the Third Week after Easter
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Contemporary English Version
Genesis 23:20
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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The field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure to Avraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Het.
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.
And the field and the cave which was in it passed to Abraham as a burial site from the Hittites.
So Abraham bought the field and the cave in it from the Hittites to use as a burying place.
So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial site from the sons of Heth.
The field and the cave in it were deeded over to Abraham by the Hittites as a [permanent] possession and burial place.
So the field and the cave that was in it were deeded over to Abraham for a burial site by the sons of Heth.
Thus the fielde and the caue, that is therein, was made sure vnto Abraham for a possession of buriall by the Hittites.
So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded over to Abraham for a possession for a burial site by the sons of Heth.
The field and its cave had been purchased by Avraham from the sons of Het as a burial-site which would belong to him.
And the field and the cave that was in it were assured to Abraham for a possession of a sepulchre by the sons of Heth.
Abraham bought the field and the cave in it from the Hittites. So this became his property to be used as a burial place.
The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.
Thus the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham for a possession of a burial ground by the Hittites.
So the field which had belonged to the Hittites, and the cave in it, became the property of Abraham for a burial ground.
The field with its cave passed from the Hethites to Abraham as burial property.
And the field was certified, and the cave in it, to Abraham for a burial possession from the sons of Heth.
So the felde and the caue therin was made sure of the Hethites vnto Abraham, for a possession to bury in.
And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the children of Heth.
And the field and the hollow rock were handed over to Abraham as his property by the children of Heth.
And so both the fielde & the caue that is therein, was made vnto Abraham a sure possession to bury in, by the sonnes of Heth.
And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the children of Heth.
And the field, and the caue that is therein, were made sure vnto Abraham, for a possession of a burying place, by the sonnes of Heth.
So the field and the cave which was in it were made sure to Abraam for possession of a burying place, by the sons of Chet.
And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the children of Heth.
So the field and its cave were deeded by the Hittites to Abraham as a burial site.
And the feeld, and the denne that was therynne, was confermyd of the sones of Heth to Abraham, in to possessioun of sepulcre.
and established are the field, and the cave which [is] in it, to Abraham for a possession of a burying-place, from the sons of Heth.
And the field, and the cave that [is] in it were made sure to Abraham for a possession of a burying-place, by the sons of Heth.
The field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure to Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth.
So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.
So the field and the cave were transferred from the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place.
The field and the grave in it were handed over to Abraham by the sons of Heth for a place to bury his wife.
The field and the cave that is in it passed from the Hittites into Abraham's possession as a burying place.
So was confirmed the field with the cave which was therein to Abraham, for a possession of a buryingplace, - from the sons of Heth.
And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that was in it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.
The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as a possession for a burying place by the Hittites.
And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure to Abraham for a possession of a burying-place by the sons of Heth.
So the field and the cave that is in it, were deeded over to Abraham for a burial site by the sons of Heth.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
were: Ruth 4:7-10, 2 Samuel 24:24, Jeremiah 32:10, Jeremiah 32:11
for a: Genesis 25:9, Genesis 49:31, Genesis 49:32, Genesis 50:5, Genesis 50:13, Genesis 50:24, Genesis 50:25, 2 Kings 21:18
Reciprocal: Genesis 23:17 - the field Genesis 35:29 - his sons 1 Chronicles 1:13 - Heth
Cross-References
Abraham bowed down
Ephron was sitting there near the city gate, when Abraham made this request, and he answered,
"But sir," the man replied, "the property is worth only four hundred pieces of silver. Why should we haggle over such a small amount? Take the land. It's yours."
His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him east of Hebron in Machpelah Cave that was part of the field Abraham had bought from Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. Abraham was buried there beside his wife Sarah.
Just before my father died, he made me promise to bury him in his burial cave in Canaan. If the king will give me permission to go, I will come back here."
They took him to Canaan and buried him in Machpelah Cave, the burial place Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite.
But David answered, "No! I have to pay you what they're worth. I can't offer the Lord my God a sacrifice that I got for nothing." So David bought the threshing place and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver.
He died and was buried in Uzza Garden near his palace, and his son Amon became king.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And the field, and the cave that is therein, was made sure to Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace, by the sons of Heth. Who were witnesses of the transaction between Abraham and Ephron; and this was further made sure by Sarah's being buried in it, which was taking possession of it, for the use for which it was bought; and was a pledge and earnest of the future possession of the land of Canaan by the seed of Abraham: this was the first piece of ground in it possessed by Abraham and his seed; and it being called the possession of a buryingplace, shows that there is no contradiction between this and what Stephen says, Acts 7:5; he had a possession to bury in, but not to live upon; not any ground of his own to till and sow, or build upon.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- The Death of Sarah
2. ארבע קרית qı̂ryat-'arba‛, “Qirjath-arba‘, city of Arba.” ארבע 'arba‛, “Arba‘, four.”
8. עפרון ‛eprôn, “‘Ephron, of the dust, or resembling a calf.” צחר tshochar, “Tsochar, whiteness.”
