Bible Commentaries

Exodus 12:4 — Verse Exodus 12:4. If the household be too little — That is, if there be not persons enough in one family to eat a whole lamb, then two families must join together. The rabbins allow that there should be at least ten persons to one paschal lamb, and not more than twenty.Take it, according to the number of the souls — The persons who were to eat of it were to be first ascertained, and then the lamb was to be slain and dressed for that number.

1 Kings 10:10 — Verse 1 Kings 10:10. A hundred and twenty talents of gold — The worth of these one hundred and twenty talents of gold, according to Mr. Reynolds, is equal to £843,905. 10s. 4 3/4d. of our British sterling. But the spices and precious stones might have been yet of more value. After this verse the 13th should be read, which is here most evidently misplaced; and then the account of the queen of Sheba will be concluded, and that of Solomon's revenue will stand without interruption.

1 Kings 16:25 — Verse 25. Did worse than all - before him — Omri was,1. An idolater in principle;2. An idolater in practice;3. He led the people to idolatry by precept and example; and, which was that in which he did worse than all before him,4. He made statutes in favour of idolatry, and obliged the people by law to commit it.See Micah 6:16, where this seems to be intended: For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab.

1 Kings 4:13 — Verse 1 Kings 4:13. Threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars — These were fortified cities: their gates and bars covered with plates of brass. Such were the gates in Priam's palace: - Ipse inter primos correpta dura bipenni Limina perrumpit, POSTES

2 Kings 4:24 — Verse 2 Kings 4:24. Drive, and go forward — It is customary in the East for a servant to walk along side or drive the ass his master rides. Sometimes he walks behind, and goads on the beast; and when it is to turn, he directs its head with the long pole of the goad. It is probably to this custom that the wise man alludes when he says, "I have seen servants on horses, and princes walking as servants on the earth," on the ground.

2 Kings 4:43 — Verse 2 Kings 4:43. Thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.] It was God, not the prophet, who fed one hundred men with these twenty loaves, &c. This is something like our Lord's feeding the multitude miraculously. Indeed, there are many things in this chapter similar to facts in our Lord's history: and this prophet might be more aptly considered a type of our Lord, than most of the other persons in the Scriptures who have been thus honoured.

2 Kings 4:8 — Verse 2 Kings 4:8. Elisha passed to Shunem — This city was in the tribe of Issachar, to the south of the brook Kishon, and at the foot of Mount Tabor.Where was a great woman — In Pirkey Rab. Eliezer, this woman is said to have been the sister of Abishag, the Shunammite, well known in the history of David.Instead of great woman, the Chaldee has, a woman fearing sin; the Arabic, a woman eminent for piety before God. This made her truly great.

2 Chronicles 19:4 — Verse 2 Chronicles 19:4. From Beer-sheba to Mount Ephraim — Before the separation of the ten tribes, in speaking of the extent of the land it was said, From Dan to Beer-sheba; but since that event, the kingdom of Judah was bounded on the south by Beer-sheba, and on the north by the mountains of Ephraim. This shows that Jehoshaphat had gone through all his territories to examine every thing himself, to see that judgment and justice were properly administered among the people.

Psalms 57:4 — Verse Psalms 57:4. My soul is among lions — לבאם bethoch lebaim. I agree with Dr. Kennicott that this should be translated, "My soul dwells in parched places," from לאב laab, he thirsted. And thus the Chaldee seems to have understood the place, though it be not explicit.I lie even among them that are set on fire — I seem to be among coals. It is no ordinary rage and malice by which I am pursued: each of my enemies seems determined to have my life.

Psalms 77:17 — Versículo Salmo 77:17 . Las nubes derramaron agua. De esto parece que hubo una violenta tempestad en el momento del paso del Mar Rojo. Hubo una violenta tormenta de truenos, relámpagos y lluvia . Estas tres cosas están claramente marcadas aquí. 1. "Los cielos emitieron un sonido:" el TRUENO. 2. "Tus flechas se fueron al exterior:" el RELÁMPAGO. 3. "Las nubes derramaron agua:" la LLUVIA. En el siguiente verso tenemos, 4. Un TERREMOTO: "La tierra tembló y se estremeció", Salmo 77:18 .

