Bible Commentaries

Exodus 29:27 — Verse Exodus 29:27. The breast of the wave-offering, and the shoulder of the heave-offering — As the wave-offering was agitated to and fro, and the heave-offering up and down, some have conceived that this twofold action represented the figure of the cross, on which

2 Kings 22:8 — people fully: for "he sent to his princes to teach in the cities of Judah; and with them he sent Levites and priests; and they went about through all the cities of Judah, and taught the people, having the book of the Lord with them;" see 2 Chronicles 17:7-9. And if there be any thing wanting to show the improbability of the thing, it must be this, that the transactions mentioned here took place in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, who had, from the time he came to the throne, employed himself

Psalms 119:40 — For which he gives this reason: "I am thy servant, and am devoted to thy fear."6. He is afraid of the consequences if he be not faithful: "Turn away my reproach." Let it not be said, at the day of judgment, "I was hungry, and you gave me no meat," c.7. He knows if God condemns it must be justly: "For thy judgments are good." Man may condemn where thou approvest he may approve where thou condemnest. Thy judgments alone are good.8. He concludes, desiring the Lord to look on the state of his heart:

Psalms 120:1 — PSALM CXX The psalmist, in great distress, calls on the Lord for deliverance from calumny and defamation, 1, 2; shows the punishment that awaits his persecutor, 3, 4; deplores the necessity of his residence with the ungodly, 5-7. NOTES ON PSALM CXXThis Psalm, and all the rest that follow it, to the end of Psalms 134:0, fifteen in number, are called Psalms of Degrees; for thus the Hebrew title המעלות hammaaloth is generally translated, as coming from the root עלה alah, to ascend

Psalms 42:1 — PSALM XLII The psalmist earnestly longs for the ordinances of the Lord's house, 1-4; describes his deep distress, 5-7; endeavours to take comfort from the consideration that the Lord would appear in his behalf, 8, 9; speaks of the insults of his enemies, 10; and again takes encouragement, 11. NOTES ON PSALM XLIIThe title, To the chief Musician giving instruction to

Psalms 56:1 — PSALM LVI David prays for support against his enemies, whose wickedness he describes, 1-6; and foretells their destruction, 7; expresses his confidence in God's mercy, expects deliverance, and promises thanksgiving and obedience, 8-13. NOTES ON PSALM LVIThe title of this Psalm is very long: "To the conqueror, concerning the dumb dove in foreign places: golden Psalm of David."

Psalms 76:12 — Verse Psalms 76:12. He shall cut off the spirit of princes — Even in the midst of their conquests, he can fill them with terror and dismay, or cut them off in their career of victory.He is terrible to the kings of the earth. — "He is the only Ruler of

Psalms 92:12 — Verse Psalms 92:12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree — Very different from the wicked, Psalms 92:7, who are likened to grass. These shall have a short duration; but those shall have a long and useful life. They are compared also to the cedar of Lebanon, an incorruptible wood, and extremely long-lived. Mr. Maundrell, who visited those trees in 1697,

Proverbs 9:1 — CHAPTER IX Wisdom builds her house, makes her provision for a great feast, calls her guests, and exhorts them to partake of her entertainment, 14. Different admonitions relative to the acquisition of wisdom, 7-12. The character and conduct of a bad woman, 13-18. NOTES ON CHAP. IX.The same Wisdom speaks here who spoke in the preceding chapter. There she represented herself as manifest in all the works of God in the natural world; all being constructed according

Isaiah 40:9 — cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music;" and, forming themselves into two choruses, they sang alternately: - "Saul has slain his thousands: And David his ten thousands." 1 Samuel 18:6-7. And this gives us the true sense of a passage in the sixty-eighth Psalm, which has frequently been misunderstood: - "JEHOVAH gave the word, (that is, the joyful news,) The women, who published the glad tidings, were a great company; The kings of

Daniel 7:1 — greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of the Most High;" and that this kingdom shall never be destroyed or transferred to another people, as all the preceding dominations have been, but shall itself stand for ever, 27, 28. It will be proper to remark that the period of a time, times, and a half, mentioned in the twenty-fifth verse as the duration of the dominion of the little horn that made war with the saints, (generally supposed to be a symbolical representation

Zechariah 1:1 — of the Olympic games in Elis, by the Idaei Dactyli, 934. -Year since the destruction of Troy, according to the general account, 664. -Year since the foundation of the monarchy of the Israelites by the Divine appointment of Saul to the regal dignity, 576. -Year from the foundation of Solomon's temple, 492. -Year from the division of Solomon's monarchy into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, 456. -Year since the re-establishment of the Olympic games in Elis by Lycurgus, Iphitus, and Cleosthenes, 365.

Matthew 10:29 — equal to four grains of silver, but is used among them to express a thing of the lowest, or almost no value. Our Lord seems to have borrowed the expression, One of them shall not fall on the ground, c., from his own countrymen. In Bereshith Rabba, sec. 79, fol. 77, it is said: In the time in which the Jews were compelled to apostatize, Rab. Simeon, Ben. Jochai, and Eliezer his son hid themselves in a cave, and lived upon dry husks. After thirteen years they came out and, sitting at the mouth of the

Matthew 5:7 — Verse Matthew 5:7. The merciful — The word mercy, among the Jews, signified two things: the pardon of injuries, and almsgiving. Our Lord undoubtedly takes it in its fullest latitude here. To know the nature of mercy, we have only to consult the grammatical meaning

Luke 13:7 — Verse Luke 13:7. Behold these three years — From this circumstance in the parable, it may be reasonably concluded that Jesus had been, at the time of saying this, exercising his ministry for three years past; and, from what is said in Luke 13:8, of letting it

Acts 7:2 — Verse Acts 7:2. Men, brethren, and fathers — Rather, brethren and fathers, for ανδρες should not be translated separately from αδελφοι. Literally it is men-brethren, a very usual form in Greek; for every person knows that ανδρες αθηναιοι and ανδρες περσαι

Romans 7:24 — Verse Romans 7:24. O wretched man that I am, c.] This affecting account is finished more impressively by the groans of the wounded captive. Having long maintained a useless conflict against innumerable hosts and irresistible might, he is at last wounded and taken

1 Corinthians 2:6 — hogs; and cursed is he who teaches his son Grecian wisdom. Bava Kama, fol. 82.2. Jewish wisdom; that of the scribes and Pharisees, who crucified our Lord, 1 Corinthians 2:8.3. The Gospel, which is called the wisdom of God in a mystery, 1 Corinthians 2:7.4. The wisdom, του αιωνος τουτου, of this world; that system of knowledge which the Jews made up out of the writings of their scribes and doctors. This state is called העולם הזה haolam hazzeh, this or the present world; to distinguish it from העולם

1 Corinthians 9:1 — he has equal rights and privileges with Peter and the brethren of our Lord; and that he is not bound, while doing the work of an apostle, to labour with his hands for his own support, 1-6. He who labours should live by the fruit of his own industry, 7. For the law will not allow even the ox to be muzzled which treads out the corn, 8-10. Those who minister in spiritual things have a right to a secular support for their work, 11-14. He shows the disinterested manner in which he has preached the Gospel,

Joshua 7:21 — Verse Joshua 7:21. A goodly Babylonish garment — אדרת שנער addereth shinar, a splendid or costly robe of Shinar; but as Babylon or Babel was built in the plain of Shinar, the word has in general been translated Babylon in this place. It is very probable that