Weighing Out the Silver 12-16. As you can tell from what happens next, Ephron is working the deal here. Abraham is seeking to buy the cave but Ephron offers it and the field for free. Why didn’t Abraham just take it? Because the law of the land said that once Ephron died his descendants could demand the land back. Abraham is seeking to establish ownership of the cave and Ephron knows that. Ephron has basically said, “You want the cave? You have to buy the field too.” So Abraham says okay name your price. Ephron says, four hundred shekels of silver. It’s hard to figure out exactly how much this is and Moses in the text says that it was a shekel according to the weights current among the merchants. It seems that it was a lot of money. Maybe Ephron thought that Abraham wouldn’t pay but he does. He doesn’t haggle or try to get the price lowered he just pays the price. Abraham does not want any future legal claims from Ephron’s descendants on this property. He weighs out the silver and finally, Abraham owns a piece of the Promised Land.