Psalms 78:64 — Versículo Salmo 78:64 . Sus sacerdotes cayeron a espada.Ofni y Finees, que murieron en aquella desafortunada batalla contra los filisteos en la que fue tomada el arca del Señor, 1 Samuel 4:11 .  Un Targum caldeo sobre este pasaje dice: "En el tiempo en que el arca del Señor fue tomada por los filisteos, Ofni y Finees, los dos sacerdotes, cayeron a espada en Silo; y cuando se dio la noticia, sus mujeres no hicieron ningún lamento, pues ambos murieron el mismo día."

Leviticus 5:4 — Verse Leviticus 5:4. To do evil, or to do good — It is very likely that rash promises are here intended; for if a man vow to do an act that is evil, though it would be criminal to keep such an oath or vow, yet he is guilty because he made it, and therefore must offer the trespass-offering. If he neglect to do the good he has vowed, he is guilty, and must in both cases confess his iniquity, and bring his trespass-offering.

Numbers 1:16 — Numbers 1:16. These were the renowned — Literally, the called, of the congregation - those who were summoned by name to attend. The order of the tribes In the above enumeration may be viewed thus: - 1. Reuben | 2. Simeon | 3. Judah |- Sons of Leah. 4. Issachar | 5. Zebulun | 6. Ephraim | 7. Manasseh |- Sons of Rachel. 8. Benjamin | 9. Dan......... 1st son of Bilhah, Rachel's maid 10. Asher....... 2d son of Zilpah, Leah's maid. 11. Gad......... 1st son of Zilpah. 12. Naphtali.... 2d son of Bilhah.

Deuteronomy 23:3 — Verse Deuteronomy 23:3. An Ammonite or Moabite — These nations were subjected for their impiety and wickedness, (see Deuteronomy 23:4; Deuteronomy 23:5), to peculiar disgrace, and on this account were not permitted to hold any office among the Israelites. But this did not disqualify them from being proselytes: Ruth, who was a Moabitess, was married to Boaz, and she became one of the

Joshua 1:14 — Verse Joshua 1:14. Your wives, your little ones — And with these it appears, from Numbers 32:17, were left behind 70,580 effective men to guard them and their property; only 40,000 having passed over Jordan to assist the nine tribes and half to conquer the land. See Joshua 4:13.Armed — חמשים chamushim, by fives; in several lines, five in front, probably the usual method of marching; but it seems to signify arrayed, equipped, accoutred, well-armed, and ready for battle. Exodus 13:18.

Judges 4:15 — Verse Judges 4:15. The Lord discomfited Sisera — ויהם יהוה vayiahom Jehovah; the Lord CONFOUNDED, threw them all into confusion, drove them pell-mell-caused chariots to break and overthrow chariots, and threw universal disorder into all their ranks. In this case Barak and his men had little to do but kill and pursue, and Sisera in order to escape, was obliged to abandon his chariot. There is no doubt all this was done by supernatural agency; God sent his angel and confounded them.

Ruth 1:6 — Verse Ruth 1:6. She had heard — By the mouth of an angel, says the Targum.The Lord had visited his people — "Because of the righteousness of Ibzan the judge, and because of the supplications of pious Boaz." - Targum.It is imagined, and not without probability, that Mahlon and Chilion are the same with Joash and Saraph, mentioned 1 Chronicles 4:22, where the Hebrew should be thus translated, and Joash and Saraph, who married in Moab, and dwelt in Lehem. See the Hebrew.

Ruth 4:13 — Verse Ruth 4:13. So Boaz took Ruth — The law of Moses had prohibited the Moabites, even to the tenth generation, from entering into the congregation of the Lord; but this law, the Jews think, did not extend to women; and even if it had, Ruth's might be considered an exempt case, as she had been already incorporated into the family by marriage; and left her own country, people, and gods, to become a proselyte to the true God in the land of Israel.

1 Samuel 15:4 — Verse 1 Samuel 15:4. Two hundred thousand - and ten thousand — The Septuagint, in the London Polyglot, have FOUR HUNDRED thousand companies of Israel, and THIRTY thousand companies of Judah. The Codex Alexandrinus has TEN thousand of each. The Complutensian Polyglot

2 Samuel 16:4 — Verse 2 Samuel 16:4. Thine are all — This conduct of David was very rash; he spoiled an honourable man to reward a villain, not giving himself time to look into the circumstances of the case. But David was in heavy afflictions, and these sometimes make even a wise man mad. Nothing should be done rashly; he who is in the habit of obeying the first impulse of his passions or feelings, will seldom do a right action, and never keep a clear conscience.