Bible Commentaries

Hosea 14:1 — CHAPTER XIV By the terrible denunciation of vengeance which concludes the preceding chapter, the prophet is led to exhort Israel to repentance, furnishing them with a beautiful form of prayer, very suitable to the occasion, 1-3. Upon which God, ever ready to pardon the penitent, is introduced making large promises of blessings, in allusion to those copious dews which refresh the green herbs, and which frequently denote, not only temporal salvation, but also the rich and refreshing

Amos 6:1 — powerful idolatrous neighbours, 1. He asks if their lands or their lot be better than their own, 2, that they should choose to worship the gods of the heathen, and forsake Jehovah. Then follows an amplification of the sin which the prophet reproves, 3-6; to which he annexes very awful threatenings, confirmed by the oath of Jehovah, 7, 8. He next particularly specifies the punishment of their sins by pestilence, 9-11; by famine, or a drought that should harden the earth so that it could not be tilled,

Matthew 13:3 — Verse Matthew 13:3. He spake many things unto them in parables — Parable, from παρα, near, and βαλλω, I cast, or put. A comparison or similitude, in which one thing is compared with another, especially spiritual things with natural, by which means these spiritual

Matthew 24:9 — hand, to be harassed by all the modes of inventive torture.Ye shall be hated of all nations — Both Jew and Gentile will unite in persecuting and tormenting you. Perhaps παντων των εθνων means all the Gentiles, as in the parallel places in Mark 13:9-11, and in Luke 21:12-15, the Jewish persecution is mentioned distinctly. Ye shall be delivered up to COUNCILS and be beaten in SYNAGOGUES, and ye shall stand before governors and kings for my name's sake - be not anxiously careful beforehand what

Matthew 27:3 — Verse Matthew 27:3. Judas - when he saw that he was condemned, repented — There is much of the wisdom and goodness of God to be seen in this part of Judas's conduct. Had our Lord been condemned to death on the evidence of one of his own disciples, it would have

Luke 1:3 — Verse Luke 1:3. Having had perfect understanding — παρηκολουθηκοτι ανωθεν, Having accurately traced up-entered into the very spirit of the work, and examined every thing to the bottom; in consequence of which investigation, I am completely convinced of the truth

Luke 16:1 — CHAPTER XVI. The parable of the unjust steward, 1-8. Christ applies this to his hearers, 9-13. The pharisees take offence, 14. Our Lord reproves them, and shows the immutability of the law, 15-17. Counsels against divorce, 18. The story of the rich man and the beggar, commonly called Dives and Lazarus, 10-31. NOTES ON CHAP. XVI.Verse Luke 16:1.

Luke 22:4 — Luke 22:4. And captains — Among the priests who were in waiting at the temple, some were appointed φυλακες, for a guard to the temple; and over these were στρατηγοι commanding officers: both sorts are mentioned by Josephus, War, b. vi. c. 5. s. 3. Bp. PEARCE, See another sense of captains, in Clarke's note on "Matthew 27:65". Dr. Lightfoot supposes these to have been the captains over the watches; for in three places the priests kept watch and ward in the temple, viz. in Beth Abtenes, in Beth

John 10:35 — Verse 35. Unto whom the word of God came — Bishop Pearce thinks that "the word λογος, here, is put for λογος κρισεως, the word or matter of judgment, as in 2 Chronicles 19:6, where Jehoshaphat, setting up judges in the land of Judah, says: Take heed what

John 15:16 — still continue with God, who, knowing the heart, knows best who is most proper for the Gospel ministry.To be a genuine preacher of the Gospel, a man must -1. Be chosen of God to the work.2. He must be placed in the true vine-united to Christ by faith.3. He must not think to lead an idle life, but labour.4. He must not wait till work be brought to him, but he must go and seek it.5. He must labour so as to bring forth fruit, i.e. to get souls converted to the Lord.6. He must refer all his fruit to God,

