What Does Genesis 23:13 Mean?
And he spoke to Ephron in the ears of the people of the land, saying, But if only you would hear me, I will give silver for the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.
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 he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.THE KEY
The burial request is spoken “in the ears” of the people, making grief a public and practical matter.
THE MEANING
Grief has material needs, and naming them plainly does not cheapen it. A place to bury the dead and the silver to secure it stand together in the open, where the community can hear.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that sacred grief must stay private or separate itself from money: Abraham speaks openly about both the dead and the price of a place.
THE ROOT
שְׁמָעֵנִי
shama'eni
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, heed; hearing that receives and responds.
The phrase בְּאָזְנֵי עַם הָאָרֶץ (be’oznei am ha’aretz, “in the ears of the people of the land”) makes “audience” literal: ears. “Hear me” repeats that image, placing the request inside public listening, where it can be received and answered.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear, listen, respond
שְׁמַע
This is the same root’s direct call to listen; Abraham asks for attention that can lead to a response.
shemu'ah: Report, news, something heard
שְׁמוּעָה
What is heard can become known and carried onward, fitting the public setting of Abraham’s request.
נָתַתִּי
natatti
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
Give, put, set, place.
The root נתן (natan, “give, set, place”) carries giving alongside putting something in place. Abraham’s offered silver is a concrete transfer that helps secure a place where his dead can be buried.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: Gift, present
מַתָּנָה
This branch shows the root’s wider reach into what is given; here, Abraham names silver as payment for the field.
natun: Given, set, placed
נָתוּן
The sense of placing within the root echoes the practical aim of the offer: securing a place for burial.
THE PATTERN
When an act affects shared life, clear speech and visible exchange let the community witness what is being done.
And Abraham heard and responded to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver, which he had spoken in the ears of the sons of Heth, four hundred weights of silver, passing from hand to hand with the merchant.And Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi.Looking ahead to what is beautiful, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of people.THE THREAD
And Abraham heard and responded to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver, which he had spoken in the ears of the sons of Heth, four hundred weights of silver, passing from hand to hand with the merchant.Both verses use שמע (shama, “hear”): here Abraham asks Ephron to hear him; later Abraham hears Ephron and weighs the silver he has named. Hearing turns into a concrete response, and the public setting makes the burial arrangement visible.
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