Genesis 23 KJV
The Death of Sarah
Genesis Chapter 23: The Death of Sarah
The detailed public negotiation with the Hittites follows ancient Near Eastern legal forms requiring multiple witnesses and explicit demarcation of boundaries, establishing the first recorded deed of title in Canaan that later biblical texts treat as enduring proof of patriarchal rights.
1nd Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
2 And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
5 And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
6 Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
7 And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
8 And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
9 That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.
10 And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,
11 Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.
12 And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.
13 And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
15 My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
16 And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
17 And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure
18 Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.
19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
20 And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.
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Did You Know?
The detailed public negotiation with the Hittites follows ancient Near Eastern legal forms requiring multiple witnesses and explicit demarcation of boundaries, establishing the first recorded deed of title in Canaan that later biblical texts treat as enduring proof of patriarchal rights.
Abraham's refusal of Ephron's offer of the field as a gift and his insistence on paying 400 shekels of current merchant silver prevents any future claim of patronage or vassalage, theologically preserving the patriarch's sole dependence on the divine promise rather than human benefactors.
The purchase occurs at the same Hebron site where Abraham had earlier built an altar (Gen 13:18), creating a literary and theological link between the first act of worship in the land and the first permanent claim to its soil through burial.
Sarah becomes the first named individual to die inside the borders of the Promised Land, and her tomb anchors the patriarchal hope that future generations will possess the territory even while the family remains sojourners for centuries.
The Hittites' address of Abraham as a 'mighty prince among us' (v. 6) ironically fulfills the earlier divine promise that his name would be great (Gen 12:2), showing the local population already recognizing the status God had announced before any land was acquired.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old, &c. โ Sarah is the only woman in Scripture whose age, death, and burial are mentioned, probably to do honor to the venerablโฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Genesis 23 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Age and death of sarah; Purchase of a burying-place.
- 1
- Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old, &c. โ Sarah is the only woman in Scripture whose age, death, and burial are mentioned, probably to do honor to the venerable mother of the Hebrew people.
- 2
- Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, &c. โ He came from his own tent to take his station at the door of Sarah's. The "mourning" describes his conformity to the customary usage of sitting on the ground for a time; while the "weeping" indicates the natural outburst of his sorrow.
Read all 9 notes on Genesis 23 โ