Bible Commentaries

Job 33:4 — Verse Job 33:4. The Spirit of God hath made me — Another plain allusion to the account of the creation of man, Genesis 2:7, as the words נשמת nishmath, the breath or breathing of God, and תחיני techaiyeni, hath given me life, prove: "He breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and he became a living soul."

Job 34:1 — CHAPTER XXXIV Elihu begins with an exhortation to Job's friends, 1-4; charges Job with accusing God of acting unrighteously, which he shows is impossible, 5-12; points out the power and judgments of the Almighty, 13-30; shows how men should address God, and how irreverently Job has acted, 31-37. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIV

Job 4:6 — Verse Job 4:6. Is not this thy fear — I think Coverdale hits the true meaning: Where is now thy feare of God, thy stedfastnesse, thy pacience, and the perfectnesse of thy life? If these be genuine, surely there is no cause for all this complaint, vexation, and despair. That this is the meaning, the next words show.

Psalms 102:4 — Verse Psalms 102:4. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass — The metaphor here is taken from grass cut down in the meadow. It is first smitten with the scythe, and then withered by the sun. Thus the Jews were smitten with the judgments of God; and they are now withered under the fire of the Chaldeans.

Psalms 137:7 — Verse Psalms 137:7. Remember - the children of Edom — It appears from Jeremiah 12:6; Jeremiah 25:14; Lamentations 4:21-22; Ezekiel 25:12; Obadiah 1:11-14; that the Idumeans joined the army of Nebuchadnezzar against their brethren the Jews; and that they were main instruments in rasing the walls of Jerusalem even to the ground.

Psalms 39:4 — Verse Psalms 39:4. Lord, make me to know mine end — I am weary of life; I wish to know the measure of my days, that I may see how long I have to suffer, and how frail I am. I wish to know what is wanting to make up the number of the days I have to live.

Psalms 44:4 — Verse Psalms 44:4. Thou art my king — What thou wert to them, be to us. We believe in thee as they did; we have sinned and are in captivity, but we repent and turn unto thee; command, therefore, deliverances to Jacob, for we are the descendants of him in whose behalf thou hast wrought such wonders.

Psalms 76:4 — Verse Psalms 76:4. Than the mountains of prey. — This is an address to Mount Zion. Thou art more illustrious and excellent than all the mountains of prey, i.e., where wild beasts wander, and prey on those that are more helpless than themselves. Zion was the place where GOD dwelt; the other mountains were the abode of wild beasts.

Song of Solomon 4:6 — Verse Song of Solomon 4:6. Until the day break — Until the morning breeze. See Song of Solomon 2:17.The shadows flee away — Till the sun sets.Mountain of myrrh — Probably the same as the mountains of Bether, Song of Solomon 2:17. Mountains where the trees grew from which myrrh and incense were extracted.

Isaiah 19:4 — Verse Isaiah 19:4. A cruel lord - "Cruel lords"] Nebuchadnezzar in the first place, and afterwards the whole succession of Persian kings, who in general were hard masters, and grievously oppressed the country. Note, that for קשה kasheh, lord, a MS. reads קשים kashim, lords, agreeable to which is the rendering of the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.

Isaiah 41:4 — Verse Isaiah 41:4. Who hath wrought and done it - "Who hath performed and made these things"] A word is here lost out of the text. It is supplied by an ancient MS., אלה elleh, "these things;" and by the Septuagint, ταυτα; and by the Vulgate, haec; and by the Chaldee, אלן elin; all of the same meaning.

Isaiah 52:4 — Verse Isaiah 52:4. Thus saith the Lord God — אדני יהוה Adonai Jehovah; but Adonai is wanting in twelve of Kennicott's, five of De Rossi's, and two of my own MSS.; and by the Septuagint and Arabic. Some MSS. have יהוה צבאות Jehovah tsebaoth, "Lord of hosts;" and others have יהוה אלהים Yehovah Elohim, "Lord God."

Jeremiah 15:3 — Verse Jeremiah 15:3. I will appoint over them four kinds — There shall appear four instruments of my justice.1. The sword to slay.2. The dogs to tear what is slain.3. The fowls of the heaven to feed on the dead carcasses. And,4. The wild beasts to destroy all that the fowls have left.

Jeremiah 5:2 — Verse Jeremiah 5:2. The Lord liveth — Though they profess to bind themselves by Jehovah, as if they acknowledged him their God and only Lord, yet they swore falsely; for not believing in him, they took a false oath; one by which they did not believe themselves bound, not acknowledging him as their Lord. See on Jeremiah 4:2.

Lamentations 4:21 — Verse Lamentations 4:21. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom — A strong irony.The cup also shall pass through unto thee — Thou who hast triumphed in our disasters shalt shortly have enough of thy own. They had joined themselves to the Chaldeans, (see Psalms 137:7,) and therefore they should share in the desolations of Babylon.

Hosea 4:5 — Verse Hosea 4:5. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day — In the most open and public manner, without snare or ambush.And the prophet also shall fall - in the night — The false prophet, when employed in taking prognostications from stars, meteors, &c.And I will destroy thy mother. — The metropolis or mother city. Jerusalem or Samaria is meant.

Hosea 4:7 — Verse Hosea 4:7. Will I change their glory into shame. — As the idolaters at Dan and Bethel have changed my glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass, (Romans 1:23,) so will I change their glory into shame or ignominy. In the day of my wrath, their calf-gods shall not deliver them.

Micah 2:4 — Verse Micah 2:4. Take up a parable against you — Your wickedness and your punishment shall be subjects of common conversation; and a funeral dirge shall be composed and sung for you as for the dead. The lamentation is that which immediately follows: We be utterly spoiled; and ends, Are these his doings? Micah 2:7.

Matthew 17:4 — Verse Matthew 17:4. Peter said - let us make, &c.] That is, when he saw Moses and Elijah ready to depart from the mount, Luke 9:33, he wished to detain them, that he might always enjoy their company with that of his Lord and Master, still supposing that Christ would set up a temporal kingdom upon earth.

Mark 1:16 — Verse Mark 1:16. As he walked by the sea, &c.] See Clarke on Matthew 4:18-22.Andrew his brother — Instead of the common reading, αδελφον αυτου, his brother, the best MSS. and versions have αδελφουτου σιμωνος, the brother of Simon, which should be received into the text. The most eminent critics approve of this reading.