Bible Commentaries

Genesis 49:3 — 3. Reuben, my first-born art thou! My might, and the prime of my strength, Excelling in eminence, and excelling in power: 4. Pouring out like the waters:-thou shalt not excel, For thou wentest up to the bed of thy father, - Then thou didst defile: to my couch he went up! Verse Genesis 49:3. Reuben as the first-born had a right to a double portion of all that the father had;

Exodus 21:28 — by ταυρος, a bull. Mischief of this kind was provided against by most nations. It appears that the Romans twisted hay about the horns of their dangerous cattle, that people seeing it might shun them; hence that saying of Horace. Sat., lib. i., sat. 4, ver. 34: Faenum habet in cornu, longe fuge. "He has hay on his horns; fly for life!" The laws of the twelve tables ordered, That the owner of the beast should pay for what damages he committed, or deliver him to the person injured. Exodus 22:1.His

Exodus 27:1 — CHAPTER XXVII The altar of burnt-offerings, and its dimensions, 1; its horns, 2; pans, shovels, c., 3 its grate and net work, 4, 5; its staves, 6, 7. Court of the tabernacle, with its pillars and hangings, 9-15. Gate of the court, its pillars, hangings, length, breadth, and height, 16-18. All the vessels used in the court of the tabernacle to be of brass, 19. The Israelites

Exodus 4:13 — Verse Exodus 4:13. Send - by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. — Many commentators, both ancient and modern, have thought that Moses prays here for the immediate mission of the Messiah; as if he had said: "Lord, thou hast purposed to send this glorious person

Psalms 110:7 — WILL MAKE THINE ENEMIES THE FOOTSTOOL TO THY FEET, Psalms 110:1.3. The ensign displayed: "THE LORD SHALL SEND FORTH THE ROD OF THY STRENGTH; the pole on which the banner shall be displayed, at the head of his strength - his numerous and powerful forces.4. The inscription, device, or motto on this ensign: "RULE THOU IN THE MIDST OF THINE ENEMIES," Psalms 110:2.5. The muster of the troops. A host of bold, spirited volunteers; not mercenaries, neither kidnapped nor impressed; but עם נדבות am nedaboth,

Leviticus 19:35 — bammishkal, in any thing that is weighed, the weights being all according to the standards kept for the purpose of trying the rest in the sanctuary, as appears from Exodus 30:13; 1 Chronicles 23:29; these weights were the talent, shekel, barleycorn, &c.4. MEASURE, במשורה bammesurah, from which we derive our term. This refers to all measures of capacity, such as the homer, ephah, seah, hin, omer, kab, and log. See all these explained, Clarke "Exodus 16:16".

Leviticus 26:22 — Verse Leviticus 26:22. I will also send wild beasts among you — God fulfilled these threatenings at different times. He sent fiery SERPENTS among them, Numbers 21:6; LIONS, 2 Kings 17:25; BEARS, 2 Kings 2:24, and threatened them with total desolation, so that their land should be overrun with wild beasts, c., see Ezekiel 5:17. "Spiritually," says Mr. Ainsworth, "these are wicked rulers and tyrants that kill and spoil, Proverbs 28:15; Daniel 7:3-6; Psalms

Leviticus 4:13 — Verse Leviticus 4:13. If the whole congregation of Israel sin — This probably refers to some oversight in acts of religious worship, or to some transgression of the letter of the law, which arose out of the peculiar circumstances in which they were then found,

Leviticus 4:2 — Verse Leviticus 4:2. If a soul shall sin through ignorance — That is, if any man shall do what God has forbidden, or leave undone what God has commanded, through ignorance of the law relative to these points; as soon as the transgression or omission comes to his

Numbers 10:30 — Verse Numbers 10:30. I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred. — From the strong expostulations in verses Numbers 10:31 and Numbers 10:32, and from Judges 1:16; Judges 4:11, and 1 Samuel 15:6, it is likely that Hobab changed his mind; or that, if he did go back to Midian, he returned again to Israel, as the above scriptures show that his posterity dwelt among the Israelites in Canaan. Reader, after having been almost

Numbers 22:5 — the Syriac and Vulgate versions." Houbigant properly contends for this reading; and necessity urges the propriety of adopting it. It should therefore stand thus: by the river of the land of the children of Ammon; and thus it agrees with Deuteronomy 23:4.

Numbers 24:24 — Verse Numbers 24:24. Ships shall come from the coast of Chittim — Some think by Chittim the Romans, others the Macedonians under Alexander the Great, are meant. It is certain that the Romans did conquer the Assyrians, including all the people of Syria, Mesopotamia,

Numbers 25:1 — CHAPTER XXV While Israel abode in Shittim the people commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, 1. They become idolaters, 2. The anger of the Lord is kindled against them, and he commands the ringleaders to be hanged, 3, 4. Moses causes the judges to slay the transgressors, 5. Zimri, one of the Israelitish princes of the tribe of Simeon, brings a Midianitish princess, named Cozbi, into his tent, while the people are deploring their iniquity before the tabernacle, 6. Phinehas,

Deuteronomy 24:4 — Verse Deuteronomy 24:4. She is defiled — Does not this refer to her having been divorced, and married in consequence to another? Though God, for the hardness of their hearts, suffered them to put away their wives, yet he considered all after-marriages in that case

Deuteronomy 4:19 — Verse Deuteronomy 4:19. When thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars — The worship of the heavenly bodies was the oldest species of idolatry. Those who had not the knowledge of the true God were led to consider the sun, moon, planets, and stars, as not only

Joshua 11:4 — Verse Joshua 11:4. Much people, even as the sand — This form of speech, by some called a hyperbole, conveys simply the idea of a vast or unusual number - a number of which no regular estimate could be easily formed. Josephus, who seldom finds difficulties in such

Joshua 14:1 — CHAPTER XIV Eleazar, Joshua, and the heads of the fathers, distribute the land by lot to the people, 1-3. The Levites receive no land, but cities to dwell in, and suburbs for their cattle, 4, 5. Caleb requests to have Mount Hebron for an inheritance, because of his former services, 6-12. Joshua grants his request, 13-15. NOTES ON CHAP. XIVVerse Joshua 14:1. Eleazar the priest, c. — ELEAZAR, as being the minister of GOD in sacred things

Joshua 5:4 — Verse Joshua 5:4. This is the cause why Joshua did circumcise — The text here explains itself. Before the Israelites left Egypt all the males were circumcised; and some learned men think that all those who were born during their encampment at Sinai were circumcised

Judges 1:8 — the men of Judah could not drive them out, which probably refers to the strong hold or fortress on Mount Zion, which the Jebusites held till the days of David, who took it, and totally destroyed the Jebusites. See 2 Samuel 5:6-9, and 1 Chronicles 11:4-8. It is possible that the Jebusites who had been discomfited by Joshua, had again become sufficiently strong to possess themselves of Jerusalem; and that they were now defeated, and the city itself set on fire: but that they still were able to keep

Judges 5:25 — idea that Jael was more liberal and kind than Sisera had requested. He asked for water, and she brought him cream; and she brought it to him, not in an ordinary pitcher, but in the most superb dish or bowl which she possessed. See at the end of Judges 4:24.