What Does Genesis 23:6 Mean in the King James?
Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
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
The “prince” is literally one lifted up, yet his honor becomes tangible when others open their graves to his dead.
THE MEANING
When death leaves you needing a place for someone you love, this verse gives that need room in another’s ground. The people around you recognize you as one of stature and make their graves available so your dead can be buried.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that being a stranger leaves you nowhere to lay your dead is undone by a community that opens its own burial places to you.
THE ROOT
נְשִׂיא
nasi
GROWS FROM
נָשָׂא
נָשָׂא (nasa) means to lift, carry, or bear.
The title נְשִׂיא (nasi, prince or chief) grows from נָשָׂא (nasa, lift or carry), so it pictures someone raised up among others. Here that standing is answered with a place for his dead.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: To lift, carry, or bear.
נָשָׂא
The root verb makes the image inside “prince” visible: he is one lifted up among the people.
massa: A burden or load.
מַשָּׂא
The same root can name what is carried, joining being lifted up with bearing weight.
קְבֹר
qevor
GROWS FROM
קָבַר
קָבַר (qabar) means to bury.
The Hebrew repeats the קבר (q-b-r) root in both “sepulchres” and “bury.” English gives us separate words for the place and the act; Hebrew holds them together as one movement from grave to burial.
ALSO GROWS
qeber: A grave or tomb.
קֶבֶר
This is the kind of place the people offer when they say Abraham may bury his dead.
qevurah: Burial.
קְבוּרָה
The shared root binds the offered grave to the act of laying the dead there.
יִכְלֶה
yikhleh
GROWS FROM
כָּלָא
כָּלָא (kala) means to restrain, shut in, or hold back.
The word translated “withhold” carries the sense of restraining or shutting away. The offer is framed as an opening: no one closes access to a grave against you.
ALSO GROWS
kala: To restrain or hold back.
כָּלָא
This is the root verb behind the refusal to hold back a burial place.
kele: A prison or confinement.
כֶּלֶא
This related word for confinement sharpens the contrast with a grave made available.
THE PATTERN
Hospitality gives a stranger a concrete place within what another person can offer.
Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.THE THREAD
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.This verse names Abraham as a stranger asking for a burial place; the reply offers him access to the community’s graves. The Hebrew repeats the קבר (qabar, bury) root in “buryingplace” and “bury,” binding the place to the act of laying the dead down.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us