Genesis 23:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”

NIV: No, my lord,' he said. '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.'

NASB: No, my lord, listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.'

CSB: "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 sight of my people. Bury your dead."

NLT: No, my lord,' he said to Abraham, 'please listen to me. I will give you the field and the cave. Here in the presence of my people, I give it to you. Go and bury your dead.'

KJV: Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

NKJV: “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”

Before a group of Hittite elders and landowners, Abraham has publicly offered to buy a cave from a man named Ephron. It is located at the end of a field in Machpelah. Now Ephron responds, also publicly, that he wishes to give both the cave and the field to Abraham as a gift. He encourages Abraham to bury his dead there.

It is unlikely that Ephron intended to actually "gift" the field and cave to Abraham without payment. Most likely, this was simply the customary pattern of Middle Eastern bargaining at this time in history. This partly explains why Ephron includes the field as well as the cave; he is countering Abraham's request by increasing the size of the transaction. Perhaps Ephron did not want to sell the cave without the field, so he offered to "give" them both to Abraham, knowing Abraham would then offer to pay for them.

The other possibility is that Ephron did not want to give up permanent ownership of the cave. Perhaps by "giving" it to Abraham, his people would retain ultimate ownership of the cave and the field in the long run, creating a long-term loan of sorts. His offer to "give" the property, then, might have been intended as just that, though it would have come with obligations.

In any case, the next verses will reveal that Abraham is not interested in receiving this property as a gift. He wants to have full, legal rights to the property.

Genesis 23:1–20 begins with the death of Abraham's wife Sarah at 127 years of age. That makes Abraham 137 years old and Isaac around 37. Abraham mourns for his wife and then approaches the Hittites settled in the region of Hebron about purchasing a permanent family burial place near Mamre. Once that transaction is completed, Abraham buries Sarah in the tomb where he himself and their son and one grandson will later be buried.

At the age of 127 years old, Abraham's wife Sarah dies. Now living in the region of Hebron, near Mamre, Abraham approaches the local people, the Hittites, about purchasing a specific cave he wants to use as a permanent family burial place. Abraham asks for a cave owned by Ephron the Hittite. After an odd negotiation, Abraham agrees to buy the cave and a field attached to it for 400 shekels of silver. Finally, Abraham buries Sarah in this cave at Machpelah in the land of Canaan. The permanent occupation of the land of Canaan by God's people has begun.

In the previous chapters, Isaac was born, Ishmael was sent away, and Abraham prepared to offer Isaac as an offering to God. Genesis 23 jumps forward a couple of decades to the death of Sarah at 127 years old. Abraham mourns for her and then purchases a cave near Mamre as a permanent family burial place in the land of Canaan. In the following chapter, Abraham will set about finding Isaac a wife.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.