Genesis 23:4

Genesis 23:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)“I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”
• New King James Version (NKJV)“I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)“Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”

Context of Genesis 23:4

2And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, "I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight." 5The Hittites answered Abraham, 6"Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead."

Genesis 23:4 word by word

גֵּר־וְתוֹשָׁ֥ב אָנֹכִ֖י עִמָּכֶ֑ם תְּנ֨וּ לִ֤י אֲחֻזַּת־קֶ֙בֶר֙ עִמָּכֶ֔ם וְאֶקְבְּרָ֥ה מֵתִ֖י מִלְּפָנָֽי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• a strangerגֵּרgêr gêyr · sojournerH1616
• and a sojournerתּוֹשָׁבtôshâb tôshâb · sojournerH8453
• with you: giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• me a possessionאֲחֻזָּה'ăchûzzâh · possessionH272
• of a buryingplaceקֶ֫בֶרqeber qibrâh · graveH6913
• with you, that I may buryקָבַרqâbar · to buryH6912
• my deadמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• out of my sightפָּנֶהpânîym · faceH6440

Cross-references for Genesis 23:4

• Genesis 17:8And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God."
• Genesis 47:9And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning."
• Leviticus 25:23"The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.
• 1 Chronicles 29:15For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.
• Psalms 39:12"Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.
• Psalms 105:12When they were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it,
• Psalms 119:19I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!
• Hebrews 11:9By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
• 1 Peter 2:11Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
• Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
• Genesis 49:30in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.
• Genesis 50:13for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.
• Job 30:23For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living.
• Ecclesiastes 6:3If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
• Ecclesiastes 12:5they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—
• Acts 7:5Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.

Commentaries on Genesis 23:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4I am a stranger and a sojourner - It appears from Hebrews 11:13-16; 1 Peter 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-20Verses 1-20 - The Death of Sarah 2. ארבע קרית qı̂ryat -'arba‛ “Qirjath-arba, city of Arba.” ארבע 'arba‛ “Arba, four.” 8. עפרון ‛eprôn “Ephron, of the dust, or resembling a calf.” צחר tshochar “Tsochar, whiteness.” 9. מכפלה makpêlâh “Makpelah, doubled.” The death and burial of Sarah are here recorded. This occasions the purchase of the field of Makpelah, in the cave of which is her sepulchre. Genesis 23:1-2 Sarah is the only woman whose age is recorded…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4Abraham 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.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-203. Abraham stood up, &c.--Eastern people are always provided with family burying-places; but Abraham's life of faith--his pilgrim state--had prevented him acquiring even so small a possession (Ac 7:5). spake unto the sons of Heth--He bespoke their kind offices to aid him in obtaining possession of a cave that belonged to Ephron--a wealthy neighbor.Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 23:4

• Abraham
• Land

In the dictionaries

• Abraham
• Burial
• Cave
• Choice
• Cunning
• Field
• Hittites
• Machpelah
• Mourn
• Stranger

Commentaries on Genesis 23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings