Genesis 23:2

Summary

The verse reports the death of Sarah at Kiriath-arba, identified as Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and the arrival of Abraham to perform mourning rites and weep for her.

Key words

• Ta.mot ("she died", H4191) — qal narrative verb, third person feminine singular; the narrative vav prefix links it as the first event of the sequence.
• kir.Yat ("Kiriath", H7153) — construct-form proper noun, part of the place name Kiriath Arba, "city of Arba."
• hi' ("that/she", H1931) — independent personal pronoun used here as a copula-like identifier, linking Kiriath Arba to Hebron ("that is Hebron").
• i.ya.Vo' ("he went/came", H0935G) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine singular, marking the second main event, Abraham's arrival.
• v.ko.Ta + h ("weep for her", H1058 + H9034) — infinitive construct with prepositional le and pronominal suffix "her," expressing purpose ("in order to weep for her").

What the text says

The verse is built on two narrative-chain verbs connected by va ("and", H9001): Ta.mot ("she died") and i.ya.Vo' ("he went/came"). This chain structure presents the death of Sarah and Abraham's arrival as sequential events in the story line, typical of Biblical Hebrew narrative syntax. The location is given in two layers: first be-kir.Yat 'ar.Ba' ("at Kiriath Arba"), then clarified by the pronoun hi' ("that") plus chev.Ron ("Hebron"), a construction that identifies one place name with another without a verb "to be," relying on pronoun apposition. This is followed by be-'E.retz ke.Na.'an ("in the land of Canaan"), where 'E.retz is in construct form, meaning literally "land of Canaan."

The purpose of Abraham's arrival is expressed through two parallel infinitive constructions joined by ve ("and", H9002): li-s.Pod le-sa.Rah ("to mourn for Sarah") and ve-li-v.ko.Ta-h ("and to weep for her"). Both infinitives are governed by the preposition li/le ("to/for", H9005), a common Hebrew way of expressing purpose ("in order to do X"). The second infinitive carries a pronominal suffix -h ("her", H9034) instead of repeating Sarah's name, which is a normal economy of Hebrew syntax once the referent has been established.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders kir.Yat 'ar.Ba' as "πόλει Ἀρβόκ" ("city of Arbok") and adds a phrase not present in the Hebrew word list, "ἥ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ κοιλώματι" ("which is in the hollow/valley"), an addition describing the location's terrain rather than a direct translation. The Hebrew text uses only the pronoun hi' to equate Kiriath Arba with Hebron, without the geographical descriptor added in the LXX. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew structure more closely, naming "civitate Arbee, quæ est Hebron" without the LXX's extra phrase.