Bible Commentaries

Psalms 137:2 — Verse Psalms 137:2. We hanged our harps upon the willows — The ערבים arabim or willows were very plentiful in Babylon. The great quantity of them that were on the banks of the Euphrates caused Isaiah, Isaiah 15:7, to call it the brook or river of willows. This

Ecclesiastes 11:1 — CHAPTER XI Give alms to all, 1-4. The works of God unknown to man, 5. Diligence necessary, 6. Prosperity frequently succeeded by adversity, 7, 8. There will be a day of judgment, 9, 10. NOTES ON CHAP. XIVerse Ecclesiastes 11:1. Cast thy bread upon the waters — An allusion to the sowing of rice; which was sown upon muddy ground, or ground covered with water, and trodden in by the feet

Isaiah 60:7 — Verse Isaiah 60:7. The rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee — Vitringa on the place understands their ministering, and ascending or going up on the altar, as offering themselves voluntarily: ipsi se, non expectato sacerdote alto, gloriae et sanctificationi

Jeremiah 38:1 — Judah, taking offense at Jeremiah on account of his predicting the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Chaldeans, cause him to be cast into a deep and miry dungeon, 1-6. Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian, gets the king's permission to take him out, 7-13. Jeremiah advises the king, who consulted him privately, to surrender to the Chaldeans, 14-23. The king promises the prophet that he will not put him to death, and requires him not to reveal what had passed to the princes; to whom he accordingly

Jeremiah 7:23 — Verse Jeremiah 7:23. This thing commanded I them - Obey my voice — It was not sacrifices and oblations which I required of your fathers in the wilderness, but obedience; it was to walk in that way of righteousness which I have commanded; then I should have acknowledged

Daniel 7:2 — Verse Daniel 7:2. The four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea — The idea of strife is taken here from the effects that must be produced, were the east, the west, the north, and the south winds to rise tempestuously, and meet on the surface of the

Hosea 7:12 — Verse Hosea 7:12. When they shall go — To those nations for help -I will spread my net upon them — I will cause them to be taken by those in whom they trusted.I will bring them down — They shall no sooner set off to seek this foreign help, than

Amos 4:10 — fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five; and mothers ate the flesh of their children that had died through hunger, 2 Kings 6:25. And the people were miraculously relieved by the total slaughter of the Syrians by the unseen hand of God, 2 Kings 7:1, &c. And yet, after all those signal judgments, and singular mercies, "they did not return unto the Lord!"

Amos 7:17 — Verse Amos 7:17. Thy wife shall be a harlot — As this was the word of the Lord, so it was fulfilled; but as we have no farther account of this idolatrous priest, so we cannot tell in what circumstances these threatenings were executed.1. His wife was to be

Zechariah 6:8 — Chaldea.The spotted bay horses seem to be the Roman empire. This description suits it because it was governed by kings, consuls, dictators, and emperors. It penetrated southward to Egypt and Africa. The Roman empire is mentioned twice, Zechariah 6:6-7, under each epithet given it, Zechariah 6:3.

Matthew 10:7 — Verse Matthew 10:7. And as ye go, preach — πορευομενοι δε κηρυσσετε, and as you proceed, proclaim like heralds - make this proclamation wherever ye go, and while ye are journeying. Preach and travel; and, as ye travel, preach-proclaim salvation to all you meet.

Mark 2:1 — CHAPTER II. Christ preaches in Capernaum, 1, 2. A paralytic person is brought to him, whose sins are pronounced forgiven, 3-5. The scribes accuse him of blasphemy, 6, 7. He vindicates himself, and proves his power to forgive sins, by healing the man's disease, 8-11. The people are astonished and edified, 12. He calls Levi from the receipt of custom, 13, 14. Eats in his house with publicans and sinners, at which the

Luke 10:6 — Verse Luke 10:6. The son of peace — In the Jewish style, a man who has any good or bad quality is called the son of it. Thus, wise men are called the children of wisdom, Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:35. So, likewise, what a man is doomed to, he is called the son of, as in Ephesians 2:3, wicked men are styled the children of wrath: so Judas is called the son of perdition, John 17:12; and a man who deserves to die is called, 2 Samuel 12:5, a son

Luke 17:2 — Verse Luke 17:2. A mill-stone — That drowning a person with a stone tied about the neck was an ancient mode of punishment, see proved in the note on Matthew 18:6; Matthew 18:7, to which let the following be added. To have a mill-stone hanged about the neck,

Luke 9:53 — Verse 53. His face was — They saw he was going up to Jerusalem to keep the feast; (it was the feast of tabernacles, John 7:2); and knowing him thereby to be a Jew, they would afford nothing for his entertainment; for, in religious matters, the Samaritans and Jews had no dealings: see John 4:9. The Samaritans were a kind of mongrel heathens; they feared Jehovah, and served

John 10:32 — good works or good things is a Hebraism, which signifies to do them really, to give good things liberally. The phrase is similar to the following: Who will SHOW us any good? Psalms 4:6; i.e. who shall give us good things. SHOW us thy mercy, Psalms 85:7; i.e. give us to feel the effects of thy mercy. Thou hast SHOWED thy people hard things, Psalms 60:3; i.e. thou hast treated them with rigour. Thou hast SHOWED me great and sore troubles, Psalms 71:20; i.e. thou hast exposed me to terrible hardships.

John 15:7 — Verse John 15:7. If ye abide in me, &c.] "Those," says Creeshna, "whose understandings are in him, (God,) whose souls are in him, whose confidence is in him, whose asylum is in him, are by the inspired wisdom purified from all their offenses, and go from whence

John 2:22 — Armenian, Slavonic, Vulgate, and Itala. Griesbach has left it out of the text.They believed the scripture — The scripture which the evangelist immediately refers to may have been Psalms 16:10. Compare this with Acts 2:31-32, and with Acts 13:35-37. See also Psalms 2:7, and compare it with Hebrews 1:5, and Hebrews 5:5, and with Acts 13:33. They understood these scriptures in a sense in which they never before understood them.It is the property of many prophecies never to be understood except by

John 5:21 — Verse John 5:21. As the Father raised up the dead — This he did in the case of the widow's son at Sarepta, 1 Kings 17:22, by the ministry of the Prophet Elijah. And again, in the case of the Shunamite's son, 2 Kings 4:32-35, by the ministry of the Prophet Elisha.The Son quickeneth whom he will. — He raiseth from death to life whomsoever he pleases. So he did,

John 7:12 — Verse John 7:12. Some said, He is a good man — The multitude were divided in their opinions concerning him: those who knew him best said, He is a good man. Those who spoke according to the character given him by the priests, c., said, Nay but he deceiveth