Bible Strands
Genesis 23:2
She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Abraham stands beside Sarah’s dead body in Canaan immediately after her death at age 127, preparing to address the local Hittite landowners.
The words — תָּמָת (ta.mot) = she died marks the finality of Sarah’s death, while קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע (kir.yat 'ar.ba) = Kiriath-arba identifies the specific site as Hebron.
The thread — The location reappears as the burial site for Sarah (Genesis 23:19), Abraham’s earlier settlement near the Oaks of Mamre (Genesis 13:18), and later as a Levitical city of refuge (1 Chronicles 6:57).
Why it lands — The text records a factual death and mourning event before shifting to legal negotiations, requiring the reader to acknowledge mortality as the catalyst for securing a permanent inheritance in Canaan.
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 Sarah died in Kirjath–arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
Cross-references
- Genesis 23:19 After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
- Genesis 13:18 So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
- 1 Chronicles 6:57 So the descendants of Aaron were given Hebron (a city of refuge), Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa,
- Judges 1:10 Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
- Genesis 27:41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
- Genesis 50:10 When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wailed loudly, and Joseph mourned for his father seven days.
- Numbers 13:22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
- Numbers 20:29 When the whole congregation saw that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.
- Deuteronomy 34:8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.
- Joshua 10:39 And they captured Debir, its king, and all its villages. They put them to the sword and devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. Joshua did to Debir and its king as he had done to Hebron and as he had done to Libnah and its king.