Bible Commentaries

Psalms 102:10 — heightened by the dignity of the public office wherein Nehemiah was at the time of writing this mournful psalm, (Nehemiah 1:1 and Nehemiah 2:1.) The greater his place was at Shushan, the deeper his sorrow for his countrymen and for Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:3) pierced him, whereupon he complains that God, by way of indignation, hath dealt with him, as those that take an earthen vessel and throw it against the pavement, and that they may beat it to pieces the more certainly, lift it up first as high as they

Psalms 125:1 — their own dulness of understanding, aided by the sight of the mountains, may raise their minds upwards to the conception and contemplation of heavenly things. (82) From the mountains or hills which surrounded Jerusalem, the Prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 11:3) represents it under the image of a “cauldron.”

Psalms 62:3 — 3.How long will ye continue mischief? The Hebrew word תהותתו , tehotethu, (412) which I have translated continue, or lengthen out, mischief, is rendered by some, to meditate, or imagine mischief, while others

Psalms 65:11 — annual returns of the season. The Psalmist further explains what he intended, when he adds, that the paths of God dropped fatness, — using this as a metaphorical term for the clouds, upon which God rideth, as upon chariots, as we read in Psalms 104:3 (462) The earth derives its fruitfulness from the sap or moisture; this comes from the rain, and the rain from the clouds. With a singular gracefulness of expression, these are therefore represented as dropping fatness, and this because they are the

Isaiah 1:3 — 3.The ox knoweth his owner This comparison marks the more strongly the criminality of the revolt; for the Lord might have compared his people to the Gentiles; but he is still more severe when he compares them to dumb beasts, and pronounces them to be

Isaiah 10:27 — 27.And it shall come to pass in that day. It is uncertain whether he now speaks of the deliverance which took place under Zerubbabel, (2 Chronicles 36:22; Ezra 1:2,) or of that wonderful overthrow of Sennacherib, (2 Kings 19:35,) when he besieged Jerusalem with a huge army. This latter opinion is almost universally preferred; and indeed it appears to be supported by what follows, for immediately

Isaiah 14:19 — prisons, and deaths, which are endured by his members, share in the same blessing, and far exceed the prosperity and trappings and splendor and majesty of kings, so that, following the example of Paul, they boldly venture even to glory in them. (Romans 5:3; 2 Corinthians 12:5; Galatians 6:14.) But as to those whom the Lord permits to remain unburied, when we see nothing else than a token of his anger, we must fall back on this statement and others of the same kind. For example, Jeremiah threatened Jehoiakim

Isaiah 42:6 — reason why God promises that he will be a guardian to Christ. Besides, the Prophet spoke of the Jews and the Gentiles separately; not that they differ by nature, or that the one is more excellent than the other, (for all need the grace of God, (Romans 3:23,) and Christ has brought salvation to all indiscriminately,) but because the Lord assigned the first rank to the Jews, (Matthew 10:6,) it was therefore proper that they should be distinguished from the others. Accordingly, before “the partition-wall”

Isaiah 51:17 — that the Church was stupified and drunk; for he shews that this happened in consequence of the Lord having severely chastised her. It is an ordinary metaphor by which the chastisement which God inflicts on his people is called a “potion,” (31) or a certain measure which he assigns to each. But whenever it relates to the elect, this term “cup” serves to express the moderation of the divine judgment; that the Lord, though he punish his people severely, still observes a limit.

