Bible Commentaries

Genesis 16:7 — Verse Genesis 16:7. The angel of the Lord — That Jesus Christ, in a body suited to the dignity of his nature, frequently appeared to the patriarchs, has been already intimated. That the person mentioned here was greater than any created being is sufficiently evident

Genesis 24:1 — that he will not take a wife for Isaac from among the Canaanites, 1-3, but from among his own kindred, 4. The servant proposes certain difficulties, 5, which Abraham removes by giving him the strongest assurances of God's direction in the business, 6, 7, and then specifies the conditions of the oath, 8. The form of the oath itself, 9. The servant makes preparations for his journey, and sets out for Mesopotamia, the residence of Abraham's kindred, 10. Arrives at a well near to the place, 11. His prayer

Luke 4:18 — Verse Luke 4:18. The Spirit of the Lord — This is found in Isaiah 61:1; but our Lord immediately adds to it Isaiah 42:7. The proclaiming of liberty to the captives, and the acceptable year (or year of acceptance) of the Lord, is a manifest allusion to the proclaiming of the year of jubilee by sound of trumpet: see Leviticus 25:9, c., and the notes there. This was a year

John 1:4 — but of that life eternal which he revealed to the world, 2 Timothy 1:10, to which he taught the way, John 14:6, which he promised to believers, John 10:28, which he purchased for them, John 6:51; John 6:53-54, which he is appointed to give them, John 17:2, and to which he will raise them up, John 5:29, because he hath the life in himself, John 5:26. All this may be proved:1. From the like expressions; 2 John 1:5:11, This is the promise that God hath given unto us, eternal life, and this life is in

John 15:16 — not wait till work be brought to him, but he must go and seek it.5. He must labour so as to bring forth fruit, i.e. to get souls converted to the Lord.6. He must refer all his fruit to God, who gave him the power to labour, and blessed him in his work.7. He must take care to water what he has planted, that his fruit may remain - that the souls whom he has gathered in be not scattered from the flock.8. He must continue instant in prayer, that his labours may be accompanied with the presence and blessing

John 19:23 — was about to offer the expiatory victim for the sin of the world. And it is worthy of remark that the very dress he was in was similar to that of the Jewish high priest. The following is the description given of his dress by Josephus, Ant. b. iii. c. 7, s. 4: "Now this coat (χιτων) was not composed of two pieces, nor was it sewed together upon the shoulders and sides, but it was one long vestment, so woven as to have an opening for the neck; not an oblique one, but parted all along the back and breast;

Acts 1:4 — love thee, and worthily magnify thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen." Communion Service.Ye have heard of me. — In his particular conversations with his disciples, such as those related John 14:16-26 (note); John 15:26 (note); John 16:7-15 (note) to which passages, and the notes on them the reader is requested to refer: but it is likely that our Lord alludes more particularly to the conversation he had with them on one of the mountains of Galilee.

Acts 13:34 — rise from the dead, then, as said the apostle, your faith and our preaching are vain, 1 Corinthians 15:14.The following observations of Bp. Pearce are judicious: "For the sense of these words, we must have recourse to what God said to David in 2 Samuel 7:11-12, c., explained by what is said in Psalms 89:3-4, Psalms 89:28-29, Psalms 89:36, where frequent mention is made of a covenant established by God with David, and sworn to by God, that David's seed should endure for ever, and his throne as the days

Acts 28:16 — fortified camp near it; so that their commander is with peculiar propriety styled by St. Luke στρατοπεδαρχης, the commander of the camp. For the arrival of St. Paul at Rome was in the seventh year of Nero; and it is certain, from Suetonius, (in Tiber. cap. 37,) that the custom of keeping the pretorian soldiers in a camp, near the city, was retained by the emperors succeeding Tiberius; for the historian observes that Claudius, at his accession to the empire, was received into the camp, in castra delatus est,

Acts 6:7 — Verse Acts 6:7. The word of God increased — By such preachers as the apostles and these deacons, no wonder the doctrine of God increased-became widely diffused and generally known; in consequence of which, the number of the disciples must be greatly multiplied:

Acts 8:24 — an altar erected to him at Rome, with the inscription, Simoni sancto deo, "To the holy god Simon," has been founded on an utter mistake, and has been long ago sufficiently confuted. See the inscriptions in Gruter, vol. i. p. 96, inscript. No. 5, 6, 7.

