Bible Commentaries

Esther 3:9 — Verse Esther 3:9. Let it be written that they may be destroyed — Let it be enacted that they may all be put to death. By this he would throw all the odium off himself, and put it on the king and his counsellors; for he wished the thing to pass into a law, in

Psalms 15:3 — Verse Psalms 15:3. He that backbiteth not with his tongue — לא רגל על לשנו lo ragal al leshono, "he foots not upon his tongue."4. He is one who treats his neighbour with respect. He says nothing that might injure him in his character, person, or property; he forgets

Isaiah 1:3 — Verse Isaiah 1:3. The ox knoweth — An amplification of the gross insensibility of the disobedient Jews, by comparing them with the most heavy and stupid of all animals, yet not so insensible as they. Bochart has well illustrated the comparison, and shown the peculiar

Isaiah 22:23 — Verse Isaiah 22:23. A nail — In ancient times, and in the eastern countries, as the way of life, so the houses, were much more simple than ours at present. They had not that quantity and variety of furniture, nor those accommodations of all sorts, with which we

Isaiah 3:21 — Verse Isaiah 3:21. Nose-jewels - "The jewels of the nostril."] נזמי האף nizmey haaph. Schroederus explains this, as many others do, of jewels, or strings of pearl hanging from the forehead, and reaching to the upper part of the nose; than which nothing can be more

Isaiah 35:1 — Like the rose shall it beautifully flourish; And the well-watered plain of Jordan shall also rejoice: The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, The beauty of Carmel and of Sharon; These shall behold the glory of JEHOVAH, The majesty of our God. 3. Strengthen ye the feeble hands, And confirm ye the tottering knees. 4. Say ye to the faint-hearted, Be ye strong; Fear ye not; behold your God! Vengeance will come; the retribution of God: He himself will come, and will deliver you. 5. Then shall

Isaiah 38:2 — Verse Isaiah 38:2. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall — The furniture of an eastern divan or chamber, either for the reception of company or for private use, consists chiefly of carpets spread on the floor in the middle; and of sofas, or couches ranged

Isaiah 40:3 — Verse Isaiah 40:3. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness - "A voice crieth, In the wilderness"] The idea is taken from the practice of eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered upon an expedition or took a journey, especially through desert and unpractised

Jeremiah 50:5 — themselves sinners, who have come short of the glory of God. Even national distinctions and religious differences, which bind men fastest, and hold them longest, are absorbed in the deep and overpowering concern they feel for their eternal interests.3. Going and weeping shall they go. - Religious sorrow does not preclude activity and diligence. While they are weeping for their sins, they are going on in the path of duty, seeking the Lord while he may be found, and calling upon him while he is near.4.

Zechariah 9:1 — has ratified his covenant with his people, delivered them from their captivity, and restored them to favour, 11, 12. In consequence of this, victory over their enemies is promised them in large and lofty terms, with every other kind of prosperity, 13-17. Judas Maccabeus gained several advantages over the troops of Antiochus, who was of Grecian or Macedonian descent. But without excluding these events, it must be allowed that the terms of this prophecy are much too strong to be confined to them;

Matthew 12:1 — CHAPTER XII. Jesus and his disciples go through the cornfields on the Sabbath, and the latter pluck and eat some of the ears, at which the Pharisees take offence, 1, 2. Our Lord vindicates them, 3-8. The man with the withered hand cured, 9-13. The Pharisees seek his destruction, 14. He heals the multitudes, and fulfils certain prophecies, 15-21. Heals the blind and dumb demoniac, 22, 23. The malice of the Pharisees reproved by our Lord, 24-30.

Matthew 3:2 — Verse Matthew 3:2. Repent — μετανοειτε. This was the matter of the preaching. The verb μετανοεω is either compounded of μετα, after, and νοειν to understand, which signifies that, after hearing such preaching, the sinner is led to understand, that the way he

Matthew 6:10 — Christ: - God has promised that the kingdom of Christ shall be exalted above all kingdoms. Daniel 7:14-27. That it shall overcome all others, and be at last the universal empire. Isaiah 9:7. Connect this with the explanation given of this phrase, Matthew 3:2.Thy will be done — This petition is properly added to the preceding; for when the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy, in the Holy Spirit, is established in the heart, there is then an ample provision made for the fulfilment of the Divine

Matthew 6:7 — this word well: "πολυλογια, much speaking, from one Battus, who made very prolix hymns, in which the same idea frequently recurred." "A frequent repetition of awful and striking words may often be the result of earnestness and fervour. See Daniel 9:3-20; but great length of prayer, which will of course involve much sameness and idle repetition, naturally creates fatigue and carelessness in the worshipper, and seems to suppose ignorance or inattention in the Deity; a fault against which our Lord

Luke 18:13 — Verse Luke 18:13. The publican, standing afar off — Not because he was a heathen, and dared not approach the holy place; (for it is likely he was a Jew;) but because he was a true penitent, and felt himself utterly unworthy to appear before God.Would not lift

Luke 3:2 — Verse Luke 3:2. Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests — Caiaphas was the son-in-law of Annas or Ananias, and it is supposed that they exercised the high priest's office by turns. It is likely that Annas only was considered as high priest; and that Caiaphas

Acts 20:4 — that came from Derbe; but as Gaius, or Caius, was a very common name, these might have been two distinct persons. One of this name was baptized by St. Paul at Corinth, 1 Corinthians 1:14, and entertained him as his host while he abode there, Romans 16:23, and was probably the same to whom St. John directs his third epistle.And Timotheus — Of Lystra, is added by the Syriac. This was the same person of whom mention is made, Acts 16:1, and to whom St. Paul wrote the two epistles which are still extant;

Acts 24:27 — succeed each other. He who flatters you, will in course calumniate you for receiving his flattery. When a man is conscious of the uprightness of his cause, he must know that to attempt to support it by any thing but truth tends directly to debase it.3. The resurrection of the body was the grand object of the genuine Christian's hope; but the ancient Christians only hoped for a blessed resurrection on the ground of reconciliation to God through the death of his Son. In vain is our hope of glory, if

Acts 5:15 — subject begun in the 12th. Acts 5:12 The following is the order in which all these verses should be read, from the 11th to the 15th. Acts 5:11-15Verse Acts 5:11. And great fear came upon all the Church, and upon as many as heard these things.Verse Acts 5:13. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them; but the people magnified them:Verse Acts 5:14. And believers were the more added to the Lord, both men and women.Verse Acts 5:12. (last clause.) And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.Verse

Acts 9:2 — passed through the hands of many masters. It was captured and ruined by Tiglath Pileser, who carried away its inhabitants to Kin, beyond the Euphrates, about 740 years before the Christian aera; and thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, Isaiah 17:1-3, and that of Amos, Amos 1:4, Amos 1:5. It was also taken by Sennacherib, and by the generals of Alexander the Great. Metellus and Laelius seized it, during the war of Pompey with Tigranes; before Christ 65. It continued under the dominion of the Romans