Genesis 23:4-6

23:4 “I am a temporary settler ¹  among you. Grant ²  me ownership ³  of a burial site among you so that I may ⁴  bury my dead.” ⁵ 

23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, ⁶  23:6 “Listen, sir, ⁷  you are a mighty prince ⁸  among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you ⁹  from burying your dead.”

Genesis 23:2

23:2 Then she ¹⁰  died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ¹¹ 

Genesis 24:22-23

24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka ¹²  and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels ¹³  and gave them to her. ¹⁴  24:23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. ¹⁵  “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

Jeremiah 32:8

32:8 Now it happened just as the Lord had said! My cousin Hanamel ¹⁶  came to me in the courtyard of the guardhouse. He said to me, ‘Buy my field which is at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. Buy it for yourself since you are entitled as my closest relative to take possession of it for yourself.’ When this happened, I recognized that the Lord had indeed spoken to me.

[23:4]  ¹ tn Heb “a resident alien and a settler.”

[23:4]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “possession.”

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

[23:4]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “answered Abraham saying to him.”

[23:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “Hear us, my lord.”

[23:6]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn The phrase “to prevent you” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Sarah.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“she”) for stylistic reasons.

[23:2]  ¹¹ 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).

[24:22]  ¹² sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).

[24:22]  ¹³ sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).

[24:22]  ¹⁴ tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[24:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’” The order of the introductory clause has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And according to the word of the Lord my cousin Hanamel came to me to the courtyard of the guardhouse and said, ‘…’” The sentence has been broken down to conform better with contemporary English style.