Bible Commentaries

Jeremiah 35:4 — (4) I brought them into the house of the Lord . . .—The Temple of Solomon appears from 1 Kings 6:5 to have had, like a cathedral, apartments constructed in its precincts which were assigned, by special favour, for the residence of conspicuous priests

Matthew 15:22 — (22) A woman of Canaan.—The terms Canaanite and Canaan, which in the earlier books of the Old Testament were often applied in a wider sense to all the original inhabitants of what was afterwards the land of Israel (Genesis 10:18; Genesis 12:6; Judges

Mark overview — THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK.Mark. BYTHE VERY REV. E. H. PLUMPTRE, D.D., Late Dean of Wells. INTRODUCTIONTOTHE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. I. The Writer.—There is but one person of the name of Mark, or Marcus, mentioned in the New Testament,

Luke 22:19-20 — (19, 20) He took bread, and gave thanks.—See Notes on Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-25. The other two reports give “He blessed,” instead of “He gave thanks.” There is, of course, no real difference between them. Thanksgiving and blessing both entered

Luke 6:35 — (35) Love ye your enemies.—The tense of the Greek verb may be noted as implying a perpetual abiding rule of action. Hoping for nothing again.—Better, in nothing losing hope. It is possible that the Greek verb may have the sense given in the text, but

Luke 9:52 — (52) And sent messengers before his face.—It is remarkable that the words “Samaria” and “Samaritan” do not occur at all in St. Mark, and in St. Matthew in one passage only (Matthew 10:5), and then in the command given to the Twelve that they were not

John 12:38 — (38) That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled.—This is the first instance in this Gospel of a phrase familiar to us already from its frequent occurrence in St. Matthew. We shall find it again in John 13:18; John 15:25; John 17:12; John

John 14:26 — (26) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.—Better, as before, but the Advocate . . . (Comp. Excursus G: The Meaning of the word Paraclete.) For the words “Holy Ghost” comp. John 7:39; John 20:22, which are the only passages where we find them

Acts 2:46 — (46) Continuing daily with one accord in the temple.—At first it would have seemed natural that the followers of a Teacher whom the priests had condemned to death, who had once nearly been stoned, and once all but seized in the very courts of the Temple

Acts 24:1 — XXIV. (1) After five days.—The interval may have just allowed time for messengers to go from Cæsarea to Jerusalem, and for the priests to make their arrangements and engage their advocate. Possibly, however, the five days may start from St. Paul’s departure

Acts 4:6 — (6) And Annas the high priest . . .—These are mentioned by themselves as representing the section that had probably convened the meeting, and came in as if to dominate its proceedings. The order of the first two names is the same as in Luke 3:2, and

Acts 8:26 — (26) And the angel of the Lord . . .—Better, an angel. The tense of the verbs in the preceding verse, in the better MSS., implies that the events that follow synchronised with the journey of Peter and John through Samaria. The journey which Philip was

Ephesians 1:21 — (21) Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion.—The words here used are intended to include all possible forms of power, corresponding to the exhaustive enumeration in Philippians 2:10, “of things in heaven, and things in earth,

Ephesians 6:11 — (11) Put on the whole armour.—The special emphasis in this verse is on “the whole armour,” or “panoply” (a word only used here and in Luke 11:22); not mainly on its strength or its brightness, as “armour of light” (comp. Romans 13:12), but on its completeness,

Philippians 3:10-11 — (10, 11) The order of these verses is notable and instructive. (1) First comes the knowledge of “the power of the Resurrection.” What this is we see by examining it as historically the main subject of the first apostolic preaching. There it is considered,

James 1:11 — (11) For the sun is no sooner risen . . .—Translate, the sun arose with the burning heat, and dried up the grass; and the flower thereof fell away, and the grace of its fashion perished. The grace, the loveliness, the delicacy of its form and feature—literally,

1 Peter 1:12 — (12) Unto whom it was revealed.—As 1 Peter 1:11 expanded and expounded the words “inquired and searched,” so the first part of 1 Peter 1:12 expounds the words “prophesied of the grace in reserve for you.” That is to say, the revelation here spoken of

2 Peter 3:10 — (10) The certainty and possible nearness of Christ’s coming is the basis of the preceding warning and of the exhortations which follow. As a thief in the night.—Suddenly and without warning. The words are an echo of Matthew 24:43, a saying which St.

Revelation 1:18 — (18) I am he that liveth, and was dead.—Better, and the living One (omit the words “I am”); and I became dead; and, behold, I am alive (or, I am living) unto the ages of ages (or, for evermore), “Amen” is omitted in the best MSS. This verse must be

Revelation 3:15-16 — (15, 16) Neither cold nor hot.—The “heat” here is the glowing, fervent zeal and devotion which is commended and commanded elsewhere (Romans 12:11). It is not, however, the self-conscious, galvanised earnestness which, in days of senile pietism, passes