the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Easy-to-Read Version
Genesis 23:3
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,
And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
After a while he got up from the side of his wife's body and went to talk to the Hittites. He said,
Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife and said to the sons of Heth,
And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Heth, saying,
Then Abraham stood up before his dead [wife's body], and spoke to the sons of Heth (Hittites), saying,
And whanne he hadde rise fro the office of the deed bodi, he spak to the sones of Heth, and seide,
And Abraham riseth up from the presence of his dead, and speaketh unto the sons of Heth, saying,
Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and said to the Hittites,
he went to the Hittites and said,
Then he got up from his dead one and said to the sons of Het,
And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spake unto the children of Heth, saying,
And Abraham came from his dead and said to the children of Heth,
And Abraham stoode vp fro the sight of his corse, and talked with the sonnes of Heth, saying:
And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke unto the children of Heth, saying:
And Abraham stood vp from before his dead, & spake vnto the sonnes of Heth, saying,
And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife, and said to the sons of Heth,
Abraham rose up from beside his dead, and said to the Hittites,
And Abraham rose up from over the face of his dead, - and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying;
Then Abraham rose vp from the sight of his corps, & talked with the Hittites, saying,
And Abraham rose up from before the bier of his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
He left the place where his wife's body was lying, went to the Hittites, and said,
And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to the children of Heth, saying:
And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and said to the Hittites,
And Abraam stood up from before his dead; and Abraam spoke to the sons of Chet, saying,
And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spake unto the children of Heth, saying,
Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hethites:
Avraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Het, saying,
And Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from his dead, and he spoke to the Hittites and said,
And Abraham rose up from before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
Afterwarde he stode vp from his coarse, and talked with the Hethites, & sayde:
Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites: "I know I'm only an outsider here among you, but sell me a burial plot so that I can bury my dead decently."
Then Abraham arose from mourning before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
Then, leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders,
Then Abraham rose from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
Then Abraham rose from before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Heth: Genesis 23:5, Genesis 23:7, Genesis 10:15, Genesis 25:10, Genesis 27:46, Genesis 49:30, 1 Samuel 26:6, 2 Samuel 23:39
Reciprocal: Genesis 49:31 - General 1 Chronicles 1:13 - Heth
Cross-References
Canaan was the father of Sidon. Sidon was Canaan's first son. Canaan was also the father of the Hittites,
The Hittites answered Abraham,
Abraham got up and bowed to the people.
This is the same cave that Abraham bought from the Hittites. He was buried there with his wife Sarah.
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "Your son Esau married Hittite women. I am very upset about this, because they are not our people. I'll have nothing to live for if Jacob marries one of these women!"
That cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought that field from Ephron so that he could have a burying place.
David talked to Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah. (Abishai was Joab's brother.) He asked them, "Who would like to go down into the camp with me after Saul?" Abishai answered, "I'll go with you."
and Uriah the Hittite. There were 37 in all.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Abraham stood up from before his dead,.... The corpse of Sarah, by which he sat pensive and mourning, perhaps upon the ground, as was the custom of mourners, Job 1:13; where having sat awhile, he rose up and went out of the tent, to provide for the funeral of his wife as became him:
and spake unto the sons of Heth; the descendants of Heth the son of Canaan, see Genesis 10:15; who were at this time the inhabitants and proprietors of that part of the land where Abraham now was: saying; as follows:
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 23:3. Abraham stood up from before his dead — He had probably sat on the ground some days in token of sorrow, as the custom then was, (see Tobit 2:12, 13; Isaiah 47:1; and Genesis 37:35;) and when this time was finished he arose and began to treat about a burying place.
