Bible Commentaries

Exodus 17:2 — Verse Exodus 17:2. Why chide ye with me? — God is your leader, complain to him; Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? As he is your leader, all your murmurings against me he considers as directed against himself; why therefore do ye tempt him? Has he not given you sufficient proofs that he can destroy his enemies and support his friends? And is he not among you to do you good? Exodus 17:7. Why therefore do ye doubt his power and goodness, and thus provoke him to treat you as his enemies?

1 Kings 16:7 — Verse 1 Kings 16:7. And because he killed him. — This the Vulgate understands of Jehu the prophet, put to death by Baasha: Ob hanc causam occidit eum, hoe est. Jehu filium Hanani prophetam; "On this account he killed him, that is, Jehu the prophet, the son of Hanani."

1 Kings 3:5 — Verse 1 Kings 3:5. The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream — This was the night after he had offered the sacrifices, (see 2 Chronicles 1:7), and probably after he had earnestly prayed for wisdom; see Wisdom 7:7: Wherefore I prayed, and understanding was given me: I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. If this were the case, the dream might have been the consequence of

1 Kings 3:5 — Versículo 1 Reyes 3:5 . El Señor se le apareció a Salomón en un sueño.  Esta fue la noche después de haber ofrecido los sacrificios (ver 2 Crónicas 1:7 ), y probablemente después de haber orado fervientemente por la sabiduría; véase Sabiduría 7:7: Por eso oré, y se me dio entendimiento: invoqué a Dios, y el espíritu de sabiduría vino a mí. Si este fuera el caso, el sueño podría haber sido la consecuencia

1 Kings 5:7 — Verse 1 Kings 5:7. Blessed be the Lord this day — From this, and indeed from every part of Hiram's conduct, it is evident that he was a worshipper of the true God; unless, as was the case with many of the heathens, he supposed that every country had its own god, and every god his own country, and he thanked the God of Israel that he had given so wise a prince to govern those whom he considered his friends and allies: but the first opinion seems to be the most correct.

2 Kings 25:1 — besieges Jerusalem; it is taken, after having been sorely reduced by famine, c. and Zedekiah, endeavouring to make his escape, is made prisoner, his sons slain before his eyes; then, his eyes being put out, he is put in chains and carried to Babylon, 1-7. Nebuzar-adan burns the temple, breaks down the walls of Jerusalem, and carries away the people captives, leaving only a few to till the ground, 8-12. He takes away all the brass, and all the vessels of the temple, 13-17. Several of the chief men and

Hosea overview — comparisons; and, like the best Greek and Roman writers, often omits the particle of similitude. These comparisons he sometimes accumulates in the spirit of that poetry which is most admired. See Hosea 6:3-4; Hosea 9:10; Hosea 11:11; Hosea 13:3; Hosea 14:5-7. He has often a Great Force of Expression. See Hosea 1:7; Hosea 2:3, Hosea 2:18, Hosea 2:21-22; Hosea 4:2; Hosea 6:5; Hosea 11:4; Hosea 12:1. He is sometimes Highly Animated. See Hosea 4:14; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 8:1; Hosea 9:5, Hosea 9:14; Hosea 13:10,

Acts 9:15 — chosen vessel unto me — The word σκευος in Greek, and כלי keley in Hebrew, though they literally signify a vessel, yet they are both used to signify any kind of instrument, or the means by which an act is done. In the Tract. Sohar Exod. fol. 87, on these words of Boaz to Ruth, Ruth 2:9, When thou art athirst, go unto the vessels and drink, c., there are these remarkable words ." כלי keley, vessels that is, the righteous, who are called the vessels or instruments of Jehovah; for it is decreed

Joshua 10:10 — Verse Joshua 10:10. Slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon — Multitudes of them fell in the onset; after which they fled, and the Israelites pursued them by the way of Beth-horon. There were two cities of this name, the upper and lower, both in the tribe of Ephraim, and built by Sherah, the daughter of Ephraim, 1 Chronicles 7:24. The situation of these two cities is not exactly known.To Azekah, and unto Makkedah. — These two cities were in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:35-41.

