Bible Commentaries

Job 13:10 — for his sake, and under a pretence of doing him right, condemn me for a wicked hypocrite, whom till thus afflicted, you ever counted honest and upright. This the righteous judge, who loveth judgment, and hateth robbery for a burnt offering, Isaiah 61:8 , will at no hand endure. No, but he will certainly reprove you, arguendo arguet, he will surely and severely blame and punish you. Carry it never so cleanly, cover it so closely, God, who seeth in secret, will reprove you openly; that is, he will

Job 22:6 — taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. For thou hast taken a pledge, … — Bona verba, quaeso, I seek good words, Eliphaz. How well might Job have cried out, as David afterwards did, Psalms 35:11 , "False witnesses rose up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not." Here he stands accused, 1. Of inhumanity and cruelty; 2. Of irreligion and impiety. But he fully cleareth himself of both, Job 30:1-31 ; Job 31:1-40 Athanasius in

Job 23:3 — Dια , was an ordinary oath in Plato’s mouth, as Suidas recordeth. That I might come even to his seat! — His tribunal prepared for him. Venirem usque ad stationem eius (Mercer). Great is the confidence of a good conscience. See Genesis 20:5 1 Peter 3:21 . But yet haec certe omnia audacius dicuntur a misero homuncione, this was too bold a speech for a mortal creature, as God himself (who gave him his wish) will afterwards tell him, Job 38:2 ; Job 40:2 , and contrary to that which he had before

Job 25:4 — miseries, a very mixture and compound of dirt and sin, be justified with God? How can he be perfect within himself without the gift of grace, without an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Just One, who alone is the propitiation for our sins, 1 John 2:2 Romans 3:25 , who is made unto us of God, wisdom, righteousness, …? 1 Corinthians 1:30 . Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? — And therefore born in sin and under a curse, the sign whereof appears in the woman’s

Psalms 46:1 — « To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. » God [is] our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Upon Alamoth — i.e. Upon the Virginals. Virgins with their shrill treble tune, 1 Chronicles 15:20 , used (belike) to sing this triumphant psalm, and to play it on the instrument; and their hearts were somewhat suitable to it. The penman some think to have been David, upon occasion of those notable victories, 2 Samuel 8:1-14 ; others,

Proverbs 14:12 — There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man. — Sin comes clothed with a show of reason; Exodus 1:10 and lust will so blear the understanding, that he shall think that there is great sense in sinning. "Adam was not deceived"; 1 Timothy 2:14 that is, he was not so much deceived by his judgment - though also by that too - as by his affection

Proverbs 20:17 — Bread of deceit [is] sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. Bread of deceit is sweet to a man. — Sin’s murdering morsels will deceive those that devour them. There is a deceitfulness in all sin, Hebrews 3:13 a lie in all vanity. Jeremiah 2:8 The stolen waters of adultery are sweet, Proverbs 9:17 but bitterness in the end: such sweet meat hath sour sauce. Commodities craftily or cruelly compassed, yield a great deal of content for present. But when the

Proverbs 22:22 — matter, and that of best note too. But behold here is nothing but what we had before. It is truth, saith the wise man; and yet I must tell you, that "to write the same things, to me indeed is not grievons, but for you it is safe." Philippians 3:1 See the like in Psalms 49:1-3 , … The scope of the psalm is to show the happy and secure estate of the saints in trouble, and the slippery condition of the wicked when at their height. Now whereas some might object and say, This is an ordinary

Proverbs 25:15 — taken he should not escape thence, yet it gave the king’s wrath a time to cool, and himself leisure to make his apology, by reason whereof he was afterwards restored to the king’s favour and former places of honour. Godwin’s Catal., p. 164. So true is that of the philosopher, Maximum irae remedium est dilatio, Sen., De Ira. and that of the poet - “Ut fragilis glacies, interit ira mora.” - Ovid. There are those who read and sense the words thus: By meekness a prince is appeased

Proverbs 31:6 — strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Give strong drink to him, … — To those that stand at the bar, rather than to them that sit on the bench. Wine maketh glad the heart of man. Judges 9:13 Psalms 104:15 Plato calls wine and music the μαλακτικα - mitigators of men’s miseries. Hence that laudable custom among the Jews at funerals to invite the friends of the deceased to a feast, and

