H4375 H4375
Machpelah -- the burial site near Hebron where the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their wives were interred.
A proper noun, always with the article (הַמַּכְפֵּלָה), designating the field and cave near Hebron that Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a family burial site (Gen 23). The name may originally have been an appellative meaning 'the double (cave)' -- the Septuagint renders it τὸ διπλοῦν -- though this etymology remains debated. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah were all buried there (Gen 23:19; 25:9; 49:30; 50:13). It appears exclusively in the Priestly source and always in connection with funerary contexts. Spanish Makpelah, French Macpela, and German Machpela consistently transliterate the name.
Senses
1. the Machpelah — The Machpelah, a burial site near Hebron comprising a field and cave that Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite for four hundred shekels of silver (Gen 23:9, 17). It served as the ancestral tomb for three generations: Abraham and Sarah (Gen 23:19; 25:9), Isaac and Rebekah (Gen 49:30-31), and Jacob and Leah (Gen 50:13). The name always carries the article, suggesting it was originally descriptive -- the Septuagint's τὸ διπλοῦν ('the double') may indicate a cave with two chambers. All occurrences belong to the Priestly source. Spanish Makpelah/Makpelá, French Macpéla, and German Machpela all preserve the proper noun through transliteration, while the consistent association with burial across all languages (cave, field, burial-place) confirms its exclusively funerary context. 6×
AR["الْمَكْفِيلَةِ", "فِي-الْمَكْفِيلَةِ"]·ben["মক্পেলায়", "মক্পেলার", "মখ্পেলার"]·DE["Machpela", "der-Machpela", "in-Machpela"]·EN["is-in-the-Machpelah", "the-Machpelah"]·FR["est-dans-le-Macpéla", "le-Macpéla"]·heb["ב-ה-מכפלה", "ה-מכפלה"]·HI["मकपेला", "मकपेला-का", "मकपेला-की", "मक्पेला", "मक्पेला-का", "मक्पेला-में"]·ID["-Makhpela", "Makhpela", "di-Makhpela"]·IT["il-Macpela", "è-in-il-Macpela"]·jav["Makhpela", "Makpela", "ing-Makhpela"]·KO["그-막벨라", "그-막벨라-에", "그-막벨라의", "막벨라의"]·PT["a-Makhpelah", "em-Makhpelah", "ha-Makhpelah", "o-Makhpelah"]·RU["Махпела", "Махпелы", "в-Махпеле"]·ES["en-la-Makpelah", "la-Makpelah", "la-Makpelá"]·SW["Makipelela", "ambaye", "la-Makpela", "mbele", "wa-Makfela"]·TR["-Makpela'nın", "Makpela'dadır", "alanına"]·urd["-مکفیلہ", "-مکفیلہ-کے", "مکفیلہ-میں-ہے", "مکفیلہ-کے"]
Related Senses
H3548 1. priest, cultic officiant (750×)G5547 1. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One (540×)H5030 1. Prophet, divine spokesperson (317×)H5930a 1. burnt offering (sacrifice) (286×)H3881 1. Levites (priestly class) (283×)G4396 1. prophet, spokesperson of God (146×)H6944 1. sanctuary, holy place (129×)G0749 1. high priest, chief priest (123×)H6944 2. holiness, sacredness (abstract quality) (123×)G5330 1. Pharisee (99×)G4336 1. pray to God (86×)H6944 3. holy things, sacred offerings (plural) (86×)H3722a 1. make ritual atonement (Piel) (85×)H6912 1. bury (Qal active) (82×)H6419 1. pray (Hitpael) (80×)H6944 4. holiness (with possessive pronoun) (77×)H6942 1. sanctify, consecrate (Piel factitive) (76×)H2930a 1. Qal: be/become unclean (75×)H7819a 1. slaughter an animal (Qal active) (72×)H1486 1. lot (object cast for decisions) (71×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מַכְפֵּלָה n.pr.loc. near Hebron, where the patriarchs and their wives were buried, only in P, always c. art.; שׂדה אשׁר בַּמּ׳ Gn 23:17, מְעָרַת הַמּ׳ the cave of Machpelah v 9, 25:9, מְעָרַת שְׂדֵה הַמּ׳ 23:19; 50:13, מְעָרָה אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׂדֵה הַמּ׳ 49:30.—cf. BuhlGeogr. 160, 161.—(Evidently orig. appell., but meaning dub.; 𝔊 τὸ διπλοῦν; according to Thes = part, lot, portion, as Ethiopic መክፈልት ).