Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 19:7 — Verse 2 Kings 19:7. Behold, I will send a blast - and he shall hear a rumour — The rumour was, that Tirhakah had invaded Assyria. The blast was that which slew one hundred and eighty-five thousand of them in one night, see 2 Kings 19:35.Cause him to fall by the sword — Alluding to his death by the hands of his two sons, at Nineveh. See 2 Kings 19:35-37.

2 Chronicles 16:7 — Verse 2 Chronicles 16:7. Escaped out of thine hand. — It is difficult to know what is here intended. Perhaps the Divine providence had intended to give Asa a grand victory over the Syrians, who had always been the inveterate enemies of the Jews; but by this unnecessary and very improper alliance between Asa and Ben-hadad, this purpose of the Divine providence was prevented, and thus the Syrians escaped out of his hands.

Job 15:34 — Verse Job 15:34. The congregation of hypocrites —11. Job is here classed with hypocrites, or rather the impious of all kinds. The congregation, or adath, society, of such, shall be desolate, or a barren rock, גלמוד galmud. See this Arabic word explained in Clarke's note on "Job 3:7".Fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery. —12. Another insinuation against Job, that he had perverted justice and judgment, and had taken bribes.

Job 22:7 — Verse Job 22:7. Thou hast not given water — It was esteemed a great virtue in the East to furnish thirsty travellers with water; especially in the deserts, where scarcely a stream was to be found, and where wells were very rare. Some of the Indian devotees are accustomed to stand with a girbah or skin full of water, on the public roads, to give drink to weary travellers who are parched with thirst.

Job 33:7 — Verse Job 33:7. My terror shall not make thee afraid — This is an allusion to what Job had said, Job 9:34: "Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me." Being thy equal, no fear can impose upon thee so far as to overawe thee; so that thou shouldst not be able to conduct thy own defence. We are on equal terms; now prepare to defend thyself.

Job 4:7 — Verse Job 4:7. Remember, I pray thee — Recollect, if thou canst, a single instance where God abandoned an innocent man, or suffered him to perish. Didst thou ever hear of a case in which God abandoned a righteous man to destruction? Wert thou a righteous man, and innocent of all hidden crimes, would God abandon thee thus to the malice of Satan? or let loose the plagues of affliction and adversity against thee?

Psalms 119:11 — Verse Psalms 119:11. Thy word have I hid in my heart —7. He must treasure up those portions of God's word in his mind and heart which speak against uncleanness of every kind; and that recommend purity, chastity, and holiness. The word of Christ should dwell richly in him. If God's word be only in his Bible, and not also in his heart, he may soon and easily be surprised into his besetting sin.

Psalms 35:7 — Verse Psalms 35:7. For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit — The word שחת shachath, a pit, belongs to the second member of this verse, and the whole should be read thus: For without a cause they have hidden for me their net, without a cause they have digged a pit for my life. They have used every degree and species of cunning and deceit to ruin me.

Leviticus 1:3 — Verse Leviticus 1:3. Burnt-sacrifice — The most important of all the sacrifices offered to God; called by the Septuagint ολοκαυτωμα, because it was wholly consumed, which was not the case in any other offering. Leviticus 7:38.His own voluntary will — לרצנו lirtsono, to gain himself acceptance before the Lord: in this way all the versions appear to have understood the original words, and the connection in which they stand obviously requires this meaning.

Leviticus 5:2 — Verse Leviticus 5:2. Any unclean thing — Either the dead body of a clean animal, or the living or dead carcass of any unclean creature. All such persons were to wash their clothes and themselves in clean water, and were considered as unclean till the evening, Leviticus 11:24-31. But if this had been neglected, they were obliged to bring a trespass-offering. What this meant, see in Clarke's notes on "Leviticus 7:38".

