Bible Commentaries

Ezekiel 16:6 — And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live. And when I passed by thee. — Not by chance, as Luke 10:31 but of free choice, and according to mine eternal purpose. And saw thee in thy blood. — In this deplorable condition. Blood is in this verse thrice mentioned, to set forth the greatness of man’s misery in his pure, or rather impure,

Ezekiel 22:9 — In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness. In thee are men that carry tales. — Heb., Men of slanders. Exodus 23:1 Leviticus 18:16 Whisperers, backbiters, tale bearers - pedlars, the Hebrew word, signifieth such as drop a tale here and another there - are viri latrones, thieves, as the Septuagint here translate, yea, they are murderers. The devil was first a slanderer,

Ezekiel 34:3 — Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: [but] ye feed not the flock. Ye eat the fat. — Ecce, lac et lanam recipitis. This ye might do, if in measure, for the workman is worthy of his wages, see 1 Corinthians 9:7 but ye gorge yourselves with the best of the best. Et si ventri bene, si lateri, as Epicurus in Horace, If the belly may be filled, the back fitted, that is all you take care for. In parabola ovis capras quaeritis, et vestrum maxime

Ezekiel 35:10 — Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: Because thou hast said. — Ungodly men must answer for their ungodly speeches also. Judges 1:15 These two nations. — Israel and Judah. Shall be mine. — Such was their avarice and ambition that they made account all was their own; they had in their hopes devoured these two countries which God had reserved for a better purpose. He

Ezekiel 37:7 — earthquake, as was at Christ’s resurrection. God will one day shake both the heavens and the earth. "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise; the earth also and the works therein shall be burned, and fall with a great crack." 2 Peter 3:10 Then "the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout," … 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - such as is that of mariners in a storm, or of soldiers when to join battle with the enemy.

Ezekiel 38:16 — Deuteronomy 33:29 In the latter days. — Before the coming of the Messiah, first and second. And I will bring thee. — But for thy bane. Against my land. — "The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof"; Psalms 24:1 but that land where God is sincerely served is his peculiar portion. It was said of old, Anglia regnum Dei; England was the kingdom of God, Polyd. Virg. it is now so much more. When I shall be sanctified in thee, — i.e., Glorified in thy just

Ezekiel 43:13 — court, and not at all spoken of till now. The cubit, — viz., That of the sanctuary. Even the bottom. — Heb., The bosom. This shall be the higher place. — Heb., The back, as that which bore all. "We have also an altar," Hebrews 13:10 even Jesus Christ, the just one, who is both our Ariel (God’s lion, Revelation 5:5 ) and our Hareel (God’s mount) of four cubits, as being "preached unto the Gentiles" in all parts, "believed on in the world, received

Daniel 2:47 — is, that your God is a God of gods. — Hoc fuit momentaneum, saith Calvin; this was but a flash, such as was found in Pharaoh, Saul, and other temporaries; for if it had been in truth, he would not have set up the golden idol, … Daniel 3:1 Nevertheless Nebuchadnezzar showed more ingenuity than our stiff unpersuadable refractories, and especially than the perverse Jesuits, of whom it is noted that they are so cross grained and quarrelsome that they had rather quaerere than credere, start

Daniel 5:12 — were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, … — Very excellent is the grace of the Spirit in godly hearts, Colossians 1:29 neither can natural conscience do less than stoop and strike sail to the image of God in whomsoever. And dissolving of doubts. — Chald., Knots; that is, perplexed and obscure speeches and sentences. Now let Daniel be called. — Who will

Daniel 6:15 — king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians [is], That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. Then thase men assembled unto the king. — Or, Kept a stir with the king, from Psalms 2:1 . Congregaverunt se supra regem. Doubtless, saith Broughton, Daniel’s spirit thought of David his father’s terms. a So Daniel 6:6 . They came cluttering about the king. Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians, … —

Daniel 7:2 — businesses - viz., hurlyburlies in the world, and persecutions in the Church. And behold the four winds of the heavens strove upon the great sea, — i.e., There was a huge bustle upon the earth, by means of the four successive monarchies. See Revelation 13:1 ; Revelation 13:11 . The world is fitly called the "great sea," ever unquiet and full of commotions; which are also called "winds" for their boisterousness, contrariety of nature, and inconstance.

