John Calvin Commentary Genesis 23:11

"Nay, my lord, hear me. The field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee. In the presence of the children of my people give I it thee. Bury thy dead." — Genesis 23:11 (ASV)

Hear me. Although Ephron earnestly insisted on giving the field freely to Abraham, the holy man adheres to his purpose and finally, through his pleas, compels Ephron to sell the field. Ephron, while excusing himself, says that the price was too small for Abraham to insist on paying, yet he estimates it at four hundred shekels.

Now, Josephus states that the shekel of the sanctuary was worth four Attic drachms. If he is referring to these, we gather from Budaeus’s calculation that the price of the field was about two hundred and fifty French pounds. If, however, it was the common shekel, the price would be half that amount.

Abraham was not so overly scrupulous that he would have refused a greater gift, if a sufficient reason had not prevented him. He had been presented with considerable gifts by both the king of Egypt and the king of Gerar, but he observed this rule: he would neither receive all things, nor in all places, nor from all persons. And I have recently explained that he bought the field so that he would not possess even a foot of land as a gift from any man.