Verse Lens · Context pointer
Genesis 23:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Abraham rises from before Sarah's body and speaks to the local sons of Heth. The verse moves from mourning to the public task of arranging burial.
Read It With
- Genesis 23:1–20
Read verses 1–6. Verses 1–2 establish the death and grief; verses 4–6 explain Abraham's status, request, and the community's initial response.
Why It Needs Context
This is a transition from mourning to negotiation. It does not by itself identify the sons of Heth, state Abraham's request, or supply a complete teaching about grief.
Read Genesis 23:3–6 together
Why these verses belong together: Abraham's status and request are answered by the local community's offer of tomb access.
Verse 3. 3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
Verse 4. 4 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.
Verse 5. 5 And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Verse 6. 6 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.
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 ↗