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Gênesis 23

ARC · Chapter 23/50

1E foi a vida de Sarah cento e vinte e sete annos: estes foram os annos da vida de Sarah.

2E morreu Sarah em Kiriath-arba, que é Hebron, na terra de Canaan; e veiu Abrahão lamentar a Sarah e chorar por ella.

3Depois se levantou Abrahão de diante do seu morto, e fallou aos filhos de Heth, dizendo:

4Estrangeiro e peregrino sou entre vós: dae-me possessão de sepultura comvosco, para que eu sepulte o meu morto de diante da minha face.

5E responderam os filhos de Heth a Abrahão, dizendo-lhe:

6Ouve-nos, meu senhor; principe de Deus és no meio de nós; enterra o teu morto na mais escolhida de nossas sepulturas; nenhum de nós te vedará a sua sepultura, para enterrar o teu morto.

7Então se levantou Abrahão, e inclinou-se diante do povo da terra, diante dos filhos de Heth.

8E fallou com elles, dizendo: Se é de vossa vontade que eu sepulte o meu morto de diante de minha face, ouvi-me e fallae por mim a Ephron, filho de Zohar,

9Que elle me dê a cova de Machpelah, que elle tem no fim do seu campo; que m'a dê pelo devido preço em herança de sepulchro no meio de vós

10Ora Ephron habitava no meio dos filhos de Heth: e respondeu Ephron hetheo a Abrahão, aos ouvidos dos filhos de Heth, de todos os que entravam pela porta da sua cidade, dizendo:

11Não, meu senhor: ouve-me, o campo te dou, tambem te dou a cova que n'elle está, diante dos olhos dos filhos do meu povo t'a dou; sepulta o teu morto.

12Então Abrahão se inclinou diante da face do povo da terra,

13E fallou a Ephron, aos ouvidos do povo da terra, dizendo: Mas se tu estás por isto, ouve-me, peço-te: o preço do campo o darei; toma-o de mim, e sepultarei ali o meu morto.

14E respondeu Ephron a Abrahão, dizendo-lhe:

15Meu senhor, ouve-me, a terra é de quatrocentos siclos de prata; que é isto entre mim e ti? sepulta o teu morto.

16E Abrahão deu ouvidos a Ephron e Abrahão pesou a Ephron a prata de que tinha fallado aos ouvidos dos filhos de Heth, quatrocentos siclos de prata, correntes entre mercadores.

17Assim o campo de Ephron, que estava em Machpelah, em frente de Mamre, o campo e a cova que n'elle estava, e todo o arvoredo que no campo havia, que estava em todo o seu contorno ao redor,

18Se confirmou a Abrahão em possessão diante dos olhos dos filhos de Heth, de todos os que entravam pela porta da sua cidade.

19E depois sepultou Abrahão a Sarah sua mulher na cova do campo de Machpelah, em frente de Mamre, que é Hebron, na terra de Canaan.

20Assim o campo e a cova que n'elle estava se confirmou a Abrahão em possessão de sepultura pelos filhos de Heth.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Sarah dies at 127 years old in Hebron, and Abraham carefully negotiates with the sons of Heth to buy the cave of Machpelah as a burial place for his family.

Explanation

This chapter, though it may seem like just a detailed real-estate transaction, carries important symbolic weight: it is the first permanent property Abraham acquires in the promised land, even though he had lived there as a sojourner and stranger for decades. The care with which he negotiates — refusing to receive the field for free and insisting on paying the fair price — shows his integrity and his desire to secure a legitimate, unquestionable title of ownership for future generations. This small piece of land would become the burial place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah, a lasting physical marker of the family's faith in God's promise, even though full possession of the land was still centuries away. The lesson is that faith in future promises does not remove the need to act with wisdom and integrity in the practical matters of the present.

Fun facts

  • The cave of Machpelah, in Hebron, is today revered as one of the most sacred sites for both Jews and Muslims, with a shrine built over the site since the time of King Herod, still open to visitors today.
  • The price Abraham paid, 400 shekels of silver, is described as valued 'according to the weight current among the merchants' (v. 16), an expression that shows a standardized commercial system of weights and measures already existed in that ancient era.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Gênesis 23:1Records Sarah’s age at death: 127 years — she is the only woman in the Bible whose age at death is given in such detail, a sign of how central she is to Abraham’s story.
  2. Gênesis 23:2Sarah dies in Hebron, and Abraham goes there to mourn and weep for her — the formal mourning before dealing with the practical matter of burial, told in the rest of the chapter.
  3. Gênesis 23:3Abraham rises from mourning and goes to negotiate with the Hittites, the local people — even in the midst of grief, he needs to quickly settle where he will bury his wife.
  4. Gênesis 23:4Abraham presents himself to the Hittites as “a stranger and a sojourner,” asking for “a possession of a buryingplace” — even though he had lived there for decades, he owned no land of his own, not even to bury his wife. Buying a tomb is, in practice, the family’s first permanent possession in the promised land.
  5. Gênesis 23:5The Hittites answer Abraham’s request from the previous verse, opening the negotiation that takes up much of the chapter.
  6. Gênesis 23:6The Hittites treat Abraham with respect, calling him “a mighty prince” and offering the best burial site available — but that general offer is not yet the specific request Abraham had in mind.
  7. Gênesis 23:7Abraham bows before the local people as a sign of respect, before making the more specific request told in the next verse.
  8. Gênesis 23:8Abraham asks them to intercede for him with Ephron, owner of the specific plot he wants to buy — a cave called Machpelah, mentioned in the next verse.
  9. Gênesis 23:9Abraham insists on buying “the cave of Machpelah... for as much money as it is worth,” refusing any offer given for free. Land received as a gift could later be reclaimed by the giving family; paying the full price, before witnesses, is what made the ownership unquestionable.
  10. Gênesis 23:10Ephron, who was present among the people gathered at the city gate, answers Abraham directly in front of everyone — the city gate was where important business was closed publicly.
  11. Gênesis 23:11Ephron offers, “the field give I thee... the cave that is therein, I give it thee,” for free, but this is negotiating etiquette of the region, not a real offer — the expected response from Abraham was to insist on paying, which does in fact happen right after. This same courtesy game still exists in Middle Eastern negotiations today.
  12. Gênesis 23:12Abraham bows again before the people, keeping the same formal respect throughout the negotiation.
  13. Gênesis 23:13Abraham insists on paying the full price for the field, even after Ephron’s free offer in the previous verse — he does not want to owe anyone anything.
  14. Gênesis 23:14Ephron responds to Abraham’s insistence, finally revealing the value of the land in the next verse.
  15. Gênesis 23:15Ephron mentions the price, four hundred shekels of silver, but still tries to make it sound small, as if it were nothing between friends — part of the courtesy game of the negotiation.
  16. Gênesis 23:16Ephron asks for “four hundred shekels of silver,” and Abraham “weighed” the silver on the spot — because coined money did not exist yet, the metal was weighed on a scale with each payment. The shekel here is a unit of weight, not a coin like today’s.
  17. Gênesis 23:17Details exactly what Abraham is buying: not just the cave, but the whole field around it and the trees that were there — a complete and well-documented purchase.
  18. Gênesis 23:18The purchase “was made sure unto Abraham... in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.” The city gate was where the authorities gathered and important business was closed before witnesses — it was the registry office and the courthouse of the time, all in the public square.
  19. Gênesis 23:19With the deal closed, Abraham finally buries Sarah in the cave he bought — the reason for the whole negotiation reaches its conclusion.
  20. Gênesis 23:20Closes the chapter confirming that the field and the cave officially passed into Abraham’s possession, acknowledged by the Hittites.

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