Genesis 23:1-20

The Death of Sarah

23:1 Sarah lived 127 years. ¹  23:2 Then she ²  died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³ 

23:3 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife ⁴  and said to the sons of Heth, ⁵  23:4 “I am a temporary settler ⁶  among you. Grant ⁷  me ownership ⁸  of a burial site among you so that I may ⁹  bury my dead.” ¹⁰ 

23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, ¹¹  23:6 “Listen, sir, ¹²  you are a mighty prince ¹³  among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you ¹⁴  from burying your dead.”

23:7 Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people, ¹⁵  the sons of Heth. 23:8 Then he said to them, “If you agree ¹⁶  that I may bury my dead, ¹⁷  then hear me out. ¹⁸  Ask ¹⁹  Ephron the son of Zohar 23:9 if he will sell ²⁰  me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly ²¹  for the full price, ²²  so that I may own it as a burial site.”

23:10 (Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite ²³  replied to Abraham in the hearing ²⁴  of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate ²⁵  of his city – 23:11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell ²⁶  you both the field and the cave that is in it. ²⁷  In the presence of my people ²⁸  I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”

23:12 Abraham bowed before the local people 23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay ²⁹  to you the price ³⁰  of the field. Take it from me so that I may ³¹  bury my dead there.”

23:14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 23:15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is worth ³²  400 pieces of silver, ³³  but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

23:16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price ³⁴  and weighed ³⁵  out for him ³⁶  the price ³⁷  that Ephron had quoted ³⁸  in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time. ³⁹ 

23:17 So Abraham secured ⁴⁰  Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border, 23:18 as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron’s city. ⁴¹ 

23:19 After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 23:20 So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial site ⁴²  from the sons of Heth.

Genesis 1:2

1:2 Now ⁴³  the earth ⁴⁴  was without shape and empty, ⁴⁵  and darkness ⁴⁶  was over the surface of the watery deep, ⁴⁷  but the Spirit of God ⁴⁸  was moving ⁴⁹  over the surface ⁵⁰  of the water. ⁵¹ 

[23:1]  ¹ tn Heb “And the years of Sarah were one hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah.”

[23:2]  ² tn Heb “Sarah.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“she”) for stylistic reasons.

[23:2]  ³ sn Mourn…weep. The description here is of standard mourning rites (see K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 149-50). They would have been carried out in the presence of the corpse, probably in Sarah’s tent. So Abraham came in to mourn; then he rose up to go and bury his dead (v. 3).

[23:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “And Abraham arose from upon the face of his dead.”

[23:3]  ⁵ tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (also in vv. 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.

[23:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “a resident alien and a settler.”

[23:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “give,” which is used here as an idiom for “sell” (see v. 9). The idiom reflects the polite bartering that was done in the culture at the time.

[23:4]  ⁸ tn Or “possession.”

[23:4]  ⁹ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose.

[23:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “answered Abraham saying to him.”

[23:6]  ¹² tn Heb “Hear us, my lord.”

[23:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “prince of God.” The divine name may be used here as a means of expressing the superlative, “mighty prince.” The word for “prince” probably means “tribal chief” here. See M. H. Gottstein, “Nasi’ ‘elohim (Gen 23:6),” VT 3 (1953) 298-99; and D. W. Thomas, “Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953) 215-16.

[23:6]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase “to prevent you” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to the people of the land” (also in v. 12).

[23:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “If it is with your purpose.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here has the nuance “purpose” or perhaps “desire” (see BDB 661 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ).

[23:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or “hear me.”

[23:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “intercede for me with.”

[23:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “give.” This is used here (also a second time later in this verse) as an idiom for “sell”; see the note on the word “grant” in v. 4.

[23:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “in your presence.”

[23:9]  ²² tn Heb “silver.”

[23:10]  ²³ tn Or perhaps “Hittite,” but see the note on the name “Heth” in v. 3.

[23:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “ears.” By metonymy the “ears” stand for the presence or proximity (i.e., within earshot) of the persons named.

[23:10]  ²⁵ sn On the expression all who entered the gate see E. A. Speiser, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate,” BASOR 144 (1956): 20-23; and G. Evans, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate: A Discussion of Professor Speiser’s Paper,” BASOR 150 (1958): 28-33.

[23:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.

[23:11]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[23:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”

[23:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “give.”

[23:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:13]  ³¹ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.

[23:15]  ³² tn The word “worth” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:15]  ³³ sn Four hundred pieces of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 4.6 kilograms, or 160 ounces (about 10 pounds).

