The Meaning of Genesis 23:7 Explained

Genesis 23:7

KJV: And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

YLT: And Abraham riseth and boweth himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth,

Darby: And Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth,

ASV: And Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Abraham  stood up,  and bowed  himself to the people  of the land,  [even] to the children  of Heth. 

What does Genesis 23:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 23:1-20 - Abraham Buys A Burial Place
Death is an ever-constant monitor that this world is not our home. We rise up from before our dead to confess that we are only strangers and sojourners on the earth. Though the whole country, by God's deed and gift, belonged to Abraham, it had not as yet been made over; hence the necessity for this deliberate purchase with all the stately formalities of the leisured East. Abraham's insistence on buying this grave, and the care with which the negotiations were pursued, show that he realized that his descendants would come again into that land and possess it. It was as though he felt that he and Sarah should lie there awaiting the return of their children and children's children. See also Genesis 49:29-30. So the graves of the martyrs and of missionaries who have fallen at the post of duty are the silent outposts that hold those lands for Christ, as the graves of the saints await the Second Advent. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 23

1  The age and death of Sarah
3  The purchase of the field and cave of Machpelah;
19  where Sarah is buried

What do the individual words in Genesis 23:7 mean?

And stood up Abraham and bowed himself to the people of the land the sons of Heth
וַיָּ֧קָם אַבְרָהָ֛ם וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ לְעַם־ הָאָ֖רֶץ לִבְנֵי־ חֵֽת

וַיָּ֧קָם  And  stood  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
אַבְרָהָ֛ם  Abraham 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַבְרָהָם  
Sense: friend of God and founder of Hebrew nation via God’s elective covenant.
וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ  and  bowed  himself 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hitpael, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁחָה  
Sense: to bow down.
לְעַם־  to  the  people 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
הָאָ֖רֶץ  of  the  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
לִבְנֵי־  the  sons 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
חֵֽת  of  Heth 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֵת  
Sense: a son of Canaan and the progenitor of the Hittites.