They said to him: We know that the Holy One, blessed be He, will give to thee and to thy seed in the future all these lands; make a covenant with us by an oath that thy seed shall not take possession of the cities of Jebus, and we will sell unto thee the Cave of Machpelah by a purchase with gold and by a perpetual deed and for a perpetual possession. He made with them a covenant with an oath that the Israelites would not take possession of the city of Jebus save by the consent of the sons of Jebus, and afterwards he bought the Cave of Machpelah by a purchase with gold, and a perpetual deed, for a perpetual possession, (as it is said), "And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant" (Gen. 23:16).