Bible Commentaries

Lamentations 1:20 — 16:11; Jeremiah 4:19; Jeremiah 31:20). Extreme mental distress affects the bowels and the whole internal frame. heart . . . turned— (Jeremiah 31:20- :); is agitated or fluttered. abroad . . . sword . . . at home . . . as death— (Deuteronomy 32:25; Ezekiel 7:15). The "as" does not modify, but intensifies. "Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home as it were death itself" (personified), in the form of famine and pestilence (2 Kings 25:3; Jeremiah 14:18; Jeremiah 52:6). So Habakkuk 2:5, "as death" [MICHAELIS].

Lamentations 3:28 — 28-30. The fruit of true docility and patience. He does not fight against the yoke (Jeremiah 31:18; Acts 9:5), but accommodates himself to it. alone—The heathen applauded magnanimity, but they looked to display and the praise of men. The child of God, in the absence of any witness, "alone," silently submits to the will of God. borne it upon him—that is, because he is used to bearing it on him. Rather, "because He (the Lord, Lamentations 3:26) hath laid it on him" [VATABLUS].

Ezekiel 14:5 — 5. That I may take—that is, unveil and overtake with punishment the dissimulation and impiety of Israel hid in their own heart. Or, rather, "That I may punish them by answering them after their own hearts"; corresponding to "according to the multitude

Ezekiel 23:5 — 5. when . . . mine—literally, "under Me," that is, subject to Me as her lawful husband. neighbours—On the northeast the kingdom of Israel bordered on that of Assyria; for the latter had occupied much of Syria. Their neighborhood in locality was emblematical of their being near in corruption of morals and worship. The alliances of Israel with Assyria, which are the chief subject of reprobation here, tended to this (2 Kings 15:19; 2 Kings 16:7; 2 Kings 16:9; 2 Kings 17:3; Hosea 8:9).

Ezekiel 36:20 — adultery, &c., and who, in such an abject plight, are "gone forth" as exiles "out of His land," are specimens of what Jehovah can or will effect, for His people, and show what kind of a God this so-called holy, omnipotent, covenant-keeping God must be! (Isaiah 52:5 Romans 2:24).

Daniel 1:2 — 2. Shinar—the old name of Babylonia (Genesis 11:2; Genesis 14:1; Isaiah 11:11; Zechariah 5:11). Nebuchadnezzar took only "part of the vessels," as he did not intend wholly to overthrow the state, but to make it tributary, and to leave such vessels as were absolutely needed for the public worship of Jehovah. Subsequently all were taken away and were restored under Cyrus (Ezra 1:7). his god—Bel. His temple, as was often the case among the heathen, was made "treasure house" of the king.

Daniel 2:37 — having done nothing notable. Not that he actually ruled every part of the globe, but that God granted him illimitable dominion in whatever direction his ambition led him, Egypt, Nineveh, Arabia, Syria, Tyre, and its Phoelignician colonies (Jeremiah 27:5-8). Compare as to Cyrus, Ezra 1:2.

Daniel 4:25 — 25. they shall drive thee—a Chaldee idiom for "thou shalt be driven." Hypochondriacal madness was his malady, which "drove" him under the fancy that he was a beast, to "dwell with the beasts"; Daniel 4:34 proves this, "mine understanding returned." The

Joel 3:5 — 5. my silver . . . my gold—that is, the gold and silver of My people. The Philistines and Arabians had carried off all the treasures of King Jehoram's house (2 Chronicles 21:16; 2 Chronicles 21:17). Compare also 1 Kings 15:18; 2 Kings 12:18; 2 Kings 14:14, for the spoiling of the treasures of the temple and the king's palace in Judah by Syria. It was customary among the heathen to hang up in the idol temples some of the spoils of war as presents to their gods.

