Bible Commentaries

1 Chronicles 21:1 — CHAPTER XXI David is tempted by Satan to take the numbers of the people of Israel and Judah, 1, 2. Joab remonstrates, but the king is determined, and Joab pleads in vain, 3, 4. He returns, and delivers in the number to the king, but reckons not Levi and Benjamin, 5. The Lord is displeased, and sends Gad to offer David his choice of three great national calamities; famine, war, or pestilence, 6-12. David submits himself

1 Chronicles 9:2 — on the return from the captivity. Properly speaking, the divisions mentioned in this verse constituted the whole of the Israelitish people, who were, ever since the days of Joshua, divided into the four following classes:1. The priests.2. The Levites.3. The common people, or simple Israelites.4. The Nethinim, or slaves of the temple, the remains of the Gibeonites, who, having deceived Joshua, were condemned to this service Joshua 9:21, &c. In David's time it is probable that other conquered people

2 Chronicles 17:7 — — "To teach the fear of the Lord in the cities of Judah."-Targum.In these verses we find a remarkable account of an itinerant ministry established by Jehoshaphat; and in this work he employed three classes of men:1. The princes.2. The Levites.3. The priests.We may presume that the princes instructed the people in the nature of the civil law and constitution of the kingdom; the Levites instructed them in every thing that appertained to the temple service, and ritual law; and the priests instructed

Job 27:3 — Verse Job 27:3. All the while my breath is in me — As Job appears to allude to the creation of Adam, whom God made out of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living soul, the whole of Job's assertion

Job 31:31 — Verse Job 31:31. If the men of my tabernacle said — I believe the Targum gives the best sense here: - "If the men of my tabernacle have not said, Who hath commanded that we should not be satisfied with his flesh?" My domestics have had all kindness shown

Job 9:3 — Verse Job 9:3. If he will contend with him — God is so holy, and his law so strict, that if he will enter into judgment with his creatures, the most upright of them cannot be justified in his sight.One of a thousand. — Of a thousand offences of which

Psalms 107:10 — dreary dungeon.1. They sit in or inhabit darkness. They have no light, no peace, no prosperity.2. "In the shadow of death." The place where death reigns, over which he has projected his shadow; those against whom the sentence of death has been pronounced.3. They are bound in this darkness, have no liberty to revisit the light, and cannot escape from their executioners.4. They are afflicted, not only by want and privation in general, but they are tortured in the prison, עני oni, afflicted, humbled, distressed.5.

Psalms 67:1 — PSALM LXVII The psalmist prays for the enlargement of God's kingdom, 1, 2; calls upon all nations to serve him, because he judges and governs righteously, 3-5; promises prosperity to the faithful and obedient, 6, 7. NOTES ON PSALM LXVIIThe title here is the same with that of Psalm iv., where see the notes. Psalms 4:1. It is supposed to have been written at the return from the Babylonish captivity, and

Psalms 70:1 — PSALM LXX The psalmist prays for speedy deliverance, 1; prays against those who sought his life, 2, 3; and for the blessedness of those who sought God, 4; urges his speedy deliverance, 5. NOTES ON PSALM LXXThe title in the Hebrew is, To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. There seems little sense in this title. It seems to

Psalms 90:5 — whole, life is represented as a stream; youth, as morning; decline of life, or old age, as evening; death, as sleep; and the resurrection as the return of the flowers in spring. All these images appear in these curious and striking verses, Psalms 90:3-6.

Proverbs 8:15 — through the influence of Divine wisdom. And just laws and their righteous administration come from this source. In this and the following verse five degrees of civil power and authority are mentioned.1. מלכים melachim, KINGS.2. רזנים rozenim, CONSULS.3. שרים sarim, PRINCES, CHIEFS of the people.4. נדיבים nedibim, NOBLES. And5. שפטים shophetim, JUDGES or CIVIL MAGISTRATES.All orders of government are from God. Instead of שפטי ארץ shophetey arets,"judges of the earth," שפטי צרק shophetey tsedek, "righteous

Ecclesiastes 10:11 — dangerous as a poisonous serpent; and from the envenomed tongue of slander and detraction no man is safe. The comparing the serpent, נחש nachash, to a babbler, has something singular in it. I have already supposed that the creature mentioned, Genesis 3:1, was of the genus simia. This has been ridiculed, but not disproved.

Ecclesiastes 2:26 — God gives wisdom - the knowledge of himself, light to direct in the way of salvation.2. Knowledge - understanding to discern the operation of his hand; experimental acquaintance with himself, in the dispensing of his grace and the gifts of his Spirit.3. Joy; a hundred days of ease for one day of pain; one thousand enjoyments for one privation; and to them that believe, peace of conscience, and JOY in the Holy Ghost.But to the sinner he giveth travail — He has a life of labour, disappointment,

Isaiah 58:3 — Verse Isaiah 58:3. Have we adopted our soul - "Have we afflicted our souls"] Twenty-seven MSS. (six ancient) of Dr. Kennicott's, thirty-six of De Rossi's, and two of my own, and the old edition of 1488 have the noun in the plural number, נפשינו naphsheynu, our souls;

Jeremiah 37:1 — CHAPTER XXXVII Zedekiah succeeds Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, in the Jewish throne, and does that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, 1, 2. The king sends a message to Jeremiah, 3-5. God suggests an answer; and foretells the return of the Chaldean army, who should most assuredly take and burn the city, 6-10. Jeremiah, in attempting to leave this devoted city, and retire to his possession in the country, is seized as a deserter,

Jeremiah 7:23 — Verse Jeremiah 7:23. This thing commanded I them - Obey my voice — It was not sacrifices and oblations which I required of your fathers in the wilderness, but obedience; it was to walk in that way of righteousness which I have commanded; then I should have acknowledged

Daniel 3:21 — vecharbelathehon] and in their UPPER (woollen) TUNICS, [ולבושיהון ulebushehon] and their UNDER (linen) TUNICS." And as, according to this interpretation, their sarbaley were their outermost garments, we see the propriety with which it is observed at Daniel 3:27 that these were not changed by the fire.

Hosea 4:3 — Verse Hosea 4:3. Therefore shall the land mourn — Fruitful seasons shall be denied.That dwelleth therein shall languish — Endemic and epidemic disorders shall prevail, and multitudes shall die; so that mourning shall be found in all quarters.The beasts

1 Samuel 16:18 — Verse 1 Samuel 16:18. I have seen a son of Jesse — Dr. Warburton supposes the story is anticipated from 1 Samuel 16:14-23, and that the true chronology of this part of David's life is the following: -1. David is anointed by Samuel;2. Carries provisions to his brethren in the army;3. Fights with and kills Goliath;4. Is received into the king's court,5. Contracts a friendship

1 Samuel 6:7 — said to be sanctified: now the general meaning of that word is, to separate a thing from all earthly and common uses, and devote it solely to the service of God.When David removed the ark from the house of Abinadab, he put it on a new cart, 2 Samuel 6:3.Bring their calves home from them — So it appears that their calves had been with them in the fields. This was a complete trial: unless they were supernaturally influenced, they would not leave their calves; unless supernaturally directed, they