Genesis 23:19 T 23
ram a
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a
caught by its
orns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a b
h
urnt offering in
stead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to
this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and
said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this
and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and
make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand
on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their
enemies, 18 and through your offspring b all nations on earth will be blessed, c
because you have obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Be
ersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Nahor’s Sons
20 Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has
orne sons to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemu e
b
l
(the father of Aram), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel
became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore t hese e
ight sons to Abraham’s
brother Nahor. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Te
bah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.
The Death of Sarah
23
Sarah l ived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at
Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went
to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
3 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. d
He said, 4 “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property
for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Sir, listen to us. You are a m
ighty p
rince
among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse
you his tomb for burying your dead.”
7 Then Abraham rose and b
owed down before the people of the land, the
Hittites. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then
listen to me and intercede with E
phron son of Zohar on my behalf 9 so he will
sell me the cave of Machpelah, 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 a
mong you.”
10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting a
mong his people and he replied to Abra
ham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city.
11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give e you the field, and I give e you the
cave that is in it. I give e 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 t heir hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the p
rice 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 f of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury
your dead.”
16 Abraham a
greed to E
phron’s t erms and weighed out for him the p
rice
he had n
amed in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver,
according to the weight current among the merchants.
17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre — both the field and the cave
in it, and all the t rees within the borders of the field — was deeded 18 to Abra
ham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the
gate of the city. 19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the
field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
a 13
Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and
Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text a ram behind him b 18 Or seed
c 18 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)
d 3 Or the descendants of Heth; also in verses 5, 7, 10, 16, 18 and 20 e 11 Or sell
f 15 That is, about 10 pounds or about 4.6 kilograms