Bible Commentaries

Nehemiah 13:1 — congregation, on which they separate all the mixed multitude, 1-3. Eliashib the high priest having not only joined opinion with Sanballat, but being also allied to Tobiah the Ammonite, and having given him some of the chambers in the court of the house of God, 4, 5; Nehemiah casts out the goods of Tobiah, and purifies the chambers, 6-9. He rectifies several evils; and the people bring the tithes of all things to the treasuries, 10-12. He appoints treasurers, 13, 14; finds that the Sabbaths had been greatly

Job 18:9 — 18:8-10.3. The howling of the dogs, with the shouts of the huntsmen, fill him with dismay, and cause him to run himself beyond his strength and out of breath. "Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet," Job 18:11.4. While spent with hunger and fatigue, he is entangled in the spread nets; and the huntsman either pierces him with an arrow or spear, or cuts the sinews of his legs, so that he is easily captured and destroyed. "The robbers shall prevail against him,"

Psalms 3:1 — complains, in great distress, of the number of his enemies, and the reproaches they cast on him, as one forsaken of God, 1, 2; is confident, notwithstanding, that God will be his protector, 3; mentions his prayers and supplications, and how God heard him, 4, 5; derides the impotent malice of has adversaries, and foretells their destruction, 6, 7; and ascribes salvation to God, 8. NOTES ON PSALM IIIThis is said to be A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. — See the account, 2 Samuel

Psalms 51:4 — Verse Psalms 51:4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned — This verse is supposed to show the impropriety of affixing the above title to this Psalm. It could not have been composed on account of the matter with Bath-sheba and the murder of Uriah; for, surely,

Psalms 74:8 — Verse Psalms 74:8. Let us destroy them — Their object was totally to annihilate the political existence of the Jewish people.They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. — It is supposed that there were no synagogues in the land till after

Proverbs 4:23 — Verse Proverbs 4:23. Keep thy heart with all diligence — "Above all keeping," guard thy heart. He who knows any thing of himself, knows how apt his affections are to go astray.For out of it are the issues of life. — תוצאות חיים totseoth chaiyim, "the goings

Proverbs 8:17 — love him yet more and more; and thus we may go on increasing to eternity. Blessed be God!And those that seek me early shall find me. — Not merely betimes in the morning, though he who does so shall find it greatly to his advantage; (see on Psalms 4:1-8;) but early in life - in youth, and as near as possible to the first dawn of reason. To the young this gracious promise is particularly made: if they seek, they shall find. Others, who are old, may seek and find; but never to such advantage as they

Isaiah 18:4 — Verse Isaiah 18:4. For so the Lord said unto me - "For thus hath JEHOVAH said unto me"] The subject of the remaining part of this chapter is, that God would comfort and support his own people, though threatened with immediate destruction by the Assyrians; that Sennacherib's

Isaiah 2:8 — Verse Isaiah 2:8. Their land also is full of idols - "And his land is filled with idols"] Uzziah and Fotham are both said, 2 Kings 15:3-4; 2 Kings 15:34-35, "to have done that which was right in the sight of the Lord;" that is, to have adhered to and maintained the legal worship of God, in opposition to idolatry and all irregular worship; for to this sense the meaning of that phrase is

Isaiah 20:1 — dominions; see 2 Kings 18:8. The people expected to be relieved by the Cushites of Arabia and by the Egyptians. Isaiah was ordered to go uncovered, that is, without his upper garment, the rough mantle commonly worn by the prophets, (see Zechariah 13:4,) probably three days to show that within three years the town should be taken, after the defeat of the Cushites and Egyptians by the king of Assyria, which event should make their case desperate, and induce them to surrender. Azotus was a strong place;

Isaiah 20:2 — years could give no premonition of the time at all. It is probable, therefore, that the prophet was ordered to walk so for three days to denote the accomplishment of the event in three years; a day for a year, according to the prophetical rule, Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6. The words שלש ימים shalosh yamim, three days, may possibly have been lost out of the text, at the end of the second verse, after יחף yacheph, barefoot; or after the same word in the third verse, where, in the Alexandrine and Vatican

Isaiah 27:1 — their great and powerful enemies, Isaiah 27:1.2. His constant care and protection of his favourite vineyard, in the form of a dialogue, Isaiah 27:2.3. The moderation and lenity with which the severity of his judgments have been tempered, Isaiah 27:7.4. The end and design of them, to recover them from idolatry, Isaiah 27:9. And,5. The recalling of them, on their repentance, from their several dispersions, Isaiah 27:12.The first verse seems connected with the two last verses of the preceding chapter.

Isaiah 27:2 — of Ossian are of this kind.The learned Bishop distinguishes the parts of this dialogue thus: - 3. JEHOVAH. It is I, JEHOVAH, that preserve her; I will water her every moment: I will take care of her by night; And by day I will keep guard over her. 4. VINEYARD. I have no wall for my defence: O that I had a fence of the thorn and brier! JEHOVAH. Against them should I march in battle, I should burn them up together. 5. Ah! let her rather take hold of my protection. VINEYARD. Let him make peace with

Isaiah 4:5 — Verse Isaiah 4:5. And the Lord will create - One MS., the Septuagint, and the Arabic, have יביא yabi, He shall bring: the cloud already exists; the Lord will bring it over. This is a blessed promise of the presence of God in all the assemblies of his people.Every

Isaiah 43:22 — Verse Isaiah 43:22. But thou hast not called upon me — The connexion is: But thou, Israel, whom I have chosen, whom I have formed for myself to be my witness against the false gods of the nations; even thou hast revolted from me, hast neglected my worship, and

Isaiah 5:24 — Verse Isaiah 5:24. The flame - "The tongue of fire"] "The flame, because it is in the shape of a tongue; and so it is called metaphorically." Sal. ben Melec. The metaphor is so exceedingly obvious, as well as beautiful, that one may wonder that it has not been more frequently

Jeremiah 5:1 — enlarges on the corruptions which prevailed among them. Their profession of religion was all false and hypocritical, 1, 2. Though corrected, they were not amended, but persisted in their guilt, 3. This was not the case with the low and ignorant only, 4; but more egregiously so with those of the higher order, from whose knowledge and opportunities better things might have been expected, 5. God therefore threatens them with the most cruel enemies, 6; and appeals to themselves if they should be permitted

Jeremiah 52:1 — CHAPTER LII This chapter was added after Jeremiah's time probably by Ezra, after the return from the captivity, of which it gives a short account, nearly the same as in Jeremiah 52:2; Jeremiah 24:18-20; Jeremiah 25:1-30. It is very properly subjoined to the preceding prophecies, in order to show how exactly they were fulfilled. It likewise forms a proper introduction to the following Lamentations, as it gives an account of the mournful events

Hosea 14:7 — Verse Hosea 14:7. They that dwell under his shadow shall return — The Targum is curious: "They shall be gathered together from the midst of their captivity; they shall dwell under the shadow of his CHRIST, and the dead shall revive."They shall revive as the

Amos 2:6 — dust of the earth. Howsoever the clause is understood, it shows them to have been general oppressors of the poor, showing them neither justice nor mercy.3. They turn aside the way of the meek. They are peculiarly oppressive to the weak and afflicted.4. They were licentious to the uttermost abomination; for in their idol feasts, where young women prostituted themselves publicly in honour of Astarte, the father and son entered into impure connections with the same female.5. They were cruel in their