Bible Commentaries

Micah 4:9 — Verse 9. Is there no King in thee? — None. And why? Because thou hast rejected Jehovah thy king.Is thy counsellor perished? — No: but thou hast rejected the words and advices of the prophets.Pangs have taken thee — He is speaking of the desolations

Zechariah 9:11 — Verse Zechariah 9:11. As for thee also (Jerusalem) by the blood of thy covenant — The covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Israelites in general, and ratified by the blood of many victims; until the time should come in which the Messiah should shed

Zechariah 9:13 — Verse Zechariah 9:13. When I have bent Judah — Judah is the bow, and Ephraim is the arrows; and these are to be shot against the Greeks. I am inclined, with Bp. Newcome, to consider that the language of this prophecy is too strong to point out the only trifling

Matthew 14:9 — Verse Matthew 14:9. The king was sorry — He knew John to be a righteous man, and at first did many things gladly which John told him it was his duty to perform: Mark 6:20.Nevertheless, for the oath's sake — The OATHS, ορκους - he had probably sworn again and

Matthew 17:2 — glorious resurrection body, in which they should exist in the presence of God to eternity.White as the light. — But the Cod. Bezae, some of the ancient versions, and several of the fathers, read ως χιων, as snow; and this is the reading in Mark 9:3.

Matthew 24:6 — The SECOND sign, wars and commotions.Verse Matthew 24:6. The next signs given by our Lord are wars and rumours of wars, c.] These may be seen in Josephus, Ant. b. xviii. c. 9 War, b. ii. c. 10; especially as to the rumours of wars, when Caligula ordered his statue to be set up in the temple of God, which the Jews having refused, had every reason to expect a war with the Romans, and were in such consternation on the occasion that they even neglected to till their land.

Matthew 9:14 — Verse Matthew 9:14. Thy disciples fast not? — Probably meaning that they did not fast so frequently as the others did, or for the same purposes, which is very likely, for the Pharisees had many superstitious fasts. They fasted in order to have lucky dreams, to

Mark 13:9 — Verse Mark 13:9. Councils — συνεδρια, Sanhedrins. The grand Sanhedrin consisted of seventy-two elders; six chosen out of each tribe; this was the national council of state; and the small Sanhedrins, which were composed of twenty-three counsellors.Synagogues —

Mark 16:15 — Verse Mark 16:15. Go ye into all the world — Matthew 28:19.And preach the Gospel to every creature. — Proclaim the glad tidings - of Christ crucified; and raised from the dead - to all the creation, πασῃ τῃ κτισει - to the Gentile worid; for in this sense בריות berioth, is often understood among the rabbins; because HE, through the grace of God, hath tasted death for EVERY man, Hebrews 2:9. And on the rejection of the Gospel by the Jews, it was sent to the whole Gentile world.

Mark 4:1 — CHAPTER IV. The parable of the sower, 1-9. Its interpretation, 10-20. The use we should make of the instructions we receive, 21-26. The parable of the progressively growing seed, 26-29. Of the mustard seed, 30-34. Christ and his disciples are overtaken by a storm, 35-38. He rebukes the wind and the sea, and produces fair weather, 39-41. NOTES ON CHAP. IV.Verse Mark 4:2. He taught them many things by parables — See every part of this parable of the sower explained on Matthew 13:1, &c.

Luke 10:2 — Verse Luke 10:2. That he would send forth — εκβαλη. There seems to be an allusion here to the case of reapers, who, though the harvest was perfectly ripe, yet were in no hurry to cut it down. News of this is brought to the Lord of the harvest the farmer, and he is entreated to exert his authority, and hurry them out; and this he does because the harvest is spoiling for want of being reaped and gathered in. See the notes on Matthew 9:37-38.

Luke 16:18 — Verse Luke 16:18. Putteth away (or divorceth) his wife — See on Matthew 5:31; Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:9; Matthew 19:10; Mark 10:12; where the question concerning divorce is considered at large. These verses, from the 13th to the 18th Luke 16:13-18 inclusive, appear to be part of our Lord's sermon on the mount; and stand in a much better connection there than they do here; unless we suppose our Lord delivered the same discourse at different times and places, which is very probable.

Luke 4:25 — Verse 25. In the days of Elias — See this history, 1 Kings 17:1-9, compared with 1 Kings 18:1-45. This was evidently a miraculous interference, as no rain fell for three years and six months, even in the rainy seasons. There were two of these in Judea, called the first and the latter rains; the first fell in October,

Luke 9:20 — Verse Luke 9:20. But whom say ye that I am? — Whom do ye tell the people that I am? What do ye preach concerning me? See also on Matthew 16:14; and see the observations at the end of this chapter.The Christ of God. — The Coptic and later Persic read, Thou art Christ God. After this comes in Peter's confession of our Lord, as related Matthew 16:16, c., where see the notes and see also the observations of Granville Sharp, Esq., at the end of this chapter. Matthew 16:16- :

John 9:3 — Verse John 9:3. Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents — That is, the blindness of this person is not occasioned by any sin of his own, nor of his parents, but has happened in the ordinary course of Divine providence, and shall now become the instrument

Acts 9:3 — Verse Acts 9:3. Suddenly there shined round about him — This might have been an extraordinary flash of the electric fluid, accompanied with thunder, with which God chose to astonish and confound Saul and his company; but so modified it as to prevent it from

Romans 6:9 — Verse Romans 6:9. Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more — So we, believing in Christ Jesus, and having a death unto sin, and a life unto righteousness, should sin no more. If we be risen indeed with Christ, we should seek the things above, and set our affections on things above, and not on the earth. The man who walks in humble, loving obedience, to an indwelling Christ, sin has no more dominion over his soul than death has over the immortal and glorified body of his Redeemer.

2 Corinthians 1:9 — Verse 2 Corinthians 1:9. We had the sentence of death in ourselves — The tribulation was so violent and overwhelming, that he had no hope of escaping death.That we should not trust in ourselves — The tribulation was of such a nature as to take away all expectation of help but from GOD alone.But in God which raiseth the dead — This is very like the business at Lystra; and would be sufficient to fix the apostle's reference to that fact could the time and other circumstances serve.

2 Corinthians 9:3 — Verse 2 Corinthians 9:3. Yet have I sent the brethren — Titus and his companions, mentioned in the preceding chapter.That, as I said, ye may be ready — And he wished them to be ready, that they might preserve the good character he had given them: this was for their honour; and if they did not take care to do so, he might be reputed a liar; and thus both they and himself be ashamed before the Macedonians, should any of them at this time accompany him to Corinth.

2 Corinthians 9:8 — Verse 2 Corinthians 9:8. God is able to make all grace abound — We have already seen, 2 Corinthians 8:1 that the word χαρις, in the connection in which the apostle uses it in these chapters, signifies a charitable gift; here it certainly has the same meaning: God is