Bible Commentaries

Psalms 123:4 — Verse Psalms 123:4. Those that are at ease — The Babylonians, who, having subdued all the people of the neighbouring nations, lived at ease, had none to contend with them, and now became luxurious, indolent, and insolent: they were contemptuous and proud.ANALYSIS

Psalms 125:3 — Verse Psalms 125:3. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous — Rod, here. may be taken for persecution, or for rule; and then it may be thus interpreted: "The wicked shall not be permitted to persecute always, nor to have a permanent

Psalms 136:1 — PSALM CXXXVI An exhortation to give thanks to God for various mercies granted to all men, 1-9; particularly to the Israelites in Egypt, 10-12; at the Red Sea, 13-15; in the wilderness, 16-20; and in the promised land, 21, 22; for the redemption of the captives from Babylon, 23, 24; and for his providential mercies to all, 25, 26. NOTES ON PSALM CXXXVIThis Psalm is little else than a repetition of the preceding,

Psalms 138:1 — PSALM CXXXVIII The psalmist praises the Lord for his mercies to himself, 1-3. He foretells that the kings of the earth shall worship him, 4, 5. God's condescension to the humble, 6. The psalmist's confidence, 7, 8. NOTES ON PSALM CXXXVIIIThe Hebrew and all the Versions attribute this Psalm to David, and it is supposed to have

Ecclesiastes 12:4 — heard. The teeth are divided into three kinds: -1) The dentes incisores, or cutting teeth, in the front of the jaw.2) The dentes canini, or dog teeth, those in the sides of the jaws, for gnawing, or tearing and separating hard or tough substances. And,3) Dentes molares, or grinding teeth, the posterior or double teeth, in both jaws, generally termed the grinders; because their office is to grind down the substances that have been cut by the fore teeth, separated into their parts or fibres by the dog

Song of Solomon 4:8 — - Per juga, per sylvas, dumosaque saxa vagatur Nuda genu, vestem ritu succincta Dianae; Hortaturque canes; tutaeque animalia praedae, Aut pronos lepores, aut celsum in cornua cervum, Aut agitat damas: at fortibus abstinet apris. MET. lib. x., ver. 535. Now buskin'd like the virgin huntress goes Through woods, and pathless wilds, and mountain snows. With her own tuneful voice she joys to cheer The panting hounds that chase the flying deer. She runs the labyrinth of the fearful hares, But fearless

Isaiah 1:5 — Verse Isaiah 1:5. Why should ye be stricken any more - "On what part," c.?] The Vulgate renders על מה al meh, super quo, (see Job 38:6; 2 Chronicles 32:10,) upon what part. And so Abendana on Sal. ben Melech: "There are some who explain it thus: Upon what limb shall you be smitten, if you add defection? for already for your sins have you been smitten upon all of them; so that there

Isaiah 17:1 — CHAPTER XVII Judgments of God upon Damascus, 1-3; and upon Israel, 4-6. Good effects of these judgments on the small remnant or gleaning that should escape them, 7, 8. The same judgments represented in other but stronger terms, and imputed to irreligion and neglect of God, 9-11. The remaining verses

Isaiah 30:28 — Verse Isaiah 30:28. To sift the nations with a sieve of vanity - "To toss the nations with the van of perdition"] The word להנפה lahanaphah is in its form very irregular. Kimchi says it is for להניף lehaniph. Houbigant supposes it to be a mistake, and shows the cause

Isaiah 46:7 — to Hor. Carm. iv. 2. 19. "It is not mine with forming hand To bid a lifeless image stand For ever on its base: But fly, my verses, and proclaim To distant realms, with deathless fame, That Pytheas conquered in the rapid race." Jeremiah, Jeremiah 10:3-5, seems to be indebted to Isaiah for most of the following passage: - "The practices of the people are altogether vanity: For they cut down a tree from the forest; The work of the artificer's hand with the axe; With silver and with gold it is adorned;

