John Calvin Commentary Genesis 23:4

"I am a stranger and a sojourner with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight." — Genesis 23:4 (ASV)

I am a stranger and a sojourner with you. This introductory sentence tends to one or the other of these points: either that he may more easily gain what he desires by humbly asking for it, or that he may remove all suspicion of greed on his part. He therefore confesses that since he had only an uncertain dwelling among them, he could possess no tomb unless by their permission.

And because, during life, they had permitted him to dwell within their territory, it was humane not to deny him a tomb for his dead. If this interpretation is accepted, then Abraham both gains their favor for himself by his humility, and in declaring that the children of Heth had dealt kindly with him, he encourages them, by this praise, to continue showing the same generosity with which they had begun.

The other interpretation, however, is not inconsistent; namely, that Abraham, to avoid the resentment that might attach to him as a purchaser, declares that he desires the possession, not for the advantage of the present life, not from ambition or greed, but only in order that his dead may not lie unburied; as if he had said, I do not refuse to continue to live as a stranger among you, as I have until now done; I do not desire your possessions, in order that I may have something of my own, which may enable me in the future to contend for equality with you; it is enough for me to have a place where we may be buried.