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Summary

Genesis 23:1–2 – Sarah’s death and mourning

What happens: Sarah dies at Hebron at 127 years old. Abraham mourns and weeps for her.

What it means: Grief is fitting even for people of faith. Love and loss coexist with hope in God’s promises. God values the lives and stories of His people.


Genesis 23:3–16 – Purchase of Machpelah

What happens: Abraham negotiates with the Hittites to buy Ephron’s field and cave at Machpelah for a full price. He pays in the presence of witnesses.

What it means: God’s people act with integrity and clarity in public dealings. Owning a burial site in Canaan expresses faith in God’s promise of the land. Righteous conduct honors God among neighbors.


Genesis 23:17–20 – Burial of Sarah

What happens: The field and cave are deeded to Abraham. He buries Sarah there.

What it means: A grave in the promised land is a seed of future hope. God’s covenant shapes how we face death. Faith looks beyond loss to God’s enduring word.


Application

  • Grieve honestly while holding to God’s promises.
  • Conduct business transparently and fairly.
  • Anchor hope in God’s future even when you bury the past.
  • Let everyday choices reflect trust in God’s covenant.

Bible

1And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.

2And 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.

3And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

4I 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.

5And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,

6Hear 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.

7And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

8And 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,

9That 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.

10And 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,

11Nay, 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.

12And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.

13And 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.

14And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,

15My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

16And 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.

17And 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

18Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.

19And 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.

20And 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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