Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 3:2 — directly, but only by implication. It required the utter destruction of all the high-places which had been polluted by idolatrous rites Deuteronomy 12:2; and the injunction to offer sacrifices nowhere except at the door of the tabernacle Leviticus 17:3-5 was an indirect prohibition of them, or, at least, of the use which the Israelites made of them; but there was some real reason to question whether this was a command intended to come into force until the “place” was chosen “where the Lord would cause

1 Kings 9:15 — Levy - See the marginal reference note.Millo - See 2 Samuel 5:9 note. The Septuagint commonly render the word ἡ ἄκρα hē akra, “the citadel,” and it may possibly have been the fortress on Mount Zion connected with the Maccabean struggles (1 Macc. 4:41; 13:49-52). Its exact site has not been determined.And the

Job 14:11 — that until the waters fail from the sea man will not rise again, but the Hebrew will not bear this interpretation. Probably the true interpretation is, that which makes the word rendered sea (ים yâm) refer to a lake, or a stagnant pool; see Isaiah 11:15, note; Isaiah 19:5, note. The word is applied not unfrequently to a lake, as to the lake of Genesareth, Numbers 34:11; to the Dead Sea, Genesis 14:3; Deuteronomy 4:49; Zechariah 14:8. It is used, also, to denote the Nile, Isaiah 19:5, and the Euphrates,

Job 28:26 — kingdom was a kingdom of settled law and not of chance or caprice, and if the rain was regulated by statute, it was fair to presume that he did not deal with his people by chance, and that afflictions were not sent without rule; compare the notes at Job 5:6.And a way - A path through which the rapid lightning should pass - referring, perhaps, to the apparent “opening” in the clouds in which the lightning seems to move along.The lightning of the thunder - The word “lightning” here (חזיז chăzı̂yz) properly

Psalms 119:139 — My zeal hath consumed me - Margin, “cut me off.” The word which is here translated “consumed” is rendered “cut off” in Lamentations 3:53; Job 23:17; Psalms 54:5; Psalms 88:16; Psalms 94:23; Psalms 101:5; Psalms 143:12; “vanish,” Job 6:17; “destroyed,” Psalms 73:27; 2 Samuel 22:41; Psalms 18:40; Psalms 101:8; Psalms 69:4. It means here, that he pined away; that his strength was exhausted;

Psalms 129:8 — justify a wish of that kind: it would be ridiculous and absurd to apply such language to anyone who should be found gathering up that dry; and withered, and worthless grass. So the psalmist prays that it may be in regard to all who hate Zion Psalms 129:5, that they may have no such prosperity as would be represented by a growth of luxuriant and abundant grain; no such prosperity as would be denoted by the reaper and the binder of sheaves gathering in such a harvest; no such prosperity as would be indicated

Psalms 33:3 — new state of things which will arise. Nothing could be more absurd than to attempt to restrict the church in its praises to the exact words which were used in the time of David, or to the music which was employed then. Compare the notes at Revelation 5:9. The expression “new song” occurs several times in the Psalms, showing that new hymns of praise were composed as adapted to some new manifestation of the goodness of God: Psalms 40:3; Psalms 96:1; Psalms 98:1; Psalms 144:9; Psalms 149:1. Compare also

Psalms 97:7 — that they would be disappointed. They would find that these were not real gods; that their trust in them was vain; and that they had evinced great folly in relying on that which could not aid them in the day of necessity. See Job 6:20, note; Psalms 22:5, note; Psalms 25:2, note. Compare Isaiah 20:5. What is here affirmed of the worshippers of idols will be found to be true at last of all who put their trust in anything but the true God.That boast themselves of idols - That worship idols, and glory

Song of Solomon 6:4-9 — tribes, and may well therefore have been famed for its beauty in the time of Solomon.Terrible as ... - Awe-inspiring as the bannered (hosts). The warlike image, like others in the Song, serves to enhance the charm of its assured peace.Song of Solomon 6:5Even for the king the gentle eyes of the bride have an awe-striking majesty. Such is the condescension of love. Now follows Song of Solomon 6:5-7 the longest of the repetitions which abound in the Song, marking the continuance of the king’s affection

Isaiah 13:5 — denotes the east, where the sun appears to rise; and ‘unto the ends of it’ denotes the west: His going forth is from the end of the heaven; And his circuit unto the ends of it.It is here synonymous with the phrase, ‘the end of the earth,’ in Isaiah 5:26.Even the Lord - The word ‘even,’ introduced here by the translators, weakens the three of this verse. The prophet means to say that Yahweh is coming at the head of those armies, which are the weapons of his indignation.The weapons of his indignation