[23:16]  ³⁴ tn Heb “listened to Ephron.”

[23:16]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and Abraham weighed out.”

[23:16]  ³⁶ tn Heb “to Ephron.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:16]  ³⁸ tn Heb “that he had spoken.” The referent (Ephron) has been specified here in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “passing for the merchant.” The final clause affirms that the measurement of silver was according to the standards used by the merchants of the time.

[23:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “And it was conveyed.” The recipient, Abraham (mentioned in the Hebrew text at the beginning of v. 18) has been placed here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:18]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “his city”; the referent (Ephron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:20]  ⁴² tn Heb “possession of a grave.”

[1:2]  ⁴³ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) at the beginning of v. 2 gives background information for the following narrative, explaining the state of things when “God said…” (v. 3). Verse one is a title to the chapter, v. 2 provides information about the state of things when God spoke, and v. 3 begins the narrative per se with the typical narrative construction (vav [ו] consecutive followed by the prefixed verbal form). (This literary structure is paralleled in the second portion of the book: Gen 2:4 provides the title or summary of what follows, 2:5-6 use disjunctive clause structures to give background information for the following narrative, and 2:7 begins the narrative with the vav consecutive attached to a prefixed verbal form.) Some translate 1:2a “and the earth became,” arguing that v. 1 describes the original creation of the earth, while v. 2 refers to a judgment that reduced it to a chaotic condition. Verses 3ff. then describe the re-creation of the earth. However, the disjunctive clause at the beginning of v. 2 cannot be translated as if it were relating the next event in a sequence. If v. 2 were sequential to v. 1, the author would have used the vav consecutive followed by a prefixed verbal form and the subject.

[1:2]  ⁴⁴ tn That is, what we now call “the earth.” The creation of the earth as we know it is described in vv. 9-10. Prior to this the substance which became the earth (= dry land) lay dormant under the water.

[1:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Traditional translations have followed a more literal rendering of “waste and void.” The words describe a condition that is without form and empty. What we now know as “the earth” was actually an unfilled mass covered by water and darkness. Later תֹהוּ (tohu) and בֹּהוּ (bohu), when used in proximity, describe a situation resulting from judgment (Isa 34:11; Jer 4:23). Both prophets may be picturing judgment as the reversal of creation in which God’s judgment causes the world to revert to its primordial condition. This later use of the terms has led some to conclude that Gen 1:2 presupposes the judgment of a prior world, but it is unsound method to read the later application of the imagery (in a context of judgment) back into Gen 1:2.

[1:2]  ⁴⁶ sn Darkness. The Hebrew word simply means “darkness,” but in the Bible it has come to symbolize what opposes God, such as judgment (Exod 10:21), death (Ps 88:13), oppression (Isa 9:1), the wicked (1 Sam 2:9) and in general, sin. In Isa 45:7 it parallels “evil.” It is a fitting cover for the primeval waste, but it prepares the reader for the fact that God is about to reveal himself through his works.

[1:2]  ⁴⁷ tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 7:11).

[1:2]  ⁴⁸ tn The traditional rendering “Spirit of God” is preserved here, as opposed to a translation like “wind from/breath of God” (cf. NRSV) or “mighty wind” (cf. NEB), taking the word “God” to represent the superlative. Elsewhere in the OT the phrase refers consistently to the divine spirit that empowers and energizes individuals (see Gen 41:38; Exod 31:3; 35:31; Num 24:2; 1 Sam 10:10; 11:6; 19:20, 23; Ezek 11:24; 2 Chr 15:1; 24:20).

[1:2]  ⁴⁹ tn The Hebrew verb has been translated “hovering” or “moving” (as a bird over her young, see Deut 32:11). The Syriac cognate term means “to brood over; to incubate.” How much of that sense might be attached here is hard to say, but the verb does depict the presence of the Spirit of God moving about mysteriously over the waters, presumably preparing for the acts of creation to follow. If one reads “mighty wind” (cf. NEB) then the verse describes how the powerful wind begins to blow in preparation for the creative act described in vv. 9-10. (God also used a wind to drive back the flood waters in Noah’s day. See Gen 8:1.)

[1:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “face.”

[1:2]  ⁵¹ sn The water. The text deliberately changes now from the term for the watery deep to the general word for water. The arena is now the life-giving water and not the chaotic abyss-like deep. The change may be merely stylistic, but it may also carry some significance. The deep carries with it the sense of the abyss, chaos, darkness – in short, that which is not good for life.