Bible Commentaries

Proverbs 27:1 — Suspicious praise. The quarrelsome woman. One friend helps another. Man insatiable. The incorrigible fool. Domestic cares. The profit of flocks for food and raiment. NOTES ON CHAP. XXVIIVerse Proverbs 27:1. Boast not thyself of to-morrow — James 4:13, c. Do not depend on any future moment for spiritual good which at present thou needest, and God is willing to give, and without which, should death surprise thee, thou must be eternally lost such as repentance, faith in Christ, the pardon of sin,

Isaiah 2:3 — of God, and in his ordinances only, can we expect to hear the pure doctrines of revelation preached.1. God alone can give a revelation of his own will.2. We must use the proper means in order to know this will.3. We should know it in order to do it.4. We should do it in order to profit by it.5. He who will not walk in the light when God vouchsafes it, shall be shut up in everlasting darkness.6. Every man should help his neighbour to attain that light, life, and felicity: "Come ye, and let us walk

Isaiah 30:13 — shouts clearly how obvious and expressive the image is. The psalmist has in the same manner made use of it, to express sudden and utter destruction: - "Ye shall be slain all of you; Ye shall be like an inclining wall, like a shattered fence." Psalms 62:4.

Isaiah 35:10 — glory.2. The prophet may be considered as addressing the teachers of the Gospel, to show them that it was their business to encourage and direct the people in their expectation of redemption.3. A promise of the manifestation of God among men is given.4. The miracles which Christ should work are explicitly mentioned.5. The privileges of Christianity are specified; there shall be, 1. Thorough teaching; 2. Holy walking.6. Perfect safety.7. Complete happiness. And - 8. Final glory.The chapter shows also

Daniel 12:13 — things. Death is at the door, and eternity is at hand; go on to the end - be faithful unto death.3. There is a rest provided for the people of God. Thou shalt rest; thy body, in the grave; thy soul, in the Divine favour here, and finally in paradise.4. As in the promised land there was a lot for each of God's people, so in heaven there is a lot for thee. Do not lose it, do not sell it, do not let thy enemy rob thee of it. Be determined to stand in thy own lot at the end of the days. See that thou

Daniel 12:4 — Verse Daniel 12:4. Shut up the words, and seal the book — When a prophet received a prediction concerning what was at a considerable distance of time, he shut his book, did not communicate his revelation for some time after. This Daniel was commanded to do, Daniel

Daniel 8:8 — they were reduced to four, as we have already seen.1. SELEUCUS, who had Syria and Babylon, from whom came the Seleucidae, famous in history.2. LYSIMACHUS, who had Asia Minor.3. PTOLEMY, son of Lagus, who had Egypt, from whom sprang the Lagidae. And,4. CASSANDER, who had Greece and the neighbouring countries. These held dominion towards the four winds of heaven.Cassander had the western parts, Lysimachus had the northern regions, Ptolemy possessed the southern countries, and Seleucus had the eastern

Hosea 9:1 — the praise of all their plenty, 1. For which reason they are threatened with famine and exile, 2, 3, in a land where they should be polluted, and want the means of worshipping the God of their fathers, or observing the solemnities of his appointment, 4, 5. Nay more; they shall speedily fall before the destroyer, be buried in Egypt, and leave their own pleasant places desolate, 6-9. God is then introduced declaring his early favour for his people, and the delight he took in their obedience; but now

Micah 2:1 — Here the prophet denounces a wo against the plotters of wickedness, the covetous and the oppressor, 1, 2. God is represented as devising their ruin, 3. An Israelite is then introduced as a mourner, personating his people, and lamenting their fate, 4. Their total expulsion is now threatened on account of their very numerous offences, 5-10. Great infatuation of the people in favour of those pretenders to Divine inspiration who prophesied to them peace and plenty, 11. The chapter concludes with a

Zechariah 14:1 — utter extermination of the enemies of Christianity in the latter days. God will display his power in behalf of his people in a manner so astonishing and miraculous, that even they themselves, and much more their enemies, shall be struck with terror, 4, 5. The national prosperity of the Jews shall then be permanent and unmixed, 6, 7; and these people shall be made the instruments of converting many to the faith of the Messiah, 8, 9. The great increase and prosperity of the Christian Church, the New

Matthew 10:4 — Verse Matthew 10:4. Simon — He was third son of Alpheus, and brother of James and Jude, or Judas, Matthew 13:55.The Canaanite — This word is not put here to signify a particular people, as it is elsewhere used in the Sacred Writings; but it is formed from

Matthew 23:14 — Verse Matthew 23:14. Matthew 23:13.-Verse Matthew 23:14. Ye devour widows' houses — On this subject I am in possession of nothing better than the following note of Dr. Whitby."This sect," says Josephus, (Ant. l. xvii. chap. 3,) "pretended to a more exact knowledge

Matthew 4:2 — Verse Matthew 4:2. And when he had fasted forty days — It is remarkable that Moses, the great lawgiver of the Jews, previously to his receiving the law from God, fasted forty days in the mount; that Elijah, the chief of the prophets, fasted also forty days; and

Matthew 9:10 — creditable kind. They were tax-gatherers (Luke 5:29- :) and sinners, αμαρτωλοι, a word which I believe in general signifies heathens, throughout the Gospels, and in several other parts of the New Testament. See, among others, Matthew 11:19; Matthew 26:45; Mark 2:15-17; Mark 14:41; Luke 5:30-32; Luke 6:32-34; Luke 7:34; Luke 7:37; Luke 7:39; Luke 15:1-2; Luke 15:7; Luke 15:10; Luke 19:7; Luke 24:7; John 9:16; John 9:24; John 9:25; John 9:31; Romans 5:8; Galatians 2:15; Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 4:18; in

Mark 12:4 — Verse Mark 12:4. At him they cast stones and wounded him in the head — Or rather, as most learned men agree, they made short work of it, εκεφαλαιωσαν. We have followed the Vulgate, illum in capite vulneraverunt, in translating the original, wounded him in the

Luke 4:1 — CHAPTER IV. Christ's temptation, 1-13. Teaches in the synagogues of Galilee, 14, 15. He preaches tn a synagogue at Nazareth, 16-28. They attempt to kill him, 29, 30. He preaches in Capernaum, 31, 32, and casts out a demon, 33-37. Heals Peter's mother-in-law, and various others, 38-41. He goes to the desert, and preaches afterwards

John 16:1 — CHAPTER XVI. Christ warns his disciples, and foretells the persecutions they should receive from the Jews, 1-4. Foretells his death, and promises them the Comforter, 5-7. Points out his operations among the Jews, and in the world, 8-11. His peculiar influences on the souls of the disciples, 12-15. Speaks figuratively of his death and resurrection, at which his

John 18:13 — Christ was first brought. Some think that Annas was still high priest, and that Caiaphas was only his deputy, though he did the principal part of the business, and that it as because of this that he is called high priest. But see the notes on Matthew 2:4, and Luke 3:2.That same year. — The office was now no longer during life as formerly. John 11:49.What is related in the 24th verse, John 18:24, Now Annas had sent him bound to Caiaphas, comes properly in after the 13th verse. John 18:13 One of

John 4:50 — Verse John 4:50. Go thy way; thy son liveth. — Had our Lord gone with him, as he wished, his unbelief could not have been fully removed; as he would have still thought that our Lord's power could not reach from Cana to Capernaum: in order to destroy his unbelief

Acts 11:1 — CHAPTER XI. Peter returns to Jerusalem, and is accused of having associated with the Gentiles, 1-3. He defends himself by relating at large the whole business concerning Cornelius, 4-17. His defense is accepted, and the whole Church glorifies God for having granted unto the Gentiles repentance unto life, 18. An account of the proceedings of those who were scattered abroad by the persecution that was raised about Stephen; and how