Chapter 23
1 The span of Sarah's life was one hundred and twenty-seven years.
撒辣一生的寿数是一百二十岁。
2 She died in Kiriatharba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham performed the customary mourning rites for her.
撒辣死在客纳罕地的克黎雅特阿尔巴，即赫贝龙。亚巴郎来举哀哭吊撒辣；
3 1 Then he left the side of his dead one and addressed the Hittites:
然后从死者面前起来，对赫特人说道：＂
4 2 ＂Although I am a resident alien among you, sell me from your holdings a piece of property for a burial ground, that I may bury my dead wife.＂
我在你们中是个外乡侨民，请你们在这里卖给我一块坟地，我好将我的死者移去埋葬。＂
5 The Hittites answered Abraham: ＂Please, sir,
赫特人答覆亚巴郎说：＂
6 listen to us! You are an elect of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites. None of us would deny you his burial ground for the burial of your dead.＂
先生，请听：你在我们中是天主的宠臣，你可在我们最好的坟地埋葬你的死者，我们没有人会拒绝你，在他的坟地内埋葬你的死者。＂
7 Abraham, however, began to bow low before the local citizens, the Hittites,
亚巴郎遂起来，向当地人民赫特人下拜，
8 while he appealed to them: ＂If you will allow me room for burial of my dead, listen to me! Intercede for me with Ephron, son of Zohar, asking him
然后对他们说：＂如果你们实在愿意我将死者移去埋葬，请你们答应我，为我请求祚哈尔的儿子厄斐龙，
9 to sell me the cave of Machpelah that he owns; it is at the edge of his field. Let him sell it to me in your presence, at its full price, for a burial place.＂
要他卖给我他那块田地尽头所有的玛革培拉山洞；要他按实价在你们面前卖给我，作为私有坟地。＂
10 3 Now Ephron was present with the Hittites. So Ephron the Hittite replied to Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites who sat on his town council:
当时，厄斐龙也坐在赫特人中间。这赫特人厄斐龙遂在聚于城门口的赫特人面前，高声答覆亚巴郎说：＂
11 ＂Please, sir, listen to me! I give you both the field and the cave in it; in the presence of my kinsmen I make this gift. Bury your dead!＂
先生，不要这样。请听我说：我送给你这块田，连其中的山洞，也送给你。我愿在我同族的人民眼前送给你，埋葬你的死者。＂
12 ut Abraham, after bowing low before the local citizens, addressed Ephron in the hearing of these men:
亚巴郎又在当地人民面前下拜，
13 ＂Ah, if only you would please listen to me! I will pay you the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.＂
然后对当地人民高声向厄斐龙说：＂假如你乐意，请你听我说：我愿给你地价，你收下后，我才在那里埋葬我的死者。＂
14 Ephron replied to Abraham, ＂Please,
厄斐龙答覆亚巴郎说：＂
15 4 sir, listen to me! A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver——what is that between you and me, as long as you can bury your dead?＂
先生，请听我说：一块值四百＂协刻耳＂银子的地，在你和我之间，算得什么！你尽管去埋葬你的死者罢！＂
16 5 Abraham accepted Ephron's terms; he weighed out to him the silver that Ephron had stipulated in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver at the current market value.
亚巴郎明白了厄斐龙的意思，便照他在赫特人前大声提出的价值，按流行的市价称了四百＂协刻耳＂银子给他。
17 Thus Ephron's field in Machpelah, facing Mamre, together with its cave and all the trees anywhere within its limits, was conveyed
这样，厄斐龙在玛革培拉面对玛默勒的那块田地，连田地带其中的山洞，以及在田地四周所有的树木，
18 to Abraham by purchase in the presence of all the Hittites who sat on Ephron's town council.
当着聚在城门口的赫特人面前，全移交给亚巴郎作产业。
19 After this transaction, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
事后，亚巴郎遂将自己的妻子撒辣葬在客纳罕地，即葬在那块面对玛默勒，（即赫贝龙），玛革培拉田地的山洞内。
20 Thus the field with its cave was transferred from the Hittites to Abraham as a burial place.
这样，这块田地和其中的山洞，由赫特人移交了给亚巴郎作为私有坟地。
Footnotes(注解)
1 [3] The Hittites: a non-Semitic people in Canaan; their relationship to the well-known Hittites of Asia Minor is uncertain.
2 [4] A resident alien: literally ＂a sojourner and a settler,＂ i.e., a long-term resident alien. Such a one would normally not have the right to own property. The importance of Abraham's purchase of the field in Machpelah, which is worded in technical legal terms, lies in the fact that it gave his descendants their first, though small, land rights in the country that God had promised the patriarch they would one day inherit as their own. Abraham therefore insists on purchasing the field and not receiving it as a gift.
3 [10] Who sat on his town council: probable meaning of the literal translation, ＂who came in at the gate of his city＂; so also in Genesis 23:18.
4 [15] Four hundred shekels: probably an exorbitant sum; Jeremiah (Jeremiah 32:9) paid only seventeen shekels for his field in Anathoth, though the Babylonian invasion no doubt helped to reduce the price.
5 [16] The current market value: the standard weight called a shekel varied according to time and place