Bible Commentaries

Exodus 32:5 — 5, 6. Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord—a remarkable circumstance, strongly confirmatory of the view that they had not renounced the worship of Jehovah, but in accordance with Egyptian notions, had formed an image with which they had been familiar, to be the visible symbol of the divine presence. But there seems to have been much of the revelry that marked the feasts of the heathen.

2 Kings 23:12 — 12. the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz—Altars were reared on the flat roofs of houses, where the worshippers of "the host of heaven" burnt incense (Zephaniah 1:5; Jeremiah 19:13). Ahaz had reared altars for this purpose on the oleah, or upper chamber of his palace, and Manasseh on some portion of the roof of the temple. Josiah demolished both of these structures.

1 Chronicles 14:16 — 16. from Gibeon . . . to Gazer—Geba or Gibea (2 Samuel 5:25), now Yefa, in the province of Judah. The line from this to Gazer was intersected by the roads which led from Judah to the cities of the Philistines. To recover possession of it, therefore, as was effected by this decisive battle, was equivalent to setting free the whole mountain region of Judah as far as their most westerly slope [BERTHEAU].

2 Chronicles 27:5 — 5. He fought also with the king of the Ammonites—This invasion he not only repelled, but, pursuing the Ammonites into their own territory, he imposed on them a yearly tribute, which, for two years, they paid. But when Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, combined to attack the kingdom of Judah, they took the opportunity of revolting, and Jotham was too distracted by other matters to attempt the reconquest (see on :-).

Ezra 10:5 — 5-8. Then Ezra . . . went into the chamber of Johanan—At a private council of the princes and elders held there, under the presidency of Ezra, it was resolved to enter into a general covenant to put away their foreign wives and children; that a proclamation should be made for all who had returned from Babylon to repair within three days to Jerusalem, under pain of excommunication and confiscation of their property.

Job 11:12 — 12. vain—hollow. would be—"wants to consider himself wise"; opposed to God's "wisdom" (see on Job 11:1); refuses to see sin, where God sees it (Romans 1:22). wild ass's colt—a proverb for untamed wildness (Job 39:5; Job 39:8; Jeremiah 2:24; Genesis 16:12; Hebrew, "a wild-ass man"). Man wishes to appear wisely obedient to his Lord, whereas he is, from his birth, unsubdued in spirit.

Job 18:11 — 11. Terrors—often mentioned in this book (Job 18:14; Job 24:17; c.). The terrors excited through an evil conscience are here personified. "Magor-missabib" (Job 24:17- :). drive . . . to his feet—rather, "shall pursue" (literally, "scatter," Habakkuk 3:14) him close "at his heels" (literally, "immediately after his feet," Habakkuk 3:5 1 Samuel 25:42; Hebrew). The image is that of a pursuing conqueror who scatters the enemy [UMBREIT].

Job 24:4 — 4. Literally, they push the poor out of their road in meeting them. Figuratively, they take advantage of them by force and injustice (alluding to the charge of Eliphaz, Job 22:8; 1 Samuel 8:3). poor—in spirit and in circumstances (Matthew 5:3). hide—from the injustice of their oppressors, who have robbed them of their all and driven them into unfrequented places (Job 20:19; Job 30:3-6; Proverbs 28:28).

Job 24:5 — 5. wild asses— ( :-). So Ishmael is called a "wild ass-man"; Hebrew (Genesis 16:12). These Bedouin robbers, with the unbridled wildness of the ass of the desert, go forth thither. Robbery is their lawless "work." The desert, which yields no food to other men, yields food for the robber and his children by the plunder of caravans. rising betimes—In the East travelling is begun very early, before the heat comes on.

Job 42:14 — 14. Names significant of his restored prosperity (Genesis 4:25; Genesis 5:29). Jemima—"daylight," after his "night" of calamity; but MAURER, "a dove." Kezia—"cassia," an aromatic herb (Psalms 45:8), instead of his offensive breath and ulcers. Keren-happuch—"horn of stibium," a paint with which females dyed their eyelids; in contrast to his "horn defiled in the dust" (Psalms 45:8- :). The names also imply the beauty of his daughters.