Isaiah 16:7 — Verse Isaiah 16:7. For the foundations of Kir-hareseth - "For the men of Kirhares."] A palpable mistake in this place is happily corrected by the parallel text of Jeremiah 48:31, where, instead of אשישי ashishey, foundations or flagons, nve read אנשי anshey, men. In the same place of Jeremiah, and in Jeremiah 48:36, and here in Isaiah 16:11, the name of the city is Kirhares, not Kir-hareseth.

Isaiah 30:22 — Verse Isaiah 30:22. Ye shall defile - "Ye shall treat as defiled"] The very prohibition of Moses, Deuteronomy 7:25, only thrown out of the prose into the poetical form: "The graven images of their gods ye shall burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or the gold that is on them; nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abomination to JEHOVAH thy God."

Jeremiah 22:7 — Verse Jeremiah 22:7. They shall cut down thy choice cedars — The destruction of the country is expressed under the symbol of the destruction of a fine forest; a multitude of fellers come against it, each with his axe; and, there being no resistance, every tree is soon felled to the earth. "These destroyers," God says, "I have prepared, קדשתי kiddashti, I have sanctified-consecrated, to this work. They have their commission from me."

Ezekiel 7:17 — Verse Ezekiel 7:17. All knees shall be weak as water. — Calmet understands this curiously: La frayeur dont on sera saisi, fera qu'on ne pourra retenir son urine. D'autres l'expliquent d'une autre souillure plus honteuse. I believe him to be nearly about right. St. Jerome is exactly the same: Pavoris magnitudine, urina polluet genua, nec valebit profluentes aquas vesica prohibere. This and other malretentions are often the natural effect of extreme fear or terror.

Numbers 23:7 — Verse Numbers 23:7. And he took up his parable — משלו meshalo, see on Numbers 21:27. All these oracular speeches of Balaam are in hemistich metre in the original. They are highly dignified, and may be considered as immediate poetic productions of the Spirit of God; for it is expressly said, Numbers 23:5, that God put the word in Balaam's mouth, and that the Spirit of God came upon him, Numbers 24:2.

Numbers 7:3 — Verse Numbers 7:3. Six covered wagons — שש עגלת צב shesh egloth tsab, six tilted wagons, the Septuagint translate ἑξ ἁμαξας λαμπηνικας, with which the Coptic agrees; but what lampenic chariots were, no person pretends to know. Covered or tilted is probably the meaning of the original. The wagons were given for the more convenient exporting of the heavier parts of the tabernacle, which could not be conveniently carried on men's shoulders.

Deuteronomy 25:18 — Verse Deuteronomy 25:18. Smote the hindmost of thee — Exodus 17:8. It is supposed that this command had its final accomplishment in the death of Haman and his ten sons, Esther 3:0, Esther 7:0, Esther 9:0, as from this time the memory and name of Amalek was blotted out from under heaven, for through every period of their history it might be truly said, They feared not God.

Joshua 12:22 — Verse Joshua 12:22. Kedesh — There was a city of this name in the tribe of Naphtali, Joshua 19:37. It was given to the Levites, and was one of the cities of refuge, Joshua 20:7.Jokneam of Carmel — This city is said to have been at the foot of Mount Carmel, near the river Belus, in the tribe of Zebulun, Joshua 19:11. It was given to the Levites, Joshua 21:34.

Judges 7:22 — Verse Judges 7:22. Fled to Beth-shittah — This is no where else mentioned in Scripture.Zererath — This and Tabbath are nowhere else to be found.Abel-meholah — This was the birth-place of the prophet Elisha, 1 Kings 19:16. It was beyond Jordan, in the tribe of Manasseh, 1 Kings 4:12. The Zartanah, mentioned in this last quoted verse, was probably the same as Zererath. Its situation corresponds well with Abel-meholah.

2 Samuel 7:3 — Verse 2 Samuel 7:3. Nathan said to the king — In this case he gave his judgment as a pious and prudent man, not as a prophet; for the prophets were not always under a Divine afflatus; it was only at select times they were thus honoured.For the Lord is with thee. — Thou hast his blessing in all that thou doest, and this pious design of thine will most certainly meet with his approbation.