Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 51:3 — wilderness, to become a most pleasant and plentiful paradise. Chrysostom somewhere calleth them angels, and saith that they were puriores coelo afflictione facti, more clear than the azured sky. Joy and gladness shall be found in them. — See Isaiah 35:10 . Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. — Paul as the precentor sweetly sings and gives the note to us all, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us," … Ephesians 1:3-7

Isaiah 56:12 — shall be as this day, [and] much more abundant. Come ye. — The wicked have their "come ye," as well as the godly. Isaiah 2:3 See Trapp on " Isaiah 2:3 " I will fetch wine. — A pastor should be no winebibber or ale-stake. 1 Timothy 3:8 Ebrietas in se culpas complectitur omnes. Drunkenness is a soul fault in any man, saith Petrus Ravenas, but in a minister it is a sacrilege, especially if he draw on others to it, as here, and as the Popish priests do at Paris and Lovain,

Isaiah 59:2 — have hid [his] face from you, that he will not hear. But your iniquities have severed, — i.e., Have set you at a very great distance (hinted also by the redundance of speech that is here in the original), or rather defiance. Psalms 5:5 Proverbs 15:29 ; Proverbs 29:13 Nothing intricates our actions more than our sins, which do likewise ensnare our souls, while they are as a wall of separation between God and us, Ezekiel 43:8 and as an interstitium, such as is the firmament that divideth the upper

Isaiah 62:4 — Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. But thou shalt be called Hephzibah, — i.e., My delight is in her; as if Christ should say to his Church, as Judges 14:3 Tu mihi sola places, Ovid. De Arte Am. Thou art mine only joy. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him. Psalms 147:11 Let us reciprocate, Redamemus ergo sponsum. love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; not only with a love of desire, as Psalms

Isaiah 62:8 — drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured: The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, — i.e., By his almighty power, or, as Oecolampadius holdeth, by his Son, "by whom he made the world," and "upholdeth all things." Hebrews 1:2-3 Surely, I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies. — Or, If I do, yet I will give you to "suffer with joy the spoiling of your goods, as knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance."

Isaiah 66:7 — greater numbers than she could ever have believed. Subito ac simul. Suddenly and at the same time. That lady that brought forth as many at a birth as are days in the year Margaret, Countess of Henneburg. was nothing to her: nor those Hebrew women. Exodus 1:10 She was delivered of a man child. — For the which there is so great joy, John 16:21 and which is usually more able and active than a woman child. So, good and bold Christians, strong in faith; unless he meaneth Christ himself, saith Diodat,

Jeremiah 17:13 — shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. Shall be written in the earth, — i.e., Aeterna motre damnabuntur; they shall be hurled into hell, as not having their names written in heaven, Luke 10:20 where all that are "written among the living in Jerusalem" Isaiah 4:3 are enrolled. Hebrews 12:23 Non pro gloriosis sed pro probrosis habiti. See Psalms 17:14 . Prudentius rightly saith, that their names that are written in red letters

Jeremiah 17:19 — stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; Go and stand in the gate of the children. — The sheep gate, say some, whereof see Nehemiah 3:1 ; Nehemiah 3:32 ; Nehemiah 12:39 ; or, as others, the water gate, whereof Nehemiah 3:26 . A place it was of great resort and concourse, and therefore fittest for this new sermon to be made in first, though afterwards also he was to preach it in all

Jeremiah 29:7 — break prison, as those seedsmen of sedition, your false prophets, would persuade you, but frame to a peaceable and patient behaviour. "In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" Isaiah 30:15 And pray unto God for it, — sc., That in it you may "lead a peaceable and quiet life, in all godliness and honesty." 1 Timothy 2:2 Christians should improve their waiting months upon the King of saints, to pray for kings and all that

Jeremiah 39:16 — upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be [accomplished] in that day before thee. Go and speak unto Ebedmelech the Ethiopian. — Who yet was an Israelite indeed by his faith and religion, as was likewise Jether the Ishmaelite. 1 Chronicles 7:17 2 Samuel 17:25 Thus saith the Lord of hosts. — Who will not fail to give, unto him who showeth kindness to any prophet of his, a prophet’s reward. Matthew 10:41-42 Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil. —

