Bible Commentaries

Psalms 49:1 — 1.Hear this, all ye people. Whoever may have been the penman of this psalm, it discusses one of the most important principles in divine philosophy, and there is a propriety in the elevated terms designed to awaken and secure attention, with which the

Psalms 65:9 — number, would have been the form of expression used. I consider that he singles out the small rivulet of Siloah, (458) and sets it in opposition to the natural rivers which enrich other countries, intending an allusion to the word of Moses, (Deuteronomy 11:10,) that the land which the Lord their God should give unto his people would not be as the land of Egypt, fertilized by the overflowings of the Nile, but a land drinking water of the rain of heaven. Or we may suppose that he calls the rain itself

Psalms 76:10 — 10.Surely the wrath of men shall praise thee. Some understand these words as denoting, that after these enemies shall have submitted to God, they will yield to him the praise of the victory; being constrained to acknowledge that they have been subdued

Psalms 81:15 — 15.The haters of Jehovah would have lied to him. Here the same thought is pursued, when the Israelites are informed that their enemies would have humbly submitted to their authority had not their impiety emboldened them to run to excess, when they shook

Psalms 91:11 — 11For he has given his angels charge concerning thee. This is added by the Psalmist expressly with the view of obviating any fears which might arise from our infirmity; so that we cannot fail to be struck with the benignant condescension of God in thus

Isaiah 35:4 — 4.Say to them that are faint hearted. That strength of which he spoke is breathed into our hearts by God through his word, as “by faith alone we stand” (2 Corinthians 1:24) and live; and therefore he adds the promise of grace yet to come. Behold, your God will come. First, it ought to be observed that God does not wish that his grace should remain concealed and unknown, but rather that it should be proclaimed and

Isaiah 55:1 — 1.Ho, all that are thirsty. Here the Prophet describes in lofty terms of commendation the goodness of God, which was to be poured down more copiously and abundantly than before under the reign of Christ, “in whose hand are hid all the treasures”

Jeremiah 13:18 — the greatness of the world. For it was said before to Jeremiah, “Reprove mountains and rebuke hills;” (87) and still farther, “Behold, I have set thee over kingdoms and nations, to pull down and to pluck up,” etc., (Jeremiah 1:10) This ought to be carefully noticed; for kings and those who are eminent in the world, think that they are not only, by a singular privilege, exempt from all laws, but also free from every obligation to observe modesty and to avoid shame. Hence

Jeremiah 4:27 — a consummation?” Now, though the former exposition contains a richer truth, yet I prefer to take כלה, cale, as signifying an end, as though he had declared that he would observe no moderation in executing his vengeance: (121) and a similar language occurs in the next chapter. The real meaning then is, — that God would to the end carry on his work of desolation. The prophets indeed do not always speak alike when they announce God’s judgments. Sometimes they

Ezekiel 4:1 — pronounces that the Prophet should do nothing in vain, this ought to be sufficient to lead us to acquiesce in his word. If we then dispute according to our sense, he will show that what seems foolish overcomes all the wisdom of the world, as Paul says. (1 Corinthians 1:25.) For God sometimes works as if by means of folly: that is, he has methods of action which are extraordinary, and by no means in accordance with human judgment. But that this folly of God may excel all the wisdom of the world, let this

Nahum 3:19 — the wicked cannot escape calamity, yet they harbor false expectations, and think that they can in a short time gather new strength. Hence, in order to take from them this hope, the Prophet says, that there would be no contraction of the fracture (251) And this is a striking similitude; for he compares the ruin of Nineveh to a wound which cannot be seamed and healed. There is then no contraction; some render it, a wrinkle, but improperly. There is then no contraction: and he adds, Thy stroke is full

Zechariah 9:14 — to me to allude to those miracles by which God showed to the Jews in a terrific manner his power on Mount Sinai, for the desert of Teman and Mount Paran were in that vicinity. We have seen a similar passage in the third chapter of Habakkuk Habakkuk 3:1, “God,” he said, “shall come from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.” The Prophet’s object was to encourage the Jews to entertain hope; for God, who had long concealed himself and refrained from helping them, would at

Acts 12:23 — ministry of angels in heaven in punishing; but sometimes he maketh the devils as hangmen, by whose hand he executeth his judgments. And this doth he as well toward his faithful servants as toward the reprobate. Saul was troubled and vexed by Satan, (1 Samuel 16:14) but the same did also befall holy Job, (Job 1:12.) In the Psalms, the punishments wherewith God doth chasten the wicked are attributed to the evil angels; yet we see how the angel which had the government of the safety of the Church smiteth

Acts 13:46 — properly appertain unto the time of Christ’s kingdom. For under the law, before Christ was given, the Jews were not only the first, but alone. Therefore was it that Moses called them a priestly kingdom, and the peculiar people of God, (Exodus 19:5.) But the adoption of God rested then with them alone upon this condition, (the Gentiles being omitted,) that they should be preferred as yet before the Gentiles by the coming of Christ. For though Christ reconciled the world to his Father, yet they

1 Corinthians 14:32 — turn to speak, who was among the audience and was sitting silent.” This passage has been misunderstood by some, as if Paul had said, that the Lord’s Prophets were not like persons taken with a sudden frenzy, who, when a divine impulse (ἐνθουσιασμὸς) had once seized them, (871) were no longer masters of themselves. (872) It is indeed true that God’s Prophets are not disordered in mind; but this has nothing to

1 Corinthians 3:7 — from what has been already said, that their labor is of some importance. We must observe, therefore, why it is that Paul thus depreciates it; and first of all, it is proper to notice that he is accustomed to speak in two different ways of ministers, (161) as well as of sacraments. For in some cases he views a minister as one that has been set apart by the Lord for, in the first instance, regenerating souls, and, afterwards, nourishing them up unto eternal life, for remitting sins, (John 20:23,) for

2 Corinthians 4:13 — 13.Having the same spirit. This is a correction of the foregoing irony. He had represented the condition of the Corinthians as widely different from his own, (not according to his own judgment, but according to their erroneous view,) inasmuch as they

2 Corinthians 5:1 — 1.For we know. Here follows an amplification (επεξεργασια) or embellishment of the foregoing statement. (507) For Paul has it in view, to correct in us impatience, dread, and dislike of the

Titus 3:8 — 8A faithful saying He employs this mode of expression, when he wishes to make a solemn assertion as we have seen in both of the Epistles to Timothy. (1 Timothy 1:15; 2 Timothy 2:11.) And therefore he immediately adds: — I wish thee to affirm these things (263)Διαβεβαιοῦσθαι under a passive termination, has an

Hebrews 11:1 — 1.Now faith, etc. Whoever made this the beginning of the eleventh chapter, has unwisely disjointed the context; for the object of the Apostle was to prove what he had already said ­that there is need of patience. (200) He had quoted the testimony