Bible Strands
Genesis 23:16
Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Abraham responds to Ephron’s offer to sell the cave of Machpelah to the local Hittite community. He publicly fulfills the transaction by paying the stated price in front of the assembled witnesses.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יִּשְקֹל (va/i.yish.Kol) literally means "and he weighed out," describing the physical measurement of the silver. This verb appears alongside אַבְרָהָם (Abraham) and עֶפְרוֹן (Ephron) to record the exact transfer of funds.
The thread — The act of weighing silver for land reappears in Jeremiah 32:9 when Jeremiah purchases a field in Anathoth, and in Zechariah 11:12 where thirty pieces of silver are weighed out as wages. These instances parallel Genesis 23:16 by using measured silver to formalize property transactions or symbolic payments.
Why it lands — The text records a public, legally binding payment to secure burial rights, requiring readers to recognize the necessity of honoring agreements and valuing sacred commitments. It demands acknowledgment that faithfulness operates through concrete, witnessed actions rather than abstract promises.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 32:9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver.
- Zechariah 11:12 Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.
- Genesis 23:15 “Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
- Genesis 43:21 But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us.
- Exodus 30:13 Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.
- Ezra 8:25 and I weighed out to them the contribution of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites there had offered for the house of our God.
- Job 28:15 It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
- Ezekiel 45:12 The shekel will consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels will equal one mina.
- Matthew 7:12 In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
- Romans 13:8 Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.