Genesis 50:5

50:5 ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said, ¹  “I am about to die. Bury me ²  in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’”

Genesis 23:6

23:6 “Listen, sir, ³  you are a mighty prince ⁴  among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you ⁵  from burying your dead.”

Genesis 23:11

23:11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell ⁶  you both the field and the cave that is in it. ⁷  In the presence of my people ⁸  I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”

Genesis 23:13

23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay ⁹  to you the price ¹⁰  of the field. Take it from me so that I may ¹¹  bury my dead there.”

Genesis 50:7

50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers ¹²  of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt,

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¹ tn Heb “saying.”

² tn The imperfect verbal form here has the force of a command.

³ tn Heb “Hear us, my lord.”

⁴ tn Heb “prince of God.” The divine name may be used here as a means of expressing the superlative, “mighty prince.” The word for “prince” probably means “tribal chief” here. See M. H. Gottstein, “Nasi’ ‘elohim (Gen 23:6),” VT 3 (1953) 298-99; and D. W. Thomas, “Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953) 215-16.

⁵ tn The phrase “to prevent you” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.

⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

⁸ tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”

⁹ tn Heb “give.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “silver.”

¹¹ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.

¹² tn Or “dignitaries”; Heb “elders.”