Bible Commentaries

Genesis 40:1 — Joseph. Unless, perhaps, a new successor had been then appointed in Potiphar’s place; which, however, is easily refuted from the context, because a little afterwards Moses says that the master of Joseph was the captain of the guard, (Genesis 40:3.) When Moses says they were kept in prison a season, some understand by the word, a whole year; but in my judgment they are mistaken; it rather denotes a long but uncertain time, as appears from other places.

Exodus 32:6 — very dawn of day. Now, if, at the instigation of the devil, unbelievers are thus driven headlong to their destruction, alas for our inertness, if at least an equal alacrity does not manifest itself in our zeal! Thus it is said in the Psalm, (Psalms 110:3,) “Thy (333) people (shall come) with voluntary offerings in the day(of the assembling) of thy army.” What follows as to the people sitting down “to eat and to drink,” many (334) ignorantly wrest to mean intemperance; as also

Exodus 7:3 — 3.And I will harden. As the expression is somewhat harsh, many commentators, as I have before said, take pains to soften it. Hence it is that some take the words in connection, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart by multiplying my signs;”

Psalms 103:8 — 8.Jehovah is merciful and gracious David seems to allude to the exclamation of Moses, recorded in Exodus 34:6, where the nature of God, revealed in a remarkable way, is more clearly described than in other places. When Moses was admitted to take a nearer view of the Divine glory than was usually obtained, he exclaimed upon beholding it, “O God! merciful

Psalms 105:16 — instead of having their hunger thereby removed, remain famished still. And certainly to the barrenness of the earth this second is commonly added, namely, that he takes away the sustaining power which is in bread; for, as it is declared in Deuteronomy 8:3, bread does not give life of itself, but borrows its secret virtue from the mouth of God. (211) “Famine is here finely represented as a servant, ready to come and go at the ‘call’ and command of God; for calamities, whether public

Psalms 133:3 — 3.Like the precious ointment upon the head. We have here clear proof that David, as we have just said, holds all true union among brethren to take its rise from God, and to have this for its legitimate object, that all may be brought to worship God in

Psalms 148:3 — 3.Praise him, ye sun and moon This passage gives no countenance to the dream of Plato, that the stars excel in sense and intelligence. Nor does the Psalmist give them the same place as he had just assigned to angels, but merely intimates that the glory

Psalms 21:3 — 3.For thou wilt prevent him. The change of the tense in the verbs does not break the connection of the discourse; and, therefore, I have, without hesitation, translated this sentence into the future tense, as we know that the changing of one tense into

Psalms 29:3 — 3.The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters. David now rehearses the wonders of nature which I have previously referred to; and well indeed does he celebrate the power of God as well as his goodness, in his works. As there is nothing in the ordinary course

Psalms 30:11 — feeling of grief; and, secondly, that we may perceive that in their mourning they were exercised to repentance. This latter he denotes by the term sackcloth. It was a common practice among the ancients to clothe themselves with sackcloth when mourning, (633) for no other reason, indeed, than that like guilty criminals, they might approach their heavenly Judge, imploring his forgiveness with all humility, and testifying by this clothing their humiliation and dissatisfaction with themselves. (634) We know

Psalms 31:12 — reads, “the mighty.” (647) “Fearfulness on every side, or terror round about. In Heb., magor missabib, which name Jeremiah gave to Pashur the priest, signifying that he should be a terror to himself and to all his friends; Jeremiah 20:3.” — Ainsworth. Horsley reads, “Truly I heard the angry muttering of the mighty, of them that are the general dread.” On this he has the following note: ”מסביב מגור,

Psalms 32:3 — 3.When I kept silence, my bones wasted away. Here David confirms, by his own experience, the doctrine which he had laid down; namely, that when humbled under the hand of God, he felt that nothing was so miserable as to be deprived of his favor: by which

Psalms 4:3 — 3.Know that Jehovah hath set apart, etc This is a confirmation of the preceding verse, for it shows that the cause of David’s boldness consisted in this, that he depended upon God, the founder of his kingdom. And surely we may then safely triumph

Psalms 58:11 — godliness than an intimate and assured persuasion that the righteous shall never lose their reward. Hence the language of Isaiah, “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings,” (Isaiah 3:10.) When righteousness is not rewarded, we are disposed to cherish unbelieving fears, and to imagine that God has retired from the government of the world, and is indifferent to its concerns. I shall have an opportunity of treating this point more

Leviticus 25:39 — 39.And if thy brother. He now proceeds further, i e. , that one who has bought his brother should treat him with humanity, and not otherwise than a hired servant. We have seen, indeed, just above, that the labor of a slave is estimated at twice as much,

Isaiah 11:10 — fulfilled by the preaching of the gospel, and indeed was more illustrious than if Christ had soared above the clouds. To the same purpose is what he says, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up. (John 3:14; Numbers 21:9.) Shall be sought by the Gentiles. Christ is said to be sought, when men flee to him for the purpose of asking salvation, as to seek God means, in every part of Scripture, to cast all our hopes upon him. Accordingly, the Greek translators

Isaiah 13:11 — their transgressions and crimes. Every ground of calumny is therefore taken away, that we may not think that God delights in the afflictions of men; for when he thus deals with men according as they deserve, the mouths of all must be stopped, (Romans 3:19,) since the severity of the afflictions does not proceed from God, but finds its cause in men themselves. And will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease. We must keep in mind what I have already noticed, that the Prophet yields no small consolation

Isaiah 14:30 — 30.And the first-born of the poor shall feed. The Prophet, as has been already said, has not so much in view the Philistines, to whom his threatenings were of no avail, as the Jews, whom he wished to comfort in their affliction; for they were so grievously

Numbers 30:3 — 3.If a woman also vow. He now proceeds to the point of which he proposed to treat, i.e., that vows made by persons who are not their own masters do not hold good; and he mentions two cases. For, in the first place, he teaches that if a daughter, whilst

Numbers 8:16 — found to exceed the Levites in number. An exchange was then made, viz., that all the first-born of the twelve tribes, being 22,000 in number, should be free from the tribute, and that God should take the Levites in their place as His ministers. Only 273 were redeemed, because this was the excess of their number above that of the Levites. Thus was it brought to pass, that God was content with these just and equal terms, so as not to oppress the people by a heavy burden. But this compensation, which