Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 4:1 — birth of a son, 11-17. After some years the child dies, and the mother goes to Elisha at Carmel; he comes to Shunem, and raises the child to life, 18-37. He comes to Gilgal, and prevents the sons of the prophets from being poisoned by wild gourds, 38-41. He multiplies a scanty provision, so as to make it sufficient to feed one hundred men, 42-44. NOTES ON CHAP. IVVerse 2 Kings 4:1. Now there cried a certain woman — This woman, according to the Chaldee, Jarchi, and the rabbins, was the wife of

Psalms 19:3 — joy of God; and the werkes of his handes schewis the firmament.Ver. Psalms 19:2. Day til day riftes word; and nyght til nyght schewes conyng.Ver. Psalms 19:3. Na speches er, ne na wordes, of the qwilk the voyces of thaim be noght herd.Ver. Psalms 19:4. In al the land yede the soune of tham; and in endes of the wereld thair wordes.Ver. Psalms 19:5. In the Soun he sett his tabernacle; and he as a spouse comand forth of his chaumber: he joyed als geaunt at ryn the way.Ver. Psalms 19:6. Fra heest heven

Proverbs 24:30 — Verse Proverbs 24:30. I went by the field of the slothful — This is a most instructive parable; is exemplified every day in a variety of forms; and is powerfully descriptive of the state of many a blackslider and trifler in religion. Calmet has an excellent note

Leviticus 16:29 — every fiftieth year was solemnly proclaimed by sound of trumpet on this tenth day, Leviticus 25:8-9. A shadow, says Mr. Ainsworth, of that acceptable year of the Lord, the year of freedom, which Christ has proclaimed by the trumpet of his Gospel, Luke 4:18-21; 2 Corinthians 6:2. This seventh month was Tisri, and answers to a part of our September and October. It was the seventh of the sacred and the first month of the civil year.THE great day of atonement, and the sacrifices, rites, and ceremonies

Leviticus 7:8 — burnt-offerings for their portion, which was a custom among the Gentiles as well as the Jews, who gave the skins of their sacrifices to their priests, when they were not burnt with the sacrifices, as in some sin-offerings they were among the Jews, see Leviticus 4:11. And they employed them to a superstitious use, by lying upon them in their temples, in hopes to have future things revealed to them in their dreams.Of this we have a proof in Virgil, AEn. lib. vii., ver. 86-95. "-------------huc dona sacerdos Cum

Ecclesiastes 9:14 — Verse 14. There was a little city, and few men within it — Here is another proof of the vanity of sublunary things; the ingratitude of men, and the little compensation that genuine merit receives. The little history mentioned here may have either been

Isaiah 31:5 — Χρυσην αμφιβεβηκας. Il. i. 37 Which the scholiast explains by περιβεβηκας, ὑπερμαχεις, i.e., "Thou who strictly guardest Chryses." - L. On this verse Kimchi says, "The angel of the Lord which destroyed the Assyrians is compared to a lion, Isaiah 31:4, for his strength: and here (Isaiah 31:5) to flying birds, for his swiftness.

Isaiah 66:1 — intentions and traditions with which they have encumbered the Christian system, their most dreadful persecution of Christ's spiritual and true worshippers, and the awful judgments which shall overtake them in the great and terrible day of the Lord, 4-6. The mighty and sudden increase of the Church of Jesus Christ at the period of Antichrist's fall represented by the very strong figure of Sion being delivered of a man-child before the time of her travail, the meaning of which symbol the prophet immediately

Matthew 3:7 — though not natural descendants of your excellent patriarch, yet shall be his worthy children, as being partakers of his faith, and friends of his God." It should be added, that the Greek word also signifies plain or ample information. See on Luke 6:47.The wrath to come? — The desolation which was about to fall on the Jewish nation for their wickedness, and threatened in the last words of their own Scriptures. See Malachi 4:6. Lest I come and smite the earth את הארץ (et ha-arets, this very

Deuteronomy 32:52 — destruction and ruin.3. To warn them against irreligion and apostasy; to show the possibility of departing from God, and the miseries that would overwhelm them and their posterity should they be found walking in opposition to the laws of their Creator.4. To give a proper and impressive view of the providence of God, by referring to the history of his gracious dealings with them and their ancestors; the minute attention he paid to all their wants, the wonderful manner in which he led, fed, clothed,

