Bible Commentaries

Genesis 1:14 — firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: Genesis 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. Ver. 14,15. Let there be light. — The sun, moon, and stars, are, as it were, certain vessels, whereinto the Lord did gather the light, which before was scattered in the heavens. The sun, that prince of planets, but servant to the saints of the Most High,

Esther 2:18 — prince of Pictavia, at Ingelheim; whither when a great sort of players, fiddlers, jesters, and magicians resorted, he not only sent them away without reward, but also without meat and drink, which he liberally bestowed upon the poor. Funcc. ad annum 1044. Even Esther’s feast — So he called it, to testify his great affection and respect toward his spouse. This is no warrant for that Popish custom, of dedicating feasts to the honour of saints; or for that heathenish practice, in some places

Esther 2:7 — mother, and the maid [was] fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. And he brought up — He both nourished and nurtured her in the true religion and admonition of the Lord, Ephesians 6:4 , he was her foster-father and her instructor. Hadassah — Not the same with Atossa, as Tremellius would have it. Hadassah was the name given her by her parents, and it signifieth a myrtle tree, which loveth to grow in a bottom; whence the Church

Esther 5:9 — walnut shell with a little soap, but it shortly after falls down again into his eyes and vexeth him. And with a glad heart — But he rejoiced, as many more do, in a thing of nought, Amos 6:13 . And the end of his mirth was heaviness, Proverbs 14:13 . It was risus Sardonius, mirth of Sardonius, like that of those, who being stung with the Tarantula (a viper in Italy), die laughing and capering. Or as the dolphin, that sporteth most before a storm. Or as the little fishes, that swimming merrily

Esther 8:16 — substantial. Crede mihi, res severa est, gaudium verum. Believe me, saith Seneca, true joy is a severe and solid business, that few men are acquainted with. It is indeed the just man’s jewel, such as the stranger may not meddle with, Proverbs 14:13 , he is flatly forbidden it, Hosea 9:1 . The wicked man’s joy is of another alloy than that of the righteous. The light of a candle is fed with stinking tallow, but the light of the sun hath influence from heaven to feed it, and therefore is

Job 23:12 — be without meat, drink, light, anything, everything, saith one, than that sweet text, "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden," … (Selneccer). I would not for all the world, saith another, than that one verse, John 17:24 ("Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world"), had been left out of the Bible (Mr Baxter’s Saints’

Psalms 15:4 — as great as Antiochus Epiphanes, to whom the Samaritans, excusing themselves that they were no Jews, wrote thus, To Antiochus, the great god. Daniel counted and called him a vile person, Daniel 11:21 . So Elisha despised Jehoram the king, 2 Kings 3:14 ; we also must despise the wicked; yet non virum, sed vitium, et salvo cuique loci sui honore, giving honour, befitting their places, to whom honour is due, Romans 13:7 ., but shunning that partiality taxed by St James, James 2:3-4 . The burgess of

Proverbs 28:1 — None but their own consciences. Facti sunt a corde suo fugitivi, as Tertullian hath it. Such a fearful fugitive was bloody Cain, who cried out, when there were yet few or none to pursue him, "Every man that meets me shall kill me." Genesis 4:14 Such were those cursed Canaanites that were chased by God’s hornet sent among them - that is, by the blood hounds of their own consciences. Joshua 24:12 Such were those Syrians that, struck with a panic terror, fled for their lives, and left

Proverbs 29:18 — Israelites about Asa’s time, that for a long season had been "without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law." 2 Chronicles 15:3 Then it was that God’s "people were destroyed for lack of knowledge"; Hosea 4:6 and not long after, that they sorrowfully complained that there was "no more any prophet among them, nor any that knew how long" Psalms 74:9 - no minister, ordinary or extraordinary. How did it pity our Saviour to see the people "as

Ecclesiastes 11:1 — goods. Alms must not be given, said a martyr, Acts and Mon., fol. 765. until it have sweat in a man’s hand. "Let him labour, working with his hands," saith the apostle, "that he may have to give to him that needeth." Ephesians 4:28 And the bountiful man giveth of his bread to the poor, saith Solomon. Proverbs 22:9 God hateth to have ex rapina holocaustum, a sacrifice of things got by rapine and robbery; Amos 2:8 "With such sacrifices God is not well pleased." Wherefore,

Ecclesiastes 7:26 — the Persian kings, that they were captivarum suarum captivi, Plutarch. captives to their concubines, who dared to take the crown from their heads, or do anything to them almost, when others might not come near them uncalled upon pain of death Esther 4:11 Whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her. — As Joseph did, and Bellerophon, though with a difference: Joseph out of a principle of chastity, Bellerophon of continence. The continent person refrains either for love of praise, or fear of punishment,