Ecclesiastes 2:24 — see it any more. But this they needed never to have done, for the Preacher expressly calls carnal mirth "madness" in this very chapter, and shows that the happiness of a man stands in fearing God and keeping his commandments; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 all which is point blank against atheism and epicurism. And whereas here and elsewhere the liberal use of the creatures is commended and commanded; this is done in opposition to, and detestation of, such parsimonious penny fathers as deny themselves

Ecclesiastes 4:12 — prevail against him, … — Vis unita fortior. God bade Gideon to go down to the camp of the Midianites, and if he feared to go, then to take with him his servant Phurah. Jonathan will not go without his armourbearer - David without Abishai. 1 Samuel 26:6 Christ, when to begin his passion in the garden, took Peter, James, and John with him, for the benefit of their prayers and company, though they served him but sorrily. "My dove is but one." Song of Solomon 6:9 "Jerusalem

Song of Solomon 8:12 — non quia pulchram, sed quia suam. Seneca. Every man loves his own things best. The Church is Christ’s own by a manifold right, by donation, conquest, purchase - not with silver and gold, but with the dearest and warmest blood in all his heart. 1 Peter 1:18 No wonder therefore though she be always before him; though he look carefully to her that cost him so dear, that he trust not others with her, as Solomon was forced to do; but whomsoever he employs about her - "for we are labourers together

Isaiah 11:9 — is fully explained. In God’s Holy Mountain-that is, in the Church - there shall be a holy, harmless, and a sweet harmony of hearts. The word among them shall be this, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." 1 John 4:11 Some differences and jars there may occur among the best, as did between Paul and Barnabas, Jerome and Augustine, Luther and Zuinglius; but these last not long - at utmost but till they come to heaven; and the ground of such a distemper is,

Isaiah 33:15 — walketh righteously, — q.d., Though you cannot, yet there are those that can, viz., "those that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Surely to such there is "no one condemnation." Romans 8:1 Christ standeth as a screen between the wrath of God and his elect, for whose sake also this paschal lamb was once for all roasted in the fire of his Father’s indignation, whereby they are not only "delivered from the wrath to come,"

Hosea 2:22 — hear Jezreel. And the earth shall hear — That is, shall bear great store of grain, wine, and oil ( vinum pendulum, i.e. uvas ). New and fresh oil the word signifies, newly expressed, clear and shining, such as is called golden oil, Zechariah 4:12 . God’s dear children shall have the best of the best, Isaiah 55:1-6 . Even the kidneys of wheat, or whatsoever dainties the earth can afford them. They shall suck honey out of the rock; or, if it be but water, yet it shall be to them as sweet

Joel 2:22 — wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field — q.d. Ye shall have no cause to fear for the future: though hitherto ye have suffered hardship, Joel 1:18 . Beasts and birds do in diem vivere to live for the day, (as Quintilian saith of them), and take no further thought than for present sustenance. But by a personification (as before the land, so here) the beasts that till it are forbidden to fear

Amos 1:9 — transgressions of Tyrus — That crown of the sea, Isaiah 23:8 , media insuperabilis unda, island unconquorerable by sea, till Alexander’s time, who joined it to the continent, and afterwards ruined it. Charged it is here as those before, 1. With incurable obstinace; 2. With extreme cruelty. Because they delivered up the whole captivity — Which either themselves had taken, or that had fled to them for refuge in some common calamity; but were betrayed by them into the hands of their

Amos 5:18 — light. Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord — The day of his visitation when he will go through us, as you prophets would make believe. Where is the promise of his coming? Let him make speed and hasten his work, that we may see it, Isaiah 5:19 Jeremiah 17:15 . Let him increase his army and come down, Judges 9:29 . Such jeering and daring spirits there are still abroad. But do they provoke the Lord to anger? are they stronger than he? The great and terrible day of the Lord will come time

Amos 7:4 — thing. Another, to the sounding of a trumpet before some proclamation; or to the ringing of a bell before the sermon of some famous preacher. The Lord God called to contend by fire — That is, by parching heat and drought, causing dearth, as Joel 1:19 . For which purpose God called his angels, those ministering spirits, that execute his judgments upon the wicked (as they did once upon Sodom), to contend for him (a metaphor from civil courts), to plead for him by fire, to destroy the perverse Israelites