Acts 13:3 — ordination of elders among the Jews was by three persons and here we find three, Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen, ordaining two others, Barnabas and Saul. But how did the Jews ordain? Not by imposition of hands: this is strictly forbidden, see Maimon. Sanh. chap. 4. "After what manner is the ordaining of elders for ever? Not that they should lay their hands on the head of an elder; but only that they should call him Rabbi, and say to him, Behold, thou art ordained, and hast power of judging, c." It is remarkable

Acts 17:23 — vi. 3, notices the same thing, though he appears to refer to several altars thus inscribed: και ταυτα Αθηνῃσι, οὑ και αγνωϚων Θεων βωμοι ἱδρυνται, And this at ATHENS, where there are ALTARS even to the UNKNOWN GODS. Pausanias, in Attic. cap. 1. p. 4, edit. Kuhn., says that at Athens there are βωμοι Θεων των ονομαζομενων αγνωϚων, altars of gods which are called, The UNKNOWN ones. Minutius Felix says of the Romans, Aras extruunt etiam ignotis numinibus. "They even build altars to UNKNOWN DIVINITIES."

Acts 5:17 — out of the way and out of the possibility of being saved. These persons should recollect that, by a then persecuting brother, St. Paul, all the apostles, and the whole Church of Christ, were termed ναζωραιων αιρεσις, the heresy of the Nazarenes, Acts 24:5; and it was after the way which the persecuting Jews called heresy that St. Paul and the rest of the apostles worshipped the God of their fathers, Acts 24:14; and it was according to the strictest HERESY in the Jewish Church, ακιριβεστατην αιρεσιν,

Romans 2:29 — written in the heart, or written on tables of stone.3. As he is no respecter of persons, all nations are equally dear to him; and he has granted and will grant to them such discoveries of himself as have been and will be sufficient for their salvation.4. His WORD is an infinite blessing; and he has given it to one people that they may be the means of conveying it to another. Europe, and especially Christian Europe, has got the BIBLE; and God requires Europe to send the Bible throughout the earth. If

1 Corinthians 12:8 — redemption, in which the wisdom of God was most eminently conspicuous: see 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 2:10; and which is called the manifold wisdom of God, Ephesians 3:10. Christ, the great teacher of it, is called the wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 1:24; and in him are said to be contained all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, Colossians 2:3. The apostles to whom this doctrine was committed are called σοφοι, wise men; (Matthew 23:34;) and they are said to teach this Gospel according to the wisdom

2 Corinthians 5:2 — labash, which answers to the apostle's ενδυσασθαι, to be clothed, signifies to be surrounded, covered, or invested with any thing. So, to be clothed with the uncircumcision, signifies to be uncircumcised. Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 163.On the words, Exodus 24:18, Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount, Sohar Exod., fol. 77, has these words, He went into the midst of the cloud, as if one put on a garment; so he was CLOTHED with the CLOUD. Sohar Levit., fol. 29: "The righteous

Ephesians 1:5 — gave them according to the promise made to their fathers; that the Jews had no reason to complain, for God had formed this purpose before he had given the law, or called them out of Egypt; (for it was before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:4;) and that, therefore, the conduct of God in calling the Gentiles now-bringing them into his Church, and conferring on them the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, was in pursuance of his original design; and, if he did not do so, his eternal purposes

Ephesians 4:1 — 1-6. Shows that God has distributed a variety of gifts, and instituted a variety of offices in his Church, for the building up and perfecting of the body of Christ, 7-13. Teaches them the necessity of being well instructed and steady in Divine things, 14. Teaches how the body or Church of Christ is constituted, 15, 16. Warns them against acting like the Gentiles, of whose conduct he gives a lamentable description, 17-19. Points out how they had been changed, in consequence of their conversion to Christianity,

Hebrews 1:5 — These words are quoted from Psalms 2:7, a psalm that seems to refer only to the Messiah; and they are quoted by St. Paul, Acts 13:33, as referring to the resurrection of Christ. And this application of them is confirmed by the same apostle, Romans 1:4, as by his resurrection from the dead he was declared-manifestly proved, to be the Son of God with power; God having put forth his miraculous energy in raising that body from the grave which had truly died, and died a violent death, for Christ was put

Hebrews 6:1 — second time, 1-3. Those who were once enlightened, and have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost and the various blessings of the Gospel, if they apostatize from Christ, and finally reject him as their Saviour, cannot be renewed again to repentance, 4-6. The double similitude of the ground blessed of God, and bearing fruit; and of that ground which is cursed of God, and bears briers and thorns, 7, 8. The apostle's confidence in them, and his exhortation to diligence and perseverance, 9-12. God's