# the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron Ephron owned a field in Machpelah and the cave that was in that field. Abraham bought the field from Ephron. # Machpelah Machpelah was the name of an area or region. See how you translated this in Genesis 23:9 # which is near Mamre Machpela was near Mamre. # Mamre This was another name for the city of Hebron. It may have been named after Mamre, the friend of Abraham who lived there.