Bible Commentaries

Jeremiah 48:1 — Nebuchadnezzar. The whole of this chapter is poetry of the first order. The distress of the cities of Moab, with which it opens, is finely described. The cries of one ruined city resound to those of another, 1-3. The doleful helpless cry of the children is heard, 4; the highways, on either hand, resound with the voice of weeping, 5; and the few that remain resemble a blasted tree in the wide howling waste, 6. Chemosh, the chief god of the Moabites, and the capital figure in the triumph, is represented as carried

Matthew 1:16 — omitted.Priests, prophets, and kings, among the Jews, were anointed in order to the legitimate exercise of their respective offices. Hence the word Χριστος Christ, or משיח Mashiach, became a name of dignity, and often signified the same as king. See Isaiah 45:1; Psalms 105:15; Leviticus 4:3; Leviticus 6:20; 1 Samuel 2:10. The words משיח Mashiach and מלך melec, Χριστος and βασιλευς, Christ and king, are frequently interchanged. 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalms 2:2; Psalms 2:6; Luke 23:2; and see the Scholia of Rosenmuller

Luke 16:31 — all the good he enjoys, whether it be spiritual or temporal.2. That every man is only a steward, not a proprietor of those things.3. That all must give an account to God, how they have used or abused the blessings with which they have been entrusted.4. That the goods which God has entrusted to our care are goods of body and soul: goods of nature and grace: of birth and education: His word, Spirit, and ordinances: goods of life, health, genius, strength, dignity, riches; and even poverty itself is

Luke 24:50 — Verse Luke 24:50. He led them out as far as to Bethany — The difficulties in this verse, when collated with the accounts given by the other evangelists, are thus reconciled by Dr. Lightfoot."I. This very evangelist (Acts 1:12) tells us, that when the disciples

Acts 10:48 — Verse Acts 10:48. To be baptized in the name of the Lord. — That is, in the name of Jesus Christ; which implied their taking upon them the public profession of Christianity, and believing on Christ Jesus as their Saviour and Sovereign; for, as they were baptized

Acts 13:1 — Of the prophets and teachers in the Church of Antioch, 1. By command of the Holy Spirit the Church appoints Saul and Barnabas to a particular work, 2, 3. They depart, and travel to Seleucia, Cyprus, and Salamis, preaching in the Jewish synagogues, 4, 5. At Paphos they meet with Bar-Jesus or Elymas, a Jewish sorcerer, who endeavoured to prevent the deputy of the island from receiving the Christian faith, 6-8. Saul, for the first time called Paul, denounces the judgments of God upon him, and he is

Acts 19:35 — attempted to contest it, Acts 19:35-36.2. That the persons accused were not guilty of any public offence, nor of any breach of the laws of the city, Acts 19:37.3. That, if they were, this was not a legal method of prosecuting them, Acts 19:38-39; Acts 19:39.4. That they themselves, by this tumultuous meeting, had exposed themselves to the censure of the law, and were in danger of being called into question for it, Acts 19:40. See Dodd.Is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana — The word νεωκορος,

Acts 27:44 — Verse Acts 27:44. And the rest — That could not swim: some on boards, planks, spars, c., got safe to land manifestly by an especial providence of God; for how otherwise could the sick, the aged, the terrified, besides women and children, (of which, we may naturally

Romans 6:1 — VI. We must not abuse the boundless goodness of God by continuing in sin, under the wicked persuasion that the more we sin the more the grace of God will abound, 1. For, having been baptized into Christ, we have professed thereby to be dead to sin, 2-4. And to be planted in the likeness of his resurrection, 5. For we profess to be crucified with him, to die and rise again from the dead, 6-11. We should not, therefore, let sin reign in our bodies, but live to the glory of God, 12-14. The Gospel makes

Romans 7:22 — form of expression; so in Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 10, 3, it is said: The flesh is the inward garment of the man; but the SPIRIT is the INWARD man, the garment of which is the body; and St. Paul uses the phrase in precisely the same sense in 2 Corinthians 4:16, and Ephesians 3:16. If it be said that it is impossible for an unregenerate man to delight in the law of God, the experience of millions contradicts the assertion. Every true penitent admires the moral law, longs most earnestly for a conformity

