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Translation	Verse	Text
Strong Concordance	Ge 23:17	And the field [07704] of Ephron [06085], which was in Machpelah [04375], which was before [06440] Mamre [04471], the field [07704], and the cave [04631] which was therein, and all the trees [06086] that were in the field [07704], that were in all the borders [01366] round about [05439], were made sure [06965]

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Word

American Tract Society - Definition

CAVE

The geological structure of Judea is highly favorable to the formation of caves; and the whole region abounds with subterranean caverns of various dimensions, often giving rise to small rivulets. These were used as dwellings, places of refuge, and tombs. It was in a cave that Lot resided after the destruction of Sodom, Ge 19:30. Petra, in Idumea, was a city of caves, Nu 24:21 So 2:14 Jer 49:16 Ob 1:3. In the vicinity of Hebron, the poor still live in caves while pasturing their flocks. Natural cavities were sometimes enlarged, and artificial ones made for refuge and defense, Jud 6:2 1Sa 13:6 Isa 2:19 Jer 41:9. The caves of Machpelah, of Adullam, of Engedi, of Carmel and of Arbela, still exist. See SEPULCHRE.

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

CAVE

There are numerous natural caves among the limestone rocks of Syria, many of which have been artificially enlarged for various purposes.

The first notice of a cave occurs in the history of Lot (Gen. 19:30).

The next we read of is the cave of Machpelah (q.v.), which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth (Gen. 25:9, 10). It was the burying-place of Sarah and of Abraham himself, also of Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob (Gen. 49:31; 50:13).

The cave of Makkedah, into which the five Amorite kings retired after their defeat by Joshua (10:16, 27).

The cave of Adullam (q.v.), an immense natural cavern, where David hid himself from Saul (1 Sam. 22:1, 2).

The cave of Engedi (q.v.), now called 'Ain Jidy, i.e., the "Fountain of the Kid", where David cut off the skirt of Saul's robe (24:4). Here he also found a shelter for himself and his followers to the number of 600 (23:29; 24:1). "On all sides the country is full of caverns which might serve as lurking-places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day."

The cave in which Obadiah hid the prophets (1 Kings 18:4) was probably in the north, but it cannot be identified.

The cave of Elijah (1 Kings 19:9), and the "cleft" of Moses on Horeb (Ex. 33:22), cannot be determined.

In the time of Gideon the Israelites took refuge from the Midianites in dens and caves, such as abounded in the mountain regions of Manasseh (Judg. 6:2).

Caves were frequently used as dwelling-places (Num. 24:21; Cant. 2:14; Jer. 49:16; Obad. 1:3). "The excavations at Deir Dubban, on the south side of the wady leading to Santa Hanneh, are probably the dwellings of the Horites," the ancient inhabitants of Idumea Proper. The pits or cavities in rocks were also sometimes used as prisons (Isa. 24:22; 51:14; Zech. 9:11). Those which had niches in their sides were occupied as burying-places (Ezek. 32:23; John 11:38).

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Word	American Tract Society - Definition
EPHRON	A Hittite, dwelling at Hebron in the time of Abraham, Ge 23:1- 20. The charming account of his transaction with Abraham, and the frequent subsequent mention of his name, point him out as a prince in the land.

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Word	Easton Dictionary - Definition
EPHRON	fawn-like. (1.) 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. 23:8-17; 25:9; 49:29, 30). (2.) A mountain range which formed one of the landmarks on the north boundary of the tribe of Judah (Josh. 15:9), probably the range on the west side of the Wady Beit-Hanina.

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

FIELD

(Heb. sadeh), a cultivated field, but unenclosed. It is applied to any cultivated ground or pasture (Gen. 29:2; 31:4; 34:7), or tillage (Gen. 37:7; 47:24). It is also applied to woodland (Ps. 132:6) or mountain top (Judg. 9:32, 36; 2 Sam. 1:21). It denotes sometimes a cultivated region as opposed to the wilderness (Gen. 33:19; 36:35). Unwalled villages or scattered houses are spoken of as "in the fields" (Deut. 28:3, 16; Lev. 25:31; Mark 6:36, 56). The "open field" is a place remote from a house (Gen. 4:8; Lev. 14:7, 53; 17:5). Cultivated land of any extent was called a field (Gen. 23:13, 17; 41:8; Lev. 27:16; Ruth 4:5; Neh. 12:29).

