23:10 (Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite 8 replied to Abraham in the hearing 9 of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate 10 of his city – 23:11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell 11 you both the field and the cave that is in it. 12 In the presence of my people 13 I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”
23:12 Abraham bowed before the local people
1 tn Heb “If it is with your purpose.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here has the nuance “purpose” or perhaps “desire” (see BDB 661 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ).
2 tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Or “hear me.”
4 tn Heb “intercede for me with.”
5 tn Heb “give.” This is used here (also a second time later in this verse) as an idiom for “sell”; see the note on the word “grant” in v. 4.
6 tn Heb “in your presence.”
7 tn Heb “silver.”
8 tn Or perhaps “Hittite,” but see the note on the name “Heth” in v. 3.
9 tn Heb “ears.” By metonymy the “ears” stand for the presence or proximity (i.e., within earshot) of the persons named.
10 sn On the expression all who entered the gate see E. A. Speiser, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate,” BASOR 144 (1956): 20-23; and G. Evans, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate: A Discussion of Professor Speiser’s Paper,” BASOR 150 (1958): 28-33.
11 tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.
12 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
13 tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”