Hebrew word · H4375

מַכְפֵּלָה

hamakhpelah

Machpelah

A place name, always written with 'the' (ha-makhpelah). It is usually connected with the root k-p-l, 'to double' or 'fold over' (Exod 26:9), giving something like 'the double (place)'.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Machpelah = "double" or "portion"

the location of a burial cave for the patriarchs, near Hebron

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Genesis 23:19

Range of meaning

A place name, always written with 'the' (ha-makhpelah). It is usually connected with the root k-p-l, 'to double' or 'fold over' (Exod 26:9), giving something like 'the double (place)'. Some read the name as belonging to the field or district rather than the cave itself (23:17 speaks of 'the field of Ephron which was in the Machpelah').

Against the English

English versions simply write 'Machpelah' as a name. That is fine, but readers lose the hint that the name probably described the place.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Septuagint translates it 'the double cave' (to spēlaion to diploun) and Jerome's Latin Vulgate has 'the double cave' (spelunca duplex). Rabbinic tradition explains it as a two-level cave, or one 'doubled' with couples (Babylonian Talmud, Eruvin 53a). Herod the Great's huge stone enclosure over the traditional site in Hebron still stands. Josephus mentions the patriarchs' tombs at Hebron (Antiquities 1.237; Jewish War 4.532).

From the study of Genesis 50:13

Range of meaning

A place name found only in Genesis (23:9, 17, 19; 25:9; 49:30; 50:13), always with the article ("the Machpelah"). That suggests a descriptive name. It is usually derived from k-p-l, "to double, fold over" (Exod 26:9, the doubled curtain).

Against the English

English versions transliterate it as a proper name, which hides any descriptive meaning. The ancient versions translated it.

Used elsewhere in the period

The LXX renders it to spēlaion to diploun, "the double cave," and the Vulgate spelunca duplex. Later Jewish tradition (e.g., the Talmud, b. Eruvin 53a) took "double" as two chambers, or as a tomb for couples (Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah). The traditional site at Hebron is enclosed by a massive Herodian-period wall (Haram el-Khalil / Cave of the Patriarchs).

Where it appears

Genesis · 6

  1. Genesis 23:9 הַמַּכְפֵּלָה֙ <the> Machpelah

    to sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me in your presence for full price, so that I may have a burial site.”

  2. Genesis 23:17 בַּמַּכְפֵּלָ֔ה [was] in <the> Machpelah

    So Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre, the cave that was in it, and all the trees within the boundaries of the field were deeded over

  3. Genesis 23:19 הַמַּכְפֵּלָ֛ה <the> Machpelah

    After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

    Here: A place name that still carries 'the', so it began as a description, probably 'the double (place)'. Ancient translators took it to mean a double cave.

  4. Genesis 25:9 הַמַּכְפֵּלָ֑ה <the> Machpelah

    His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.

    Here: "The Machpelah." It takes the article ("the"), which suggests it was first a description of the place and then a name. It is probably related to the root k-p-l, "to double"; the Greek and Latin translations render it "the double cave".

  5. Genesis 49:30 הַמַּכְפֵּלָ֛ה <the> Machpelah

    The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

  6. Genesis 50:13 הַמַּכְפֵּלָ֑ה <the> Machpelah

    They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

    Here: The name of the place, always written with "the," which suggests it began as a description. It is probably linked to the root k-p-l, "to double." The Greek and Latin translators took it as "the double cave."

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.