The Meaning of Genesis 23:2 Explained

Genesis 23:2

KJV: And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

YLT: and Sarah dieth in Kirjath-Arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Caanan, and Abraham goeth in to mourn for Sarah, and to bewail her.

Darby: And Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba: that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

ASV: And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Sarah  died  in Kirjatharba;  the same [is] Hebron  in the land  of Canaan:  and Abraham  came  to mourn  for Sarah,  and to weep  for her. 

What does Genesis 23:2 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 23:1-20 - Abraham Buys A Burial Place
Death is an ever-constant monitor that this world is not our home. We rise up from before our dead to confess that we are only strangers and sojourners on the earth. Though the whole country, by God's deed and gift, belonged to Abraham, it had not as yet been made over; hence the necessity for this deliberate purchase with all the stately formalities of the leisured East. Abraham's insistence on buying this grave, and the care with which the negotiations were pursued, show that he realized that his descendants would come again into that land and possess it. It was as though he felt that he and Sarah should lie there awaiting the return of their children and children's children. See also Genesis 49:29-30. So the graves of the martyrs and of missionaries who have fallen at the post of duty are the silent outposts that hold those lands for Christ, as the graves of the saints await the Second Advent. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 23

1  The age and death of Sarah
3  The purchase of the field and cave of Machpelah;
19  where Sarah is buried

What do the individual words in Genesis 23:2 mean?

So died Sarah in in Kirjath Arba that [is] Hebron in the land of Canaan and came Abraham to mourn for Sarah and to weep [for] her
וַתָּ֣מָת שָׂרָ֗ה בְּקִרְיַ֥ת אַרְבַּ֛ע הִ֥וא חֶבְר֖וֹן בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וַיָּבֹא֙ אַבְרָהָ֔ם לִסְפֹּ֥ד לְשָׂרָ֖ה וְלִבְכֹּתָֽהּ

וַתָּ֣מָת  So  died 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: מוּת  
Sense: to die, kill, have one executed.
שָׂרָ֗ה  Sarah 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׂרָה  
Sense: wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac.
אַרְבַּ֛ע  in  Kirjath  Arba 
Parse: Preposition, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע 
Sense: early name of the city which after the conquest was called ‘Hebron’.
הִ֥וא  that  [is] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person feminine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
חֶבְר֖וֹן  Hebron 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֶבְרֹון 
Sense: a city in south Judah approx 20 south of Jerusalem and approx 20 miles (30 km) north of Beersheba and near where Abraham built an altar.
בְּאֶ֣רֶץ  in  the  land 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
כְּנָ֑עַן  of  Canaan 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: כְּנַעַן 
Sense: the 4th son of Ham and the progenitor of the Phoenicians and of the various nations who peopled the seacoast of Palestine.
וַיָּבֹא֙  and  came 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
אַבְרָהָ֔ם  Abraham 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַבְרָהָם  
Sense: friend of God and founder of Hebrew nation via God’s elective covenant.
לִסְפֹּ֥ד  to  mourn 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: סָפַד  
Sense: to wail, lament, mourn.
לְשָׂרָ֖ה  for  Sarah 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׂרָה  
Sense: wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac.
וְלִבְכֹּתָֽהּ  and  to  weep  [for]  her 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person feminine singular
Root: בָּכָה  
Sense: to weep, bewail, cry, shed tears.