Verse Lens · Context pointer
Genesis 23:14 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 14. 14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Ephron begins his reply to Abraham's insistence on payment. The amount and its rhetorical framing appear in verse 15, so the speech introduction cannot be interpreted independently.
Read It With
- Genesis 23:1–20
Read verses 13–16. Verse 13 offers payment; verses 14–15 contain Ephron's answer and named amount; verse 16 reports Abraham's acceptance and weighed silver.
Why It Needs Context
This is a transition within the bargaining speech, not an independent teaching about property, money, or Ephron's character.
Read Genesis 23:12–16 together
Why these verses belong together: Abraham insists on payment, Ephron names four hundred shekels, and Abraham weighs the amount.
Verse 12. 12 And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.
Verse 13. 13 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.
Verse 14. 14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Verse 15. 15 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.
Verse 16. 16 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.
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 context pointer
How certain is this explanation? 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 ↗