Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him: this brief statement says nothing about the ritual of handling the corpse nor of the burial rites. The focus is on placing the body in the cave that Abraham had purchased from the Hittites (23.17-20). The burial was probably done by wrapping the body in cloth, and laying it on the floor of the cave, and closing the entrance of the cave.

In languages that have terms for burying that refer to placing the corpse in a tree or on a raised platform, translators may need to use a more general expression such as “laid his corpse in the cave….”

For the expressions cave of Mach-pelah, field of Ephron, Hittites, east of Mamre, translators should refer to the wording used in 23.8-9, 17-20. Note that Good News Translation and others have shifted east of Mamre to follow “in the field” for a more natural style in English. The field of Ephron, if it is translated literally as in Revised Standard Version, may give readers the impression that Ephron was still the owner of the field. Good News Translation corrects this in English with the verb tense “which had belonged to Ephron.” In other languages some reference to past and present time may be required; for example, “the piece of ground that belonged at first to Ephron…, (10) but which later Abraham bought….”

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 .