Bible Commentaries

Jonah 4:6 — — Not only to refresh him (who having been so lately in the whale’s belly, was haply more tender skinned than before, and not so well able to endure the heat of the sun), but also to make way to that reproof he afterwards gave him, John 4:10 . Hoc enim externo signo, saith Mercer, for by this outward sign, God sporting with him, as it were, clearly convinceth him of his impatience, and admonisheth him of his duty; and this he thinketh was not done till the forty days were over. To deliver

Micah 3:4 — were) of a prayer, and yet bring forth nothing but wind, Isaiah 26:16-18 . For either God answereth them not at all, which was Saul’s case and curse, 1 Samuel 28:15 , and Moab’s, Isaiah 16:12 , and David’s enemies’, Psalms 18:41 ; or else he give them bitter answers, Ezekiel 14:4 Judges 10:13-14 . Or if better; it is but for a further mischief, that he may curse their blessings, and consume them after that he had done them good, Joshua 24:20 . Their preservation from one evil

Micah 4:5 — this, many of them? As for the vulgar sort of them, they are headlong and headstrong, resolved to retain contra gentes against the people, the senseless superstitions transmitted unto them by their progenitors. But what saith the oracle, Revelation 14:7 ? "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and" (whatever your ancestors did) "worship you him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." And we will walk in the name

Micah 6:1 — preface, wherein he woos their attention: Audite quaeso, Hear, I pray you. Ministers are spokesmen for Christ, and must therefore give good words: and yet remembering on whose errand they come, it is required that they be found faithful, 1 Corinthians 4:2 . Arise, contend thou — Surge, age, O Micah! Debate thou God’s cause against this rebellious and ungrateful people, as it were in judgment; calling all, even the insensible creatures, to be judges. See the like Deuteronomy 32:1 Isaiah

Micah 6:7 — or Saturn, 2 Kings 17:15-17 ; 2 Kings 21:5-7 ; 2 Kings 23:10 , and that in an apish imitation of Abraham’s offering his son Isaac. To the same Saturn the Phoenicians are said to have sacrificed the best of their sons (Euseb. Praep. Evang. lib. 4). So did the Carthaginians, as Diodorus Siculus testifies. And when as they had for a while left off so to do, and were overcome by Agathocles, they (supposing that the gods were therefore angry with them, because they had not done as formerly) slew

Micah 7:4 — folded together as thorns, and while they be drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry, Nahum 1:10 , as sear thorns under the pot, Ecclesiastes 7:6 . I will go through these briers, saith God, I will burn them together, Isaiah 27:4 , they shall be utterly burnt with fire in the same place, 2 Samuel 23:7 , that is, in hell, as some interpret it. The day of thy watchmen, and thy visitation cometh — Where sin is in the saddle punishment will be upon the crupper. A leathern

Micah 7:7 — unto those hills of heaven, from whence cometh my help, Psalms 121:1 ; I will pray and look up, Psalms 5:3 ; I will keep close communion with the Lord, and by faith commit the keeping of my soul to him in welldoing, as unto a faithful Creator, 1 Peter 4:19 . This I will do; and yet more than this. I will wait for the God of my salvation — If he tarry, I will wait for him; because he will surely come, he will not tarry, Habakkuk 2:3 . This is the voice of faith; and here is the faith and patience

Nahum 2:11 — righteousness, as Micah 3:2-3 . Such a mighty hunter, or devourer of men and nations, was Nimrod (the first founder of this Assyrian monarchy), and became a proverb against all tyrants and persecutors, Genesis 10:9 . Such a lion was Nero, 2 Timothy 4:17 . Such a tiger Tiberius, of whom one saith, that he laid hold with his teeth on all the excellent spirits of his time; Domitian, who, not content with the blood of Christians, commanded all Jews that were of the stock of David to be sought out, and

Nahum 3:4 — bewitching religion, none like it. The mistress of witchcrafts — Harlots are many of them enchantresses; and have their philtra, their love potions, wherewith to ensnare men, and to draw them on to lewdness, and to take away their hearts, Hosea 4:11 . Athenaeus brings in Plato bewailing himself, that he was taken so much with a filthy harlot. And Aelian tells of a whore that boasted to Socrates that she could easily get followers from him, not he from her. Of Samson and Hercules (whom some think

Habakkuk 2:4 — a continual serenity, as Enoch did; and sealeth him a double charter of privative and positive privileges. See it set down 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 . Faith makes him live in the mouth of death, by strengthening him against the horrors of it, Psalms 23:4 Romans 8:38 Hebrews 11:31 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 , and by showing him heaven beyond it, Hebrews 11:13 , and therein freedom from all evil, fruition of all good.