Amos 4:5 — 5. offer—literally, "burn incense"; that is, "offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with burnt incense and with leavened bread." The frankincense was laid on the meat offering, and taken by the priest from it to burn on the altar (Leviticus 2:1; Leviticus

Jonah 3:5 — 5. believed God—gave credit to Jonah's message from God; thus recognizing Jehovah as the true God. fast . . . sackcloth—In the East outward actions are often used as symbolical expressions of inward feelings. So fasting and clothing in sackcloth were

Micah 2:5 — 5. Therefore—resumed from :-. On account of your crimes described in Micah 2:1; Micah 2:2. thou—the ideal individual ("me," Micah 2:2- :), representing the guilty people in whose name he spoke. none that . . . cast a cord by lot—none who shall have

Nahum 1:7 — 7. Here Nahum enters on his special subject, for which the previous verses have prepared the way, namely, to assure his people of safety in Jehovah under the impending attack of Sennacherib (Nahum 1:7), and to announce the doom of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian foe (Nahum 1:8). The contrast of Nahum 1:7; Nahum 1:8 heightens the force. he knoweth—recognizes as His own (Hosea 13:5; Amos 3:2); and so, cares for and guards (Psalms 1:6; 2 Timothy 2:19).

Nahum 3:5 — 5. I will discover thy skirts upon thy face—that is, discover thy nakedness by throwing up thy skirts upon thy face (the greatest possible insult), pulling them up as as high as thy head (Jeremiah 13:22; Ezekiel 16:37-41). I will treat thee not as a matron, but as a harlot whose shame is exposed; her gaudy finery being lifted up off her (Isaiah 47:2; Isaiah 47:3). So Nineveh shall be stripped of all her glory and defenses on which she prides herself.

Zephaniah 2:5 — 5. inhabitants of the seacoast—the Philistines dwelling on the strip of seacoast southwest of Canaan. Literally, the "cord" or "line" of sea (compare Jeremiah 47:7; Ezekiel 25:16). the Cherethites—the Cretans, a name applied to the Philistines as sprung

Zechariah 10:8 — 8. hiss for them—Keepers of bees by a whistle call them together. So Jehovah by the mere word of His call shall gather back to Palestine His scattered people (Zechariah 10:10; Isaiah 5:26; Ezekiel 36:11). The multitudes mentioned by JOSEPHUS [Wars of the Jews, 3:2], as peopling Galilee two hundred years after this time, were a pledge of the future more perfect fulfilment of the prophecy. for I have redeemed them—namely, in My covenant

Zechariah 12:5 — 5. shall say—when they see the foe divinely smitten with "madness." Judah . . . Jerusalem—here distinguished as the country and the metropolis. Judah recognizes her "strength" to be "Jerusalem and its inhabitants" as the instrument, and "Jehovah of

Zechariah 8:14 — 14. I thought—I determined. you—that is, your fathers, with whom ye are one; the Jewish Church of all ages being regarded as an organic whole (compare Haggai 2:5; Matthew 23:31; Matthew 23:32). repented not—I changed not My purpose, because they changed not their mind (Matthew 23:32- :). With the froward God shows Himself froward (Matthew 23:32- :). If the threatened punishment has been so unchangeably inflicted,

Zechariah 9:10 — 10. (Isaiah 2:4; Hosea 2:18; Micah 5:10). Ephraim . . . Jerusalem—the ten tribes, and Judah and Benjamin; both alike to be restored hereafter. speak peace—command it authoritatively. dominion . . . from sea . . . river . . . ends of . . . earth—fulfilling Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:31;

Luke 9:30 — 30, 31. there talked with him two men . . . Moses and Elias . . . appeared in glory—"Who would have believed these were not angels had not their human names been subjoined?" [BENGEL]. (Compare Acts 1:10; Mark 16:5). Moses represented "the law," Elijah "the prophets," and both together the whole testimony of the Old Testament Scriptures, and the Old Testament saints, to Christ; now not borne in a book, but by living men, not to a coming, but a come Messiah, visibly,