Bible Commentaries

Psalms 119:9 — LETTER: ב BETH - Second DivisionVerse Psalms 119:9. A young man cleanse his way — ארח orach, which we translate way here, signifies a track, a rut, such as is made by the wheel of a cart or chariot. A young sinner has no broad beaten path; he has his private ways of offence, his secret pollutions:

Psalms 132:1 — PSALM CXXXII The psalmist prays that God would remember his promises to David, 1. His purpose to bring the ark of the Lord into a place of rest, 2-5. Where it was found, and the prayer in removing it, 6-9. The promises made to David and his posterity, 10-12. God's choice of Zion for a habitation, and his promises to the people, 13-17. All their enemies shall be confounded, 18. NOTES ON PSALM CXXXIISome attribute this Psalm to David, but without sufficient

Psalms 146:1 — of gratitude, purposes to praise God for ever, 1, 2; and exhorts not to trust in man, not even the most powerful; for which he gives his reasons, 3, 4. The great advantage of trusting in God, 5. The mercies which they who trust in God may expect, 6-9. The Divine government is everlasting, 10. NOTES ON PSALM CXLVIThis is the first of the Psalms called Hallelujah Psalms, of which there are five, and which conclude the book. No author's name is prefixed to this, either in the Hebrew or Chaldee. But

Psalms 40:9 — Verse Psalms 40:9. I have preached righteousness — I think it best to refer these words to Christ and his apostles. In consequence of his having become a sacrifice for sin, the Jewish sacrificial system being ended, the middle wall of partition was broken down,

Psalms 41:9 — Verse Psalms 41:9. Mine own familiar friend — This is either a direct prophecy of the treachery of Judas, or it is a fact in David's distresses which our Lord found so similar to the falsity of his treacherous disciple, that he applies it to him, John 13:18. What

Psalms 71:1 — PSALM LXXI The prophet, in confidence, prays for God's favour, 1-5; recounts God's kindness to him from youth to old age, 6-9; shows what his adversaries plot against him, and prays for their confusion, 10-13; promises fidelity, and determines to be a diligent preacher of righteousness even in old age, 16-19; takes encouragement in God's mercy, and foresees the confusion of

Psalms 9:16 — Verse Psalms 9:16. The Lord is known by the judgment — It is not every casualty that can properly be called a judgment of God. Judgment is his strange work; but when he executes it, his mind is plainly to be seen. There are no natural causes to which such calamities

Psalms 90:10 — Verse Psalms 90:10. Threescore years and ten — See the note on the title of this Psalm. Psalms 90:1. This Psalm could not have been written by Moses, because the term of human life was much more extended when he flourished than eighty years at the most. Even

Proverbs 18:4 — [Arabic]. This is the more likely to be the true reading, because the figure of the heart propelling the blood through the great aorta, to send it to all parts of the animal system, is a favourite with Solomon, as it was with his father, David. Psalms 36:9; "Proverbs 10:11", &c.

Proverbs 23:29 — Verse Proverbs 23:29. Who hath wo? — I believe Solomon refers here to the natural effects of drunkenness. And perhaps אוי oi, which we translate wo, and אבוי aboi, which we translate sorrow, are mere natural sounds or vociferations that take place among drunken men,

Song of Solomon 2:1 — CHAPTER II A description of the bridegroom, and his love to the bride, 1-9. A fine description of spring, 10-13. The mutual love of both, 14-17. NOTES ON CHAP. IIVerse Song of Solomon 2:1. I am the rose of Sharon — Sharon was a very fruitful place, where David's cattle were fed, 1 Chronicles 27:29. It is mentioned as

Isaiah 29:13 — Verse Isaiah 29:13. The Lord - "JEHOVAH"] For אדני Adonai, sixty-three MSS. of Kennicott's, and many of De Rossi's, and four editions, read יהוה Yehovah, and five MSS. add יהוה.Kimchi makes some just observations on this verse. The vision, meaning the Divine revelation

Isaiah 31:1 — remarkably lofty and poetical, the latter singularly beautiful and tender, 4, 5. Exhortation to repentance, joined with the prediction of a more reformed period, 6, 7. This chapter concludes like the preceding, with a prophecy of the fall of Sennacherib, 8, 9. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIVerse Isaiah 31:1. Wo to them that go down to Egypt — This is a reproof to the Israelites for forming an alliance with the Egyptians, and not trusting in the Lord.And stay on horses - "Who trust in horses"] For ועל veal, and

Isaiah 38:13 — roared until the morning like the lion"] For שויתי shivvithi, the Chaldee has נהמית nihameith: he read שאגתי shaagti, the proper term for the roaring of a lion often applied to the deep groaning of men in sickness. See Psalms 22:1; Psalms 32:3; Psalms 38:9; Job 3:24. The Masoretes divide the sentence, as I have done; taking כארי caari, like a lion, into the first member; and so likewise the Septuagint.

Isaiah 9:11 — Verse Isaiah 9:11. The adversaries of Rezin against him - "The princes of Retsin against him"] For צרי tsarey, enemies, Houbigant, by conjecture, reads שרי sarey, princes; which is confirmed by thirty of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., (two ancient,) one of my own,

Jeremiah 12:9 — Verse Jeremiah 12:9. Is unto me as a speckled bird — A bird of divers colours. This is a people who have corrupted the worship of the true God with heathenish rites and ceremonies; therefore, the different nations, (see Jeremiah 12:10,) whose gods and forms of worship

Jeremiah 20:7 — to perish by their cruelty. As the root פתה pathah signifies to persuade and allure, as well as to deceive, the above must be its meaning in this place. Taken as in our Version it is highly irreverent. It is used in the same sense here as in Genesis 9:27: God shall enlarge (persuade, margin) Japheth; and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem.

Jeremiah 26:1 — — As this prophecy must have been delivered in the first or second year of the reign of Jehoiakim, it is totally out of its place here. Dr. Blayney puts it before chap. xxxvi. (Jeremiah 36:0); and Dr. Dahler immediately after chap. ix. (Jeremiah 9:0), and before chap. xlvi. (Jeremiah 46:0)

Jeremiah 9:25 — Verse Jeremiah 9:25. I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised — Do not imagine that you, because of your crimes, are the only objects of my displeasure; the circumcised and the uncircumcised, the Jew and the Gentile, shall equally feel

Ezekiel 4:16 — sufficient exactness, from the year in which Jerusalem was sacked by Nebuchadnezzar to the first year of Jeroboam's reign, when national idolatry began in Israel. The period of days seems to predict the duration of the siege by the Babylonians, Ezekiel 4:9, deducting from the year five months and twenty-nine days, mentioned 2 Kings 25:1-4, the time during which the Chaldeans were on their expedition against the Egyptians; see Jeremiah 37:5." This amounts nearly to the same as that mentioned above.