Daniel 8:27 — astonished at the vision, but none understood [it]. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick. — So deeply affected was he with the vision, and should we be with the word preached; it should work upon our very bowels, and go to the hearts of us. Jeremiah 4:19 Acts 2:37 Afterwards I rose up, and did the king’s business. — viz., King Belshazzar’s, with whom, though he was out of grace, yet not out of office under him, and will not therefore be indiligent. Malo mihi male esse, quam molliter,

Micah 1:16 — for they are gone into captivity from thee. Make thee bald and poll thee — i.e. Make most bitter lamentation. He alludes to a custom among the Easterlings, of tearing off the hair of their heads and beards in times of great heaviness. See Job 1:20 Isaiah 15:2 Jeremiah 7:29 Ezra 9:3 . In other cases baldness was forbidden Israel (lest they should symbolize with heathens), but in case of sorrow for sin they were called to it, Isaiah 22:12 . For thy delicate children — To whom thou hast

Zechariah 2:11 — receive Christ, be put off till the Jews’ famous conversion; yet that nothing hindereth but that this, and such like places that speak of the same, may well serve to warrant the first inceptions of their calling. And so doth St James cite them, Acts 15:16-17 , out of Amos 9:11-12 , and Paul, Romans 9:25-26 , out of Hosea 1:10 . And I will dwell in the midst of thee — See Trapp on " Zechariah 2:10 " And thou shalt know, … — See Trapp on " Zechariah 2:9 "

Zechariah 3:6 — And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying, And the angel of the Lord protested — Either with an oath or some deep asseveration, or both as 1 Samuel 25:26 "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth," … The former is an oath, the latter an asseveration or obtestation only, conjoined with that oath. Among the heathens Ex animo seu sententia was instead of an oath; and, rather

Zechariah 4:14 — shall be one day where he is. This Lord of the whole earth, sovereign over all; but takes delight only in such as (Esther like) he purifies and perfumes for royal use; and these he loveth so affectionately as never any Lord did his subjects, Zechariah 3:1-7 "He loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob," Psalms 87:2 .

Matthew 10:22 — Nullum flagitium hodie par est huic uni et summo sacrilegio, sc. Evangelion Dei confiteri. Luther, Epist. ad Episc. Sambiensem. Melch. Adam, in Vit. Brent. But he that endureth to the end — Apostasy loseth the things that it hath wrought, 2 John 1:8 . Non quaeruntur in Christianis initia, sed finis, saith Jerome. It is the evening that crowneth the day, and the last scene that commends the interlude.

Matthew 12:1 — time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. Jesus went on the Sabbath day — St Luke calleth it "the second Sabbath after the first," Matthew 6:1 , that is, the second anniversary or solemn feast from the first ( δευτεροπρωτον ), to wit, from the passover Sabbath, and this was Pentecost. And his disciples were an hungred

Matthew 14:14 — James’s time, that said to their necessitous neighbours, Depart in peace, be warmed: but with what? with a fire of words. Be filled: but with what? with a mess of words. For they gave them not those things that were needful to the body, James 1:22-27 . But our Saviour, out of deep commiseration, both pitied the people, and healed them on both sides, within and without. Oh, how well may he be called a Saviour, which in the original is a word so full of emphasis, that other tongues can hardly

Matthew 3:5 — round about Jordan, Then went out to him Jerusalem — Hitherto the description of the Baptist: follows now the resort that was made unto him; for by his divine doctrine and austere life he had merited among many to be taken for the Messiah, John 1:20 . And all Judea — That is, very many, as the word "all" is many times elsewhere taken in the New Testament. And all the region round about Jordan — Stirred up by the noise of that new preacher. So various among us will be content