Zephaniah 1:12 — neither will he do evil. I will search Jerusalem with candles — Which yet he needs not do, sith the "darkness hideth not front him, but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are to him alike," Psalms 139:12 cf. Job 34:22 Jeremiah 23:24 . Deo obscura lucent, muta respondent, silentium confitetur, Night will convert itself into noon before God, and silence become a speaking evidence. His eyes also are "a flaming fire," that needs no outward light, but sees

Zephaniah 3:5 — face, that he basheth nothing. Et pudet non esse impudentem, he is past all grace, as we say, and as good at resisting the Holy Ghost as ever those Jews were that had a whore’s forehead, Jeremiah 3:3 , sinews of iron and brows of brass, Isaiah 48:4 . When neither fear of God nor shame of the world will rein men in, what hope is there of such? Illum ego periisse dico cui periit pudor, saith Curtius, a heathen. He is an undone man that knoweth no shame. Prevent it in time; for the modest beginnings

Haggai 2:17 — not wisely inquire into the cause thereof; as David did into the cause of the famine that fell out in his days, 2 Samuel 21:1 . God had not hitherto "given them a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear," as it is Deuteronomy 29:4 . And as Isaiah 9:13 "The people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts." But after their hardness and impenitent heart treasured up wrath, …, Romans 2:5 . They could not but see themselves grievously

Zechariah 14:10 — The limits of the Church shall be greatly enlarged; the rough and rugged mountains being made as the smooth and pleasant champaigns. The faithful shall pass from Geba to Rimmon, from the mountains of myrrh and hills of frankincense, Song of Solomon 4:6 , to the pomegranates, for so Rimmon signifieth, and from the plenty of that fruit there this place seemeth to have taken its name (Masius in Joshua 19:18 ); that is, from humiliation and supplication for pardon and power against corruption, to love

Zechariah 14:18 — the feast of tabernacles. And if the family of Egypt — So called from one Aiguptos, a king there. In the Hebrew it is called mostly Mizraim, from one of that name, Genesis 10:6 ; sometimes, for its power and pride, it is called Rahab, Psalms 87:4 ; Psalms 89:11 Isaiah 51:9 . The family of Egypt is here put for the whole nation (see the like Amos 3:1 ), because, after the confusion of tongues especially, nations took their origin and denomination from the head of some family; as did the Egyptians

Zechariah 14:8 — them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem — i.e. Abundance of spiritual graces, frequently in Scripture compared to waters, for their cooling, cleansing, quickening property, Isaiah 44:3 Ezekiel 36:25 ; Ezekiel 47:1 ; John 7:38 . And of these waters, without all doubt, our baptism, ordained of God, is a figure and sacrament. "Living waters" they are called; that is, running, as a spring, not standing, as a pool. The godly

Zechariah 2:8 — non patiunfur iocos, The eye and the good name will endure no jests. Let persecutors take heed how they meddle with God’s eyes. "He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against God and prospered?" Job 9:4 . Some read the text thus; He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his own eye, that is, he very grievously hurteth himself, as procuring and pulling down upon his own head the sharp wrath and vengeance of God. But the former is the better.

Matthew 2:1 — he came: scarcely were there four, or fewer, found, that waited for the consolation of Israel. Then, also, when among the poor Gentiles a plentiful harvest, a very great number of elect, were ready ripe,Matthew 9:37; Matthew 9:37 ; Luke 10:2 ; John 4:35 . Then, when cuncta atque continua totius generis humani aut pax fuit, aut pactio (Flor.), then came the Prince of Peace into the world, when all was at peace throughout the world. Behold, there came wise men — Neither kings nor cunning men,

Matthew 2:23 — and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth — Hence an opinion among the people that he was born there, John 7:42 and so could not be the Messiah, as the Pharisees on that ground persuaded: "For can any good come out of Nazareth?" John 1:46 . The devils also, though they confessed him "the Holy One of God," Mark 1:24-25 yet they cunningly call

Matthew 5:24 — Dissension and ill will will lie at the wellhead and stop the current. The spirit of grace and supplication will be grieved by bitterness, anger, clamour; yea, made thereby to stir with discontent, and to withdraw, as loathing his lodging, Ephesians 4:30-31 . Si quis est qui neminem in gratiam putat redire posse, non nostram is perfidiam arguit, sed indicat suam. (Cic. Epist. lib. 2. eph 17.) Menander tamen dicit, reconciliationes esse lupinas amicitias. First be reconciled to thy brother —