Bible Commentaries

Psalms 109:4 — commentators have understood the principal part of the things spoken here as referring to our Lord, and the treatment he received from the Jews; and whatever the original intention was, they may safely be applied to this case, as the Psalms 109:2, Psalms 109:3, Psalms 109:4, and Psalms 109:5 verses are as highly illustrative of the conduct of the Jewish rulers towards our Lord as the following verses are of the conduct of Judas; but allowing these passages to be prophetic, it is the Jewish state rather than

Psalms 145:1 — PSALM CXLV God is praised for his unsearchable greatness, 1, 2; for his majesty and terrible acts, 3, 6; for his goodness and tender mercies to all, 7-9; for his power and kingdom, 10-13; for his kindness to the distressed, 14; for his providence, 15-17. He hears and answers prayer, 18-20. All should praise him, 21. NOTES ON PSALM CXLV.This Psalm

Proverbs 22:21 — Verse Proverbs 22:21. That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth —1. These are words or doctrines of truth:1) They are true in themselves.2) Come from the God of truth.3) Are truly fulfilled to all that believe.2. These words of truth are certain, קשט koshet, they are not of dubious or difficult interpretation; they point directly to the great end for which God gave them; they promise, and they are fulfilled. He who

Song of Solomon 1:1 — THE SONG OF SOLOMON -Year from the Creation of the World, according to Archbishop Usher, 2990. -Year from the Flood of Noah, according to the common Hebrew text, 1334. -Year before the birth of Christ, 1010. -Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 1014. CHAPTER I The bride's love to her spouse, 1-5. She confesses her unworthiness; desires to be directed to the flock, 6, 7; and she is directed to the

Song of Solomon 6:4 — built; and it seems to have been the ordinary residence of the kings of Israel, 1 Kings 14:17; 1 Kings 15:21; 1 Kings 16:6. Its name signifies beautiful or delightful.Comely as Jerusalem — This was called the perfection of beauty, Psalms 48:2-3; Psalms 50:2. And thus the poet compares the bride's beauty to the two finest places in the land of Palestine, and the capitals of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.Terrible as an army with banners. — This has been supposed to carry an allusion

Isaiah 23:7 — Verse Isaiah 23:7. Whose antiquity is of ancient days - "Whose antiquity is of the earliest date"] Justin, in the passage above quoted, had dated the building of Tyre at a certain number of years before the taking of Troy; but the number is lost in the present copies.

Isaiah 28:27 — rough at the bottom, with hard stones or iron; it was drawn by horses or oxen over the corn sheaves spread on the floor, the driver sitting upon it. Kempfer has given a print representing the manner of using this instrument, Amaen. Exot. p. 682, fig. 3. The wain was much like the former; but had wheels with iron teeth, or edges like a saw: Ferrata carpenta rotis per medium in serrarum modum se volventibus. Hieron. in loc. From this it would seem that the axle was armed with iron teeth or serrated

Isaiah 3:23 — Verse Isaiah 3:23. The glasses — The conjunction ו vau, and - AND the glasses, is added here by forty-three of Kennicott's and thirty-four of De Rossi's MSS., and one of my own, ancient, as well as by many editions.And the veils. - "The transparent garments."]

Isaiah 43:3 — Verse Isaiah 43:3. I gave Egypt for thy ransom — This is commonly supposed to refer to the time of Sennacherib's invasion; who, when he was just ready to fall upon Jerusalem, soon after his entering Judea, was providentially diverted from that design, and turned

Isaiah 5:11 — Verse Isaiah 5:11. Wo unto them that rise up early — There is a likeness between this and the following passage of the prophet Amos, Amos 6:3-6, who probably wrote before Isaiah. If the latter be the copier, he seems hardly to have equalled the elegance of the original: - "Ye that put far away the evil day And affect the seat of violence; Who lie upon beds of ivory, And stretch yourselves

Isaiah 51:1 — CHAPTER LI The prophet exhorts the children of Abraham to trust in the Lord; and briefly, but beautifully, describes the great blessedness which should be the consequence, 1-3. Then, turning to the Gentiles, encourages them to look for a portion in the same salvation, 4, 5; the everlasting duration of which is majestically described, 6. And as it is everlasting, so is it sure to the righteous, notwithstanding all the machinations

Jeremiah 23:1 — the Chaldean domination was a type, when Jesus the Christ, the righteous Branch, the Root and Offspring of David, and the only legitimate Heir to the throne, shall take unto himself his great power, and reign gloriously over the whole house of Jacob, 3-8. At the ninth verse a new discourse commences. Jeremiah expresses his horror at the great wickedness of the priests and prophets of Judah, and declares that the Divine vengeance is hanging over them. He exhorts the people not to listen to their false

Ezekiel 33:1 — word of God, 1-9. The prophet is then directed what answer to make to the cavils of infidelity and impiety; and to vindicate the equity of the Divine government by declaring the general terms of acceptance with God to be (as told before, Ezekiel 18:3; Ezekiel 18:4 c.,) without respect of persons so that the ruin of the finally impenitent must be entirely owing to themselves, 10-20. The prophet receives the news of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, about a year and four months after

Daniel 8:3 — Verse Daniel 8:3. A ram which had two horns — In the former vision there were four beasts, pointing out four empires; in this we have but two, as only two empires are concerned here, viz., the Grecian and the Persian. The Babylonish empire is not mentioned; its

Hosea 13:1 — CHAPTER XIII Thus chapter begins with observing that the fear of God leads to prosperity, but sin to ruin; a truth most visibly exemplified in the sin and punishment of Ephraim, 1-3. As an aggravation of their guilt, God reminds them of his former favours, 4, 5; which they had shamefully abused, 6; and which now expose them to dreadful punishments, 7, 8. He, however, tempers these awful threatenings with gracious promises; and,

Hosea 3:5 — Verse Hosea 3:5. Afterward shall the children of Israel return — Shall repent of their iniquities, and seek the Lord; lay aside their mock worship, and serve the true God in spirit and in truth.And David their king — Or as the Targum, "They shall obey

Amos 3:12 — Verse Amos 3:12. As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion — Scarcely any of you shall escape; and those that do shall do so with extreme difficulty, just as a shepherd, of a whole sheep carried away by a lion, can recover no more than two of its

Amos 3:5 — Verse Amos 3:5. Can a bird fall in a snare — Can ye, as a sinful people, fall into calamities which I have not appointed?Shall one take up a snare - and have taken nothing — Will the snare be removed before it has caught the expected prey? - shall I

Micah 6:5 — Verse Micah 6:5. Remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted — He sent for Balaam to curse your fathers; but by my influence he was obliged to bless them. See Numbers 22:5-6 c., and Numbers 23:5-8; Numbers 23:20-24 c., and the notes there, where this subject is largely considered.From Shittim unto Gilgal — From the encampment at Shittim, Numbers 25:1, on the way to that of Gilgal, Joshua 4:19. Balaam gave different answers in the interval

Habakkuk 3:17 — Verse Habakkuk 3:17. Although the fig tree shall not blossom — תפרח tiphrach, "shall not flourish," shall not put forth its young figs, for the fig tree does not blossom. The young figs appear as soon as the old ones are ripe, as I have often had occasion to observe.