That he may give me the cave of Mach-pelah: give is “sell” as in Gen 23.4. Mach-pelah is the name of the area or district in which the cave is located. In verses 17 and 19 Mach-pelah is defined as the area to the east of Mamre, or Hebron. The way cave of Mach-pelah is translated will depend upon the way a small place within a larger area is referred to; that is, “the cave located in the area called Machpelah.” In this stage of the negotiations, Abraham asks to buy the cave only.

Which he owns: that is, the cave that Ephron owns, or “the cave on Ephron’s land.” It may be more natural to indicate ownership here as “his cave in Machpelah that is at the end of his field” or “… at the edge of his land.”

For the full price refers to the current value. Abraham is not negotiating for the price but for the cave, and will pay the price it is worth as land values were known to these men. We may translate, for example, “Let him sell it to me for its true price,” “… for whatever it is worth.” A translation that separates this expression to the end of the verse as a separate sentence says “Tell him I will give him the right price for that land.”

In your presence means that the Hittites will be witnesses to the sale, and therefore it will be legal. This may be translated “here in front of you [plural],” “here where you [plural] are witnesses,” “with you [plural] as witness to the sale.”

As a possession for a burying place: this may need to be restructured to say, for example, “so that it will be my burial place,” “and I will own it as a grave,” “and that grave will become my property,” or “so that I can have my own graveyard.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .