The BibleGospel Companion

Machpelah

מַכְפֵּלָה · makh.pe.lah · H4375“double” Hitchcock's 18696 mentions, all in Genesis

Where it is

Beth-anothBeth-anothZiphZiphBeth-tappuahBeth-tappuahJuttahJuttahGilohGilohBeracah ValleyBeracah ValleyMachpelahabout 28 km across

31.52° N, 35.11° E

Coordinates and map: OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding · CC BY 4.0 · drawn without map tiles

Mentioned most in

Genesis · 6
Counted from 6 references · STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0

About this place

Machpelah was a cave located near Hebron in Canaan, which Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place for his wife Sarah (Genesis 23:9, 17-19). The field and the cave were deeded to Abraham as a possession for a burying place (Genesis 23:20). Abraham himself was later buried in the cave of Machpelah by his sons Isaac and Ishmael (Genesis 25:9-10). The cave also became the burial place for Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah (Genesis 49:30-31), as well as Israel (or 'Jacob') (Genesis 50:13). The cave of Machpelah served as a significant burial site for the patriarchs and their wives, and it represented the Israelites' connection to the land of Canaan.

Article: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0

Every mention

6 references, counted from STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · verse text: World English Bible (public domain)

Genesis 6 mentions

Genesis 23:9that he may sell me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him sell it to me among you as a possession for a burial place.”Genesis 23:17So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were…Genesis 23:19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.Genesis 25:9Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is near Mamre,Genesis 49:30in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place.Genesis 50:13for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, as a possession for a burial site, from Ephron…

What the dictionary says

Portion; double cave, the cave which Abraham bought, together with the field in which it stood, from Ephron the Hittite, for a family burying-place (Gen. 23).

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
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Sources