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Selected Verse: Genesis 23:4 - Amplified Bible©
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Ge 23:4 |
Amplified Bible© |
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. |
| |
King James |
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. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
buryingplace
Compare (Gen 33:19); (Gen 50:13); (Jos 24:32); (Act 7:15); (Act 7:16).
A discrepancy in these statements has been fancied. It disappears entirely before the natural supposition that in the interval of about eighty years between the purchase by Abraham of the family sepulchre (Gen 23:4-20) and Jacob's purchase (Gen 33:19); the descendants of Hamor (or "Emmor," (Act 7:15); (Act 7:16) had resumed possession of the field in which the burial cave was situated. Instead of asserting an ancient title by inheritance, Jacob repurchased the field. Heth was the common ancestor. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| I am a stranger and a sojourner with you - Therefore I am unprovided, and must become a suiter to you for a burying - place. This was one occasion which Abraham took to confess that he was a stranger and a pilgrim upon earth. The death of our relations should effectually mind us that we are not at home in this world. That I may bury my dead out of my sight - Death will make those unpleasant to our sight, who while they lived were the desire of our eyes. The countenance that was fresh and lively becomes pale and ghastly, and fit to be removed into the land of darkness. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
I am a stranger and a sojourner - It appears from Heb 11:13-16; Pe1 2:11, that these words refer more to the state of his mind than of his body. He felt that he had no certain dwelling place, and was seeking by faith a city that had foundations.
Give me a possession of a burying place - It has been remarked that in different nations it was deemed ignominious to be buried in another's ground; probably this prevailed in early times in the east, and it may be in reference to a sentiment of this kind that Abraham refuses to accept the offer of the children of Heth to bury in any of their sepulchers, and earnestly requests them to sell him one, that he might bury his wife in a place that he could claim as his own. |
16 And their bodies [Jacob's and Joseph's] were taken back to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of [silver] money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. Cross reference(s) provided by the translation: [Gen. 50:13; Josh. 24:32.]
15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, where he himself died, as did [also] our forefathers; Cross reference(s) provided by the translation: [Deut. 10:22.]
19 Then he bought the piece of land on which he had encamped from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money.
4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
5 And the Hittites replied to Abraham,
6 Listen to us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in any tomb or grave of ours that you choose; none of us will withhold from you his tomb or hinder you from burying your dead.
7 And Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the Hittites.
8 And he said to them, If you are willing to grant my dead a burial out of my sight, listen to me and ask Ephron son of Zohar for me,
9 That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns--it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me here in your presence as a burial place to which I may hold fast among you.
10 Now Ephron was present there among the sons of Heth; so, in the hearing of all who went in at the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, saying,
11 No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and the cave that is in it I give you. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.
12 Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land.
13 And he said to Ephron in the presence of the people of the land, But if you will give it, I beg of you, hear me. I will give you the price of the field; accept it from me, and I will bury my dead there.
14 Ephron replied to Abraham, saying,
15 My lord, listen to me. The land is worth 400 shekels of silver; what is that between you and me? So bury your dead.
16 So Abraham listened to what Ephron said and acted upon it. He weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: 400 shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
17 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre [Hebron]--the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and in all its borders round about--was made over
18 As a possession to Abraham in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at his city gate.
19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah to the east of Mamre, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan.
20 The field and the cave in it were conveyed to Abraham for a permanent burial place by the sons of Heth.
16 And their bodies [Jacob's and Joseph's] were taken back to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of [silver] money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. Cross reference(s) provided by the translation: [Gen. 50:13; Josh. 24:32.]
15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, where he himself died, as did [also] our forefathers; Cross reference(s) provided by the translation: [Deut. 10:22.]
32 And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem in the portion of ground Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of money; and it became the inheritance of the Josephites.
13 For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre, which Abraham bought, along with the field, for a possession as a burying place from Ephron the Hittite.
19 Then he bought the piece of land on which he had encamped from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money.
11 Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul.
13 These people all died controlled and sustained by their faith, but not having received the tangible fulfillment of [God's] promises, only having seen it and greeted it from a great distance by faith, and all the while acknowledging and confessing that they were strangers and temporary residents and exiles upon the earth. Cross reference(s) provided by the translation: [Gen. 23:4; Ps. 39:12.]
14 Now those people who talk as they did show plainly that they are in search of a fatherland (their own country).
15 If they had been thinking with [homesick] remembrance of that country from which they were emigrants, they would have found constant opportunity to return to it.
16 But the truth is that they were yearning for and aspiring to a better and more desirable country, that is, a heavenly [one]. For that reason God is not ashamed to be called their God [even to be surnamed their God--the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob], for He has prepared a city for them. Cross reference(s) provided by the translation: [Exod. 3:6, 15; 4:5.]