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he went to the Hittites and said, (A) “I live as a foreigner in your land, and I don't own any property where I can bury my wife. Please let me buy a piece of land.”

5-6 “Sir,” they answered, “you are an important man. Choose the best place to bury your wife. None of us would refuse you a resting place for your dead.”

Abraham bowed down and replied, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife here, please ask Zohar's son Ephron to sell me Machpelah Cave at the end of his field. I'll pay what it's worth, and all of you can be witnesses.”

10 Ephron was sitting there near the city gate, when Abraham made this request, and he answered, 11 “Sir, the whole field, including the cave, is yours. With my own people as witnesses, I freely give it to you as a burial place for your dead.”

12 Once again, Abraham bowed down 13 and said to Ephron, “In front of these witnesses, I offer you the full price, so I can bury my wife. Please accept my offer.”

14-15 “But sir,” the man replied, “the property is worth only 400 pieces of silver. Why should we haggle over such a small amount? Take the land. It's yours.”

16-18 Abraham accepted Ephron's offer and paid him the 400 pieces of silver in front of everyone at the city gate. That's how Abraham came to own Ephron's property east of Mamre,[a] which included the field with all of its trees, as well as Machpelah Cave at the end of the field.

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Footnotes

  1. 23.16-18 Mamre: A place just north of Hebron.

Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites.[a](A) He said, “I am a foreigner and stranger(B) among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.(C)

The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince(D) among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”

Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar(E) on my behalf so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah,(F) which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”

10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites(G) who had come to the gate(H) of his city. 11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give[b](I) you the field, and I give[c] you the cave that is in it. I give[d] it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”

14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels[e] of silver,(J) but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver,(K) according to the weight current among the merchants.(L)

17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah(M) near Mamre(N)—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded 18 to Abraham as his property(O) in the presence of all the Hittites(P) who had come to the gate(Q) of the city.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 23:3 Or the descendants of Heth; also in verses 5, 7, 10, 16, 18 and 20
  2. Genesis 23:11 Or sell
  3. Genesis 23:11 Or sell
  4. Genesis 23:11 Or sell
  5. Genesis 23:15 That is, about 10 pounds or about 4.6 kilograms

19 (A) The land where he camped was owned by the descendants of Hamor, the father of Shechem. So Jacob paid them 100 pieces of silver[a] for the property,

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Footnotes

  1. 33.19 pieces of silver: Or “lambs” or “cattle.”

19 For a hundred pieces of silver,[a] he bought from the sons of Hamor,(A) the father of Shechem,(B) the plot of ground(C) where he pitched his tent.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 33:19 Hebrew hundred kesitahs; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.

7-9 When Joseph left Goshen with his brothers, his relatives, and his father's relatives to bury Jacob, many of the king's highest officials and even his military chariots and cavalry went along. The Israelites left behind only their children, their cattle, and their sheep and goats.

10 After crossing the Jordan River, Joseph stopped at Atad's threshing place, where they all mourned and wept seven days for Jacob. 11 The Canaanites saw this and said, “The Egyptians are in great sorrow.” Then they named the place “Egypt in Sorrow.”[a]

12 So Jacob's sons did just as their father had instructed. 13 (A) They took him to Mamre in Canaan and buried him in Machpelah Cave, the burial place Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite.

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Footnotes

  1. 50.11 Egypt in Sorrow: Or “Abel-Mizraim.”

So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials(A) accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court(B) and all the dignitaries of Egypt— besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household.(C) Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen.(D) Chariots(E) and horsemen[a] also went up with him. It was a very large company.

10 When they reached the threshing floor(F) of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly;(G) and there Joseph observed a seven-day period(H) of mourning(I) for his father.(J) 11 When the Canaanites(K) who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.”(L) That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.[b]

12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them:(M) 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah,(N) near Mamre,(O) which Abraham had bought along with the field(P) as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.(Q)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 50:9 Or charioteers
  2. Genesis 50:11 Abel Mizraim means mourning of the Egyptians.

32 (A) When the people of Israel left Egypt, they brought the bones of Joseph along with them. They took the bones to the town of Shechem and buried them in the field that Jacob had bought for 100 pieces of silver[a] from Hamor, the founder of Shechem. The town and the field both[b] became part of the land belonging to the descendants of Joseph.

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Footnotes

  1. 24.32 pieces of silver: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew word.
  2. 24.32 town … both: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

32 And Joseph’s bones,(A) which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt,(B) were buried at Shechem in the tract of land(C) that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver[a] from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 24:32 Hebrew hundred kesitahs; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.