Sarah died. She did not die until a fitting successor was born and Avraham was apprised of the fact.

To eulogize Sarah. Literally, “to eulogize for Sarah” — a eulogy is for the honor of the deceased.

מעל פני מתו, וידבר אל בני חת. As long as he had not buried Sarah he was not yet a mourner in the technical meaning of the word. He was therefore able to leave his house and assemble the people of the town.

גר ותושב, because I used to be a stranger here, I do not possess an ancestral burial ground. The word is used in this sense by Isaiah 22,16 ומי לך פה כי חצבת לך פה קבר, “whom have you here that you have hewn out a tomb for yourself here?”

תנו לי אחוזת קבר, “be agreeable to that I should possess a burial plot among you.”

במבחר קברנו קבור, “do not wait until the formalities of the purchase have been completed, but go ahead and bury Sarah.” This corresponds to a statement by our sages in Moed Katan 22 על כל המתים כולן מדחה מטתו, “it behooves us to bury all the dead with dispatch, without undue delay.”

וישתחו לעם הארץ לבני חת. He bowed to the notables present, seeing they represented the whole population.

אם יש את נפשכם לקבור, if you want that I shall bury the dead without delay, as you have indicated when you said: במבחר קברנו קבור!" (verse 6) i.e. that I would not need to wait.

שמעוני, agree with me that I shall receive an inalienable burial plot.

ופגעו לי בעפרון, that he will sell me this cave even though it is not an agreeable thing for a highly placed person to sell any portion of his land-holdings. We know this from Navot (Kings I 21,3) who had been aghast at the suggestion of selling his vineyard to the king. His precise words were: חלילה לי מתתי את נחלת אבותי לך, “far be it from me to give you any part of my ancestral heritage.”

מערת המכפלה, a place known as machpela.

Compare verse 17 ויקם שדה עפרון אשר במכפלה אשר בקצה שדהו, “Efron’s field which is situated in machpela at the edge of his field, stood, etc.” The details provided by the Torah are intended to prove to us, the reader, that by selling the cave to Avraham Efron did not suffer any loss of face, he had no reason to feel embarrassed about what he had done.

בכסף מלא, I do not want that he grant me a reduction from its real worth as a gesture to you.

בתוככם, in the presence of all of you. I do not ask for time to come up with the payment but am willing to pay cash at once. Compare verse 16 where Avraham does in fact pay cash immediately.

לאחוזת קבר, Avraham wanted complete freedom to do what he wanted to in the property once he had acquired it. This is the privilege granted to anyone owning an ancestral heritage. Avraham wanted it understood that as a result of the sale Efron would not be able to dictate to him how close to his own property Sarah or other members of his family could be buried.

No, my master, hear me. There is no need for the leaders of the community to intercede with me.

Listen to me;

I have given you the field. In my mind I gave it to you the moment you spoke.

והמערה אשר בו, “and the cave which is in it, since it is not proper that you should have to cross someone else’s property in order to get to the grave of your wife. Therefore,

לעיני בני עמי נתתיה לך קבור מתך, I am telling you in the presence of all my people that I have given it to you in order that you may bury your dead there, just as you asked when you referred to אחוזת קבר.”

Avraham bowed. He bowed to them to acknowledge that it was in their honor that Ephron consented.

אך אם ...נתתי בסף השדה, I will comply with what you said, namely to bury my dead there only if I can hand over the money for the field. I will not bury Sarah there as a result of any other kind of arrangement.

אך אם אתה לו שמעני, “if only you would be good enough to listen to me! Please accept the money from me so that I can proceed with the burial.”

?מה היא, “after all it is a very minor transaction! It is so insignificant a matter that the acquisition can be made by a mere declaration without being recorded in a document. As soon as you have handed over the money you may consider yourself as burying Sarah in your property.”

(1) AVRAHAM HEARKENED TO EFRON. He accepted his view of the value of the field.

(2) AND HE WEIGHED OUT [JPS: PAID]. He paid off, as (I Kings 20:39), "or you will have to pay a talent of silver."

ויקם השדה לאברהם למקנה, the word ויקם teaches that the purchase was confirmed by a sealed document

מאת בני חת ויקם השדה, these people all agreed to the transaction.