Bible Commentaries

Job 20:26 — for him. The phrase “in his secret places,” may mean “for his treasures,” or instead of the great treasures which he had laid up for himself. The Apostle Paul has a similar expression, in which, perhaps, he makes an allusion to this place. Romans 2:5, “but, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath.” Treasures formerly were laid up in secret places, or places of darkness, that were regarded as inaccessible; see the notes at Isaiah 45:3.A fire

Job 21:12 — said there would be in such dwellings, Job says that there was there the sound of music and mirth; that they exhilarated themselves, and were happy. On the word rendered “timbrel” (תף tôph) and the word “harp” (כנור kı̂nnôr), see the notes at Isaiah 5:12.At the sound of the organ - The word “organ” we now apply to an instrument of music which was wholly unknown in the time of Job. With us it denotes an instrument consisting of pipes, which are filled with wind, and of stops touched by the fingers.

Job 21:7 — called before God, and are condemned;(4) because God intends to make some of them the monuments of his mercy, and more fully to display the riches of his grace in their conversion, as he did in the case of Paul, Augustine, John Bunyan, and John Newton;(5) they may be preserved to be the instruments of his executing some important purpose by them, as was the case with Pharaoh, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar; or,(6) he keeps them, that the great interests of society may be carried on; that the affairs

Job 27:8 — what is the hope of the hypocrite? - The same sentiment which Job here advances had before been expressed by Bildad; see it explained in the notes at Job 8:13 following It had also been expressed in a similar manner by Zophar (see the notes on Job 20:5, and had been much insisted on in their arguments. Job now says that he fully accords with that belief. He was not disposed to defend hypocrisy; he had no sympathy for it. He knew, as they did, that all the joy of a hypocrite would be temporary, and

Job 4:21 — observation, and our rank in existence, are as nothing compared with those of the angels, who are yet so inferior to God as to be charged with folly;(4) That our foundation is in the dust, and that the most insignificant object may sweep us away; and(5) That in these circumstances humility becomes us.Our proper situation is in the dust; and whatever calamities may befall us, we should confide in God, and feel that he is qualified to direct our affairs, and the affairs of the universe.

Job 40:2 — as Job had often expressed a wish to do. The word used here (יכח yâkach) is often employed, especially in the Hiphil, in a “forensic sense,” and means “to argue, to show, to prove” anything; then “to argue down, to confute, to convict;” see Job 6:25; Job 13:15; Job 19:5; Job 32:12; Proverbs 9:7-8; Proverbs 15:12; Proverbs 19:25. It is evidently used in that sense here - a Hiphil participle מוכיח môkiyach - and refers, not to any man in general who reproves God, but to Job in particular, as having

Psalms 10:2 — others should be brought upon himself; and if it were certain that this in all eases would occur, there could be nothing that would so effectually deter men from wrongdoing. The psalmist, then, simply prays that justice might be done. Compare Psalms 5:10, note; Psalms 7:15-16, notes. The plural form of the verb is used here, but it is not certain that the psalmist had more than one enemy in view, for on expressing his feelings toward that one enemy he may have designed to use language which would

Psalms 10:4 — any being;(2) it makes him unwilling to confess that he is a sinner;(3) it makes him unwilling to pray;(4) it makes him unwilling to seek aid of anyone, even God, in the business of life, in the prosecution of his plans, or in sickness and affliction;(5) it makes him unwilling to accede to the terms of reconciliation and salvation proposed by God, unwilling to repent, to believe, to submit to His sovereignty, to acknowledge his indebtedness to mere grace for the hope of eternal life.Pride is at the

Psalms 12:1 — idea suggested by the use of the term here is, that it is always a characteristic of a pious man that he is merciful or benignant. Compare Psalms 4:3; Psalms 32:6, where the same word is rendered “godly;” Psalms 30:4; Psalms 31:23; Psalms 37:28; Psalms 50:5; Psalms 52:9; Psalms 79:2; Psalms 85:8, where it is rendered saints; and Deuteronomy 33:8; Psalms 16:10; Psalms 86:2; Psalms 89:19, where it is rendered “holy.” “Ceaseth.” The word used here - גמר gâmar - means properly to bring to an end; to complete;

Psalms 14:7 — often, as the seat or dwelling-place of God; the place from where he issued his commands, and from where he put forth his power. Thus in Psalms 3:4, “He heard me out of his holy hill.” Psalms 20:2, “the Lord ... strengthen thee out of Zion.” Psalms 128:5, “the Lord shall bless thee out of Zion.” Here the phrase expresses a wish that God, who had his dwelling in Zion, would put forth his power in granting complete deliverance to his people.When the Lord bringeth back - literally, “In Yahweh’s bringing

