Single lesson
Sarah's Death and the Purchase of Her Burial Place
Genesis 23:1–20
This lesson helps children follow the account of Sarah’s death and Abraham’s purchase of a burial place. They will trace the order of events, notice Abraham’s choices, and discuss what this passage shows about people acting with grief, respect, and openness.
Before you teach
Genesis 23:1–20 tells what happened after Sarah died in Hebron in the land of Canaan. Abraham mourned for her, asked the children of Heth for a burial place, requested Ephron’s cave for the full price, weighed out the silver publicly, and then buried Sarah there.
Students will be able to retell the sequence of Genesis 23:1–20 and identify from the passage that Abraham mourned Sarah, spoke respectfully in public, and paid the named price so the burial place became his possession.
Welcome: Put the main events in order
4 minExplain that this passage includes sadness and an important public agreement. Tell children they will listen for the order of events: Sarah dies, Abraham mourns, he asks for a burial place, he pays for the field and cave, and Sarah is buried. Write those ideas on a board in mixed order for children to sort later.
Genesis 23:1, Genesis 23:2, Genesis 23:4, Genesis 23:16, Genesis 23:19
Read and explain: Sarah dies and Abraham asks
8 minRead verses 1–9 aloud. Point out that Sarah’s age is given, and Abraham mourns and weeps for her. Explain that a burial place is a place for burying the dead. Abraham says he is a stranger and foreigner living among them, then asks for the cave of Machpelah for the full price.
Genesis 23:1, Genesis 23:2, Genesis 23:4, Genesis 23:8, Genesis 23:9
Discuss: Why is everything said publicly?
6 minRead verses 5–16. Ask children to notice that people are listening, Abraham bows, Ephron answers in the hearing of others, and the silver is weighed. Discuss what the passage clearly shows: Abraham wants the full price paid, the amount is named, and the whole matter happens openly before witnesses. Also note what this shows about people here: Abraham mourns, speaks respectfully, and acts publicly.
Genesis 23:6, Genesis 23:7, Genesis 23:10, Genesis 23:13, Genesis 23:15, Genesis 23:16
Make and respond: Sequence card line-up
8 minGive children five blank cards to draw or label key moments from the passage. In pairs, they place the cards in order and retell the account using simple sentences from the text. Encourage them to include the field, cave, witnesses, and Abraham’s payment, since these details show how the burial place became his possession.
Genesis 23:9, Genesis 23:16, Genesis 23:17, Genesis 23:18, Genesis 23:20
Closing: What was the outcome?
4 minRead verses 17–20 again. Summarise that the field, cave, and trees were deeded to Abraham in the presence of witnesses, and after that he buried Sarah there. Ask children to say one thing Abraham did and one result that followed. If needed, mention that the people call Abraham ‘a prince of God among us’, which is something they say about him in this passage.
Genesis 23:17, Genesis 23:18, Genesis 23:19, Genesis 23:20, Genesis 23:6
Questions to explore
What does Abraham ask for when he speaks to the children of Heth?
Look at Abraham’s own words about a possession and a burying-place, then notice the specific cave he requests for the full price.
Genesis 23:4, Genesis 23:9
Why might the passage repeat who was present, the named price, and the weighing of silver?
Keep your answer tied to what the text says: the words are spoken in the hearing of the people, the price is stated, the silver is weighed, and the property is deeded in their presence.
Genesis 23:10, Genesis 23:13, Genesis 23:16, Genesis 23:18, Genesis 23:20
What does this passage show about Abraham as he deals with Sarah’s death?
Notice that he mourns and weeps, bows to the people, asks for a burial place, and pays the named amount.
Genesis 23:2, Genesis 23:7, Genesis 23:13, Genesis 23:16
Make, think or respond
Sarah’s Burial Place Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- 5 blank cards or paper squares
- pencils or crayons
- Bible
- optional envelope or paperclip for keeping cards together
Try it together
- Help children choose five moments from the passage, such as Sarah dies, Abraham asks, Ephron answers, Abraham pays, Sarah is buried.
- Children draw or write one moment on each card.
- Mix the cards up and have children put them back in order using the Bible reading.
- Invite each child or pair to retell the story using their ordered cards.
- Ask them to point to the card that shows the outcome of Abraham’s payment and the public agreement.
This activity helps children sequence Genesis 23:1–20 and notice how Abraham’s mourning, respectful request, public payment, and the witnessed agreement led to the field and cave becoming a burial place.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, prepare five simple picture prompts on the board and let them match their cards to the prompts before retelling the story.
- For older or confident readers, ask them to add exact words from the passage to each card, such as ‘full price’, ‘four hundred shekels’, or ‘deeded’.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: ‘God, thank you for your word. Please help us be honest in sadness, respectful in speech, and careful to act openly before others. Amen.’
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Genesis 23
1 Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah’s life.
2 Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
3 Abraham rose up from before his dead and spoke to the children of Heth, saying,
4 “I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
5 The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,
6 “Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.”
7 Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the children of Heth.
8 He talked with them, saying, “If you agree that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
9 that he may sell me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him sell it to me among you as a possession for a burial place.”
10 Now Ephron was sitting in the middle of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,
11 “No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”
12 Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land.
13 He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, “But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
15 “My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.”
16 Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard.
17 So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded
18 to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.
20 The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham by the children of Heth as a possession for a burial place.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.