9. מכפלה makpêlâh, “Makpelah, doubled.”
The death and burial of Sarah are here recorded. This occasions the purchase of the field of Makpelah, in the cave of which is her sepulchre.
Genesis 23:1-2
Sarah is the only woman whose age is recorded in Scripture. She meets with this distinction as the wife of Abraham and the mother of the promised seed. “A hundred and twenty and seven years,” and therefore thirty-seven years after the birth of her son. “In Kiriatharba.” Arba is called the father of Anak Joshua 15:13; Joshua 21:11; that is, of the Anakim or Bene Anak, a tall or gigantic tribe Numbers 13:22; Numbers 28:0; Numbers 33:0, who were subsequently dispossessed by Kaleb. The Anakim were probably Hittites. Abraham had been absent from Hebron, which is also called Mamre in this very chapter Genesis 23:17, Genesis 23:19, not far from forty years, though he appears to have still kept up a connection with it, and had at present a residence in it. During this interval the sway of Arba may have commenced. “In the land of Kenaan,” in contradistinction to Beer-sheba in the land of the Philistines, where we last left Abraham. “Abraham went to mourn for Sarah,” either from Beer-sheba or some out-field where he had cattle pasturing.
Genesis 23:3-16
Abraham purchases a burying-ground in the land. “The sons of Heth.” These are the lords of the soil. “A stranger and a sojourner.” He is a stranger, not a Hittite; a sojourner, a dweller in the land, not a mere visitor or traveller. The former explains why he has no burial-ground; the latter, why he asks to purchase one. “Bury my dead out of my sight.” The bodies of those most dear to us decay, and must be removed from our sight. Abraham makes his request in the most general terms. In the somewhat exaggerated style of Eastern courtesy, the sons of Heth reply, “Hear us, my lord.” One speaks for all; hence, the change of number. “My lord” is simply equivalent to our “Sir,” or the German “mein Herr.” “A prince of God” in those times of simple faith was a chief notably favored of God, as Abraham had been in his call, his deliverance in Egypt, his victory over the kings, his intercession for the cities of the vale, and his protection the court of Abimelek. Some of these events were well known to the Hittites, as they had occurred while he was residing among them.
Genesis 23:7-9
Abraham now makes a specific offer to purchase the field of Makpelah from Ephron the son of Zohar. “Treat for me” - deal, use your influence with him. Abraham approaches in the most cautious manner to the individual with whom he wishes to treat. “The cave of Makpelah.” The burial of the dead in caves, natural and artificial, was customary in this Eastern land. The field seems to have been called Makpelah (doubled) from the double form of the cave, or the two caves perhaps communicating with each other, which it contained. “For the full silver.” Silver seems to have been the current medium of commerce at this time. God was known, and mentioned at an earlier period Genesis 2:11; Genesis 13:2. “A possession of a burying-ground.” We learn from this passage that property in land had been established at this time. Much of the country, however, must have been a common, or unappropriated pasture ground.
Genesis 23:10-16
The transaction now comes to be between Abraham and Ephron. “Was sitting.” The sons of Heth were seated in council, and Ephron among them. Abraham seems to have been seated also; for he stood up to make his obeisance and request Genesis 23:7. “Before all that went in at the gate of his city.” The conference was public. The place of session for judicial and other public business was the gate of the city, which was common ground, and where men were constantly going in and out. “His city.” This implies not that he was the king or chief, but simply that he was a respectable citizen. If Hebron was the city of the Hittites here intended, its chief at the time seems to have been Arba. “The field give I thee.” Literally, have I given thee - what was resolved upon was regarded as done. “In the sight of the sons of my people.” This was a public declaration or deed before many witnesses.
He offers the field as a gift, with the Eastern understanding that the receiver would make an ample recompense. This mode of dealing had its origin in a genuine good-will, that was prepared to gratify the wish of another as soon as it was made known, and as far as it was reasonable or practicable. The feeling seems to have been still somewhat fresh and unaffected in the time of Abraham, though it has degenerated into a mere form of courtesy. “If thou wilt, hear me.” The language is abrupt, being spoken in the haste of excitement. “I give silver.” “I have given” in the original; that is, I have determined to pay the full price. If the Eastern giver was liberal, the receiver was penetrated with an equal sense of the obligation conferred, and a like determination to make an equivalent return. “The land is four hundred shekels.” This is the familiar style for “the land is worth so much.” The shekel is here mentioned for the first time. It was originally a weight, not a coin. The weight at least was in common use before Abraham. If the shekel be nine pennyweights and three grains, the price of the field was about forty-five pounds sterling. “And Abraham weighed.” It appears that the money was uncoined silver, as it was weighed. “Current with the merchant.” The Kenaanites, of whom the Hittites were a tribe, were among the earliest traders in the world. The merchant, as the original imports, is the traveller who brings the wares to the purchasers in their own dwellings or towns. To him a fixed weight and measure were necessary.
