Bible Person

Ephron

Meaning: dust · Male · 10 cross references

Ephron is the Hittite from whom Abraham purchases the field and cave of Machpelah for Sarah's burial. He appears in one of Genesis' most important land transactions. First appears in Gen 23:8.1

AI summary: Ephron matters because the cross references present him at the moment when Abraham secures a legally recognized burial possession in the promised land. The negotiation is detailed and public, underscoring permanence, legitimacy, and the seriousness of the purchase. Ephron's role is therefore not incidental but essential to one of the patriarchal narratives' clearest anticipations of settled inheritance. Taken together, the material presents Ephron as the seller whose transaction gives Abraham's family its first concrete stake in Canaan.1

Central Figure

Ephron

Meaning: dust

The son of Zohar a Hittite, the owner of the field and cave of Machpelah (q.v.), which Abraham bought for 400 shekels of silver (Gen.