Bible Commentaries

Psalms 135:1 — PSALM CXXXV An exhortation to praise God for his goodness and greatness, 1-5; for his wonders in nature, 6, 7; his wonders done in Egypt, 8, 9; in the wilderness, 10-12; for his goodness to his people, 13, 14. The vanity of idols, 15-18. Israel, with its priests and Levites, exhorted to praise the Lord, 19-21. NOTES ON PSALM CXXXVThis Psalm is intimately connected

Psalms 94:1 — PSALM XCIV An appeal to God against oppressors, 1-7. Expostulations with the workers of iniquity, 8-11. God's merciful dealings with his followers, 12-15; and their confidence in him, 16-19. The punishment of the wicked foretold, 20-23. NOTES ON PSALM XCIVThis Psalm has no title either in the Hebrew

Psalms 98:1 — PSALM XCVIII God is celebrated for his wondrous works, 1, 2; for the exact fulfilment of his gracious promises, 3. The manner in which he is to be praised, 4-6. Inanimate creation called to bear a part in this concert, 7, 8. The justice of his judgments, 9. NOTES ON PSALM XCVIIIIn the Hebrew this is simply termed מזמור mizmor, a Psalm. In the Chaldee, A prophetic Psalm. In the Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, A Psalm of David. In the Syriac it is attributed to David,

Ecclesiastes 5:1 — CHAPTER V The reverence to be observed in attending Divine worship, 1-3. We should be faithfu1 to over engagements, 4-7. The oppression of the innocent, 8. The king dependent on the produce of the soil, 9. Against covetousness, 10, 11. The peace of the honest labourer, 12. The evil effect of riches, 13, 14. Man cannot carry his property to the grave, 15-17. We should

Isaiah 1:11 — peace-offerings of your fatlings. Take away from me the noise of your songs; And the melody of your viols I will not hear. But let judgment roll down like waters; And righteousness like a mighty stream." Amos 5:21-24. So has Persius; see Sat. ii. v. 71-75: - "Quin damus id Superis, de magna quod dare lanae," c.The two or three last pages of Plato's Euthyphro contain the same idea. Sacrifices and prayers are not profitable to the offerer, nor acceptable to the gods, unless accompanied with an upright

Isaiah 61:7 — Verse Isaiah 61:7. For your shame - "Instead of your shame"] The translation of this verse, which is very confused, and probably corrupted in the Hebrew, is taken from the Syriac Version; except that the latter has not expressed the word משנה mishneh, double, in the

Lamentations 4:1 — The present deplorable sate of the nation is now contrasted with its ancient prosperity, 1-12; and the unhappy change ascribed, in a great degree, to the profligacy of the priests and prophets, 13-16. The national calamities are tenderly lamented, 17-20. The ruin of the Edomites also, who had insulted the Jews in their distress, is ironically predicted, 21. See Psalms 137:7, and Obadiah 1:10-12. The chapter closes with a gracious promise of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, 22. NOTES ON

Ezekiel 12:1 — miseries of a seige and the insults of a conqueror, would be in a much worse condition than they who were already settled in a foreign land. In the beginning of this chapter he foretells the approaching captivity of Judah by action instead of words, 1-7. He predicts particularly the flight, capture, captivity, and sufferings of Zedekiah and his followers, 8-16, compared with Jeremiah 52:11. He is to eat his food with trembling and signs of terror, as an emblem of the consternation of the Jews when

Ezekiel 7:2 — Verse Ezekiel 7:2. An end, the end is come — Instead of קץ בא הקץ kets ba hakkets, one MS. of Kennicott's, one of De Rossi's, and one of my own, read קץ בא בא הקץ kets ba, ba hakkets, "The end cometh, come is the end." This reading is supported by all the ancient