Isaiah 28:2 — Assyrian king, as the agent by which Yahweh would destroy Samaria 2 Kings 17:3-6. This power was entirely under the direction of Yahweh, and would be employed by him in accomplishing his purpose on that guilty people (compare the notes at Isaiah 10:5-6).As a tempest of hail - A storm of hail is a most striking representation of the desolation that is produced by the ravages of an invading army (compare Job 27:21; the note at Isaiah 30:30; also Hosea 13:15).A flood of mighty waters - This is also

Isaiah 30:11 — way - Or, rather, ‘Recede from the way;’ or ‘Turn aside from the way.’ The words “way” and “path” are used to denote the true religion, or the true doctrines of God Matthew 7:14; Matthew 22:16; John 14:4; Acts 18:26; Acts 19:9, Acts 19:23; 2 Peter 2:15. The request here was that the true prophets would recede from the stern and true precepts of religion, and turn to the ways of falsehood and deceit.Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us - The sense of this is, ‘Let us hear no more of

Isaiah 60:21 — Thy people also shall be all righteous - (See the notes at Isaiah 4:2).They shall inherit the land for ever - (See the notes at Isaiah 49:8; Isaiah 54:3; compare Isaiah 65:9; Matthew 5:5).The branch of my planting - On the meaning of the word branch, see the notes at Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 14:19. Here it means a scion or shoot which Yahweh had planted, and which had sprung up under his culture. Grotius

Jeremiah 15:15-18 — will. God’s long-suffering toward the wicked seemed to the prophet to be the abandonment of himself to death; justice itself required that one who was suffering contumely for God’s sake should be delivered.Rebuke - i. e., reproach, contumely.Jeremiah 15:16Thy words were found - Jeremiah’s summons to the prophetic office had not been expected or sought for by him.I did eat them - i. e., I received them with joy. This eating of the divine words expresses also the close union between that which came from

Haggai 1:4 — material temples of Christ, and houses assigned to His worship, when aged, ruinous, decaying or destroyed, but build for themselves curious, voluptuous, superfluous dwellings. In these the love of Christ gloweth not; these Isaiah threateneth, Isaiah 5:8, Isaiah 5:12. “Woe to you who join house to house and field to field, and regard not the work of the Lord!”To David and Solomon the building of God’s temple was their heart’s desire; to early Christian Emperors, to the ages of faith, the building

Malachi 3:18 — than before; but, as Judas. The Day of Judgment will make a great change in earthly judgment. Last shall be first and first last; this world’s sorrow shall end in joy, and worldly joy in sorrow; afflictions shall be seen to be God’s love: Psalms 119:75, “Thou in very faithfulness hast afflicted me;” and the unclouded prosperity of the ungodly to be God’s abandonment of them. The picture of the surprise of the wicked in the Day of Judgment, in the Wisdom of Solomon, is a comment on the prophet (Wisdom

John 5:30 — Of mine own self - See John 5:19. The Messiah, the Mediator, does nothing without the concurrence and the authority of God. Such is the nature of the union subsisting between them, that he does nothing independently of God. Whatever he does, he does according to the will of God.As

John 5:35 — He was - It is probable that John had been cast into prison before this. Hence, his public ministry had ceased, and our Saviour says he was such a light.Light - The word in the original properly means a “lamp,” and is not the same which in John 1:4-5 is translated “light.” That is a word commonly applied to the sun, the fountain of light; this means a lamp, or a light that is lit up or kindled artificially from oil or tallow. A teacher is often called a “light,” because he guides or illuminates

Acts 12:1 — ad.Herod the king - This was Herod Agrippa. The Syriac so renders it expressly, and the chronology requires us so to understand it. He was a grandson of Herod the Great, and one of the sons of Aristobulus, whom Herod put to death (Josephus, Antiq., 18, 5). Herod the Great left three sons, between whom his kingdom was divided - Archelaus, Philip, and Antipas. See the notes on Matthew 2:19. To Philip was left Iturea and Trachonitis. See Luke 3:1. To Antipas, Galilee and Perea; and to Archclaus, Judea,

Acts 22:3 — condition of a disciple or learner. Compare Deuteronomy 33:3; Luke 10:39. It is probable that the expression arose from the fact that the learners occupied a lower place or seat than the teacher. On the character and rank of Gamaliel, see the notes on Acts 5:34. Paul mentions his having been instructed in this manner in order to show that he was entitled to the full privileges of a Jew, and that he had had every opportunity to become fully acquainted with the nature of the Law.According to the perfect manner