2 Corinthians 10:18 — were qualifications to which the false apostle at Corinth could not pretend. He had language and eloquence, and show and parade; but he had neither the gifts of an apostle nor an apostle's success.1. DR. WHITBY observes that the apostle, in the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th verses, 2 Corinthians 10:13-16 endeavours to advance himself above the false apostles in the three following particulars:-(1.) That whereas they could show no commission to preach to the Corinthians, no measure by which God had distributed

2 Corinthians 4:7 — Verse 2 Corinthians 4:7. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels — The original, οστρακινοις σκευεσιν, signifies, more literally, vessels made of shells, which are very brittle; and as the shell is the outward part of a fish, it is very fit, as Dr. Hammond observes,

2 Corinthians 7:1 — CHAPTER VII. The apostle's inference from the preceding exhortation, 1. He presses them to receive him with affection, because of his great love towards them, 2-4. He tells them what distress he felt on their account in Macedonia, till he had met with Titus, and heard of their prosperity, 6-7. He rejoices that his first epistle was made the means of their reformation, 8, 9. States how they were affected by his

Titus 2:15 — redemption is here also pointed out. The saving grace of this great God hath shone out upon every man; none has been passed by, none left uninfluenced, none without the first offer of life eternal, and a sufficiency of grace to qualify him for the state.4. The operation of Divine grace in preparing the soul for glory is next referred to. It cleanses us from all unrighteousness, it purifies us unto God, and makes us fervent and abundant in good works. This system is worthy of God, and is properly suited

Hebrews 3:6 — αυτου, without an aspirate, signifies his simply; and that with the aspirate, αυτου, it signifies his own: the word being in this form a contraction, not uncommon, of εαυτου. If we read αυτου without the aspirate, then his must refer to God, Hebrews 3:4.But Christ as a Son over his (that is, God's) house: if we read αυτου, with the aspirate, as some editions do, then what is spoken refers to Christ; and the words above convey the same sense as those words, Acts 20:28: Feed the Church of God, which

Hebrews 7:25 — τινι, to make intercession for a person, has a considerable latitude of meaning. It signifies,1. To come to or meet a person on any cause whatever. 2. To intercede, pray for, or entreat in the behalf of, another. 3. To defend or vindicate a person. 4. To commend. 5. To furnish any kind of assistance or help. 6. And, with the preposition κατα, against, to accuse, or act against another in a judicial way."The nature of the apostle's arguments," says Dr. Macknight, "requires that, by Christ's always

2 Peter 1:4 — Verse 4. Whereby are given unto us — By his own glorious power he hath freely given unto us exceeding great and invaluable promises. The Jews were distinguished in a very particular manner by the promises which they received from God; the promises to

Revelation 1:20 — which verified all instruments from that office; and as these seals were frequently set in rings which were worn on the fingers, there may be an allusion to those brilliants set in rings, and worn επι της δεξιας, UPON the right hand. In Jeremiah 22:24, Coniah is represented as a signet on the right hand of the Lord; and that such signets were in rings see Genesis 38:18; Genesis 38:25; Exodus 18:11; Daniel 6:17, Haggai 2:23. On close examination we shall find that all the symbols in this book have

Revelation 12:1 — CHAPTER XII. The woman clothed with the sun, and in travail, 1, 2. The great red dragon waiting to devour the child as soon as born, 3, 4. The woman is delivered of a son, who is caught up unto God; and she flees to the wilderness, 5, 6. The war in heaven between Michael and the dragon, 7, 8. The dragon and his angels are overcome and cast down to the earth; whereupon the whole heavenly

Revelation 17:16 — representation. Hence the empire, as one of the powers of the Latin monarchy, was a horn of the beast, and in having precedency of all the others was its revived head. See a similar explanation of the tail of the dragon in Clarke's notes on "Revelation 12:4".