Job 42:17 — 17. full of days—fully sated and contented with all the happiness that life could give him; realizing what Eliphaz had painted as the lot of the godly (Job 5:26; Psalms 91:16; Genesis 25:8; Genesis 35:29). The Septuagint adds, "It is written, that he will rise again with those whom the Lord will raise up." Compare Matthew 27:52; Matthew 27:53, from which it perhaps was derived spuriously.

Job 6:7 — 7. To "touch" is contrasted with "meat." "My taste refused even to touch it, and yet am I fed with such meat of sickness." The second clause literally, is, "Such is like the sickness of my food." The natural taste abhors even to touch insipid food, and such forms my nourishment. For my sickness is like such nauseous food [UMBREIT]. (Psalms 42:3; Psalms 80:5; Psalms 102:9). No wonder, then, I complain.

Job 7:5 — 5. In elephantiasis maggots are bred in the sores (Acts 12:23; Isaiah 14:11). clods of dust—rather, a crust of dried filth and accumulated corruption (Job 2:7; Job 2:8). my skin is broken and . . . loathsome—rather, comes together so as to heal up, and again breaks out with running matter [GESENIUS]. More simply the Hebrew is, "My skin rests (for a time) and (again) melts away" (Job 2:8- :).

Leviticus 17:5 — 5. To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field—"They" is supposed by some commentators to refer to the Egyptians, so that the verse will stand thus: "the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they (the Egyptians) offer in the open field." The law is thought to have been directed against those whose Egyptian habits led them to imitate this idolatrous practice.

Deuteronomy 26:5 — 5. thou shalt say . . . A Syrian ready to perish was my father—rather, "a wandering Syrian." The ancestors of the Hebrews were nomad shepherds, either Syrians by birth as Abraham, or by long residence as Jacob. When they were established as a nation in the possession of the promised land, they were indebted to God's unmerited goodness for their distinguished privileges, and in token of gratitude they brought this basket of first-fruits.

Joshua 4:4 — 4, 5. Joshua called the twelve men—They had probably, from a feeling of reverence, kept back, and were standing on the eastern bank. They were now ordered to advance. Picking up each a stone, probably as large as he could carry, from around the spot "where the priests stood," they pass over before the ark and deposit the stones in the place of next encampment (Joshua 4:19; Joshua 4:20), namely, Gilgal.

Judges 13:5 — 5. thou shalt conceive, and bear a son—This predicted child was to be a Nazarite. The mother was, therefore, for the sake of her promised offspring, required to practice the rigid abstinence of the Nazarite law (see on :-). he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines—a prophecy encouraging to a patriotic man; the terms of it, however, indicated that the period of deliverance was still to be distant.

1 Samuel 22:5 — 5. the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold—This sound advice, no doubt, came from a higher source than Gad's own sagacity. It was right to appear publicly among the people of his own tribe, as one conscious of innocence and trusting in God; and it was expedient that, on the death of Saul, his friends might be encouraged to support his interest. forest of Hareth—southwest of Jerusalem.

1 Samuel 26:4 — 4, 5. David . . . sent out spies . . . and David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched—Having obtained certain information of the locality, he seems, accompanied by his nephew ( :-), to have hid himself, perhaps disguised, in a neighboring wood, or hill, on the skirts of the royal camp towards night, and waited to approach it under covert of the darkness. :-. DAVID STAYS ABISHAI FROM KILLING SAUL, BUT TAKES HIS SPEAR AND CRUSE.

2 Samuel 18:5 — 5. Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom—This affecting charge, which the king gave to his generals, proceeded not only from his overwhelming affection for his children, but from his consciousness that this rebellion was the chastisement of his own crimes, Absalom being merely an instrument in the hand of retributive Providence;—and also from his piety, lest the unhappy prince should die with his sins unrepented of.