Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

My Lord, hear us, thou art a prince of God among us: bury thy dead in our principle sepulchers: and no man shall have power to hinder thee from burying thy dead in his sepulcher.

Hear us, my lord: thou art a prince of God among us: in the choicest of our sepulchres bury thy dead: none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre for burying thy dead.

Hear us, my lord; thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead: none of us will withhold from thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

Hear us, my lord; a prince of God art thou in our midst; in the choice of our burying-places bury thy dead: none of us his burying-place doth withhold from thee, from burying thy dead.'

Hear us, my lord: you are a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchers bury your dead; none of us shall withhold from you his sepulcher, but that you may bury your dead.

My lord, truly you are a great chief among us; take the best of our resting-places for your dead; not one of us will keep back from you a place where you may put your dead to rest.

Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to prevent you from burying your dead.

"Hear us, O lord, you are a leader of God among us. Bury your dead in our chosen sepulchers. And no man shall be able to prohibit you from burying your dead within his memorial."

Audi nos, domine mi, Princeps Dei es in medio nostri: in electis sepulchris nostris sepeli mortuum tuum: nemo e nobis sepulchrum suum prohibebit a to, ne sepelias mortuum tuum.

Thou art a mighty prince among us [1] The Hittites gratuitously offer a burying-place to Abraham wherever he might please to choose one. They testify that they do this, as a tribute to his virtues. We have before seen, that the Hebrews give a divine title to anything which excels. Therefore we are to understand by the expression, a prince of God,' a person of great and singular excellency. And they properly signalize him whom they reverence for his virtues, with this eulogium; thereby testifying, that they ascribe to God alone, whatever virtues in men are deserving of praise and reverence. Now some seed of piety manifests itself in the Hittites, by thus doing honor to Abraham, whom they acknowledge to be adorned with rare gifts of the Spirit of God. For profane and brutal men tread under foot, with barbarous contempt, every excellent gift of God, as swine do pearls. And yet we know with how many vices those nations were defiled; how much greater then, and more disgraceful is our ingratitude, if we give no honor to the image of God, when it shines before our eyes? Abraham's sanctity of manners procures him such favor with the Hittites, that they do not envy his preeminence among them; what excuse then is there for us, if we hold in less esteem those virtues in which the majesty of God is conspicuous? Truly their madness is diabolical, who not only despise the favors of God, but even ferociously oppose them.

Footnotes

1 - "Princeps es Dei." See margin of English version. Heb., a prince of God. -- Ed

Thou art a mighty prince - נשיא אלהים nesi Elohim, a prince of God - a person whom we know to be Divinely favored, and whom, in consequence, we deeply respect and reverence.

Hear us, my lord: thou [art] a (b) mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
(b) That is godly or excellent: for so do the Hebrews speak of all things that are notable, because all excellency comes from God.

Hear us, my lord,.... One of them spake in the name of the rest, who calls Abraham not "our lord", but "my lord"; addressing him very honourably, and desires he would hear what he had to say on the behalf of others with himself; "hear us", representing not the body of the common people, but the princes among them, the heads of their families:
thou art a mighty prince amongst us; though he was pleased to call himself a stranger and a sojourner, yet they had an high opinion of him, as a person of great wealth and substance, and of great power and authority; and who lived like a prince, and was a potent one, having a large train of servants under him: or, "a prince of God" (x), as it may be rendered; one raised up to grandeur and dignity by him; with whom he was, find in whose sight he had favour, and was very grateful and acceptable; and by whom he was highly honoured, and had in great esteem as a friend of his:
in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; as they had many, every family a distinct sepulchre for itself, they made offer of them to him, to bury his dead in the choicest of them, the most grand and magnificent, or in which of them soever he pleased; which was very kind, generous, and respectful:
none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead; there is not a man among us but what has such a regard for thee, that he will not deny thee the use of his sepulchre to bury thy dead in; and therefore need not scruple to make use of any that may be judged most proper and convenient: no doubt the speaker full well knew the mind of those in whose name he addressed Abraham.
(x) "princeps Dei", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Vatablus, Drusius, Schmidt, &c.

Thou art a prince of God among us - So the word is; not only great, but good. He called himself a stranger and a sojourner, they call him a great prince.