John 3:10 — Verse John 3:10. Art thou a master of Israel, c.] Hast thou taken upon thee to guide the blind into the way of truth and yet knowest not that truth thyself? Dost thou command proselytes to be baptized with water, as an emblem of a new birth; and art thou unacquainted

John 3:2 — Verse John 3:2. Came to Jesus by night — He had matters of the utmost importance, on which he wished to consult Christ; and he chose the night season, perhaps less through the fear of man than through a desire to have Jesus alone, as he found him all the day

Acts 15:1 — Paul and Barnabas are sent to Jerusalem to consult the apostles on this subject, 2. They come to Jerusalem, and inform the apostles of the conversion of the Gentiles; and of the trouble which certain Pharisees had occasioned concerning circumcision, 3-5. The apostles having assembled to consider the question, Peter delivers his opinion, 6-11. Barnabas and Paul relate their success among the Gentiles, 12. James delivers his judgment, 13-21. The apostles and elders agree to what he proposes, and send

Acts 15:20 — Verse Acts 15:20. But that we write unto them — Four things are prohibited in this decree:1. Pollutions of idols;2. fornication;3. things strangled;4. blood.By the first, POLLUTIONS of IDOLS, or, as it is in Acts 15:25, meats offered to idols, not only all idolatry was forbidden, but eating things offered in sacrifice to idols, knowing that they were thus offered, and joining

Acts 24:5 — have found this man, c.] Here the proposition of the orator commences. He accuses Paul, ant his accusation includes four particulars:-1. He is a pest, λοιμος an exceedingly bad and wicked man.2. He excites disturbances and seditions against the Jews.3. He is the chief of the sect of the Nazarenes, who are a very bad people, and should not be tolerated.4. He has endeavoured to pollute and profane the temple, and we took him in the fact.A pestilent fellow — The word λοιμος, pestis - the plague

2 Corinthians 11:24 — Verse 24. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. — That is, he was five times scourged by the Jews, whose law (Deuteronomy 25:3) allowed forty stripes; but they, pretending to be lenient, and to act within the letter of the law, inflicted but thirty-nine.To except one stripe from the forty was a very ancient canon among the Jews, as we learn from Josephus, Antiq. lib. iv. ch.

2 Corinthians 4:8 — he alludes. Dr. Hammond has explained the whole on this ground; and I shall here borrow his help. There are four pairs of expressions taken from the customs of the agones.1. Troubled on every side, yet not distressed.2. Perplexed, but not in despair.3. Persecuted, but not forsaken.4. Cast down, but not destroyed.Three of these pairs belong to the customs of wrestling; the fourth, to that of running in the race.Troubled on every side, c.] Εν παντι θλιβομενοι. The word θλιβεσθαι, belongs clearly to

2 Corinthians 6:1 — CHAPTER VI. We should not receive the grace of God in vain, having such promises of support from him, 1, 2. We should act so as to bring no disgrace on the Gospel, 3. How the apostles behaved themselves, preached, suffered, and rejoiced, 4-10. St. Paul's affectionate concern for the Corinthians, 11-13. He counsels them not to be yoked with unbelievers, and advances several arguments why they should avoid them, 14-16.

Galatians 3:1 — Gospel, all those distinctions which subsisted under the law are done away; and genuine believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, are one in Christ Jesus, and accounted the genuine children of Abraham, 27-29. NOTES ON CHAP. III.Verse Galatians 3:1. O foolish Galatians — O infatuated people; you make as little use of reason as those who have none; you have acted in this business as those do who are fascinated-they are led blindly and unresistingly on to their own destruction.That ye should

Ephesians 5:1 — Christians should imitate their heavenly Father, and walk in love, after the example of Christ, 1, 2. They should avoid all uncleanness, impurity, covetousness, and foolish jesting, and idolatry, because these things exclude from the kingdom of God, 3-7. The Ephesians were once in darkness, but being now light in the Lord, they are exhorted to walk in that light, and bring forth the fruits of the Spirit; and to have no fellowship with the workers of iniquity, whose evil deeds are manifested by the