Bible Commentaries

Exodus 2:1 — 1.And there went. I have preferred rendering the verb in the pluperfect tense (abierat, “there had gone”) to prevent all ambiguity; for unless we say that Miriam and Aaron were the children of another mother, it would not be probable otherwise

Exodus 20:4 — idols orimage-gods, or are worshipped with divine honor. But otherwise, images, pictures or representations, even in the house of God, and in the very sanctuary, so far from being forbidden, are expressly authorized by the Word of God. See Exodus 25:15; Numbers 21:8; 1 Chronicles 28:18; 2 Chronicles 3:10.” — Note to Douay Version. Dublin, 1825; by authority.

Exodus 29:38 — temporary, for it ceased at the coming of Christ; for so speaks the angel: Christ "shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the continual sacrifice, and the oblation (minha) to cease.” (231) (Daniel 9:27.) It is clear that he speaks of this kind of sacrifice. Hence we assuredly gather that by this sacrifice the minds of the people were directed to Christ. But if this was its use and object with the ancients, the profit of it now returns

Exodus 30:12 — 12.When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel. The tribute which God here demands at the taking of the census, is very fitly annexed to the First Commandment; for God, in making them tributary to Himself, shews that they were under His jurisdiction

Psalms 10:5 — become more and more obstinate in evil; (207) yea, persuading themselves that God is shut up in heaven, as if they had nothing to do with him, they strengthen themselves in the hope of escaping unpunished; (208) as we see them, in Isaiah, (Isaiah 22:13) jesting at the threatenings of the prophets, saying, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die.” When the prophets, in order to inspire the people with terror, denounced the dreadful vengeance of God, which was ready to be inflicted

Psalms 105:25 — his will. If the delicate ears of some are offended at such doctrine, let it be observed, that the Holy Spirit unequivocally affirms in other places as well as here, that the minds of men are driven hither and thither by a secret impulse, (Proverbs 21:1) so that they can neither will nor do any thing except as God pleases. What madness is it to embrace nothing but what commends itself to human reason? What authority will God’s word have, if it is not admitted any farther than we are inclined

Psalms 131:1 — 1.O Jehovah! My heart has not been elated David had been made head over God’s people, and in order to prove that he was their lawful prince, entitled to the allegiance of the faithful, he is desirous to show that he had not been influenced, in anything

Psalms 139:15 — 15.My strength was not hid from thee That nothing is hid from God David now begins to prove from the way in which man is at first formed, and points out God’s superiority to other artificers in this, that while they must have their work set before

Psalms 18:43 — to him, were only an obscure figure in which God has exhibited to us some faint representation of the boundless dominion of his own Son, whose kingdom extends “from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same,” (Malachi 1:11,) and comprehends the whole world. (436) “C’est a dire au dedans de son royaume qui est l’Eglise.” —Fr.

Psalms 20:1 — felicity of the Church depended. The object, therefore, which David had expressly in view was, to exhort all the children of God to cherish such a holy solicitude about the kingdom of Christ, as would stir them up to continual prayer in its behalf. 1.May Jehovah hear thee, etc. The Holy Spirit, by introducing the people as praying that God would answer the prayers of the king, is to be viewed as at the same time admonishing kings that it is their duty to implore the protection of God in all their

Psalms 4:1 — man’s own conscience. But it is a consolation far surpassing this, to know when men vaunt themselves over us wrongfully, that we are standing in the view of God and of the angels. Paul, we know, was endued with courage arising from this source, (1 Corinthians 4:5) for when many evil reports were spread abroad concerning him among the Corinthians, he appeals to the judgment-seat of God. Isaiah also, fortified by the same confidence, (Isaiah 50:6 and following verse) despises all the slanders by

Psalms 41:8 — This expression is by others rendered spreadeth upon him, but this interpretation seems to me to be too constrained. As to the word Belial, we have already spoken of it in the eighteenth psalm. But as grammarians maintain that it is compounded of בלי, beli, and יעל, yaäl, which signify not to rise, the expression, thing of Belial, (for so it is literally in the Hebrew,) I understand in this place as meaning an extraordinary and hateful crime, which, as

Psalms 44:22 — are opposed to them. “This,” it may be said, “seems at first sight a foolish complaint, for the answer which Socrates gave to his wife was apparently more to the purpose, when, upon her lamenting that he was about to die wrongfully, (153) he reproved her saying, That it was better for him to die innocently than from any fault of his own. And even the consolation which Christ sets forth ‘Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,’ Matthew 5:10,

Psalms 56:8 — deposit. The prayers of David, as appears from the passage before us, proceeded upon faith in the providence of God, who watches our every step, and by whom (to use an expression of Christ) “the very hairs of our head are numbered,” (Matthew 10:30.) Unless persuaded in our mind that God takes special notice of each affliction which we endure, it is impossible we can ever attain such confidence as to pray that God would put our tears into his bottle, with a view to regarding them, and being

Psalms 65:3 — which had taken place in the communication of the divine favor to the Jews. The passage is parallel with that, “The ear of the Lord is not heavy that it cannot hear, but our iniquities have separated betwixt us and him.” — Isaiah 59:1 David imputes it to his own sins and those of the people, that God, who was wont to be liberal in his help, and so gracious and kind in inviting their dependence upon him, had withdrawn for a time his divine countenance. First, he acknowledges his

Psalms 82:6 — This verse may also be viewed as addressed by God himself to rulers, and as intimating, that, in addition to his clothing them with authority, he has bestowed upon them his name. This interpretation seems to agree with the language of Christ in John 10:34, where he speaks of those as called gods to whom the word of God came. The passage, however, may be appropriately resolved thus: I grant that ye are gods, and the sons of the Most High (427) But this does not materially alter the meaning. The object

Psalms 91:13 — 13.Thou shalt walk over the lion and asp. The same truth is here expressed in different words. He had already spoken of the obstacles which Satan throws in our course under the figure of a stone. Now he speaks of the formidable troubles to which we are

Numbers 11:24 — the people might receive them with greater reverence. In my opinion, however, prophecy here is equivalent to a special faculty of discoursing magnificently of secret things or mysteries. We know that poets were called prophets by profane writers, (31) because poetry itself savors of inspiration (ἐνθουσιασμὸν); in the same way that extraordinary ability, (32) in which the afflatus of the Spirit shone forth, obtained the name of prophecy.

Deuteronomy 26:2 — experienced to be their preserver, and the giver of their food. This typical rite has now, indeed, ceased, but Paul tells us that the true observation of it still remains, where he exhorts us, whether we eat or drink, to do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31.) As to the place where the first-fruits were to be offered, and why God is said to have placed His name there, we shall hereafter consider, when we come to the sacrifices; I now only briefly touch upon what concerns the present subject.

Deuteronomy 29:29 — God’s counsellors, and to penetrate into the deepest recesses of heaven, nay, they would search into its very cabinets. Hence a heathen poet truly says, — “Nil mortalibus arduum est: Coelum ipsum petimus stultitia.” —Hor. Od. 1: 3-37. “Nought for mortals is too high; Our folly reaches to the sky.” On the other hand, what God plainly sets before us, and would have familiarly known, is either neglected, or turned from in disgust, or put far away from us, as if