Bible Commentaries

Genesis 18:8 — (8) Butter.—Heb. curds, or curdled milk. Neither the Hebrews, Greeks, nor Romans knew how to make butter, and the word itself signifies cheese made of cows’ milk. This is less prized in the East than that made from the milk of sheep, or of goats, while

1 Chronicles 2:10-17 — I.—(10-17) The descent of David from Amminadab, of the house of Ram. The royal line naturally takes precedence of the other two. Ruth 4:18-22 gives this line from Pharez to David. (Compare the genealogies of Christ, Matthew 1:0 and Luke 3:0) Nahshon

Leviticus 12:8 — (8) And if she be not able.—As a merciful provision for those who were too poor to bring a lamb, the law permits them to bring a turtle-dove or a pigeon for a burnt offering, provided only it is the same kind of bird as the one brought for a sin offering;

Leviticus 26:18 — (18) And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me.—Better, and if up to these ye will not hearken unto me, that is, if they should persist in their disobedience to the very end of those punishments mentioned in Leviticus 26:16-17. This verse,

Isaiah 2:4 — (4) He shall judge among the nations.—For “rebuke” read decide or arbitrate. The ideal Divine King is to be all, and more than all, that Solomon had been (1 Kings 10:24). In reliance on His wisdom and equity, nations would refer their disputes to His

Jeremiah 11:16 — (16) A green olive tree.—The parable is essentially the same, though a different symbol is chosen, as that of the vine of Isaiah 5:1; Jeremiah 2:21, or the fig-tree of Luke 13:6. The olive also was naturally a symbol of fertility and goodness, as in

Jeremiah 51:46 — (46) And lest your heart faint . . .—Better, Let not your heart faint; fear ye not . . . For the rumour that shall be heard in the land.—It lies in the nature of the case that the final catastrophe of the city would be preceded by a period of uncertainty

Matthew 28:8 — (8) They departed quickly.—It is natural that independent narratives, given long years afterwards, of what had passed in the agitation of “fear and great joy “should present seeming, or even real, discrepancies as well as coincidences. The discrepancies,

Luke 2:29 — (29) Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.—It is not expedient to alter the translation, but we have to remember that the central idea is that of the manumission of a slave. The word for Lord is not the usual Kyrios, but Despotes—a word but

John 12:2 — (2) There they made him a supper.—Comp. Notes on Matthew 26:6 et seq., and Mark 14:3 et seq., which are clearly accounts of the same supper. Here the details peculiar to St. John, who was an eyewitness, will be noted. St. Matthew gives no indication

John 12:25 — (25) He that loveth his life shall lose it.—The reading here is uncertain, and may be, perhaps with slightly more probability is, He that loveth his life loses it—i.e., that the loss of life is not in the future only, but that in the present, in every

John 19:23 — (23) On John 19:23-24, comp. Notes on Matthew 27:35-36; Luke 23:34. St. John’s account is again more full than any of the others. And made four parts, to every soldier a part.—The soldiers there who carried the sentence into execution were one of the

John 20:5 — (5) And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying.—Better, . . . seeth the linen clothes lying. The tense still describes the scene as it actually occurred. The words “looking in” rightly complete the meaning. (Comp. Note on John

Acts 10:10 — (10) He fell into a trance.—St. Luke characteristically uses, as in Acts 11:5; Acts 22:17, the technical term ekstasis (whence our English ecstasy) for the state which thus supervened. It is obvious that it might in part be the natural consequence of

Acts 10:9 — (9) As they went on their journey . . .—The distance from Cæsarea to Joppa was about thirty Roman miles. To pray about the sixth hour.—As in Acts 3:1, we again find St. Peter observing the Jewish hours of prayer. The “hunger” mentioned in the next verse

Acts 2:20 — (20) The sun shall be turned into darkness.—Both clauses bring before us the phenomena of an eclipse: the total darkness of the sun, the dusky copper hue of the moon. Signs, of which these were but faint images, had been predicted by our Lord, echoing,

2 Corinthians 10:3 — (3) For though we walk in the flesh.—The phrase is generally used by St. Paul for the simple fact of bodily existence, with all its incidental infirmities and trials, but, commonly, without implying sin, as “after the flesh” does (Galatians 2:20; Philippians

Joshua 2:13 — (13) Save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters.—Whatever Rahab may have been herself, her acknowledgment of all her family is observable. She was in no way separated or degraded from their society. When we remember what Moses

Colossians 4:14 — Luke, el médico amado y Demas. - Comp. Filemón 1:24 . El original es aún más enfático, "Lucas el médico, el amado". Demas, por el contrario, apenas se nombra. Es imposible no pasar en el pensamiento al último aviso de los dos de San Pablo ( 2 Timoteo

1 Peter 4:18 — (18) And if the righteous scarcely be saved.—This is a literal quotation, word for word, of Proverbs 11:31, according to the LXX. The quotation proves to us St. Peter’s perfect familiarity with both the Hebrew original and the Greek version. We have