Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 24:10 — At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. At that time. — About the spring. 2 Chronicles 36:10 Much about the same time was Cyrus born for a scourge to Babylon, Cic. de Divin. ex Dionys. but for a relief to God’s poor prisoners of hope there; according as Isaiah had foretold, Isaiah 47:1-2 ; Isaiah 13:16 and the psalmist. Psalms 137:8-9 See Isaiah 44:28 ; Isaiah 45:1-4 .

1 Chronicles 15:2 — Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever. None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites. — This should have been better considered before. The law was clear. Numbers 4:5-15 Wit is best, they say, when bought. For ever. — Let our lay preachers look to it. Ill accidents attend them, as did Uzzah and Uzziah.

2 Chronicles 18:3 — And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead? And he answered him, I [am] as thou [art], and my people as thy people; and [we will be] with thee in the war. I am as thou art. — See 1 Kings 22:4 . Jehoshaphat was too facile. It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis, of too good a nature, as we say of some.

Psalms 103:9 — He will not always chide: neither will he keep [his anger] for ever. He will not always chide — His still revenges are terrible, Genesis 6:3 , with 1 Peter 3:19 , but God, being appeased towards the penitent people, will not show his anger so much as in words, Isaiah 57:16 . Neither will he keep his anqer for ever — Much less must we, Leviticus 19:18 Ephesians 4:26 , though against his enemies God is expressly said to keep it, Nahum 1:2 .

Psalms 119:10 — With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. With my whole heart have I sought thee — And that of a child little, being nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, 1 Timothy 4:6 . I did all the wills of God, and so became a man after his own heart, Acts 13:22 . O let me not wander — As I shall surely, if thou but withdraw thy grace; for I subsist merely by thy manutension.

Psalms 69:28 — Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. Let them be blotted out, … — Wherein they were never indeed written among those living in Jerusalem, Isaiah 4:3 , those firstborn whose names are written in heaven, Hebrews 12:23 , but they accounted themselves of that number, and were so esteemed by others. This was a mistake, and the psalmist prayeth God to make it appear so, Ne videantur in albun tuorum

Psalms 76:6 — At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. At thy rebuke, O God, … — i.e. With thy mighty word of command, and without any more ado. God can nod men to destruction, Psalms 80:16 , blow them into hell, Job 4:9 , rebuke them to death, as here; do it with as much ease as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim, Isaiah 25:11 , The chariot and horse — The chieftains of the army.

Proverbs 4:20 — My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. My son, attend to my words. — Still he calls for attention, as knowing our dulness and fickle headedness. It fared with the prophet Zechariah as with a drowsy person, who, though awaked and set to work, is ready to sleep at it. Zechariah 4:1 It fares with many of us as with little children, who, though saying their lessons, yet must needs look off to see the feather that flies by them.

Isaiah 7:5 — Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, Because Syria, Ephraim, … — This was the fruit of their fury fuming out at their noses, Isaiah 7:4 and proving like smoke, which the higher it riseth, the sooner it vanisheth; or like the bubbles blown up into the air by children, into whose eyes they soon fall back again. There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord. Proverbs

Isaiah 7:7 — Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. It shall not stand. — The counsel of the Lord, that shall stand Psalms 33:11 when the world’s wizards shall be taken in their own craftiness. 1 Corinthians 3:19 It shall not be. — All their projects are dashed by a word. Video, rideo, saith he that sitteth in heaven, Psalms 2:4 I look and laugh; and wherein they dealt proudly, I am above them. Exodus 18:11

Jeremiah 13:4 — therefore thither seemeth to have been but visional, as was Isaiah’s going barefoot, Hosea’s marriage with a whore, Ezekiel’s lying on one side three hundred and ninety days together; his journey from Chaldea to Jerusalem. Ezekiel 8:3-4

Jeremiah 22:16 — He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then [it was] well [with him: was] not this to know me? saith the LORD. He judged the cause of the poor and needy. — And so took a right course, a thriving way. Proverbs 29:4 Was not this to know me? saith the Lord, — i.e., To show that he knew me soundly and savingly; while he exercised his general calling in his particular, and observed the first table of the decalogue in the second.

Jeremiah 32:16 — Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying, I prayed unto the Lord, saying. — His heart began to boil with unbelief and carnal reasonings; he therefore setteth himself to pray down those distempers. As a man may sleep out his drunkenness, so he may pray away his perturbations. It was Job’s restraining of prayer, Eliphaz thought, that made him so far to forget himself, and to extravagant. Job 15:4

Ezekiel 1:25 — And there was a voice from the firmament that [was] over their heads, when they stood, [and] had let down their wings. And there was a voice from the firmament, — i.e., From above the firmament, even from Christ on the throne. When they stood. — When all was hushed. So Revelation 8:1 , there was half-an-hour’s silence in heaven, that is, in the Church on earth, when the seventh seal was opened. Sedate and silent spirits are fittest to hear Christ’s voice. Job 4:16

Ezekiel 12:1 — The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying, The word of the Lord also came unto me. — This variety of visions shows the great unbelief of the people, whose captivity and calamity is here further described and assured by a new type, which is set out in Ezekiel 12:1-6:, and then applied in Ezekiel 12:7-16 . One sermon pegs in another, and the man of God must stick to his work, and επιστηθι , stand over it. 2 Timothy 4:2

Ezekiel 13:13 — Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend [it] with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in [my] fury to consume [it]. I will even rend it with a stormy wind. — Vento turbinum; with a whirlwind or hurricane. See Isaiah 25:4 ; Isaiah 29:6 Jeremiah 23:19 . And great hailstones in my fury. — Thrice in this one Ezekiel 13:11: is fury threatened, so hot is God’s displeasure against seducers.

Daniel 6:28 — So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. So this Daniel prospered. — And still solicited the Church’s cause. And in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. — Under whom he affronted the counsellors hired against the returned Jews. Ezra 4:5 ; cf. Ezra 10:1 ; cf. Ezra 10:3 He lived also under Cambyses, but was out of credit with that rakeshame. One who covers himself with shame; an ill-behaved, disorderly, or dissolute fellow. ŒD

Matthew 14:18 — He said, Bring them hither to me. Bring them hither to me — Bring we all we have and are to Christ, that he may take off the curse and add the blessing. What the apostle saith of meat and marriage, is true of the rest, "all things are sanctified by the word and prayer," 1 Timothy 4:3 . To teach the people this it was, that the fruit of the trees was not to be eaten till the trees were circumcised, Leviticus 19:23 .

Matthew 26:10 — When Jesus understood it , he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. Why trouble ye the woman? — Christ will patronize his welldoers, and stick to them, though all forsake them, 2 Timothy 4:16-17 . He many times pleads for them in the consciences of their greatest enemies, who spend more thoughts about such than the world is aware of: and are "afraid of the name of God, whereby they are called," Deuteronomy 28:9-10 .

Matthew 4:25 — suitors), "to thee shall all flesh come," Psalms 65:2 . Christ’s miracles drew multitudes after him then; and should still affect us with admiration and strong affection for the gospel, as the author to the Hebrews showeth, Hebrews 2:3-4 .