Jeremiah 4:16 — out their voice against the cities of Judah. Make ye mention to the nations, — i.e., To the Jews, who haply are called the nations, because once better accounted of than all nations. Thus the saints are called "All things," Colossians 1:18 and the Rabbis have a saying, that those seventy souls which came down to Egypt with Jacob, were more worth than all the seventy nations of the world besides. That watchers are come. — Nebuchadnezzar’s body guard, say some. Heb., Notserim

Jeremiah 48:11 — lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. Moab hath been at ease from his youth. — And his ease hath destroyed him. as Proverbs 1:32 He dwelleth near the mare mortuum, and is become a very mare mortuum, i.e., a dead sea. Because he hath had no changes, therefore he feareth not God. Psalms 55:19 Sibi constat in facultatibus, …, he is rich and testy. Here is good booty for

Jeremiah 6:11 — assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with [him that is] full of days. Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord, — i.e., Of curses and menaces against this obstinate people. as Jeremiah 4:19 I am weary with holding in. — As hitherto I have done, and could still in compassion, but that of necessity I must obey God’s will, and be the messenger of his wrath. It is a folly to think that God’s ministers delight to fling daggers

Lamentations 2:11 — signifieth) are even drawn dry. I have wept till I can weep no more, as David did; or I have wept myself blind, as Faustus the son of Vortigern (once king of England) is said to have done. My bowels are troubled. — Heb., Bemudded. See Lamentations 1:20 . My liver is poured upon the earth. — I have well nigh vomited up my gall. as Job 16:13 For the destruction. — Heb., The breach even to shivers, as young trees or ships are broken by tempests. Because the children and sucklings swoon

Lamentations 3:39 — Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Wherefore doth a living man complain? — Mourn immoderately, or murmur causelessly. 1. If he mourn, let him mourn for his sin as the cause of his suffering; let him revenge upon that. 2. If he be tempted to murmur, let him remember that he is yet alive, and that is more than his part cometh to, since it is the Lord’s mercy that

Ezekiel 1:27 — round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. And I saw as the colour of amber. — See Ezekiel 1:4 . Heb., Chashmal, which being read backward, as the Cabbalists observe, is Lammashach, or Lammashiach - i.e., Messiah. As the appearance of fire. — Christ is very terrible in his executions; and even "our God" (as well as the Jews’

Ezekiel 14:13 — the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: Son of man. — See on Ezekiel 2:1 . When the land sinneth against me, — i.e., The inhabitants of the land; not as if the land itself were alive and indued with reason, as Origen Hom. 4, in loc. doated, and as Plato held that the Spirit of God was the soul of the world. By trespassing

Ezekiel 14:9 — stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. I the Lord have deceived that prophet. — I had not only a permissive, but an active hand in that imposture; not as a sin, but as a punishment of other sins. See 1 Kings 22:20 Job 12:16 Jeremiah 4:10 2 Thessalonians 2:11 . And I will stretch out mine hand upon him, — i.e., Upon that false prophet, who, although he hath thus acted, not without my providence, yet hath sinned against my law, which is the rule

Ezekiel 3:3 — did I eat [it]; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. Cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels, — i.e., Deeply and duly ponder and practise those holy truths thou hast to press upon others; preach thine own experiences, … See 1 Timothy 4:15 . And it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. — So was God’s law to good David; Psalms 119:29 ; Psalms 119:103 to Augustine, Scripturae tuae sunt deliciae meae, saith he, Thy Scriptures are my delight; to Alphonsus, King

Ezekiel 4:3 — house of Israel. Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan. — Sartaginem ferream, in token of God’s hard and inflexible hatred bent against so hard-hearted a people; whom he will therefore fry as in a pan, and seethe as in a pot, Jeremiah 1:13 so that they shall "pine away in their iniquities." Set thy face against it, and thou shalt lay siege. — This the prophet was to do in the name and person of God and his soldiers, the Chaldeans. Hard hearts make hard times, yea, they