Genesis 23:9

23:9 if he will sell ¹  me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly ²  for the full price, ³  so that I may own it as a burial site.”

Genesis 23:11

23:11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell ⁴  you both the field and the cave that is in it. ⁵  In the presence of my people ⁶  I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”

Genesis 23:15

23:15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is worth ⁷  400 pieces of silver, ⁸  but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

Genesis 23:19

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.

[23:9]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “in your presence.”

[23:9]  ³ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:11]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”

[23:15]  ⁷ tn The word “worth” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:15]  ⁸ 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).