Bible Commentaries

Jeremiah 47:3 — Verse Jeremiah 47:3. The stamping of the hoofs — At the galloping sound, -Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum,is a line of Virgil, (AEn. viii. 596,) much celebrated; and quoted here by Blayney, where the galloping sound of the horses' hoofs is heard.

Ezekiel 32:2 — Verse Ezekiel 32:2. Thou art like a young lion - and thou art as a whale in the seas — Thou mayest be likened to two of the fiercest animals in the creation; to a lion, the fiercest on the land; to a crocodile, תנים tannin, (see Ezekiel 29:3,) the fiercest in

Ezekiel 34:3 — Verse Ezekiel 34:3. Ye eat the fat — I think החלב hacheleb should be translated the milk; and so most of the Versions understand it. Or they lived on the fat sheep, and took the wool of all."The priests," says Calmet, "ate the tithes, the first-fruits, and the

Ezekiel 47:12 — Verse Ezekiel 47:12. Shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade — A description that suits the righteous, who are still producing -1. The fruits of faith.2. The fruits of the Spirit.3. The fruits of love to God, obedience to his holy will, and love to all men. Benevolence, mercy, charity, kindness, c.The leaf thereof for medicine. — See Revelation 22:1-5. Even the leaves, the holy profession of the righteous, is a spiritual

Daniel 1:8 — would not eat meat from the royal table were probably these three: -1. Because they ate unclean beasts, which were forbidden by the Jewish law.2. Because they ate, as did the heathens in general, beasts which had been strangled, or not properly blooded.3. Because the animals that were eaten were first offered as victims to their gods. It is on this account that Athenaeus calls the beasts which here served up at the tables of the Persian kings, ιερια, victims, lib. iv. c. 10, p. 145.

Daniel 7:3 — Verse Daniel 7:3. Four great beasts came up from the sea — The term sea, in Hebrew ים yam, from המה hamah, to be tumultuous, agitated, c., seems to be used here to point out the then known terraqueous globe, because of its generally agitated state and the four

Jonah 3:1 — preaching, repent in dust and ashes, 5-9. God, seeing that they were deeply humbled on account of their sins, and that they turned away from all their iniquities, repents of the evil with which he had threatened them, 10. NOTES ON CHAP. IIIVerse Jonah 3:1. And the word of the Lord — The same oracle as that before given; and which, from what he had felt and seen of the justice and mercy of the Lord, he was now prepared to obey.

Habakkuk 3:11 — Verse Habakkuk 3:11. The sun and moon stood still — This was at the prayer of Joshua, when he fought against the Amorites. See Joshua 10:11-12, and the notes there.At the light of thine arrows they went — I think we should translate, - By their light, thine

Habakkuk 3:14 — Verse Habakkuk 3:14. Thou didst strike through — The Hebrew will bear this sense: "Thou hast pierced amidst their tribes the head of their troops," referring to Pharaoh and his generals, who came like a whirlwind to fall upon the poor Israelites, when they appeared

Zephaniah 3:20 — Verse Zephaniah 3:20. At that time — First, when the seventy years of the Babylonish captivity shall terminate. "I will bring you again" to your own land; and this restoration shall be a type of their redemption from sin and iniquity; and at this time, and at this

Haggai 2:3 — Verse 3. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? — Who of you has seen the temple built by Solomon? The foundation of the present house had been laid about fifty-three years after the destruction of the temple built by Solomon and

Zechariah 10:3 — Verse Zechariah 10:3. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds — Bad kings and bad priests. I will punish the goats; these were the wicked priests, who were shepherds by their office, and goats by the impurity of their lives.As his goodly horse in the battle.

Matthew 12:46 — Mary had other children beside our Lord and that these were literally his brothers, who are spoken of here. And, although it be possible that these were the sons of Mary, the wife of Cleopas or Alpheus, his mother's sister, called his relations, Mark 3:31; yet it is as likely that they were the children of Joseph and Mary, and brethren of our Lord, in the strictest sense of the word. See on Matthew 13:55.

Matthew 14:6 — Verse Matthew 14:6. Herod's birth-day — Either the day in which he was born, or the day on which he began to reign; for both were termed birth-days. See 1 Samuel 13:1, and Hosea 7:5. The kings of Persia were accustomed to reject no petition that was preferred to them during the entertainment. See Herodotus in Calliope, and Esther 5:3.The daughter - danced — This was Salome, mentioned before. Danced: by a

Matthew 15:1 — CHAPTER XV. The Pharisees accuse the disciples of eating with unwashed hands, 1, 2. Our Lord answers, and convicts them of gross hypocrisy, 3-9. Teaches the people and the disciples what it is that renders men unclean, 10-20. Heals the daughter of a Canaanitish woman, 21-28. Heals many diseased people on a mountain of Galilee, 29-31. With seven loaves, and a few little fishes, he feeds 4,000

Matthew 24:28 — It is remarkable that the Roman fury pursued these wretched men wheresoever they were found. They were a dead carcass doomed to be devoured; and the Roman eagles were the commissioned devourers. See the pitiful account in Josephus, WAR, b. vii. c. 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, and 11.

Matthew 9:12 — physician — A common proverb, which none could either misunderstand or misapply. Of it the reader may make the following use:-1. Jesus Christ represents himself here as the sovereign Physician of souls.2. That all stand in need of his healing power.3. That men must acknowledge their spiritual maladies, and the need they have of his mercy, in order to be healed by him.4. That it is the most inveterate and dangerous disease the soul can be afflicted with to imagine itself whole, when the sting of

Mark 3:4 — Verse Mark 3:4. To do good - or - evil? to save life, or to kill? — It was a maxim with the Jews, as it should be with all men, that he who neglected to preserve life when it was in his power, was to be reputed a murderer. Every principle of sound justice

Luke 5:21 — Godhead, he works in their presence three miracles, which from their nature could only be effected by an omniscient and omnipotent Being. The miracles are:1. The remission of the poor man's sins.2. The discernment of the secret thoughts of the scribes.3. The restoration of the paralytic in an instant to perfect soundness.See note on Mt 9:5; Mt 9:6.

Luke 7:29 — Verse 29. Justified God — Or, declared God to be just - εδικαιωσαν τον Θεον. The sense is this: John preached that the Divine wrath was coming upon the Jews, from which they might flee by repentance, Luke 3:7. The Jews, therefore, who were baptized by him, with the baptism of repentance, did thereby acknowledge that it is but justice in God to punish them for their wickedness unless they repented, and were baptized in token of it. Bp. PEARCE proves that