What Does Genesis 23:10 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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.
“audience” in this verse is be’oznei. 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 that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Beth-lehem:Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.THE THREAD
Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went 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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