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

MACHPELAH

portion; double cave, the cave which Abraham bought, together with the field in which it stood, from Ephron the Hittite, for a family burying-place (Gen. 23). It is one of those Bible localities about the identification of which there can be no doubt. It was on the slope of a hill on the east of Hebron, "before Mamre." Here were laid the bodies of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah (Gen. 23:19; 25:9; 49:31; 50:13). Over the cave an ancient Christian church was erected, probably in the time of Justinian, the Roman emperor. This church has been converted into a Mohammedan mosque. The whole is surrounded by the el-Haram i.e., "the sacred enclosure," about 200 feet long, 115 broad, and of an average height of about 50. This building, from the immense size of some of its stones, and the manner in which they are fitted together, is supposed by some to have been erected in the days of David or of Solomon, while others ascribe it to the time of Herod. It is looked upon as the most ancient and finest relic of Jewish architecture.

On the floor of the mosque are erected six large cenotaphs as monuments to the dead who are buried in the cave beneath. Between the cenotaphs of Isaac and Rebekah there is a circular opening in the floor into the cavern below, the cave of Machpelah. Here it may be that the body of Jacob, which was embalmed in Egypt, is still preserved (much older embalmed bodies have recently been found in the cave of Deir el-Bahari in Egypt, see PHARAOH), though those of the others there buried may have long ago mouldered into dust. The interior of the mosque was visited by the Prince of Wales in 1862 by a special favour of the Mohammedan authorities. An interesting account of this visit is given in Dean Stanley's Lectures on the Jewish Church. It was also visited in 1866 by the Marquis of Bute, and in 1869 by the late Emperor (Frederick) of Germany, then the Crown Prince of Prussia. In 1881 it was visited by the two sons of the Prince of Wales, accompanied by Sir C. Wilson and others. (See Palestine Quarterly Statement, October 1882).

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Word

American Tract Society - Definition

MAMRE

An Amorite prince, brother of Eshcol and Aner. All three united their forces to aid Abraham in the rescue of Lot, Ge 14:1-24. He gave his name to the town where he dwelt, afterwards Hebron, in the suburbs of which was a large terebinth-tree, or grove, (see OAK,) called in the English Bible "the plain of Mamre." Here Abraham and his descendants often pitched their tents, Ge 13:18 18:1. The cave of Machpelah was adjacent to Mamre on the east, Ge 23:17,19 49:30; and from the heights nearby, Abraham could see the smoking plain of Sodom, Ge 19:27,28.

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

MAMRE

manliness. (1.) An Amoritish chief in alliance with Abraham (Gen. 14:13, 24).

(2.) The name of the place in the neighbourhood of Hebron (q.v.) where Abraham dwelt (Gen. 23:17, 19; 35:27); called also in Authorized Version (13:18) the "plain of Mamre," but in Revised Version more correctly "the oaks [marg., 'terebinths'] of Mamre." The name probably denotes the "oak grove" or the "wood of Mamre," thus designated after Abraham's ally.

This "grove" must have been within sight of or "facing" Machpelah (q.v.). The site of Mamre has been identified with Ballatet Selta, i.e., "the oak of rest", where there is a tree called "Abraham's oak," about a mile and a half west of Hebron. Others identify it with er-Rameh, 2 miles north of Hebron.

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Word

American Tract Society - Definition

TREES

Were frequently used as types of kings, or men of wealth and power, Ps 37:35 Isa 2:13 Da 4:10-26 Zec 11:1,2. The "tree of knowledge of good and evil" bore the forbidden fruit, by eating of which Adam fatally increased his knowledge?of good by its loss, of sin and woe by actual experience, Ge 2:9,17. The "tree of life" may have been both an assurance and a means of imparting life, a seal of eternal holiness and bliss, if man had not sinned. Compare Re 22:2.

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