Psalms 19:13 — The word - זד zêd - means properly that which is boiling, swelling, inflated; then proud, arrogant; with the accessory notion of shameless wickedness or impiety. Gesenius, Lexicon. The word is rendered proud in Psalms 86:14; Psalms 119:21, Psalms 119:51, Psalms 119:69, Psalms 119:78, Psalms 119:85,Psalms 119:122; Proverbs 21:24; Isaiah 13:11; Jeremiah 43:2; Malachi 3:15; Malachi 4:1. It does not occur elsewhere. The prevailing thought is that of pride, and the reference is particularly to sins which

Psalms 2:4 — describes what is done, and then what is said: the nations rage tumultuously Psalms 2:1-2, and then say Psalms 2:3, “Let us break their bands.” God sits calmly in the heavens, smiling on their vain attempts Psalms 2:4, and then solemnly declares Psalms 2:5-6 that, in spite of all their opposition, he “has set his King upon his holy hill of Zion.” There is much sublimity in this description. While men rage and are tumultuous in opposing his plans, he sits calm and undisturbed in his own heaven. Compare

Psalms 34:7 — holy beings around the throne of God who are sent forth as his “messengers” to mankind; who are appointed to communicate his will, to execute his commands; or to protect his people. Compare Matthew 24:31, note; Job 4:18, note; Hebrews 1:6, note; John 5:4, note. Since the word has a general signification, and would denote in itself merely a messenger, the qualification is added here that it is an “angel of the Lord” that is referred to, and that becomes a protector of the people of God.Encampeth -

Psalms 42:1 — As the hart panteth after the water-brooks - Margin, brayeth. The word rendered hart - איל 'ayâl - means commonly a stag, hart, male deer: Deuteronomy 12:15; Deuteronomy 14:5; Isaiah 35:6. The word is masculine, but in this place is joined with a feminine verb, as words of the common gender may be, and thus denotes a hind, or female deer. The word rendered in the text “panteth,” and in the margin “brayeth”

Psalms 49:5 — “when the iniquity of those who lay snares against me shall compass me around.” Prof. Alexander, “when the iniquity of my oppressors (or supplanters) shall surround me.” The word rendered “heels” here - עקב ‛âqêb - means properly “heel,” Genesis 3:15; Job 18:9; Judges 5:22; then, the rear of an army, Joshua 8:13; then, in the plural, “footsteps,” prints of the heel or foot, Psalms 77:19; and then, according to Gesenius (Lexicon) “a lier in wait, insidiator.”Perhaps there is in the word the idea

Psalms 6:2 — employed by one who feels that he is a sinner, or by one on a bed of pain, or by one surrounded by enemies, or by one at the point of death, or by one who is looking out with apprehension upon the eternal world. It is commonly, indeed (compare Psalms 51:1), a cry to God in view of sin, pleading for pardon and salvation; but here it is a cry in view of trouble and danger, outward sorrow and mental anguish, that had overcome the strength of the sufferer and laid him on a bed of languishing. See introduction

Psalms 65:4 — form of the word as it is used in the Hebrew.That he may dwell in thy courts - That is, either temporarily for the purpose of worship; or permanently, that he may serve thee in the sanctuary. See Psalms 23:6, note; Psalms 27:4, note. Compare Psalms 15:1. The word “courts” refers properly to the area around the tabernacle or the temple, and not to the tabernacle or temple itself. The worship of the people was offered in those courts, and not in the tabernacle or temple. See the notes at Matthew 21:12.We

Psalms 68:5 — respect their rights; hence, his frequent and solemn rebukes to those who violate their rights. See the notes at Isaiah 1:17. Compare Deuteronomy 10:18; Deuteronomy 14:29; Deuteronomy 24:17; Exodus 22:22; Job 24:3, Job 24:21; Jeremiah 7:6; Malachi 3:5; James 1:27.Is God in his holy habitation - Where he dwells; to wit, in heaven. The design of the psalmist seems to be to take us at once up to God; to let us see what he is in his holy home; to conduct us into his very presence, that we may see him

Psalms 85:8 — when they saw things as they really are; and (3) by the assurance that if they do return to their sin and folly, heavier judgments will come upon them; that the patience of God will be exhausted; and that he will bear with them no longer.Compare John 5:14, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”

Psalms 9:6 — utter destruction, and to the character of the warfare which had been waged. It had been utterly barbarous and vicious; the enemy had left nothing to testify even what the city had been, and its name had ceased to be mentioned. See the notes at Psalms 9:5. This seems to be mentioned as a justification of the warfare which the author of the psalm had waged against this enemy, and as showing why God had interposed and had given him the victory.