Joshua 11:17 — Verse Joshua 11:17. From the mount Halak — All the mountainous country that extends from the south of the land of Canaan towards Seir unto Baal-gad, which lies at the foot of Mount Libanus or Hermon, called by some the mountains of Separation, which serve as a limit

Joshua 15:3 — Verse Joshua 15:3. Maaleh-acrabbim — The ascent of the Mount of Scorpions, probably so called from the multitude of those animals found in that place.Kadesh-barnea — This place was called Enmishpat, Genesis 14:7. It was on the edge of the wilderness of Paran, and about twenty-four miles from Hebron. Here Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, died; and here Moses and Aaron rebelled against the Lord; hence the place was called Meribah-Kadesh, or the contention

Joshua 3:7 — Verse Joshua 3:7. This day will I begin to magnify thee — By making him the instrument in this miraculous passage, he did him honour and gave him high credit in the sight of the people: hence his authority was established, and obedience to him as their leader

Judges 21:7 — Verse Judges 21:7. How shall we do for wives for them — From this it appears that they had destroyed all the Benjamitish women and children! They had set out with the purpose of exterminating the whole tribe, and therefore they massacred the women, that if any of the men escaped, they might neither find wife nor daughter; and they bound themselves under an oath not to give any of their females to any of the remnant of this tribe, that thus the whole tribe might utterly perish.

Judges 7:16 — Verse Judges 7:16. He divided the three hundred men — Though the victory was to be from the Lord, yet he knew that he ought to use prudential means; and those which he employed on this occasion were the best calculated to answer the end. If he had not used these means, it is not likely that God would have delivered the Midianites into his hands. Sometimes, even in working a miracle, God will have natural means used: Go, dip thyself seven times in Jordan. Go, wash in the pool Siloam.

Judges 7:21 — Verse Judges 7:21. They stood every man in his place — Each of the three companies kept its station, and continued to sound their trumpets. The Midianites seeing this, and believing that they were the trumpets of a numerous army which had then penetrated their

Judges 8:7 — Verse Judges 8:7. I will tear your flesh — What this punishment consisted in I cannot say; it must mean a severe punishment: as if he had said, I will thresh your flesh with briers and thorns, as corn is threshed out with threshing instruments; or, Ye shall be trodden down under the feet of my victorious army, as the corn is trodden out with the feet of the ox.Succoth was beyond Jordan, in the tribe of Gad. Penuel was also in the same tribe, and not far distant from Succoth.

Ruth 3:7 — Verse Ruth 3:7. When Boaz had eaten and drunk — The Targum adds, "He blessed the name of the Lord, who had heard his prayer, and removed famine from the land of Israel."Went to lie down — As the threshing-floors of the Eastern nations are in general in the open air, it is very likely that the owner or some confidential person continued in the fields till the grain was secured, having a tent in the place where the corn was threshed and winnowed. Boaz seems to have acted thus.

1 Samuel 7:14 — Verse 1 Samuel 7:14. The cities which the Philistines had taken — We are not informed of the particulars of these reprisals, but we may rest assured all this was not done in one day: perhaps the retaking of the cities was by slow degrees, through the space of

2 Samuel 10:1 — misled by his courtiers, treats the messengers of David with great indignity, 3-5. The Ammonites, justly dreading David's resentment, send, and hire the Syrians to make war upon him, 6. Joab and Abishai meet them at the city of Medeba, and defeat them, 7-14. The Syrians collect another army, but are defeated by David with great slaughter, and make with him a separate peace, 15-19. NOTES ON CHAP. X

2 Samuel 19:37 — Verse 2 Samuel 19:37. Thy servant Chimham — It is generally understood that this was Barzillai's son; and this is probable from 1 Kings 2:7, where, when David was dying, he said, Show kindness to the sons of Barzillai: and it is very probable that this Chimham was