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.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)"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."
• 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.”

Context of Genesis 23:4

2Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her. 3Then Abraham rose from before his dead one and spoke to the sons of Heth saying, “I am an outsider and a sojourner among you. Give me a gravesite among you so that I may bury my dead from before my presence.” 5The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6“Listen to us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our graves. None among us will withhold his grave from you, to bury your dead one.”

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 17:8I will give to you and to your seed after you the land where you are an outsider —the whole land of Canaan—as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
• Genesis 47:9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourn are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. Moreover, the days of the years of my life have not attained the days of the years of the lives of my fathers, in the days of their sojourn.”
• Leviticus 25:23“Moreover, the land is not to be sold ­permanently, because the land is Mine. For you are sojourners with Me.
• 1 Chronicles 29:15For we are sojourners before You, mere transients like our fathers. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, without security.
• Psalms 39:12With rebukes You chasten one for iniquity and You consume like a moth what he finds pleasure in. Surely all humanity is but a vapor. Selah
• Psalms 105:12When they were but few in number, few indeed, and foreigners in it,
• Psalms 119:19I am a temporary dweller on earth— do not hide Your mitzvot from me.
• Hebrews 11:9By faith he migrated to the land of promise as if it were foreign, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob—fellow heirs of the same promise.
• 1 Peter 2:11Loved ones, I urge you as strangers and sojourners to keep away from the fleshly cravings that war against the soul.
• Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your brow will you eat food, until you return to the ground, since from it were you taken. For you are dust, and to dust will you return.”
• Genesis 49:30in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, that is next to Mamre in the land of Canaan—the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a property for burial.
• Genesis 50:13His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, the field that Abraham bought as a property for burial from Ephron the Hittite, next to Mamre.
• Job 30:23For I know that you will bring me to death, to the house appointed for all the living.
• Ecclesiastes 6:3Even if a man should father a hundred children and live many years, however many the days of his years may be, yet his soul is never satisfied with his prosperity and he does not have a proper burial, then I say that it is better for the stillborn than him.
• Ecclesiastes 12:5when they also are afraid of heights and of dangers on the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry fails to excite— for a man is going to his eternal home, and mourners go about in the street—
• Acts 7:5He gave him no inheritance in it—not even a foothold—yet He promised ‘to give it to him as a possession to him and to his descendants after him,’ even 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