Bible Commentaries

Psalms 116:7 — Verse Psalms 116:7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul — God is the centre to which all immortal spirits tend, and in connexion with which alone they can find rest. Every thing separated from its centre is in a state of violence; and, if intelligent, cannot be happy.

Psalms 64:1 — PSALM LXIV The psalmist prays for preservation from the wicked, 1, 2; whom he describes, 3-6; shows their punishment, 7, 8; and the effect that this should have on the godly, 9, 10. NOTES ON PSALM LXIVThe title, To the chief Musician, or conqueror, A Psalm of David. The Syriac says, "composed by David when warned by Gad the prophet, who said, Stay not in Masrob, because

Psalms 84:7 — Verse Psalms 84:7. They go from strength to strength — They proceed from one degree of grace to another, gaining Divine virtue through all the steps of their probation.Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. — This is a paraphrase, and a bad one,

Proverbs 3:1 — CHAPTER III An exhortation to obedience, 1-4; trust in God's providence, 5, 6; to humility, 7, 8; to charity, 9, 10; to submission to God's chastening, 11, 12. The profitableness of wisdom in all the concerns of life, 13-26. No act of duty should be deferred beyond the time in which it should be done, 27, 28. Brotherly love and forbearance should

Ecclesiastes 10:1 — CHAPTER X Observations on wisdom and folly, 1-3. Concerning right conduct towards rulers, 4. Merit depressed, and worthlessness exalted, 5-7. Of him who digs a pit and removes a landmark, 8, 9. The use of wisdom and experience, 10. Of the babbler and the fool, 11-15. The infant king, 16. The well-regulated court, 17. Of slothfulness, 18. Of feasting, 19. Speak not evil of the king, 20. NOTES

Song of Solomon 7:1 — CHAPTER VII A farther description of the bride, 1-9. Her invitation to the bridegroom, 10-13. NOTES ON CHAP. VIIVerse Song of Solomon 7:1. How beautiful are thy feet with shoes — "How graceful is thy walking." In the sixth chapter the bridegroom praises the Shulamite, as we might express it, from head to foot. Here he begins a new description, taking her from foot to head.The

Song of Solomon 7:2 — Verse Song of Solomon 7:2. Thy navel is like a round goblet — This may also refer to some ornamental dress about the loins. These suppositions are rendered very probable from hundreds of the best finished and highly decorated drawings of Asiatic ladies in my own collection,

Isaiah 1:4 — נזר nazar, to separate; so Kimchi understands it. See also Annotat. in Noldium, 68.They are gone away backward - "They have turned their backs upon him."] So Kimchi explains it: "they have turned unto him the back and not the face." See Jeremiah 2:27; Jeremiah 7:24. I have been forced to render this line paraphrastically; as the verbal translation, "they are estranged backward," would have been unintelligible.

Isaiah 31:7 — Verse Isaiah 31:7. Which your own hands have made unto you for a sin - "The sin, which their own hands have made."] The construction of the word חטא chet, sin, in this place is not easy. The Septuagint have omitted it: MSS. Pachom. and I. D. II. and Cod. Marchal. in

Isaiah 37:1 — CHAPTER XXXVII Hezekiah is greatly distressed, and sends to Isaiah the prophet to pray for him, 1-4. Isaiah returns a comfortable answer, and predicts the destruction of the king of Assyria and his army, 5-7. Sennacherib, hearing that his kingdom was invaded by the Ethiopians, sends a terrible letter to Hezekiah, to induce him to surrender, 9-13. Hezekiah goes to the temple, spreads the letter before the Lord, and makes a most affecting prayer, 14-20. Isaiah

Jeremiah 7:18 — Verse Jeremiah 7:18. The children gather wood — Here is a description of a whole family gathered together, and acting unitedly in idolatrous worship.1. The children go and collect wood, and bring it to the place of sacrifice.2. The fathers lay it in order, and

Ezekiel 14:7 — Verse Ezekiel 14:7. And cometh to a prophet — Generally supposed to mean a false prophet.I the Lord will answer him by myself — I shall discover to him, by my own true prophet, what shall be the fruit of his ways. So, while their false prophets were assuring

Daniel 7:9 — Verse Daniel 7:9. The thrones were cast down — דמיו might be translated erected, so the Vulgate, positi sunt, and so all the versions; but that ours is a proper translation, is sufficiently evident from Daniel 3:6; Daniel 3:16; Daniel 3:20; Daniel 6:17, c. where

Micah 2:7 — Verse Micah 2:7. Is the Spirit of the Lord straitened? — This is the complaint of the Israelites, and a part of the lamentation. Doth it not speak by other persons as well as by Micah? Doth it communicate to us such influences as it did formerly? Is it true that

Micah 7:5 — Verse Micah 7:5. Trust ye not in a friend — These times will be so evil, and the people so wicked, that all bonds will be dissolved; and even the most intimate will betray each other, when they can hope to serve themselves by it.On this passage, in the year

Matthew 14:3 — to make war on him: the two armies met, and that of Herod was cut to pieces by the Arabians; and this, Josephus says, was supposed to be a judgment of God on him for the murder of John the Baptist. See the account in Josephus, Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 7.

Matthew 7:15 — Verse Matthew 7:15. Beware of false prophets — By false prophets we are to understand teachers of erroneous doctrines, who come professing a commission from God, but whose aim is not to bring the heavenly treasure to the people, but rather to rob them of their

Matthew 7:17 — Verse Matthew 7:17. So every good tree — As the thorn can only produce thorns, not grapes; and the thistle, not figs, but prickles; so an unregenerate heart will produce fruits of degeneracy. As we perfectly know that a good tree will not produce bad fruit, and

Mark 7:1 — hypocrisy, and shows that they had made the word of God of no effect by their traditions, 6-13. He shows what things defile men, 14-16; and teaches his disciples in private, that the sin of the heart alone, leading to vicious practices, defiles the man, 17-23. The account of the Syrophoenician woman, 24-30. He heals a man who was dumb, and had an impediment in his speech, 31-37. NOTES ON CHAP. VII.Verse Mark 7:1. Came from Jerusalem. — Probably for the express purpose of disputing with Christ, that

Luke 7:21 — Verse Luke 7:21. Infirmities and plagues — The following judicious note from Bp. PEARCE is worthy of deep attention: "Luke mentions here νοσοι, μαϚιγες, leprosias, and πνευματα πονηρα, i.e. diseases or ill habits of body, sores or lamenesses, and evil spirits: