Bible Commentaries

Genesis 18:1 — And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And the Lord appeared unto him. — 1. Ut proeludium incarnationis . 2. Ex philanthropia ;" his delight" is "in the habitable part of" God’s "earth". Proverbs 8:31 And he sat in the tent-door. — He dwelt in a tent (let us be content, though we dwell

Genesis 2:3 — πνευατικως μελετη νομου χαιρων ου σωματος ανσει Ignat. Ephesians 3:1-21 , Ad Magnesios. Spac. Europae exhorts. And sanctified it, — i.e., consecrated and set it apart for holy use; as they sanctified, that is, appointed Kedesh for a city of refuge Joshua 20:7 , margin.

Genesis 25:20 — Laban the Syrian. And Isaac was forty years old. — He was not overhasty to marry in the heat of his youth: but by hard labour, ardent prayers, and pious meditations, kept under his body, and brought it into subjection, as St Paul likewise did. 1 Corinthians 9:27 "We are not debtors to the flesh"; Romans 8:12 we owe it nothing but stripes, nothing but the blue eye, that the apostle gave it.

Genesis 26:20 — they strove with him. And the herdmen of Gerar. — Not content to have cast him out, they pursued him, with cruel hatred; and, by denying him water, went about to destroy both him and his herds. Crosses seldom come single, but in a crowd. James 1:2 "The clouds return after the rain," Ecclesiastes 12:2 and cluster against a new storm. See, therefore, that ye keep your cloak close about you.

Genesis 29:28 — her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. And Jacob did so. — A mirror of patience; which, in Jacob here, had line and rope, "her perfect work"; showing him to be "perfect and entire, wanting nothing". James 1:3-4 Godly people can bear wrongs best of any: compel them to go a mile, they will be content, if it may do good, to go twain; Matthew 5:41 yea, as far as the shoes of "the preparation of the gospel of peace" Ephesians 6:15 will carry them.

Genesis 35:15 — him, Bethel. She had hard labour. — Woman, of all creatures, bringeth forth with most pain and peril, as the philosopher Arist., De Anima., lib. vii. observeth, and experience confirmeth. Her only way is to send for Lady Faith, the best midwife; 1 Timothy 2:15 and thereby to repose upon him whose "voice causeth the hinds to calve," Psalms 29:9 which yet, of all brute creatures, bring forth with greatest trouble, "bowing themselves," bruising their young, and "casting

Genesis 37:27 — our hand be upon him; for he [is] our brother [and] our flesh. And his brethren were content. For he is our brother, and our flesh. — This consideration should be, as the angel’s call to Abraham, to stay our hand from striking another; (1.) That he is our brother, in respect of God; for "have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" Malachi 2:10 (2.) That he is "our flesh," in regard of our first parents. Acts 17:26 Isaiah 58:7

Genesis 43:18 — the men were afraid. — Where no fear was; but that an ill conscience haunted them, and so "the sound of a shaken leaf" Leviticus 26:36 put them into a fright. As every body hath its shadow, so hath every sin its fear; and fear torment. 1 John 4:18

Genesis 9:1 — mankind, he blesseth them in like manner as before the fall. Sin once pardoned, is as if it never had been committed. Christ tells his returning Shulamite, that she was as amiable in every point as she had been before her relapse, Song of Solomon 4:1 her hair, teeth, temples, all as fair and well-featured as ever.

Exodus 1:1 — whole law, say the Schoolmen, is but one copulative. The whole Scripture but Cor et anima Dei, saith a father, Illyric. Clavit. the heart and soul of God, uttered "by the mouth of the holy prophets, which have been since the world began." Luke 1:70

Exodus 20:3 — command, he never said, Let some one do this; but, Do thou this. Hoc tu facias. - Xenophon’s Cyropaed. No other gods before me. — But "know" and "serve" me alone "with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind." 1 Chronicles 28:9 Hoc primo praecepto reliquorum omnium observantia praecipitur, saith Luther. In this first commandment the keeping of all the other nine is commanded. See Trapp (for summary of Law) on " Exodus 20:17 "

Exodus 23:19 — into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk. The first of the firstfruits. — The best of the best is not to be held too good for God. His "soul hath desired the first ripe fruits." Micah 7:1 Thou shalt not seethe a kid. — Hereby seemeth to be forbidden either cruelty, or curiosity to please the palate. See my "Commonplace of Abstinence." The Jews at this day, in reference to this law, may not eat flesh and cheese or milk

Exodus 3:18 — to the LORD our God. Hath met with us. — Of his own accord, and without our seeking. Nolentem praevenit Deus ut velit, volentem subsequitur ne frustra velit. Aug., Enchir., cap. 32. "I am found of those that sought me not." Isaiah 65:1

Exodus 32:10 — power of prayer; able, after a sort, to transfuse a dead palsy into the hand of Omnipotency. For, Let me alone, the Chaldee hath, Leave off thy prayer: but Moses would not. If he get but his head above water, the Lord shall hear of David. Psalms 69:1-3

Leviticus 4:22 — When a ruler hath sinned, and done [somewhat] through ignorance [against] any of the commandments of the LORD his God [concerning things] which should not be done, and is guilty; When a ruler hath sinned. — Great men’s sins do more hurt, (1.) By imitation; for, Vita principis censura est, imo Cynosura; according to these glasses most men dress themselves: (2.) By imputation; for, plectuntur achivi; the poor people pay for it; as they did for David’s, whether ignorance or infirmity,

1 Thessalonians 1:4 — Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. Knowing, brethren beloved of God — Knowing it by the judgment of charity, not of infallibility. He that believeth hath the witness in himself, 1 John 5:10 . But the white stone, the new name, and the hidden man of the heart are not certainly known to any, but to such as have them. Howbeit, holy men in some degree are known one to another, to make the communion of saints the sweeter. Strong confidence

James 1:18 — that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Of his own will begat he us — Gr. απεκυησε , brought he us forth, as a special instance of his free grace and fatherly goodness, Ephesians 1:4-5 . The word properly signifies, He did the office of a mother to us, the bringing us into the light of life. The Hebrew word éìã also signifieth genuit, peperit, parturiit; et est proprium feminarum: quamvis eleganter de viro

1 Peter 2:4 — To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, As unto a living stone — Living and all quickening, as Acts 7:38 . Lively, that is, lifegiving oracles. He that hath the Son hath life, 1 John 5:12 . Disallowed indeed of men — For the cock on the dunghill knoweth not the price of this jewel. And precious — Far beyond that most orient and excellent stone Pantarbe, celebrated by Philostratus (in Vita Apol.); or that precious

1 John 2:14 — you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Because ye have known him — The same again as 1 John 2:13 , which to a carnal heart may seem superfluous. Et certe si humano ingenio conscripti essent libri illi, quos pro sacris (ira ut verissime sunt) agnoscimus et veneramur, bonum alicubi dormitasse Homerum disceremus, said one. But far be it

Revelation 5:11 — thousands; Round about the throne and the beasts — That is, round about the beasts and the elders. Angels encamp about the saints, as ministering spirits, and are glad of the office, that their God manifested in the flesh may be seen of them, 1 Timothy 3:16 , and the multifarious wisdom of God in man’s redemption be displayed unto them, Ephesians 3:10 .