Back to Genesis 23

Genesis 23:14-16

Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, “My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.”

Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,

    “My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.”

    Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard.

  • KJV King James Version

    And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,

    My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

    And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

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  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him:

    'My lord, hearken unto me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.'

    And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

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Cross-references (15)

  • Ezekiel 45:12 (vv15–16) The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
  • Jeremiah 32:9 (v16) I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
  • Zechariah 11:12 (v16) I said to them, “If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.” So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
  • Exodus 30:13 (vv15–16) They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel…
  • Genesis 23:15 (v16) “My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.”
Show all 13 cross-references
  • Genesis 43:21 (v16) When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full…
  • Exodus 30:15 (v15) The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make…
  • Ezra 8:25-30 (v16) and weighed to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, his counselors, his…
  • Job 28:15 (v16) It can’t be gotten for gold, neither will silver be weighed for its price.
  • Matthew 7:12 (v16) Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
  • Romans 13:8 (v16) Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
  • Philippians 4:8 (v16) Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever…
  • 1 Thessalonians 4:6 (v16) that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as…

13 distinct cross-references across this passage (15 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (17 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v16 16. And Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver. I…

16. And Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver. I know not what had come into Jerome’s mind, when he says, that one letter was abstracted from Ephron’s name, after he had been persuaded, by Abraham’s entreaties, to receive money for the field; because, by the sale of the sepulcher, his virtue was maimed or diminished: for, in fact, the name of Ephron is found written in the very same manner, after that event, as before. Nor ought it to be imputed to Ephron as a fault, that, being pressed, he took the lawful price for his estate; when he had been prepared liberally to give it. If there was any sin in the case, Abraham must bear the whole blame. But who shall dare to condemn a just sale, in which, on both sides, religion, good faith, and equity, are maintained? Abraham, it is argued, bought the field for the sake of having a sepulcher. But ought Ephron on that account to give it freely, and under the pretext of a sepulcher, to be defrauded of his right? We see here, then, nothing but mere trifling. The Canonists, however, — preposterous and infatuated as they are, — rashly laying hold of the expressions of Jerome, have determined that it is a prodigious sacrilege to sell sepulchres. Yet, in the meantime, all the Papal sacrificers securely exercise this traffic: and while they acknowledge the cemetery to be a common sepulcher, they suffer no grave to be dug, unless the price be paid.

Current money with the merchant. Moses speaks thus, because money is a medium of mutual communication between men. It is principally employed in buying and selling merchandise. Whereas Moses says, in the close of the chapter, that the field was confirmed by the Hittites to Abraham for a possession; the sense is, that the purchase was publicly attested; for although a private person sold it, yet the people were present, and ratified the contract between the two parties.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v15 The common shekel is about 20 pence, so then…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 Gen 23:14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–16 He speaks of the common shekel, which many value…
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v16 We have here the conclusion of the treaty between…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–16 And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron,.... He agreed at once…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v15 The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15–16 Verse 15. The land is worth four hundred shekels…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v16 Sicles. About £50. (Haydock) --- It was no simony…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–16 the land is worth four hundred shekels, &c.--as if…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv15–16 15. Four hundred shekels of silver — A nearer…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–16 15. worth four hundred shekels of silver] About £…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–16 (15) The land is worth . . . —Our…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 Vers. 14, 15. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto…
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v16 And Abraham
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v14 This is the name of a man. See how…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15–16 23:15 400 pieces of silver was a very high…
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