Genesis 23:4

Translations

Modern

“I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”

Traditional

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.

Literal

“I am a sojourner and a stranger among you; give to me a possession of a burial place with you, that I may bury my dead from before me.”

Latin

Advena sum et peregrinus apud vos: date mihi jus sepulchri vobiscum, ut sepeliam mortuum meum.

Original

Hebrew

English

“I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”

Notes

Genesis 23:3–4

Abraham negotiated with local Hittite elders to buy land for a burial site. These Hittites had moved south to Canaan from the large Hittite empire in what is now Turkey (compare 10:15).
Abraham was a foreigner and an outsider among them. But he trusted God's promise that he would eventually own the land.

Genesis 23:1–20

She died: Abraham bought a piece of land for Sarah's burial. This was the first sign of a permanent change, as people usually buried their dead in their ancestral homeland (compare 49:29–50:13). By burying Sarah, Abraham separated himself from his ancestral home (where his relatives still lived, 22:20–24). His future would be in Canaan, where his descendants would fulfill the promise.

Theme notes and profiles

Abraham Hittites Sarah Symbolic Numbers

Related verses

Hebrews 11:9
By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
1 Chronicles 29:15
For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
Genesis 17:8
And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”
Psalm 119:19
I am a stranger on the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.
Genesis 49:30
The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.
Leviticus 25:23
The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
Hebrews 11:13–16
All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Acts 7:5
He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.
Psalm 39:12
Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
Ecclesiastes 12:5
…when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels—for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets.
Genesis 3:19
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 50:13
They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

Glossary

Abraham Bible, Manuscripts and Text of the (New Testament) Burial, Burial Customs Ebla Tablets Foreigner Genesis, Book of Hittites Isaac Machpelah Patriarchs, Period of the Peter, First Letter of Sarah

Topics

Abraham: He Purchases a Place for Her Burial, and Buries Her in a Cave Burial: Design of Burying the Dead Embalming: Unknown to Early Patriarchs Land: Bought and Sold Land: Conveyance of, by Written Deeds and Other Forms Pilgrims and Strangers: Abraham

Genesis 23:4

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