Bible Commentaries

Nehemiah 2:1 — Nehemiah, inquires into the cause, 1, 2. Nehemiah shows him the cause, and requests permission to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 3-6. The king grants it, and gives him letters to the governors beyond the river, 7, 8. He sets out on his journey, 9. Sanballat and Tobiah are grieved to find he had got such a commission, 10. He comes to Jerusalem; and, without informing any person of his business, examines by night the state of the city, 11-16. He informs the priests, nobles, and rulers, of his

Esther 5:1 — request; and she promises to make it known on the morrow, if they will again come to her banquet, 6-8. Haman, though overjoyed at the manner in which he was received by the queen, is indignant at the indifference with which he is treated by Mordecai, 9. He goes home, and complains of this conduct to his friends, and his wife Zeresh, 10-13. They counsel him to make a gallows of fifty cubits high, and to request the king that Mordecai may be hanged on it, which they take for granted the king will not

Job 17:9 — Verse Job 17:9. The righteous also shall hold on his way — There shall be no doubt concerning the dispensations of the Divine providence. My case shall illustrate all seemingly intricate displays of God's government. None shall be stumbled at seeing a godly

Job 20:16 — are not angry. Pliny, in speaking of the various parts of animals, Hist. Nat. lib. xi., c. 37, states, from this circumstance, that in the gall, the poison of serpents consists; ne quis miretur id (fel) venenum esse serpentum. And in lib. xxviii., c. 9, he ranks the gall of horses among the poisons: Damnatur (fel) equinum tantum inter venena. We see, therefore, that the gall was considered to be the source whence the poison of serpents was generated, not only in Arabia, but also in Italy.

Job 26:12 — allusion to the passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites, and the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host, according to the opinion of the most eminent critics.He smiteth through the proud. — רהב Rahab, the very name by which Egypt is called Isaiah 51:9, and elsewhere. Calmet remarks: "This appears to refer only to the passage of the Red Sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh. Were we not prepossessed with the opinion that Job died before Moses, every person at the first view of the subject must consider

Job 38:9 — Verse Job 38:9. When I make the cloud the garment — Alluding to the cloth in which the new-born infant is first received. The cloud was the same to the newly raised vapour, as the above recipient to the new-born child.And thick darkness a swaddlingband for it

Psalms 113:1 — PSALM CXIII An exhortation to bless God for his own excellencies, 1-6; and for his great mercy to the poor and necessitous, 7-9. NOTES ON PSALM CXIIIPsalms 113:0, Psalms 114:0, Psalms 115:0, Psalms 116:0, Psalms 117:0, and Psalms 118:0, form the great Hallel, and were sung by the Jews on their most solemn festivals, and particularly at the passover. To these reference is made

Psalms 12:1 — Psalms 6:1. The Arabic has "Concerning the end (of the world which shall happen) on the eighth day. A prophecy relative to the Advent of the Messiah."Some think that this Psalm was made when Doeg and the Ziphites betrayed David to Saul, see 1 Samuel 22:9; 1 Samuel 23:19; c., but it is most likely that was written during the Babylonish captivity.Verse Psalms 12:1. Help, Lord — Save me, O Lord for merciful men fail, and faithful men have passed away from the sons of Adam. Make safe me, Lord; for

Psalms 148:1 — PSALM CXLVIII The psalmist calls on all the creation to praise the Lord. The angels and visible heavens, 1-6; the earth and the sea, 7; the meteors, 8; mountains, hills, and trees, 9; beasts, reptiles, and fowls, 10; kings, princes, and mighty men, 11; men, women, and children, 12, 13; and especially all the people of Israel, 14. NOTES ON PSALM CXLVIIIThis Psalm has no title: but by the Syriac it is attributed to Haggai and Zechariah,

Psalms 16:9 — Verse Psalms 16:9. Therefore my heart is glad — Unutterably happy in God; always full of the Divine presence; because whatsoever I do pleaseth him. The man Christ Jesus must be constantly in communion with God, because he was without spot and blemish.My glory rejoiceth