Micah 6:1 — Jehovah with his people, is awakening and sublime. The words of Jehovah follow, 3-5. And God's mercies having been set forth to his people, one of them is introduced, in a beautiful dramatic form, asking what his duty is towards a God so gracious, 6, 7. The answer follows in the words of the prophet, 8; who goes on to upbraid the people of his charge with their injustice and idolatry, to which he ascribes want of success in their lawful undertakings, and those heave calamities which are now impending,

Zechariah 11:13 — Verse Zechariah 11:13. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter — Jehovah calls the price of his prophet his own price; and commands that it should not be accepted, but given to a potter, to foreshadow the transaction related Matthew 27:7."Earthen vessels were used in the temple; and we may suppose that some Levites were employed within the sacred precincts to furnish them. To these, the humblest of his ministers in the temple, God commands that the degrading price should be cast."

Matthew 7:6 — Verse Matthew 7:6. Give not that which is holy — το αγιον, the holy or sacred thing; i.e. any thing, especially, of the sacrificial kind, which had been consecrated to God. The members of this sentence should be transposed thus: - Give not that which is holy

Mark 13:36 — to himself and to none other, and for the accomplishment of which he receives sufficient strength from his Lord.6. That these servants and porters shall give an account to their Lord, how they have exercised themselves in their respective departments.7. And that as the master of the family will certainly come to require this account at a time when men are not aware, therefore they should be always watchful and faithful. And,8, That this is a duty incumbent on every soul of man, What I say unto you,

Mark 9:38 — could be able to work a miracle in Christ's name; we may therefore safely imagine that this was either one of John the Baptist's disciples, who, at his master's command, had believed in Jesus, or one of the seventy, whom Christ had sent out, Luke 10:1-7, who, after he had fulfilled his commission, had retired from accompanying the other disciples; but as he still held fast his faith in Christ, and walked in good conscience, the influence of his Master still continued with him, so that he could cast

Luke 1:51 — Hesiod, Sophocles, Euripides, and others.With his arm — Grotius has well observed, that God's efficacy is represented by his finger, his great power by his hand, and his omnipotence by his arm. The plague of lice was the finger of God, Exodus 7:18. The plagues in general were wrought by his hand, Exodus 3:20, And the destruction of Pharaoh's host in the Red Sea, which was effected by the omnipotence of God, is called the act of his arm, Exodus 15:16.He hath scattered — διεσκορπισεν,

John 18:15 — disciple was: Jerome, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Nonnus, Lyra, Erasmus, Piscator, and others, say it was John. It is true John frequently mentions himself in the third person; but then he has always, whom Jesus loved, as in John 13:23; John 19:26; John 21:7; John 21:20, except in John 19:35, where he has plainly pointed out himself as writer of this Gospel; but, in the place before us, he has mentioned no circumstance by which that disciple may be known to be John. To this may be added that John being

John 4:1 — well, 4-6. While his disciples were gone to the city to buy meat, a woman of Samaria comes to draw water, with whom our Lord discourses at large on the spiritual nature of his religion, the perfection of the Divine nature, and the purity of his worship, 7-24. On his informing her that he was the Messiah, she leaves her pitcher, and goes to inform her townsmen, 25-30. His discourse with his disciples in her absence, 31-38. Many of the Samaritans believe on him, 39-42; He stays two days with them, and

John 7:27 — Verse 27. No man knoweth whence he is. — The generality of the people knew very well that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, in the city, and of the family, of David; see John 7:42. But, from Isaiah Isaiah 53:8, Who shall declare his generation?

1 Corinthians 7:5 — Verse 1 Corinthians 7:5. Defraud ye not one the other — What ye owe thus to each other never refuse paying, unless by mutual consent; and let that be only for a certain time, when prudence dictates the temporary separation, or when some extraordinary spiritual occasion

1 Corinthians 7:6 — Verse 1 Corinthians 7:6. I speak this by permission, c.] It was a constant custom of the more conscientious rabbins, to make a difference between the things which they enjoined on their own judgment, and those which they built on the authority of the law. Thus Rabbi Tancum: