Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 51:4 — Verse Isaiah 51:4. My people - O my nation - "O ye peoples - O ye nations"] For עמי ammi, my people, the Bodleian MS. and another read עמים ammim, ye peoples; and for לאומי leumi, my nation, the Bodleian MS. and eight others, (two of them ancient,) and four of De Rossi's,

Ezekiel 16:4 — Verse Ezekiel 16:4. As for thy nativity, c. — This verse refers to what is ordinarily done for every infant on its birth. The umbilical cord, by which it received all its nourishment while in the womb, being no longer necessary, is cut at a certain distance from

Ezekiel 29:14 — Verse Ezekiel 29:14. Into the land of Pathros — Supposed to mean the Delta, a country included between the branches of the Nile, called Δ delta, from its being in the form of the Greek letter of that name. It may mean the Pathrusim, in Upper Egypt, near to the Thebaid.

Daniel 6:1 — viceroy, 1-3. This great partiality of the king towards a stranger of Jewish extraction, and who had been carried captive into Chaldea, raised up a great many enemies to Daniel; and a scheme was even contrived by the presidents and princes to ruin him, 4-15; which succeeded so far that he was cast into a den of lions, but was miraculously delivered, 16-23. Darius, who was greatly displeased with himself for having been entrapped by the governors of the provinces to the prejudice of his faithful minister,

Daniel 6:26 — characters in this decree.1. He is the living God, the Author and Giver of life; all others are dead gods.2. He is steadfast for ever. All things change; but he is unchangeable.3. He has a kingdom; for as he made all things, so he governs all things.4. His kingdom shall not be destroyed. No human power can prevail against it, because it is upheld by his omnipotence.5. His dominion is without end. It is an everlasting dominion, under an everlasting rule, by an everlasting God.6. He delivereth them

Amos 7:1 — threatening to cut of the hopes of the harvest by attacking it in the time of the second growth; the first luxuriances of the crop being probably mowed for the king's horses, 1-3. The next vision threatens a judgment by fire, which would consume a great part, 4-6; and the third a total overthrow of Israel, levelling it as it were by a line, 7-9. The rest of the chapter is a denunciation of heavy judgments against Amaziah, priest of Beth-el, who had brought an accusation to the king against the prophet, 10-17.

Micah 4:13 — Verse Micah 4:13. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion — This refers to the subject of the preceding verse. When God shall have gathered together all thy enemies, as into the threshing-floor, he will give thee commission and power to get a complete victory

Micah 5:7 — protection of Mordecai and Esther.-Calmet. But others consider this as applying to the Maccabees.As a dew from the Lord — Even during their captivity many of the Jews were the means of spreading the knowledge of the one true God; see Daniel 2:47; Daniel 3:29; Daniel 4:34; Daniel 6:26. This may be the dew from the Lord mentioned here. When the Messiah appeared, the Gospel was preached by them; and it shall again be propagated by their future glorious restoration, Romans 11:12; Romans 11:25.The

Zephaniah 3:19 — the severity of the punishment.The first clause here is translated thus by Abp. Newcome: "Behold I will work with thee for thy sake at that time." The original is obscure; and it may bear the above sense.I will save her that halteth — See Micah 4:6, where there is a parallel place.And gather her that was driven out — By captivity. The reference may be to renewing the covenant with the Jews, who were considered as an unfaithful spouse divorced by her husband. I will bring her back to my

Matthew 1:21 — also that Jesus might be pointed out as the true Christ or Messiah, against the unbelief of the Jews." This observation will be of great use in numberless places of the New Testament. See Acts 2:36; Acts 8:35; 1 Corinthians 16:22; 1 John 2:22; 1 John 4:15, &c.

Matthew 27:5 — was bursted, and his bowels gushed out. I have thought proper, on a matter of such difficulty, to use the word strangled, as possessing a middle meaning between choking or suffocation by excessive grief, and hanging, as an act of suicide. Matthew 10:4. Dr. Lightfoot is of opinion that the devil caught him up into the air, strangled him, and threw him down on the ground with violence, so that his body was burst, and his guts shed out! This was an ancient tradition.

Matthew 4:11 — Verse Matthew 4:11. Behold, angels came and ministered unto him. — That is, brought that food which was necessary to support nature.The name given to Satan in the third verse is very emphatic, ο πειραζων, the tempter, or trier, from πειρω, to pierce through.

Mark 14:36 — as man, to show his complete submission to his Father's will, and the tender affection which he was conscious his Father had for him, [Syriac] Abba, Syriac, is here joined to οπατηρ, Greek, both signifying father; so St. Paul, Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6. The reason is, that from the time in which the Jews became conversant with the Greek language, by means of the Septuagint version and their commerce with the Roman and Greek provinces, they often intermingled Greek and Roman words with their own

Luke 10:20 — is ordered to be registered, with the names of its parents, and the time when born, baptized, or registered; and this register is generally kept in the parish church, or in some public place of safety. Such a register as this is called in Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5, c., the book of life, i.e. the book or register where the persons were enrolled as they came into life. It appears also probable, that when any person died, or behaved improperly, his name was sought out and erased from the book,

John 2:2 — that was ever in the world.2. The great Author of the Christian religion, with his disciples, (probably then only four or five in number, see John 1:37, c.,) were invited to it.3. The first miracle Jesus Christ wrought was at it, and in honour of it.4. The mother of Christ, the most pure of all virgins, the most holy of all wives, and the first Christian mother, was also at it.5. The marriage was according to God, or these holy persons would not have attended it.6. The bride and bridegroom must have

John 3:13 — Verse John 3:13. No man hath ascended — This seems a figurative expression for, No man hath known the mysteries of the kingdom of God; as in Deuteronomy 30:12; Psalms 73:17; Proverbs 30:4; Romans 11:34. And the expression is founded upon this generally received maxim: That to be perfectly acquainted with the concerns of a place, it is necessary for a person to be on the spot. But our Lord probably spoke to correct a false notion among

John 5:9 — Verse John 5:9. The same day was the sabbath. — Mr. Toynard supposes that this miracle was wrought on the 11th of Nisan, the sabbath before the passover, which was celebrated the 14th of Nisan, or 28th of March. But why did our Lord command this man to carry his bed on the sabbath, as the law prohibited all servile work, and especially the carrying of burthens? See Exodus 20:8; Jeremiah 17:21; Nehemiah 13:15. To this it may be

John 9:17 — the Divine power of Christ might not appear against them. But, as the mercy of God had given him his sight, so the wisdom of God taught him how to escape the snares laid for his ruin. On all thy glory there shall be a defense, says the prophet, Isaiah 4:5. When God gives any particular mercy or grace, he sends power to preserve it, and wisdom to improve it. The man said, He is a prophet. Now, according to a Jewish maxim, a prophet might dispense with the observation of the Sabbath. See Grotius. If

Acts 19:21 — Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, whom he saw at Ephesus, 1 Corinthians 16:17; 1 Corinthians 7:1, that several abuses had crept into their religious assemblies.3. That even the Christians went to law with each other, and that before the heathens. And,4. That a person professing Christianity in that city, had formed a matrimonial contract with his step-mother. It was to remedy those disorders that he wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians, in which he strongly reprehends all the above evils.

Acts 4:31 — resistance against his counsels and determinations must come to nought.And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost — And, in consequence of this, they spake the word of God with boldness; a pointed answer to a second part of their request, Acts 4:29. A right prayer will always have a right and ready answer. Though these disciples had received the Holy Spirit on the day of pentecost, yet they were capable of larger communications; and what they had then received did not preclude the necessity