Bible Commentaries

Joel 3:4 — 4. what have ye to do with me—Ye have no connection with Me (that is, with My people: God identifying Himself with Israel); I (that is, My people) have given you no cause of quarrel, why then do ye trouble Me (that is, My people)? (Compare the same phrase,

Joel 3:6 — 6. Grecians—literally, "Javanites," that is, the Ionians, a Greek colony on the coast of Asia Minor who were the first Greeks known to the Jews. The Greeks themselves, however, in their original descent came from Javan (Genesis 10:2; Genesis 10:4). Probably the germ of Greek civilization in part came through the Jewish slaves imported into Greece from Phoelignicia by traffickers. Ezekiel 27:13 mentions Javan and Tyre as trading in the persons of men. far from their border—far from Judea; so

Jonah 4:6 — being often more than a foot large, the collective leaves give good shelter from the heat. It grows rapidly, and fades as suddenly when injured. to deliver him from his grief—It was therefore grief, not selfish anger, which Jonah felt (see on Jonah 4:1). Some external comforts will often turn the mind away from its sorrowful bent.

Micah 7:11 — Jews shall be restored (Amos 9:11; Zechariah 12:6). shall the decree be far removed—namely, thy tyrannical decree or rule of Babylon shall be put away from thee, "the statutes that were not good" (Ezekiel 20:25) [CALVIN]. Psalms 102:13-16; Isaiah 9:4. The Hebrew is against MAURER'S translation, "the boundary of the city shall be far extended," so as to contain the people flocking into it from all nations (Micah 7:12; Isaiah 49:20; Isaiah 54:2).

Micah 7:4 — 4. as a brier—or thorn; pricking with injury all who come in contact with them (2 Samuel 23:6; 2 Samuel 23:7; Isaiah 55:13; Ezekiel 2:6). the day of thy watchmen—the day foretold by thy (true) prophets, as the time of "thy visitation" in wrath [GROTIUS]. Or,

Micah 7:9 — 9. bear—patiently. the indignation of the Lord—His punishment inflicted on me ( :-). The true penitent "accepts the punishment of his iniquity" (Leviticus 26:41; Leviticus 26:43); they who murmur against God, do not yet know their guilt (Job 40:4; Job 40:5). execute judgment for me—against my foe. God's people plead guilty before God; but, in respect to their human foes, they are innocent and undeserving

Nahum 2:10 — two first of the three being derivatives of the same root, and like in sound, and the number of syllables in them increasing in a kind of climax, intensify the gloomy effectiveness of the expression. Hebrew, Bukah, Mebukah, Mebullakah (compare Isaiah 24:1; Isaiah 24:3; Isaiah 24:4; Zephaniah 1:15). faces of all gather blackness—(See on Zephaniah 1:15- :). CALVIN translates, "withdraw (literally, 'gather up') their glow," or flush, that is, grow pale. This is probably the better rendering. So MAURER.

Zechariah 12:3 — 3. (Zechariah 14:4; Zechariah 14:6-9; Zechariah 14:13). JEROME states it was a custom in Palestine to test the strength of youths by their lifting up a massive stone; the phrase, "burden themselves with it," refers to this custom. Compare Zechariah 14:13- :: The Jews

Zechariah 2:12 — 12. Judah his portion in the holy land—Lest the joining of the Gentile "nations to Jehovah" (Zechariah 2:11) should lead the Jews to fear that their peculiar relation to Him (Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 9:29; Deuteronomy 32:9) as "His inheritance" should cease, this verse is added to assure them of His making them so hereafter "again." choose Jerusalem again—The course of God's grace was interrupted for a time, but His covenant was

Zechariah 5:7 — cannot escape from the ponderous load which presses her down. talent—literally, "a round piece": hence a talent, a weight of one hundred twenty-five pounds troy. woman—for comparison of "wickedness" to a woman, Proverbs 2:16; Proverbs 5:3; Proverbs 5:4. In personifying abstract terms, the feminine is used, as the idea of giving birth to life is associated with woman.

Mark 5:4 — 4. Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, c.—Luke says ( :-) that "oftentimes it [the unclean spirit] had caught him" and after mentioning how they had vainly tried to bind him with chains and fetters, because, "he brake the bands,"

Luke 1:74 — 74, 75. That he would grant us, &c.—How comprehensive is the view here given! (1) The purpose of all redemption—"that we should serve Him"—that is, "the Lord God of Israel" ( :-). The word signifies religious service distinctively—"the priesthood of

John 1:4 — 4. In Him was life—essentially and originally, as the previous verses show to be the meaning. Thus He is the Living Word, or, as He is called in 1 John 1:1; 1 John 1:2, "the Word of Life." the life . . . the light of men—All that in men which is true

John 10:22 — purification of the temple from the profanations to which it had been subjected by Antiochus Epiphanes 165 B.C., and kept for eight days, from the twenty-fifth Chisleu (December), the day on which Judas began the first joyous celebration of it (1 Maccabees 4:52,56,59; and JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 7.7.7). it was winter—implying some inclemency. Therefore,

John 8:24 — 24. if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins—They knew well enough what He meant (Mark 13:6, Greek; compare Matthew 24:5). But He would not, by speaking it out, give them the materials for a charge for which they were watching. At the

Acts 10:25 — the Greeks and Romans it was reserved for the gods. Peter, therefore, declines it as due to no mortal [GROTIUS]. "Those who claim to have succeeded Peter, have not imitated this part of his conduct" [ALFORD] (therein only verifying 2 Thessalonians 2:4, and compare Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:9).

Romans 11:18 — Gentile boast over the seed of Abraham; for what is thy standing, O Gentile, in relation to Israel, but that of a branch in relation to the root? From Israel hath come all that thou art and hast in the family of God; for "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22).

Romans 15:19 — word preached, as well as the working of the miracles which attested it. so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto—"as far as" Illyricum—to the extreme northwestern boundary of Greece. It corresponds to the modern Croatia and Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10). See Acts 20:1; Acts 20:2. I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:9 — Christ; and yet in both the natural and the spiritual creations, the bride, while made for the bridegroom, in fulfilling that end, attains her own true "glory," and brings "shame" and "dishonor" on herself by any departure from it (1 Corinthians 11:4; 1 Corinthians 11:6).

1 Corinthians 8:4 — 4. As concerning, c.—resuming the subject begun in 1 Corinthians 8:1, "As touching," &c. idol is nothing—has no true being at all, the god it represents is not a living reality. This does not contradict 1 Corinthians 8:1- :, which states that they