Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 13:20 — the Most High:6. Who broughtest kings to destruction, and honourable men from their bed:7. Who heardest the rebuke of the Lord in Sinai, and in Horeb the judgment of vengeance:8. Who anointedst kings to take revenge, and prophets to succeed after him:9. Who wast taken up in a whirlwind of fire, and in a chariot of fiery horses:10. Who wast ordained for reproofs in their times to pacify the wrath of the Lord's judgment, before it brake forth into fury; and to turn the heart of the father unto the son,

Job 32:8 — God was grieved, and departed from him; but was restored, as the enlightener and corrector, in virtue of the purposed incarnation and atonement of our Lord Jesus; hence, he is "the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world," John 1:9. That afflatus is therefore still continued to אנוש enosh, man, in his wretched, fallen state; and it is by that Spirit, the רוח אלהים Ruach Elohim, "the Spirit of the merciful or covenant God," that we have any conscience, knowledge of good and evil,

Job 7:12 — and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it," Jeremiah 5:22. "For thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth;" Psalms 104:9. "Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors; and said,

Psalms 113:9 — Verse Psalms 113:9. He maketh the barren woman to keep house — This is a figure to point out the desolate, decreasing state of the captives in Babylon, and the happy change which took place on their return to their own land. These are nearly the words of Hannah,

Psalms 119:16 — Verse Psalms 119:16. I will delight myself — The word is very emphatical: אשתעשע eshtaasha, I will skip about and jump for joy.14. He must exult in God's word as his treasure, live in the spirit of obedience as his work, and ever glory in God, who has called him

Psalms 18:2 — neither slain nor wounded by the darts of my adversaries.8. Horn of my salvation. Horn was the emblem of power, and power in exercise. This has been already explained; see on 1 Samuel 2:1. The horn of salvation means a powerful, an efficient salvation.9. My high tower; not only a place of defence, but one from which I can discern the country round about, and always be able to discover danger before it approaches me.

Psalms 81:16 — ordinance, Psalms 81:5. 3. Their deliverance from base servitude, Psalms 81:6. 4. When in deep affliction, Psalms 81:7. 5. In a miraculous manner, Psalms 81:7. 6. His mercy shown at the waters of Meribah, Psalms 81:7. 7. His giving them his law, Psalms 81:8-9.He then inculcates obedience, for which he gives three reasons: 1. "I am the Lord thy God," Psalms 81:10. 2. Who redeemed thee from bondage, Psalms 81:10. 3. He will make thee truly happy: "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it," Psalms 81:10.III.

Isaiah 1:2 — simple yet strong oratorical style of Moses, is, "I call heaven and earth to witness against thee this day; life and death have I set before thee; the blessing and the curse: choose now life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed." Deuteronomy 30:19. The poetical style, by an apostrophe, sets the personification in a much stronger light.Hath spoken - "That speaketh"] I render it in the present time, pointing it דבר dober. There seems to be an impropriety in demanding attention to a speech already

Isaiah 28:1 — their affairs under Hezekiah, 5, 6; but soon changes to reproofs and threatenings for their intemperance and their profaneness, 7, 8. They are introduced as not only scornfully rejecting, but also mocking and ridiculing, the instructions of the prophet, 9, 10. To this God immediately retorts in terms alluding to their own mocking, but differently applied, 11-13. The prophet then addresses these scoffers, 14; who considered themselves as perfectly secure from every evil, 15; and assures them that there

Isaiah 42:1 — CHAPTER XLII The prophet sets forth the meekness of Messiah's character, and the extent and blessings of his kingdom, particularly among the Gentiles, 1-9. In consequence of this he calls on the whole creation to join him in one song of praise to God, 10-12. After which he seems again to glance at the deliverance from the captivity; although the words may full as well apply to the deliverance vouchsafed

Isaiah 48:1 — least pretext for ascribing any portion of their success to their idols, 1-8. The Almighty, after bringing them to the furnace for their perverseness, asserts his glorious sovereignty, and repeats his gracious promises of deliverance and consolation, 9-11. Prophecy concerning that individual (Cyrus) who shall be an instrument in the hand of God of executing his will on Babylon, and his power on the Chaldeans; and the idols of the people are again challenged to give a like proof of their foreknowledge,

Isaiah 52:1 — and, in the ardour of their joy, they call to the very ruins of Jerusalem to sing along with them, because Jehovah maketh bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth are about to see the salvation of Israel's God, 9, 10. To complete the deliverance, they are commanded to march in triumph out of Babylon, earnestly exhorted to have nothing to do with any of her abominations, and assured that Jehovah will guide them in all their way, 11, 12. The prophet then passes

Numbers 11:1 — The people complain, the Lord is displeased, and many of them are consumed by fire, 1. Moses intercedes for them, and the fire is quenched, 2. The place is called Taberah, 3. The mixed multitude long for flesh, and murmur, 4-6. The manna described, 7-9. The people weep in their tents, and the Lord is displeased, 10. Moses deplores his lot in being obliged to hear and bear with all their murmurings, 11-15. He is commanded to bring seventy of the elders to God that he may endue them with the same spirit,

Numbers 19:12 — Verse Numbers 19:12. He shall purify himself with it — יתחטא בו yithchatta bo, literally, he shall sin himself with it. This Hebrew form of speech is common enough among us in other matters. Thus to fleece, to bark, and to skin, do not signify to add a fleece,

Numbers 21:9 — Verse Numbers 21:9. And Moses made a serpent of brass — נחש נחשת nechash nechosheth. Hence we find that the word for brass or copper comes from the same root with nachash, which here signifies a serpent, probably on account of the colour; as most serpents, especially

Numbers 7:1 — to their service, 4, 5. Moses does so, and gives two wagons and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, 6, 7; and four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of Merari, 8. The sons of Kohath have none, because they were to bear the ark, c., on their shoulders, 9. Each prince is to take a day for presenting his offerings, 10, 11. On the first day Nahshon, of the tribe of JUDAH, offers a silver charger, a silver bowl, a golden spoon, a young bullock, a ram, a lamb, and a kid, for a SIN-OFFERING two oxen, five

Haggai 2:1 — encourage them to proceed with the work, the prophet assures them that the glory of the second temple should be greater than that of the first, alluding perhaps to the glorious doctrines which should be preached in it by Jesus Christ and his apostles, 1-9. He then shows the people that the oblations brought by their priests could not sanctify them while they were unclean by their neglect of the temple; and to convince them that the difficult times they had experienced during that neglect proceeded from

Matthew 14:20 — This also obliged them probably to carry hay with them to sleep on: and it is to this, in all likelihood, that Juvenal alludes.After five thousand were fed, twelve times as much, at least, remained, as the whole multitude at first sat down to! Luke 9:16.

Joshua 7:1 — with a favourable report, 3. Three thousand men are sent against it, who are defeated, and thirty-six killed, 4, 5. Joshua is greatly distressed, prostrates himself, and inquires of the Lord the reason why he has abandoned Israel to their enemies, 6-9. The Lord raises him, and informs him that, contrary to the command, some of the people had secreted some of the spoils of Jericho, 10-12. He is directed how to discover the delinquent, 13-15. Joshua inquires in what TRIBE the guilt is found, and finds

1 Samuel 8:9 — Verse 1 Samuel 8:9. Show them the manner of the king — The word משפט mishpat, which we here render manner, signifies simply what the king would and might require, according to the manner in which kings in general ruled; all of whom, in those times, were absolute