Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Genesis 23:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Sarah's lifespan is completed at 127 years. The age notice marks the close of the matriarch whose promised son has carried the preceding story.
Read It With
- Genesis 23:1–20
Read verses 1–2 together. Verse 1 records Sarah's years; verse 2 reports her death, location, and Abraham's mourning. The text gives no cause of death.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The new section begins by marking the end of Sarah's life before narrating Abraham's response.
Read Genesis 23:1–2 together
Why these verses belong together: Sarah's age and death belong with Abraham's mourning and establish the human need behind the entire chapter.
Verse 1. 1 And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
Verse 2. 2 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.
What Remains True
A person's life deserves truthful remembrance without filling what Scripture leaves unstated.
How It Can Shape Life
- Honor a person's real life and significance without inventing causes, motives, or private details that the evidence does not provide.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 23:1–20 — Abraham Buys a Burial Place for SarahSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? very strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 ↗