Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 14:27 — hosts hath decreed. Isaiah here employs what may be regarded as a concluding exclamation, to confirm more fully the preceding statement. Having said that it is the purpose of the Lord, in order to show that it cannot be broken or made void, (Psalms 33:11,) he puts a question as if about a thing impossible, Who shall disannul his purpose ? or, who shall turn back his hand ? By this exclamation he speaks disdainfully of all the creatures; for as soon as the Lord has decreed, he stretches out his hand,

Isaiah 21:6 — judgment of men. This ought to be carefully observed; for we must not imagine that the prophets learned from men, or foresaw by their own sagacity, those things which they made known; and on this account also they were justly called “Seers.” (1 Samuel 9:9.) Though we also see them, yet our sight is dull, and we scarcely perceive what is at our feet; and even the most acute men are often in darkness, because they understand nothing but what they can gather by the use of reason. But the prophets

Isaiah 22:8 — themselves for a case of extreme urgency, the instruments of war having lain long concealed during peace. Sacred history informs us, that this “house of the forest” was built by Solomon, in order to contain the armory of the whole kingdom. (85) (1 Kings 7:2.) The change of person, thou didst look, does not obscure the meaning, but rather confirms what I have already remarked, that the Prophet relates how eagerly the Jews at that time made every preparation for defending the city. (85) Bogus

Isaiah 26:14 — 14.The dead shall not live. (173) The Prophet again speaks of the unhappy end of the wicked, whose prosperity often agitates and vexes us, as we read in the Psalms of David. (Psalms 37:1.) That our eyes may not be dazzled by the present appearances of

Isaiah 43:2 — miseries to which we are liable in this life; for we must contend not with calamities of one kind only, but with infinitely diversified calamities. At one time we must “pass through wares” and at another “through fire.” (Psalms 66:12.) In like manner the Apostle James exhorts believers not to faint when they “fall into various temptations.” (James 1:2.) And, indeed, faith needs to be put to the trial in many ways; for it often happens that he who has been victorious

Isaiah 43:23 — captivity, when they could not have offered sacrifices to God though they had been willing to do so; for it was not lawful for them to offer sacrifices in any other place than Jerusalem, and therefore they could not appease God by sacrifices. (Deuteronomy 12:13.) But I rather think that it is a general reproach; for at the very time when the people were sacrificing, they could not boast of their merits or personal worth, as if they had laid God under obligations in this manner; for they were wanting in

Isaiah 56:4 — hypocrisy and inconsiderate zeal are here condemned, when God not only contrasts his own commandments with the inventions of men, but enjoins them earnestly to “take hold of his covenant.” (97) “According to the Law, (Deuteronomy 23:1) eunuchs could not be received into the Hebrew nation; so that their situation, in that respect, was the same as that of the foreigners who were formerly mentioned. Of what use (might such a person say) are those splendid promises to me, who cannot

Isaiah 59:14 — 14.And judgment is driven back. It is a mistake to suppose that the Prophet returns to his earliest subject, (Isaiah 1:5) and speaks of the punishments which the people had suffered at the hand of God; for he still proceeds with the preceding narrative,

Isaiah 63:6 — “make drunk,” must here be taken in a different sense from what it formerly had in some passages. We have seen that sometimes we are made drunk, when God strikes us with fury or madness, (Isaiah 29:9,) or with a spirit of giddiness, (Isaiah 19:14,) or, in a word, “gives us up to a reprobate mind.” (Romans 1:28.) But here it means nothing else than “to fill,” and to strike even to satiety, or, as we commonly say, (tout leur saoul ,) “to their heart’s content;”

Isaiah 64:1 — 1.O that thou wouldest rend the heavens! The particle לוא (lu) appears to me, in this passage, to denote a wish; for, although it has many significations, yet the context shews that this signification is more appropriate to this passage