Isaiah 63:8 — himself saved them." An angel of his presence means an angel of superior order, in immediate attendance upon God. So the angel of the Lord says to Zacharias, "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God," Luke 1:19. The presence of JEHOVAH, Exodus 33:14-15, and the angel, Exodus 33:20-21, is JEHOVAH himself; here an angel of his presence is opposed to JEHOVAH himself, as an angel is in the following passages of the same book of Exodus. After their idolatrous worshipping of the golden calf, "when

Jeremiah 17:1 — show what the deities are which they worship. There may be reference here to the different methods of recording events in those days: - 1. A pen or stile of iron, for engraving on lead or wood.2. A point of a diamond, for writing on vitreous substances.3. Writing on tables of brass or copper.4. Writing on the horns of the altars the names of the deities worshipped there. This is probable.In several parts of India, and all through Ceylon, an iron or steel pen is used universally; with these the natives

Jeremiah 3:1 — confession their not deigning to name the idol Baal, the source of their calamities, but calling him in the abstract shame, or a thing of shame, is a nice touch of the perusal extremely beautiful and natural, 22-25. NOTES ON CHAP. IIIVerse Jeremiah 3:1. If a man put away his wife — It was ever understood, by the law and practice of the country, that if a woman were divorced by her husband, and became the wife of another man, the first husband could never take her again. Now Israel had been

Jeremiah 36:1 — the surrounding nations, from the day of his vocation to the prophetic office, that the house of Judah might have abundant warning of the dreadful calamities with which their country was about to be visited, if not prevented by a timely repentance, 1-3. The prophet employs Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, to write from his mouth all the words of the Lord, and then to read them publicly upon a fast day in the Lord's house, 4-8. A general fast is proclaimed in the following year, viz., the fifth

Jeremiah 50:1 — their repentance, to be pardoned and brought to their own land. This chapter opens with a prediction of the complete destruction of all the Babylonish idols, and the utter desolation of Chaldea, through the instrumentality of a great northern nation, 1-3. Israel and Judah shall be reinstated in the land of their forefathers after the total overthrow of the great Babylonish empire, 4, 5. Very oppressive and cruel bondage of the Jewish people during the captivity, 6, 7. The people of God are commanded

Ezekiel 18:1 — independently of the moral conduct of the latter, not only in this world, but in that which is to come. To remove every foundation for such an unworthy idea of the Divine gorcrnment, God assures them, with an oath, that he had no respect of persons, 3, 4; strongly intimating that the great mysteries in Providence, (mysterious only on account of the limited capacity of man,) are results of the most impartial administration of justice; and that this would be particularly manifested in the rewards and

Ezekiel 3:18 — Verse Ezekiel 3:18. Thou shalt surely die — That is, If he turn not from his wickedness, and thou givest him not warning, as above, he shalt die in his iniquity, which he should not have committed; but his blood will I require at thy hand-I will visit thy soul

Hosea 10:1 — CHAPTER X This chapter treats of the same subject, but elegantly varied. It begins with comparing Israel to a fruitful vine but corrupted by too much prosperity, 1. It next reproves and threatens them for their idolatry, 2; anarchy, 3; and breach of covenant, 4. Their idolatry is then enlarged on; and its fatal consequences declared in terms full of sublimity and pathos, 5-8. God is now introduced complaining of their excessive guilt; and threatening them with captivity in terms

Hosea 3:4 — Verse Hosea 3:4. Many days without a king — Hitherto this prophecy has been literally fulfilled. Since the destruction of the temple by the Romans they have neither had king nor prince, nor any civil government of their own, but have lived in different nations

Joel 3:18 — all the rivers of Judah — Far from being generally dry in the summer, shall have their channels always full of water.And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord — See the account of the typical waters in Ezekiel, Ezekiel 47:1-23, to which this seems to have a reference; at least the subject is the same, and seems to point out the grace of the Gospel, the waters of salvation, that shall flow from Jerusalem, and water the valley of Shittim. Shittim was in the plains of Moab beyond