Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 53:3 — Verse Isaiah 53:3. Acquainted with grief — For וידוע vidua, familiar with grief, eight MSS. and one edition have וירע veyada, and knowing grief; the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read it ויודע veyodea.We hid as it were our faces from him - "As one that hideth

Jeremiah 20:1 — governor of the temple, 1, 2. On the following day the prophet is released, who denounces the awful judgments of God which should fall upon the governor and all his house, as well as upon the whole land of Judah, in the approaching Babylonish captivity, 3-6. Jeremiah then bitterly complains of the reproaches continually heaped upon him by his enemies; and, in his haste, resolves to speak no more in the name of Jehovah; but the word of the Lord is in his heart as a burning flame, so that he is not able

Hosea 12:1 — the extraordinary favour of God to his father Jacob, in giving him the birthright; and exhorted, after his example, to wrestle with God (the Angel of the covenant, the same unchangeable Jehovah) for a blessing; and to love mercy and execute justice, 3-6. Ephraim is accused of pursuing practices that are deceitful, although pretending to integrity, 7, 8. God then threatens to deprive this people of their possessions, 9, as they had rejected every means of reformation, 10, and given themselves up to

Hosea 4:1 — CHAPTER IV The prophet charges his people with their enormous sins, 1, 2; in consequence of which they are threatened with heavy judgments, 3-5. God himself is then introduced complaining of the ignorance and obstinacy of Israel; and as their priests had a large share in the common guilt, it is declared that they shall be visited with a proportionable share of the common ruin, 6-11. The sins

Matthew 14:25 — did this by his own power; therefore Jesus showed forth his Godhead. In this one miracle we may discover three:-1. Though at a distance from his disciples, he knew their distress.2. He found them out on the lake, and probably in the midst of darkness.3. He walked upon the water.Job, speaking of those things whereby the omnipotence of God was demonstrated, says particularly, Job 9:8, He walketh upon the waves of the sea: intimating that this was impossible to any thing but Omnipotence.

Matthew 6:16 — fast means, a total abstinence from food for a certain time. Abstaining from flesh, and living on fish, vegetables, c., is no fast, or may be rather considered a burlesque on fasting. Many pretend to take the true definition of a fast from Isaiah 58:3, and say that it means a fast from sin. This is a mistake there is no such term in the Bible as fasting from sin; the very idea is ridiculous and absurd, as if sin were a part of our daily food. In the fast mentioned by the prophet, the people were

Mark 10:16 — fly for a minister to baptize their child when they suppose it to be at the point of death! It would be no crime to pray that such persons should never have the privilege of hearing, My father! or, My mother! from the lips of their own child. Matthew 3:6, and Mark 16:16.

John 6:63 — Verse 63. It is the spirit that quickeneth — It is the spiritual sense only of my words that is to be attended to, and through which life is to be attained, 2 Corinthians 3:6. Such only as eat and drink what I have mentioned, in a spiritual sense, are

Acts 10:37 — Verse 37. That word - ye know — This account of Jesus of Nazareth ye cannot be unacquainted with; because it has been proclaimed throughout all Judea and Galilee, from the time that John began to preach. Ye have heard how he was anointed with the Holy

Acts 24:2 — Verse Acts 24:2. Tertullus began to accuse him — There are three parts in this oration of Tertullus:-1. The exordium.2. The proposition.3. The conclusion.The exordium contains the praise of Felix and his administration, merely for the purpose of conciliating his esteem, Acts 24:2-4; The proposition is contained in Acts 24:5. The narration and conclusion, in Acts 24:6-8.By thee we enjoy

Acts 24:8 — so. Whoever considers the plan of Tertullus's speech, will perceive that it was both judicious and artful. Let us take a view of the whole:-1. He praises Felix to conciliate his favour.2. He generally states the great blessings of his administration.3. He states that the Jews, throughout the whole land, felt themselves under the greatest obligations to him, and extolled his prudent and beneficent management of the public affairs every where.4. That the prisoner before him was a very bad man; a disturber

Acts 3:16 — Verse Acts 3:16. And his name — JESUS, the Saviour: through faith in his name, as the Saviour, and author of life, and all its concomitant blessings, such as health, c. It is not quite clear whether the apostles refer to their own faith in Jesus, or to the

Acts 4:1 — CHAPTER IV. The priests And Sadducees are incensed at the apostles' teaching, and put them in prison, 1-3. The number of those who believed, 4. The rulers, elders, and scribes call the apostles before them, and question them concerning their authority to teach, 5-7. Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, answers, and proclaims Jesus, 8-12. They are confounded

Acts 8:3 — Verse Acts 8:3. Saul made havoc of the Church — The word ελυμαινετο, from λυμαινω, to destroy, devastate, ravage, signifies the act of ferocious animals, such as bears, wolves, and the like, in seeking and devouring their prey. This shows with what persevering

1 Corinthians 1:30 — Verse 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus — Even the good which you possess is granted by God, for it is by and through him that Christ Jesus comes, and all the blessings of the Gospel dispensation.Who of God is made unto us wisdom — As being

1 Corinthians 10:7 — feeding invisibly with them on the flesh thus offered, and that every one that partook of the feast was a real participator with the god to whom the flesh or animal had been offered in sacrifice. See 1 Corinthians 10:21.Rose up to play. — Exodus 32:6. The Jews generally explain this word as implying idolatrous acts only: I have considered it as implying acts of impurity, with which idolatrous acts were often accompanied. It also means those dances which were practised in honour of their gods.

1 Corinthians 12:1 — CHAPTER XII. The apostle proceeds to the question of the Corinthians concerning spiritual gifts, 1. He calls to their remembrance their former state, and how they were brought out of it, 2, 3. Shows that there are diversities of gifts which proceed from the Spirit, 4. Diversities of administrations which proceed from the Lord Jesus, 5. And diversities of operations which proceed from God, 6. What these gifts are, and how they are dispensed,

1 Corinthians 15:3 — Verse 1 Corinthians 15:3. For I delivered unto you first of all — εν προτοις. As the chief things, or matters of the greatest importance; fundamental truths.That which I - received — By revelations from God himself, and not from man.That Christ died for our sins

1 Corinthians 15:40 — perfection. Even the present frail human body possesses an indescribable degree of contrivance, art, economy, order, beauty, and excellence; but the celestial body, that in which Christ now appears, and according to which ours shall be raised, (Philippians 3:21,) will exceed the excellence of this beyond all comparison. A glory or splendour will belong to that which does not belong to this: here there is a glory of excellence; there, there will be a glory of light and effulgence; for the bodies of the saints

2 Corinthians 1:8 — Verse 2 Corinthians 1:8. Our trouble which came to us in Asia — To what part of his history the apostle refers we know not: some think it is to the Jews lying in wait to kill him, Acts 20:3; others, to the insurrection raised against him by Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen, Acts 19:23; others, to his fighting with beasts at Ephesus, 1 Corinthians 15:32, which they understand literally; and others think that there is a reference here