Bible Commentaries

2 Chronicles 13:4 — Verse 2 Chronicles 13:4. Stood up upon Mount Zemaraim — "Which was a mount of the tribe of the house of Ephraim."-Targum. Jarchi thinks that Abijah went to the confines of the tribe of Ephraim to attack Jeroboam. It could not be Shomeron, the mount on which Samaria was built in the days of Omri king of Israel, 1 Kings 16:24.

Ezra 1:4 — Verse Ezra 1:4. Whosoever remaineth in any place — Every one was at liberty to go, but none was obliged to go. Thus their attachment to God was tried; he whose heart was right with God went; he who was comfortably settled in Babylon, might go if he chose. Those who did not go, were commanded to assist their brethren who went.

Ezra 4:10 — Verse Ezra 4:10. The great and noble Asnapper — Whether this was Shalmaneser, or Esar-haddon, or some other person, learned men and chronologists are not agreed. The Syriac terms him Asphid; but of this person we know no more than we do of Asnapper. He might have been the military officer who was appointed to escort this people to Judea.

Nehemiah 4:6 — Verse Nehemiah 4:6. For the people had a mind to work. — The original is very emphatic: ויהי לב לעם לעשות vayehi leb leam laasoth, "For the people had a heart to work." Their hearts were engaged in it; and where the heart is engaged, the work of God goes on well. The whole of this 6th verse is omitted by the Septuagint.

Esther 7:4 — Verse Esther 7:4. To be destroyed, to be slain — She here repeats the words which Haman put into the decree. See Esther 3:13.Could not countervail the king's damage. — Even the ten thousand talents of silver could not be considered as a compensation to the state for the loss of a whole nation of people throughout all their generations.

Job 15:30 — Verse Job 15:30. He shall not depart out of darkness —4. He shall be in continual afflictions and distress.5. The flame shall dry up his branches - his children shall be cut off by sudden judgments.6. He shall pass away by the breath of his mouth; for by the breath of his mouth doth God slay the wicked.

Job 21:4 — Verse Job 21:4. As for me — האנכי heanochi, "Alas for me!" Is it not with a man that I speak? And, if this be the case, why should not my spirit be troubled? I do not reply against my Maker: I suffer much from God and man; why then may I not have the privilege of complaining to creatures like myself?

Job 4:5 — Verse Job 4:5. But now it is come upon thee — Now it is thy turn to suffer, and give an example of the efficacy of thy own principles; but instead of this, behold, thou faintest. Either, therefore, thou didst pretend to what thou hadst not; or thou art not making a proper use of the principles which thou didst recommend to others.

Job 8:4 — Verse Job 8:4. If thy children have sinned — I know thy children have been cut off by a terrible judgment; but was it not because by transgression they had filled up the measure of their iniquity?And he have cast them away — Has sent them off, says the Targum, to the place of their transgression-to that punishment due to their sins.

Psalms 138:4 — Verse Psalms 138:4. All the kings of the earth — Of the land: all the neighbouring nations, seeing what is done for us, and looking in vain to find that any human agency was employed in the work, will immediately see that it was thy hand; and consequently, by confessing that it was thou, will give praise to thy name.

Psalms 142:4 — Verse Psalms 142:4. There was no man, that would know me — This has been applied to the time in which our Lord was deserted by his disciples. As to the case of David in the cave of En-gedi, he had no refuge: for what were the handful of men that were with him to Saul and his army?

Psalms 148:4 — Verse Psalms 148:4. Heavens of heavens — Heavens exceeding heavens. Systems of systems extending as far beyond the solar system, as it does beyond the lowest deeps. The endless systematic concatenation of worlds.Ye waters that be above the heavens. — This refers to Genesis 1:7, where see the notes. Clouds, vapours, air, exhalations, rain, snow, and meteors of every kind.

Psalms 37:35 — Verse Psalms 37:35. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay-tree. — Does not this refer to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and to the vision he had of the great tree which was in the midst of the earth, the head of which reached up to heaven? See Daniel 4:10, &c.

Psalms 78:2 — Verse Psalms 78:2. In a parable — Or, I will give you instruction by numerous examples; see Psalms 49:1-4, which bears a great similarity to this; and see the notes there. The term parable, in its various acceptations, has already been sufficiently explained; but משל mashal may here mean example, as opposed to תורה torah, law or precept, Psalms 78:1.

Proverbs 14:27 — Verse Proverbs 14:27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life — מקור חיים mekor chaiyim, the vein of lives. Another allusion to the great aorta which carries the blood from the heart to all the extremities of the body. Of this phrase, and the tree of lives, Solomon is particularly fond. See on Proverbs 4:23; Proverbs 10:12.

Song of Solomon 3:4 — Verse Song of Solomon 3:4. Into my mother's house — The women in the East have all separate apartments, into which no person ever attempts to enter except the husband. We find Isaac bringing Rebecca into his mother's tent, when he made her his wife, Genesis 24:67. What is here related appears to refer to the third night of the nuptials.

Song of Solomon 6:1 — CHAPTER VI The companions of the bride inquire after the bridegroom, 1-3. A description of the bride, 4-13. NOTES ON CHAP. VIVerse Song of Solomon 6:1. Whither is thy beloved gone — These words are supposed to be addressed to the bride by her own companions, and are joined to the preceding chapter by the Hebrew and all the versions.

Isaiah 12:4 — Verse Isaiah 12:4. Call upon his name — קראו בשמו kiru bishmo, invoke his name. Make him your Mediator, or call the people in his name. Preach him who is the Root of Jesse, and who stands as an ensign for the nations. Call on the people to believe in him; as in him alone salvation is to be found.

Jeremiah 50:20 — Verse Jeremiah 50:20. In those days and in that time — This phrase appears to take in the whole of an epoch, from its commencement to its end. See Jeremiah 50:4.I will pardon them — So as to deliver them from their captivity, and exact no more punishment from them whom I reserve; namely, the remnant left in the Babylonish captivity.

Lamentations 2:4 — Verse Lamentations 2:4. He hath bent his bow - he stood with his right hand — This is the attitude of the archer. He first bends his bow; then sets his arrow upon the string; and, lastly, placing his right hand on the lower end of the arrow, in connexion with the string, takes his aim, and prepares to let fly.