23
Sarah died
1-2 Sarah lived for 127 years and died at a place called Kiriath Arba. Hebron is another name for Kiriath Arba and is in the country called Canaan. Abraham was very sad and he sat down to cry next to her body.
3 Then he got up and had a meeting with the Hittite people who owned that country. 4 Abraham said to them, “I am a stranger here, and my wife has died. Can I buy some land from you so that I can bury her body?” +
5-6 The Hittite people answered, “Sir. We know that you are a great leader living in our country. You can bury your wife in the best place in our cemetery. We respect you and so no one will stop you.” 7-9 Abraham got down on his knees in front of the Hittite people. He said, “Thank you, but can you ask the man named Efron son of Zohar, if I can buy the cave in a place called Mack-pelah? I want to pay the full price for that cave so that I can bury my wife the right way for my culture. If I pay Efron that money, you will all know that from now on it is our cemetery.” +
10-11 Efron the Hittite was at the meeting. He said to Abraham, “Sir, I am going to say something to you in front of all these witnesses. I will give you the cave and the whole paddock as a present. Go and bury your wife in that cave.”
12-13 Abraham got down on his knees again in front of the Hittite people and said, “Thank you, but I really want to pay you the full price for that paddock and cave. Please accept my money so that I can bury my wife properly.”
14-15 Efron answered Abraham, “Sir, that paddock and cave is worth only 400 pieces of silver. It is like nothing to me. Please take the land and go and bury your wife.”
16 Abraham agreed with the price and gave Efron the 400 pieces of silver in front of the Hittite people who were standing near the town gate. 17-20 And so, the cave and all the trees that were in the paddock belonged to Abraham and that was where he buried his wife Sarah.
Mack-pelah was near a place called Mamre in the country of Canaan, and later Mamre was called Hebron.
That is how Abraham got a cemetery for his family from the Hittite people.
+ 23:4 Genesis 17:8; 19:9; Leviticus 25:23; Acts 7:16; Hebrews 11:9,13 + 23:7-9 Genesis 47:30; 50:13