Genesis 23

The Death and Burial of Sarahⓘ

Sarah dies at Hebron¹Now Sarah lived to be 127 years old. ²She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.

Abraham asks the Hittites for a burial place³Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and said to the Hittites,^{a 4}“I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”

⁵The Hittites replied to Abraham, ⁶“Listen to us, sir. You are Godʼs chosen one among us. Bury your dead in the finest of our tombs. None of us will withhold his tomb for burying your dead.”

⁷Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. ⁸“If you are willing for me to bury my dead,” he said to them, “listen to me, and approach Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf ⁹to sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me in your presence for full price, so that I may have a burial site.”

Ephron and Abraham bargain¹⁰Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth. So in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, ¹¹“No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

¹²Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land ¹³and said to Ephron in their presence, “If you will please listen to me, I will pay you the price of the field. Accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.”

¹⁴Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵“Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver,^b but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

¹⁶Abraham agreed to Ephronʼs terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants.

Abraham buries Sarah in Machpelah¹⁷So Ephronʼs field at Machpelah near Mamre, the cave that was in it, and all the trees within the boundaries of the field were deeded over ¹⁸to Abrahamʼs possession in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. ¹⁹After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰So the field and its cave were deeded by the Hittites to Abraham as a burial site.