Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 13:1 — that altar, and of its idolatrous priests by Josiah; and gives Jeroboam a sign that the prophecy should be accomplished, 1-3. Jeroboam is enraged, and orders the man of God to be seized; and stretching out his hand for this purpose, his arm dries up, 4. The altar is rent, and the ashes poured out, according to the sign given by the man of God; and at his intercession Jeroboam's arm is restored, 5, 6. Jeroboam wishes to engage him in his service, but he refuses, and tells him that he was ordered by

1 Kings 9:28 — came to Ophir — No man knows certainly, to this day, where this Ophir was situated. There were two places of this name; one somewhere in India, beyond the Ganges, and another in Arabia, near the country of the Sabaeans, mentioned by Job, Job 22:24: Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust; and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. And Job 28:16: It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. Calmet places this country at the sources of the Euphrates and

Job 4:21 — Verse Job 4:21. Doth not their excellency - go away! — Personal beauty, corporeal strength, powerful eloquence, and various mental endowments, pass away, or are plucked up by the roots; they are no more seen or heard among men, and their memory soon perisheth.They

Psalms 104:2 — Verse Psalms 104:2. Who coverest thyself with light — Light, insufferable splendor, is the robe of the Divine Majesty. Light and fire are generally the accompaniments of the Supreme Being, when he manifests his presence to his creatures. He appeared thus to Abraham

Psalms 45:4 — Verse Psalms 45:4. In thy majesty ride prosperously — These words cannot be spoken of Solomon; they are true only of Christ. His riding is the prosperous progress of his Gospel over the earth. He uses no sword but the sword of the Spirit; and what religion,

Psalms 58:4 — Verse Psalms 58:4. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent — When they bite, they convey poison into the wound, as the serpent does. They not only injure you by outward acts, but by their malevolence they poison your reputation. They do you as much evil as

Psalms 59:12 — fast friend of Sanballat. Besides this very priest had given Tobiah one of the great chambers in the house of the Lord, where formerly the meat-offerings, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithe of the corn and wine and oil were kept; Nehemiah 13:4-5; Nehemiah 13:7-9. And there were children of Tobiah (probably the same family) who professed to be of the Levites, Nethinim, or children of Solomon's servants; but as they could not show their father's house and their seed, whether they were of Israel;

Leviticus 17:4 — Verse Leviticus 17:4. And bringeth it not unto the door — As sacrifice was ever deemed essential to true religion, it was necessary that it should be performed in such a way as to secure the great purpose of its institution. God alone could show how this should be

Ecclesiastes 4:15 — come to the throne. The father, seeing the popular wish, and becoming jealous of his son, shut him up in prison. In the interim the old king either dies or is deposed, and the son is brought out of prison, and placed on the throne. Then (Ecclesiastes 4:15-16) multitudes of the people flock to him, and begin to walk under the sun; i.e., the prosperous state to which the nation is raised by its redemption from the former tyranny. However, the wise man insinuates that this sunshine will not last long.

Isaiah 16:1 — terrible calamities about to fall upon Moab farther described by the languishing of the vine, the ceasing of the vintage, the sound of the prophet's bowels quivering like a harp, c., 7-13. Awful nearness of the full accomplishment of the prophecy, 14. NOTES ON CHAP. XVIVerse Isaiah 16:1. Send ye the lamb, c. - "I will send forth the son, &c."] Both the reading and meaning of this verse are still more doubtful than those of the preceding. The Septuagint and Syriac read אשלח eshlach, I will send,

Isaiah 22:25 — Verse Isaiah 22:25. The nail that is fastened — This must be understood of Shebna, as a repetition and confirmation of the sentence above denounced against him.WHAT is said of Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Isaiah 22:20-24, is very remarkable; and the literal meaning is not easy to be understood. From Isaiah 9:6, and from Revelation 3:7, it seems to belong to our Lord alone. The removal of Shebna from being over the treasure of the Lord's house, Isaiah 22:19, and the

Isaiah 23:15 — and probably on that account might then be restored to their former liberties and privileges. But I think the former the more probable interpretation. - L.Sing as a harlot — Fidicinam esse meretricum est, says Donatus in Terent. Eunuch. iii. 2, 4. Nec meretrix tibicina, cujus Ad strepitum salias. HOR. I. Epist. xiv. 25. "Nor harlot minstrel sings, when the rude sound Tempts you with heavy heels to thump the ground." FRANCIS. Sir John Chardin, in his MS. note on this place, says: - C'est que

Isaiah 3:6 — οικειου has οικου. And, his brother, of his father's house, is little better than a tautology. The case seems to require that the man should apply to a person of some sort of rank and eminence; one that was the head of his father's house, (see Joshua 12:14,) whether of the house of him who applies to him, or of any other; ראש בית אביו rosh beith abaiu, the chief, or head of his father's house. I cannot help suspecting, therefore, that the word ראש rosh, head, chief, has been lost out of the text.Saying

Ezekiel 9:4 — Verse Ezekiel 9:4. Set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh — This is in allusion to the ancient every-where-used custom of setting marks on servants and slaves, to distinguish them from others. It was also common for the worshippers of particular idols

Daniel 8:1 — CHAPTER VIII This chapter contains Daniel's vision of the ram and he-goat, 1-14; referring, as explained by the angel, to the Persian and Grecian monarchies, 15-26. The little horn mentioned in the ninth verse, (or fierce king, as interpreted in the twenty-third,) is supposed by some to denote Antiochus Epiphanes; but seems more

Hosea 3:1 — and by his giving her hopes of reconciliation, after she should for some time prove, as in a state of widowhood, the sincerity of her repentance; is represented the gracious manner in which God will restore the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, 1-4. It is also very strongly intimated that the whole house of Israel will be added to the Church of Christ in the latter days, 5. NOTES ON CHAP. IIIVerse Hosea 3:1. Go yet, love a woman — This is a different command from that mentioned in the first

Numbers 34:19 — Verse Numbers 34:19. - c. And the names of the men - are these — It is worthy of remark that Moses does not follow any order hitherto used of placing the tribes, neither that in chap. i., nor that in chap. vii., nor that in chap. xxvi., nor any other but places

Joshua 9:26 — chapter, we may make the following observations.1. The Gibeonites told lies, in order to save their lives. No expediency can justify this, nor are we called to attempt it. The Gibeonites were heathens, and we can expect nothing better from them. Joshua 2:24.2. They did not profit by their falsity: had they come in fairly, sought peace, and renounced their idolatry, they would have had life on honourable terms. As it was, they barely escaped with their lives, and were utterly deprived of their political

Judges 16:1 — CHAPTER XVI Samson comes to Gaza; they lay wait for him; he rises by night, and carries away the city gates, 1-3. Falls in love with Delilah, 4. The lords of the Philistines promise her money if she will obtain from Samson the secret in which his strength lay, 5. By various artifices she at last obtains this; and communicates it to the Philistines, who seize and bind him, put out his eyes,

Ruth 4:22 — Verse Ruth 4:22. And Obed begat Jesse — "Who," says the Targum, "also is called Nachash, נחש because neither iniquity nor corruption was found in him, that he should be delivered into the hands of the angel of death, that he might take away his soul from him.