the Promised Land,' especially sections on the first request, Ephron, payment, witnesses, and first acquired land rights; footnotes inspected

Open source ↗

peer reviewed anthropological and land tenure study abstract limited

Abraham's Purchase of Ephron's Land in Anthropological Perspective

Stephen C. Russell

Biblical Interpretation 21(2), pages 153–170, 2013

Supports: Burial language, group rights, land tenure, Abraham's status, and transaction formalities; use limited to public abstract.

Exact location: Biblical Interpretation 21(2), 2013, pages 153–170; official abstract and metadata

Open source ↗

peer reviewed ancient law study extract limited

Purchase of the Cave of Machpelah

Raymond Westbrook

Israel Law Review 6(1), pages 29–38, 1971

Supports: Legal-form complexity, gift/purchase debate, and caution against declaring the 400-shekel amount unfair without adequate comparison evidence.

Exact location: Israel Law Review 6(1), 1971, pages 29–38; Cambridge official extract and metadata

Open source ↗

Genesis 23:1–20, King James Version

Grief, then a purchased grave

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

What did Ephron's public offer mean?

Was four hundred shekels an inflated price?

Who were the sons of Heth?

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Genesis

Genesis 16 and 22: Abraham and Isaac — Study Guide

Genesis

Abraham Negotiates to Buy the Cave of the Machpelah in the Promised Land

Abraham's Purchase of Ephron's Land in Anthropological Perspective

Purchase of the Cave of Machpelah