Psalms 27:9 — Verse Psalms 27:9. Hide not thy face - from me — As my face is towards thee wheresoever I am, so let thy face be turned towards me. In a Persian MS. poem entitled [Persic] Shah we Gudda, "The King and the Beggar," I have found a remarkable couplet, most strangely

Psalms 44:1 — PSALM XLIV The psalmist recounts the mercies of God; shows to his people how God in ancient times gave them the victory over all their enemies, 1-8; points out their present miserable state, 9-16; asserts that thy have not apostatized, and appeals to God for the truth of his assertion, 17-22; and calls upon the Lord for deliverance from their enemies, 23-26. NOTES ON PSALM XLIVThe title here is the same as that in Psalms 42:1; which see.

Psalms 55:1 — David, in great danger and distress from the implacable malice of his enemies, calls on God for mercy, 1-5; wishes he had the wings of a dove, that he might flee away, and be at rest, 6-8; prays against his enemies, and describes their wickedness, 9-11; speaks of a false friend, who had been the principal cause of all his distresses, 12-14; again prays against his enemies, 15; expresses his confidence in God, 16-18; gives a farther description of the deceitful friend, 19-21; encourages himself

Psalms 86:1 — PSALM LXXXVI The psalmist prays to God for support, from a conviction that he is merciful, good, ready to forgive, and that there is none like him, 1-8; all nations shall bow before him because of his wondrous works, 9, 10; he prays to be instructed, and promises to praise God for his great mercy, 11-13; describes his enemies, and appeals to God, 14-16; begs a token for God, that his enemies may be confounded, 17. NOTES ON PSALM LXXXVIThe title attributes this Psalm

Proverbs 25:9 — Verse Proverbs 25:9. Debate thy cause with thy neighbour — Take the advice of friends. Let both sides attend to their counsels; but do not tell the secret of thy business to any. After squandering your money away upon lawyers, both they and the judge will at last

Proverbs 31:18 — articles of the kind, and to lay on a reasonable price that she may secure a ready sale. Her goods are in high repute, and she knows she can sell as much as she can make. And she finds that while she pleases her customers, she increases her own profits.9. She is watchful and careful. Her candle - her lamp, burns all night, which is of great advantage in case of sudden alarms; and in the times and places where there were so many banditti, this was a very necessary family regulation. Perhaps some works

Ecclesiastes 9:1 — Enjoy God's mercies, and live to his glory, 7-10. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, 11. Man is ignorant of futurity, 12, 13. The account of the little city, and the poor wise man, 14-18. NOTES ON CHAP. IXVerse Ecclesiastes 9:1. The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God — This is a continuation of the preceding subject; and here the wise man draws a conclusion from what he had seen, and from the well-known character of God, that the righteous,

Song of Solomon 1:9 — Verse 9. I have compared thee - to a company of horses — This may be translated, more literally, "I have compared thee lesusathi, to my mare, in the chariots or courses of Pharaoh;" and so the versions understood it. Mares, in preference to horses, were

Song of Solomon 2:8 — what was then called A New Translation of Solomon's Song, observes,1. The bride relates how the bridegroom, attended by his companions, had come under her window, and called upon her to come forth and enjoy the beauties of the spring, Song of Solomon 2:9-11, c.2. She then returns to her narration, Song of Solomon 3:1. The bridegroom did not come according to her wishes. Night came on she did not find him in her bed; she went out to seek him; found him, and brought him to her mother's pavilion, Song

Isaiah 3:8 — is in many of them omitted; the two last letters are upon a rasure in two MSS. I think it should be ענן anan, "a cloud," as the Syriac reads; and the allusion is to the cloud in which the glory of the Lord appeared above the tabernacle; see Exodus 16:9-10; Exodus 40:34-38; Numbers 16:41-42.Either of the readings gives a very good sense. The allusion may be to the cloud of the Divine presence in the wilderness: or the eyes of the Lord may be meant, as they are in every place beholding the evil and