Commentary for Genesis 23:9
וְיִתֶּן־לִ֗י אֶת־מְעָרַ֤ת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה֙ אֲשֶׁר־ל֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֖ר בִּקְצֵ֣ה שָׂדֵ֑הוּ בְּכֶ֨סֶף מָלֵ֜א יִתְּנֶ֥נָּה לִ֛י בְּתוֹכְכֶ֖ם לַאֲחֻזַּת־קָֽבֶר׃
that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying-place.’
Rashi on Genesis
המכפלה MACHPELAH (the root, כפל, means double) — it had a lower and an upper cavern. Another explanation of why it was so called is, because it has the characteristic of being doubled on account of the couples who are buried there (see Rashi in verse 2) (Eruvin 53a).
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Ramban on Genesis
THAT HE MAY GIVE ME. The intent of this is “that he may give it to me in such a way that I will consider it as a gift (even) if I will buy it from him for its full value.” It is for this reason that Abraham did not mention the word “selling.” A similar usage is found in the verse, Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink,30Deuteronomy 2:28. meaning “for the water which is usually given as a gift I will give money.” It may be that such is the ordinary usage of the language to mention “giving” when describing sales transactions.
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Rashbam on Genesis
מערת המכפלה, any depression in the surface of the earth is called מכפלה, as the ככר הירדן, refers to the entire Jordan valley (13,10). This is substantiated by the Torah describing Efron’s field as being located in מכפלה in verse 18 of our chapter.
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