Isaiah 8:12 — That the Lord did not speak to the Prophet alone, is also evident from the words being in the plural number, לא תיראו, (lo thireu,) fear ye not. Peter also has drawn from it a general doctrine, (1 Peter 3:14,) warning us not to fear with the fear of the ungodly, but to place all our confidence in God, and to keep our eyes continually fixed on him, that we may remain steadfast, though heaven and earth should be mingled. If that warning of Peter was ever

Jeremiah 10:5 — divinity to himself alone: he says, “I alone am he who foresees and predicts future things;” and hence I am God alone; and then he says, “I alone am he who do good and evil;” hence I alone am God. (Isaiah 45:22; Isaiah 48:3.) He says, that he doeth evil, because he is the Judge of the world. We hence see that this expression is not to be taken in a bad sense, but, as I have said, it is to be taken in a sense used by men; for we consider and call those punishments, with

Jeremiah 3:2 — defiled in the highways? Thou hast sat waiting in them like an Arabian in the desert. To render שפים, “open plains,” is without authority; it means “craggy eminences,“ or elevated places. See Numbers 23:3; Isaiah 41:18; Jeremiah 14:6. The division, too, is arbitrary. “The ways,” or highways, connects better with the following verb; and להם is not “in them,“ but to or for them, that is, her lovers, mentioned

Jeremiah 36:29 — that the king of Babylon would come to destroy or lay waste the land, and to remove from it both man and beast So we see that the prophecy of Micah exasperated all the Jews, when he said that Jerusalem would be reduced into heaps of stones. (Micah 3:12)

Jeremiah 4:30 — justly says, it is a rendering that is not correct. “Thou,“ as in the received text, is feminine, and “spoiled” is masculine. The Keri and many MSS. have את instead of אתי; and שדוד, as Blayney supposes, is not a passive participle, but a verb in the infinitive mood, used as a noun. So he gives this version, — And against spoiling what wilt thou do? The word “spoiled,” or wasted, may indeed

Jeremiah 4:31 — then be restored from their sinful courses; but he intimates, as also the Spirit speaks in other places, that their destruction would be sudden; while they would be saying, Peace and security, sudden destruction would come upon them. (1 Thessalonians 5:3.) And so the Prophet now declares, that the Jews in vain hardened themselves against God, as though their ruin was not approaching, for their sorrow would come suddenly. As a woman may be cheerful at meat or at her leisure, and may be suddenly seized

Jeremiah 51:56 — be the author of that war. He now continues his discourse and says, that desolators shall come against Babylon. He had ascribed to God what he now transfers to the Medes and the Persians. He had said, Jehovah hath desolated or wasted, שדד יהוה, shedad Jeve; he says now, coming is a desolator, שודד , shudad. Who is he? not God, but Cyrus, together with the united army of the Persians and the Medes; yea, with vast forces

Jeremiah 7:18 — word “work,“ or workmanship: but this change has evidently arisen from the Septuagint. But this word is never used to designate the work of the visible heavens: the word used in that case is מעשה. See Psalms 8:3. Our version and the Vulgate are no doubt right. But what is intended by the queen of heaven is not the moon; for the word commonly used for the moon is always masculine, and the word generally used for the sun is commonly feminine. This may appear

Ezekiel 16:62 — the safety of the whole people was already desperate. Hence God shows that the covenant which he had made with Abraham could not be abolished by the, perfidy of man. And this is what Paul says in the third chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, (Romans 3:4,) Even if the whole world were liars, yet God must always remain true. But we see that the covenant of which we are now teaching was new, and yet had its origin from the old, because we are so reconciled to God by Christ that we ought to be grafted

Daniel 10:1 — desires. We are compelled, therefore, to curb our impetuosity, if we wish to make progress in the school of God, and we must admit this general principle: If a promise should tarry, wait for it; for it will surely come, and will not delay. (Habakkuk 2:3) Here Daniel affirms in a special sense, the time will be long this would restrain the faithful from rushing headlong with too much haste; they would command their feelings, and remain tranquil till the full maturity of the period should arrive. He

Jonah 2:2 — Then he says,I cried, when I had trouble, to Jehovah, and he answered me. Jonah no doubt relates now, after having come forth from the bowels of the fish, what had happened to him, and he gives thanks to the Lord. (37) This verse then contains two parts, — that Jonah in his trouble fled to God, — and the latter part contains thanksgiving for having been miraculously delivered beyond what flesh could have thought. I cried, he says, in my distress, to