What Does Genesis 23:10 Mean?
And Ephron sat among the sons of Heth, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the ears of the sons of Heth, even of all who came in at the gate of his city, saying,
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,THE KEY
Ephron’s answer lands “in the ears” of the people, turning a personal exchange into public witness at the city gate.
THE MEANING
A consequential exchange takes shape in the hearing of a community: Ephron answers before Heth’s children and everyone entering the gate. Abraham (אַבְרָהָם, Avraham, “father of a multitude”) stands within that public hearing, and the city’s many ears meet the promise carried in his name. The gate is where a personal need becomes visible to the wider community.
THE ROOT
בְּאָזְנֵי
be’oznei
GROWS FROM
אזן
Ear; to hear or attend.
The Hebrew says Ephron answered “in the ears” of Heth’s children, making the hearing concrete. The root links the ear with listening, so the city’s presence is active: Ephron’s answer is heard by the community.
ALSO GROWS
ozen: Ear
אֹזֶן
This is the singular form behind “in the ears,” restoring the physical hearing that the English word “audience” smooths over.
he’ezin: Listen, give ear
הֶאֱזִין
This verb shares the root and shows that the scene involves attending to Ephron’s words, not merely being present.
THE PATTERN
The city gate gathers personal matters into the shared sight and hearing of the community.
And all the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. Let the LORD give the woman who comes into your house like Rachel and like Leah, the two who built the house of Israel. And act with strength in Ephratah, and call out a name in Bethlehem.When he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried forth, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a great crowd out of the city was with her.Her husband is known in the gates, when he settles among the elders of the land.THE THREAD
To Abraham, for a possession, before the eyes of the sons of Heth, before all who came in at the gate of his city.Here the land is conveyed before the same people and at the same gate where Ephron answered. The public hearing of verse 10 carries through to a witnessed possession.
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