Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 64:7 — Verse Isaiah 64:7. There is none — Twelve MSS. have אין ein, without the conjunction ו vau prefixed; and so read the Chaldee and Vulgate.And hast consumed us because of our iniquities - "And hast delivered us up into the hands of our iniquities."] For ותמוגנו vattemugenu, "hast dissolved us," the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee had in their copies תמגננו temaggenenu, "hast delivered us up." Houbigant. Secker.

Jeremiah 7:2 — Verse Jeremiah 7:2. Stand in the gate of the Lord's house — There was a show of public worship kept up. The temple was considered God's residence; the usual ceremonies of religion restored by Josiah were still observed; and the people were led to consider the temple and its services as sacred things, which would be preservatives to them in case of the threatened invasion.

Jeremiah 7:34 — Verse Jeremiah 7:34. Then will I cause to cease - the voice of mirth — There shall no longer be in Jerusalem any cause of joy; they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, for the land shall be totally desolated. Such horrible sins required such a horrible punishment. And they must be horrible, when they move God to destroy the work of his own hands.

Ezekiel 15:7 — Verse Ezekiel 15:7. They shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them — If they escape the sword, they shall perish by the famine; if they escape the famine, they shall be led away captives. To escape will be impossible. It will be to them according to the proverb: - Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim. "Out of the scald, into the flame."

Daniel 6:7 — Verse Daniel 6:7. Whosoever shall ask a petition — What pretense could they urge for so silly an ordinance? Probably to flatter the ambition of the king, they pretend to make him a god for thirty days; so that the whole empire should make prayer and supplication to him, and pay him Divine honours! This was the bait; but their real object was to destroy Daniel.

Amos 1:10 — Verse Amos 1:10. I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus — The destructive fire or siege by Nebuchadnezzar, which lasted thirteen years, and ended in the destruction of this ancient city; see on Ezekiel, Ezekiel 26:7-14, as above. It was finally ruined by Alexander, and is now only a place for a few poor fishermen to spread their nets upon.

Amos 7:14 — Verse Amos 7:14. I was no prophet — I am an extraordinary messenger of God. I am not called to the prophetic office but for this occasion. I have no message to Judah, and therefore need not go there. I have a message to Israel alone, and I must faithfully deliver it.For the account which Amos gives here of himself, see the introduction. Amos 1:1.

Haggai 1:8 — Verse 8. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood — Go to Lebanon, and get timber. In the second year of the return from the captivity, they had procured cedar trees from Lebanon, and brought them to Joppa, and had hired masons and carpenters from the Tyrians and Sidonians; but that labour had been nearly lost by the long suspension of the building. Ezra 3:7.

Zechariah 9:7 — Verse Zechariah 9:7. I will take away his blood out of his mouth — The Philistines, when incorporated with the Israelites, shall abstain from blood, and every thing that is abominable.And Ekron as a Jebusite. — As an inhabitant of Jerusalem. Many of the Philistines became proselytes to Judiasm; and particularly the cities of Gaza, and Ashdod. See Joseph. Antiq. lib. xlii., c. 15, s. 4.

Matthew 7:19 — Verse Matthew 7:19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit — What a terrible sentence is this against Christless pastors, and Christless hearers! Every tree that produceth not good fruit, εκκοπτεται, is to be now cut down; the act of excision is now taking place: the curse of the Lord is even now on the head and the heart of every false teacher, and impenitent hearer.

Matthew 7:20 — Verse Matthew 7:20. Wherefore by their fruits, &c.] This truth is often repeated, because our eternal interests depend so much upon it. Not to have good fruit is to have evil: there can be no innocent sterility in the invisible tree of the heart. He that brings forth no fruit, and he that brings forth bad fruit, are both only fit for the fire.

Mark 11:25 — Verse 25. When ye stand praying — This expression may mean no more than, When ye are disposed, or have a mind, to pray, i.e. whenever ye perform that duty. And it is thus used and explained in the Koran, Surat. v. ver. 7. See Clarke on Matthew 21:20-22. But the Pharisees loved to pray standing, that they might be seen of men.

Luke 4:7 — Verse Luke 4:7. If thou - wilt worship me — This temptation is the last in order, as related by Matthew; and it is not reasonable to suppose that any other succeeded to it. Luke has here told the particulars, but not in the order in which they took place. See every circumstance of this temptation considered and explained in the notes on Matthew 4:1-11.

Luke 7:16 — Verse Luke 7:16. God hath visited his people. — Several MSS. and versions add, εις αγαθον, for good. Sometimes God visited his people in the way of judgment, to consume them in their transgressions; but it was now plain that he had visited them in the most tender compassion and mercy. This seems to have been added by some ancient copyist, by way of explanation.

Romans 2:28 — Verse 28. For he is not a Jew — A genuine member of the Church of God, who has only an outward profession.Neither is that circumcision — Circumcision is a rite which represents a spiritual thing, viz. the change and purification of the heart, as may be seen, Jeremiah 4:4, Jeremiah 4:6, Jeremiah 4:10; Jeremiah 9:26; Ezekiel 44:7, Ezekiel 44:9.

Romans 3:7 — Verse Romans 3:7. JEW. For if the truth of God, &c.] But to resume my reasoning (Romans 3:5:) If the faithfulness of God in keeping his promise made to our fathers is, through our unfaithfulness, made far more glorious than it otherwise would have been, why should we then be blamed for that which must redound so much to the honour of God?

Galatians 5:7 — Verse 7. Ye did run well — Ye once had the faith that worked by love-ye were genuine, active, useful Christians.Who doth hinder — Who prevented you from continuing to obey the truth? Ye could only be turned aside by your own consent. St. Paul here, as in 1 Corinthians 9:24, compares Christianity to a race. See the notes on the above text.

Philippians 2:7 — Verse 7. But made himself of no reputation — εαυτονεκενωσε. He emptied himself - did not appear in his glory, for he assumed the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of man. And his being made in the likeness of man, and assuming the form of a servant, was a proof that he had emptied himself - laid aside the effulgence of his glory.

James 2:15 — Verse 15. If a brother or sister be naked — That is, ill-clothed; for γυμνος, naked, has this meaning in several parts of the New Testament, signifying bad clothing, or the want of some particular article of dress. See Matthew 25:36; Matthew 25:38; Matthew 25:43; Matthew 25:44, and John 21:7. It has the same comparative signification in most languages.

Revelation 6:5 — Verse Revelation 6:5. The third beast — That which had the face of a man.A black horse — The emblem of famine. Some think that which took place under Claudius. See Matthew 24:7; the same which was predicted by Agabus, Acts 11:28.A pair of balances — To show that the scarcity would be such, that every person must be put under an allowance.