1 Corinthians 4:7 — Verse 1 Corinthians 4:7. For who maketh thee to differ — It is likely that the apostle is here addressing himself to some one of those puffed up teachers, who was glorying in his gifts, and in the knowledge he had of the Gospel, c. As if he had said: If thou hast all

2 Corinthians 10:1 — CHAPTER X. The apostle vindicates himself against the aspersions cast on his person by the false apostle; and takes occasion to mention his spiritual might and authority, 1-6. He shows them the impropriety of judging after the outward appearance, 7. Again refers to his apostolical authority, and informs them that when he again comes among them he will show himself in his deeds as powerful as his letters intimated, 8-11. He shows that these false teachers sat down in other men's labours, having

Ephesians 4:19 — delivered themselves over to her jurisdiction. This is a trite picture of the Gentile world: uncleanness, lechery, and debauchery of every kind, flourished among them without limit or restraint. Almost all their gods and goddesses were of this character.7. To work all uncleanness with greediness. — This is a complete finish of the most abandoned character; to do an unclean act is bad, to labour in it is worse, to labour in all uncleanness is worse still; but to do all this in every case to the

Ephesians 5:1 — Christians should imitate their heavenly Father, and walk in love, after the example of Christ, 1, 2. They should avoid all uncleanness, impurity, covetousness, and foolish jesting, and idolatry, because these things exclude from the kingdom of God, 3-7. The Ephesians were once in darkness, but being now light in the Lord, they are exhorted to walk in that light, and bring forth the fruits of the Spirit; and to have no fellowship with the workers of iniquity, whose evil deeds are manifested by the

Ephesians 6:15 — readiness to publish the Gospel: for, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth PEACE; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15.The lsraelites were commanded to eat the passover with their feet shod, to show that they were ready for their journey. And our Lord commands his disciples to be shod with sandals, that they might be ready to go and publish the Gospel,

1 Timothy 4:1 — CHAPTER IV. Apostasy from the true faith predicted, and in what that apostasy should consist, 1-5. Exhortations to Timothy to teach the truth, 6. To avoid old wives' fables; to exercise himself to godliness, 7, 8. To labour, command, and teach, 9, 10, 11. To act so that none might despise his youth, 12. To give attendance to reading and preaching, 13, 14. To give up himself wholly to the Divine work, 15. And so doing he should both save himself and them that

Hebrews 1:2 — describes him as the Creator of all worlds.4. As the Brightness of the Divine glory. 5. As the express Image of his person, or character of the Divine substance. 6. As sustaining the immense fabric of the universe; and this by the word of his power. 7. As having made an atonement for the sin of the world, which was the most stupendous of all his works. "'Twas great to speak a world from nought;. Twas greater to redeem." 8. As being on the right hand of God, infinitely exalted above all created beings;

James 4:13 — Verse 13. Go to now — αγε νυν. Come now, the same in meaning as the Hebrew הבה habah, come, Genesis 11:3; Genesis 11:4; Genesis 11:7. Come, and hear what I have to say, ye that say, c.To-day, or to-morrow, we will go — This presumption on a precarious life is here well reproved and the ancient Jewish rabbins have some things on the subject which probably St. James had in view.

1 John 2:1 — propitiation for the sins of the whole world, 1, 2. He who knows God keeps his commandments; and he who professes to abide in Christ ought to walk as Christ walked, 3-6. The old and new commandment, that we should walk in the light, and love the brethren, 7-11. The apostle's description of the different states in the family of God; little children, young men, and fathers; and directions to each, 12-15. A statement of what prevails in the world, 16, 17. Cautions against antichrists, 18-23. Exhortations