Genesis 23:17-20
The completion of the sale is stated with great formality. No mention is made of any written deed of sale. Yet Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remained in undisturbed possession of this burial-ground. Undisputed tenure seems to have been acknowledged as a title. The burial of Sarah is then simply noted. The validity of Abraham’s title is practically evinced by the actual burial of Sarah, and is recited again on account of the importance of the fact.
This chapter is interesting as containing the first record of mourning for the dead, of burial, of property in land, of purchase of land, of silver as a medium of purchase, and of a standard of weight. Mourning for the dead was, no doubt, natural on the first death. Burial was a matter of necessity, in order, as Abraham says, to remove the body out of sight, as soon as it was learned by experience that it would be devoured by beasts of prey, or become offensive by putrefaction. To bury or cover it with earth was a more easy and natural process than burning, and was therefore earlier and more general. Property in land was introduced where tribes became settled, formed towns, and began to practise tillage. Barter was the early mode of accommodating each party with the articles he needed or valued. This led gradually to the use of the precious metals as a “current” medium of exchange - first by weight, and then by coins of a fixed weight and known stamp.
The burial of Sarah is noted because she was the wife of Abraham and the mother of the promised seed. The purchase of the field is worthy of note, as it is the first property of the chosen race in the promised land. Hence, these two events are interwoven with the sacred narrative of the ways of God with man.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 23:20. And the field, c. were made sure — ויקם vaiyakom, were established, caused to stand the whole transaction having been regulated according to all the forms of law then in use.
1. IN this transaction between Abraham and the sons of Heth concerning the cave and field of Machpelah, we have the earliest account on record of the purchase of land. The simplicity, openness, and candour on both sides cannot be too much admired.
2. Sarah being dead, Abraham being only a sojourner in that land, shifting from place to place for the mere purpose of pasturing his flocks, and having no right to any part of the land, wished to purchase a place in which he might have the continual right of sepulture. For this purpose, 1. He goes to the gate of the city, the place where, in all ancient times, justice was administered, and bargains and sales concluded, and where for these purposes the elders of the people sat. 2. He there proposes to buy the cave known by the name of the Cave of Machpelah, the cave of the turning or the double cave, for a burying place for his family. 3. To prevent him from going to any unnecessary expense, the people with one voice offer him the privilege of burying his wife in any of their sepulchres; this appearing to them to be no more than the common rights of hospitality and humanity required. 4. Abraham, intent on making a purchase, Ephron, the owner of the field and cave, values them at four hundred shekels, but at the same time wishes Abraham to receive the whole as a gift. 5. Abraham refuses the gift and weighs down the silver specified. 6. The people who enter in at the gate, i.e., the inhabitants coming from or going to their ordinary occupations in the country, witness the transaction, and thus the conveyance to Abraham is made sure without the intervention of those puzzlers of civil affairs by whose tricks and chicanery property often becomes insecure, and right and succession precarious and uncertain. But this censure does not fall on lawyers properly so called, who are men of honour, and whose office, in every well-regulated state, is as useful as it is respectable. But the accumulation and complex nature of almost all modern systems of law puzzle even justice herself, and often induce decisions by which truth falls in the streets and equity goes backwards. In the first ages of mankind, suspicion, deceit, and guile seem to have had a very limited influence. Happy days of primitive simplicity! When shall they return?
3. We often hear of the rudeness and barbarity of the primitive ages, but on what evidence? Every rule of politeness that could be acted upon in such a case as that mentioned here, is brought into full practice. Is it possible to read the simple narration in this place without admiring the amiable, decent, and polite conduct displayed on both sides? Had even Lord Chesterfield read this account, his good sense would have led him to propose it as a model in all transactions between man and his fellows. There is neither awkward, stiff formality on the one hand, nor frippery or affectation on the other. Decent respect, good sense, good nature, and good breeding, are all prominently displayed. And how highly laudable and useful is all this! A pedant or a boor on either side might have destroyed the simplicity of the whole transaction; the one by engendering caution and suspicion, and the other by exciting disgust. In all such transactions the beau and the boor are equally to be avoided.
From the first no sincerity can be expected, and the manners of the latter render him intolerable. The religion of the Bible recommends and inculcates orderly behaviour, as well as purity of heart and life. They who, under the sanction of religion, trample under foot the decent forms of civil respect, supposing that because they are religious they have a right to be rude, totally mistake the spirit of Christianity, for love or charity (the soul and essence of that religion) behaveth not itself unseemly. Every attentive reader of the thirteenth chapter of St. Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, will clearly discern that the description of true religion given in that place applies as forcibly to good breeding as to inward and outward holiness. What lessons of honesty, decent respect, and good manners could a sensible man derive from Abraham treating with the sons of Heth for the cave of Machpelah, and William Penn treating with the American Indians for the tract of land now called Pennsylvania! I leave others to draw the parallel, and to show how exactly the conduct and spirit of patriarch the first were exemplified in the conduct and spirit of patriarch the second. Let the righteous be had in everlasting remembrance!
