Genesis 49:30

Summary

The verse specifies the exact location of the burial cave: it lies in the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, in the land of Canaan. It closes by recalling that Abraham had bought this field from Ephron the Hittite specifically to serve as burial property.

Key words

• me'arah ("cave", H4631) — feminine singular noun, the subject location introduced by the preposition ba ("in the").
• asher ("which/that", H0834A) — relative particle used three times in this verse, chaining successive clauses that narrow down the location (cave → field → facing Mamre → land of Canaan → bought by Abraham).
• sadeh ("field of", H7704G) — appears twice in construct form, first linking to Machpelah, then as the object Abraham purchased (ha-sadeh, "the field", with article).
• qanah ("he bought", H7069) — Qal perfect, third person masculine singular, marking a completed past action attributed to Abraham.
• achuzat qever ("possession of a burial site", H0272 + H6913) — construct chain where achuzat ("possession of") governs qever ("burial site"), stating the purpose of the purchase.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a cascade of relative clauses, each introduced by asher ("which", H0834A), which progressively pinpoints the cave's location: first within the field of Machpelah, then that field's position "on the face of" (al-penei, from panim, H6440K) Mamre, then Mamre's location in the land of Canaan. This construct-chain style (sadeh ha-Makhpelah, "field of the Machpelah") is typical of Biblical Hebrew geographic description, stacking nouns in genitive relation without needing separate prepositions for each layer.

The final clause returns to the verb qanah ("he bought", H7069), a Qal perfect verb indicating a completed action, with Abraham as subject and ha-sadeh ("the field", H7704G) marked by the direct object marker et (H0853) as the object bought "from with" (me'et, H9006+H0854) Ephron the Hittite. The purpose clause la-achuzat qever ("for a possession of burial", H0272+H6913) uses a construct pair to express intended function rather than a separate verb of purpose — a common Hebrew strategy where nouns in construct relation convey what a preposition + verb might express in other languages.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders Makhpelah (H4375, a proper name in the Hebrew) as τῷ διπλῷ ("the double [cave]"), translating the name's meaning rather than transliterating it, and does not reproduce a separate "field of Machpelah" phrase as the Hebrew construct chain does. The Vulgate text given begins directly with "contra Mambre" ("facing Mamre"), lacking the opening clause about the cave and the field of Machpelah found in the Hebrew. Where the Hebrew states Abraham bought "the field" (ha-sadeh) from Ephron, the LXX specifies he acquired "the cave" (τὸ σπήλαιον) from Ephron, shifting the object of purchase named in this clause.