The negotiation for Sarah's burial unfolds with legal care. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 23:8, Abraham approaches the gathered Hittite elders not with authority but with a petition: If it be with the consent of your mind that I bury my dead from before my face, receive of me, and intercede for me before Ephron bar Zochar.
The Aramaic preserves the father's name — bar Zochar — which the Targum adds for legal precision. Ancient deeds required full patronymics. The Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan is writing as though the reader will one day examine the document.
Abraham refuses to use his standing as a nesi Elohim, a prince of God, to seize what he needs. He asks the community to serve as his advocates. He will not negotiate privately with Ephron. The entire gate of the city must witness.
This is the pattern of Jewish contract law that will crystallize centuries later in the Mishnah: public witnesses, full names, no hidden arrangements. Abraham is inventing the procedure in real time, because the burial of Sarah must be beyond legal dispute. The land must belong to the covenant line forever.
The Maggidim read this verse as the template for Jewish transparency in commerce. The takeaway: when you transact something permanent, do it publicly. Find your witnesses. Name the father. Leave no room for a descendant to doubt the deed.