Isaiah 8:15 — 15.And many among them shall stumble. He goes on to threaten the ungodly, as he had formerly begun, and declares that those who refuse to trust in God will not escape without being punished. The threatening runs thus: “when they have stumbled, they

Jeremiah 42:13 — been in itself lawful, yet to attempt such a thing against the express will of God was, as we know, an impious and a diabolical presumption and rashness. God had forbidden them specifically in his Law ever to set their hearts on Egypt, (Deuteronomy 17:16;) and he had often confirmed the same thing by his Prophets, (Isaiah 30:2; Isaiah 31:1;) and now again he seals the former prophecies, as he expressly forbids them to go to Egypt. The Prophet then sets this crime before their eyes: “If ye

Jeremiah 43:13 — the ruin of the whole land would be extreme, says that no temple would be there inviolate. So also Isaiah says, when speaking of the ruin of Egypt, “Behold, God will come into Egypt, and will cut down before him all the idols.” (Isaiah 19:1) He spoke of God’s coming, because, under his guidance it was, that Nebuchadnezzar led there his army, as it has been stated. God did not, indeed, appear from heaven, but the army of Nebuchadnezzar was a living representation of God’s

Ezekiel 10:3 — intention of what we read. The interior court was filled with a cloud: doubtless this signifies, that God by all means confirmed the vision, that no suspicion should creep in that the Prophet was deluded with an empty spectra (Exodus 40:34; Numbers 9:15.) This therefore is the reason why God not only appeared on his heavenly throne, but also filled the temple with a cloud; although, as I have said before, this cloud was a symbol of God’s alienation, (1 Kings 8:10; Psalms 18:12,) and we know

Ezekiel 13:4 — dispersed, and were so open to the snares of the false prophets, yet they thought to have been attentive and cautious, and God would doubtless have afforded them aid, as he promises to his people the spirit of discretion and judgment whenever they need it. (1 Corinthians 12:10.) But when the Israelites were wandering exiles, and attention to the law no longer flourished among them, it came to pass that foxes, meaning their false prophets, easily entered. Whence it follows that the people were not free from

Ezekiel 16:55 — I have said, the Prophet argues from what is impossible and almost absurd. Just as Virgil writes — “The inhabitants of seas and skies shall change, And fish on shore, and stags in air shall range:” Virgil, Dryden’s, Eclogue 1. V. 60 — which can never take place: so that it implies the complete denial of what might seem doubtful. This way of speaking is proverbial, when Ezekiel says that the Sodomites and Israelites should return to their ancient state or their former

Daniel 2:33 — was broken up by Christ, according to this dream of King Nebuchadnezzar. It is positively certain, that nothing was ever stable from the beginning of the world, and the assertion of Paul was always true — the fashion of this world passeth away. (1 Corinthians 7:31.) By the word “fashion” he means whatever is splendent in the world is also shadowy and evanescent, he adds, also, that all which our eyest gaze upon must vanish away. But, as I have said, the reason was different when God

Zechariah 10:5 — might know that nothing in this case would be their own, but that they might, on the contrary, learn to depend on God’s aid alone. And he explains this still more clearly at the end of the verse, by saying, Ashamed shall be the riders on horses; (119) that is, their strength and velour, their use of arms and their skill in handling them, shall avail them nothing, for the Lord will lay prostrate, notwithstanding their arrogance and pride, all those wicked men who in their cruelty devour the faithful,

Zechariah 7:6 — in the year, and that during the rest of the time they were heedless and indulged themselves in excesses. We ought indeed to bear in mind what Paul says, that “whether we eat or drink, all things ought to be done to the praise of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31.) The law also expressly commanded the Jews to “feast before the Lord,” that is, not to taste food without thanksgiving, as though God were present. When, therefore, the Jews fasted themselves without any regard to God,

Matthew 3:14 — 14.I have need to be baptized by thee. It is certain, that John acknowledged Christ to be not only a distinguished prophet, as many foolishly dream, but the Son of God, as he really was: for otherwise he would have dishonored God by lowering his holy