Ecclesiastes 7:8 — in that heat, they caught a surfeit, and fell into a consumption. And the patient in spirit is better than the proud, … — Pride is the mother of impatience, as infidelity is of pride. "The just shall live by faith" Habakkuk 2:4 - live upon promises, reversions, hopes - wait deliverance or want it, if God will have it so. "But his soul, which," for want of faith to ballast it, "is lifted up," and so presumes to set God a time wherein to come or never come,

Ecclesiastes 9:11 — see in the examples of Gideon, Jonathan and his armourbearer, David in his encounter with Goliath, Leonidas, who with six hundred men worsted five hundred thousand of Xerxes’ host. "They shall be holpen with a little help." Daniel 11:34 And why a little? That through weaker means we may see God’s greater strength. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." Zechariah 4:6 This Rabshakeh knew not, and therefore derided Hezekiah for trusting to his

Song of Solomon 1:5 — because they are not in the skin, but in the flesh and bones, in the sinews and the most inward parts. Howbeit the Church is freed from the damning and domineering power of sin. And whereas (3.) She is looked upon as "black," (Job 30:30; Lamentations 4:8; Jeremiah 8:21) because of her afflictions, those fruits of sin, and seems to have lain among the pots, as the Psalmist hath it, places where scullions use to lie, and so are black and collied, yet shall she be "as the wings of a dove that are covered

Song of Solomon 3:11 — wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, — i.e., All ye faithful souls which follow the Lord Christ, the Lamb that stands upon Mount Zion. Revelation 14:1 ; Revelation 14:4 Ye shall not need to go far - and yet far ye would go, I daresay, to see such a gallant sight as King Solomon in his royalty: the Queen of Sheba did - behold he is at hand, "Tell ye the daughters of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh,"

Song of Solomon 4:16 — conjunction that is between him and her, Ephesians 5:30 so that they both make but one mystical Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12 Now, we all know that to a complete garden are necessary (1.) That it be well enclosed; (2.) Well planted; (3.) Well watered; (4.) That it be amoena caeli aspiratione perflabilis, well situated for wind and air; (5.) That it be fruitful and profitable. The Church’s garden hath every one of these good properties, as appears here; and for the fourth, Christ is all the diverse

Song of Solomon 4:9 — to itself; it is the evidence of things not seen, Hebrews 11:1 while it "looks not at the things which are seen" - scil., with the eye of sense - "but at the things that are not seen," viz., but by the eye of faith, 2 Corinthians 4:18 whereby Moses "saw him who is invisible." Hebrews 11:27 Let as many as would "behold the King in his beauty," study Moses’ optics, get a patriarch’s eye, "see Christ’s day afar off," as Abraham did,

Malachi 2:13 — etc.) ), Dios no los tolerará más. De aquellos antiguos israelitas se les exige, no sin gran indignación por parte de Dios, "¿Con qué frecuencia lo provocaron en el desierto y lo afligieron en el desierto? Sí, se volvieron y tentaron a Dios", etc. Salmo 78:40,41 . Buenos hombres, si caen una vez en malas prácticas, no lo hacen a menudo. De Judá se registra expresamente que ya no conocía a Tamar. Lot ciertamente cometió incesto dos noches juntos; pero el orificio de su lujuria aún no fue detenido por el

Malachi 3:14 — Habéis dicho: Servir a Dios es en vano; ¿y de qué aprovechamos que hayamos guardado su ordenanza y que hayamos andado con tristeza delante del SEÑOR de los ejércitos? Ver. 14. Habéis dicho: Vano es servir a Dios ] Vulgata: Vano es el que sirve a Dios. Estáis ociosos, estáis ociosos, dijo Faraón a los israelitas, cuando tenían necesidad de ir al sacrificio; ya Moisés y Aarón: Dejáis al pueblo de sus obras. Cualquier cosa

Matthew 7:3 — clavos, Jeremias 23:29 , y Jeremias 23:29 en la misma cabeza, sí, aguijonear a los hombres al Eclesiastés 12:11 , Eclesiastés 12:11 ; para que el corazón del pueblo se rompa, como el de ellos, Hechos 2:37 , o estalle, como el de ellos, Hechos 7:54 . Una doctrina general, no aplicada, es como una espada sin filo, no en sí misma, sino para nosotros, a través de nuestra singular falta de cercas: o, como un pan completo ante los niños, eso no les servirá de nada; los fuelles se quemarán en el fuego,