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Genesis 23

Abraham’s mourning for Sarah leads to a public purchase that secures a burial place in the land where he lives.

Sarah dies at the age of 127 in Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham mourns and weeps for her. He then asks the children of Heth for a burial place, describing himself as a foreigner among them. Before witnesses at the city gate, Abraham negotiates with Ephron for the cave of Machpelah and its field. He pays four hundred shekels of silver, receives the property, and buries Sarah there.

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2Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
3Abraham rose up from before his dead and spoke to the children of Heth, saying,
4“I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
6“Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.”
7Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the children of Heth.
8He talked with them, saying, “If you agree that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
10Now Ephron was sitting in the middle of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,
11“No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”
12Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land.
13He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, “But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.”
15“My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.”
16Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard.
17So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded
18to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.
20The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham by the children of Heth as a possession for a burial place.
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Key verses
Genesis 23:4Abraham names his status as a foreigner while asking for land he can possess as a burial place.
Genesis 23:16The witnessed payment, measured by the merchants’ standard, establishes the purchase that the chapter records in detail.
Genesis 23:2Abraham’s tears establish the grief behind the negotiations; the property transaction begins with the death of his wife.
Where this chapter reaches

Hebrews shares the language of strangers and foreigners when describing Abraham and others who lived by faith. Ruth shares the setting of a witnessed property transaction at a town gate, while Jeremiah also records a land purchase with weighed silver and witnesses.

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What do you notice about Abraham’s movement from weeping for Sarah to arranging her burial?

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How does Abraham’s status as a foreigner shape your reading of the public purchase?

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Questions people ask about Genesis 23

Why did Abraham buy the cave of Machpelah?

Abraham asks for a burial place he can possess so that he can bury Sarah. Although the children of Heth offer access to their tombs, he seeks Ephron’s cave and insists on paying. The chapter emphasizes that the field and cave become his property through a witnessed purchase.

How much did Abraham pay for Sarah’s burial place?

Abraham pays Ephron four hundred shekels of silver, weighed according to the current merchants’ standard. The purchase includes the field, its cave, and the trees within its borders. The text gives no comparison with other land prices, so it does not establish whether the amount was fair or excessive.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).