Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 11:26 — Hist. Gallic., 274. It appeareth that Jeroboam was not only employed by Solomon, but preferred to be ruler over the whole house of Joseph, where he first talked his pleasure against his master, and then acted against him, in his posterity especially. 1 Kings 12:12-24

1 Kings 19:14 — God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, [even] I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. I have been very zealous. — See on 1 Kings 19:10 . And I, even I, am left alone. — Such was the paucity and obscurity of God’s people in these times, that the prophet miserably crieth out of his aloneness. Such was it in Basil’s time, Basil, Epist. 17. by reason of Arianism

1 Kings 5:6 — to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that [there is] not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. That they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon. — Satan, though he could not hinder the building of the temple, 1 Kings 5:4 yet he would needs imitate it, and, if possible, outdo it; for his temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was likewise built of cedar, as Vitruvius relateth, and was much longer and larger than this at Jerusalem, as others assure us. And my servants

1 Chronicles 29:15 — strangers before thee, and sojourners. — How, then, can we do better than deposit what we have in thy hands, and lay up treasure in heaven by laying it (lavishing, some may think it) out upon thy holy house, and so laying hold on eternal life; 1 Timothy 6:19 for here, alas, we have no abiding place, Hebrews 13:14 and, as strangers, we are tenuis admodum fortunae, little worth. As were all our fathers. — Who freely acknowledged it, Genesis 47:9 Hebrews 11:13 and carried themselves accordingly. Our

Ezra 6:16 — of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, Kept the dedication … with joy — So they did at the dedication of the first temple, 2 Chronicles 7:10 . God had required all his worships to be celebrated with joy, Deuteronomy 12:7 , and made it a condition of an acceptable service, Deuteronomy 26:14 . Sacrifices offered with mourning were abomination, Hosea 9:4 , yea, accursed by God, Deuteronomy

Ezra 6:21 — as came in (not a few) in Solomon’s time; but the Jews were very careful how they received them, as Josephus relateth. From the filthiness of the heathen — Who had filled the land from one end to the other with their uncleannesses, Ezra 9:11 . Great sins do greatly pollute. To seek the Lord God of Israel — To seek not his omnipresence (for that none need to do, since he is not far from any one of us, Acts 17:27 ), but his gracious presence. And such a seeker is every good soul: Psalms

Ezra 8:18 — hermit, assuring him that so long as he had paradise in his mind, and God in his apprehensions, tamdiu in eremo non esset, so long he should not be in a desert. They brought us a man of understanding — The Hebrew word Shacal signifieth three things: 1. To understand. 2. To instruct. 3. To prosper. Those that understand themselves, and teach others, shall do much good to themselves and others; see the note on Ezra 8:16 . This egregie cordatus homo exceptional sweet hearted man, was Sherebiah, as it

Nehemiah 2:5 — — Silken words must be given to kings, as the mother of Darius said ( η διστα, η ηκιστα ); neither must they be rudely and roughly dealt with, as Joab dealt with David, 2 Samuel 19:5 , who, therefore, could never well brook him afterward, but set another in his place. And if thy servant have found favour — Pellican observeth here, that Nehemiah was a great favourite of this king’s; as appeared in that having so many

Job 11:1 — Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, Then answered Zophar the Naamathite — With a most bitter invective, savouring more of passion than charity. Zophar rejoineth, or rather revileth innocent Job, misinterpreting his meaning, Job 11:4 , and laying to his charge, 1. Loquacity, or talkativeness; 2. Lying; 3. Scoffing at God’s good providence, and men’s good counsel; 4. Self-conceitedness and arrogance, besides rashness, boldness, … For want of better arguments

Job 14:7 — For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. For there is hope of a tree, … — Here Job setteth on his request, Job 14:6 , with a reason; God loveth a reasonable service, and liketh well that we reverently reason it out with him. And for the literal sense, all things, saith Gregory, are so plain, that there is no need to say anything to that, it being no more than

Job 18:17 — street. His remembrance shall perish from the earth — As a tree, when root and branch is gone, is clean forgotten, and no man remembereth where it grew; so shall it be with the wicked, Non celebrabitur eius nomen et fama, nisi in malum, Ecclesiastes 8:10 (Mercer). It is reckoned as a great benefit to a wicked man to have his memory die with him, which, if it be preserved, stinks in keeping, and remains as a curse and perpetual disgrace. And he shall have no name — i.e. No honourable name, no

Job 23:17 — the darkness, [neither] hath he covered the darkness from my face. Because I was not cut off before the darkness — i.e. The afflictions that now are upon me. It is a mercy to some to die sometimes, as Josiah, and those righteous ones, Isaiah 57:1 , who were taken away from the evil to come. When God’s glory was to pass by, he put Moses into the hole of the rock; so he sometimes doth his servants, till the glory of his justice hath passed upon others. Neither hath he covered the darkness

Job 35:14 — right; only thou must give glory to God and wait his time. Yet judgment is before him — Or, Judge thyself in his sight; give glory to God, and confess thy sin; and then, stepping from the bar to the bench, judge thyself worthy to be destroyed, 1 Corinthians 11:31 . This do, and then Trust thou in me — For safety here and salvation hereafter; acting thy faith upon the precious promises, and hopefully expecting the performance thereof in due time. This was excellent counsel indeed, and

Job 36:25 — far above earth, and it is a wonder that we can look to so admirable a height, and that the very eye is not tired in the way. And for things that are nearer to us, we see them but as through a glass obscurely; our knowledge of them is very imperfect, 1 Corinthians 11:13 , the reason of many things is above our reach. We read of one who had spent over forty years in finding out the nature and property of bees, and yet was not fully satisfied with many things therein.

Job 38:10 — signifieth also statuere, decernere, say they; but that is more than I know. And set bars and doors — Vectes et valvas. See Job 38:8 . This is a work of God’s great power; and is therefore much instanced and insisted upon in Scripture, Psalms 109:1-31 Jeremiah 5:22 , … God could have put many other hard questions to Job about the sea; as, why it swelleth not by the inflowing of so many great rivers? why the waters of it are so salt? whence it is that it so ebbeth and floweth? …

Job 38:13 — take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? That it might take hold of the ends of the earth — That is, suddenly illighten the whole horizon; for which cause also David ascribeth wings to the morning, Psalms 139:9 , so that the light is not a body, nor, as some will have it, a substance, but an accident. The truth is, no man can tell what it is of any certainty; an admirable creature it is, surely a divine and heavenly thing, than which nothing is more desirable,

Job 38:6 — heavenly orbs surrounding it in their motions. Others fetch this corner stone out of the middle of the sea. But all this discourse is metaphorical, to show the firmness of the work, wherein none had any hand but only the essential wisdom of God, Proverbs 8:1 , who did it with more ease than men can build a house.

Job 7:13 — able of themselves to give out the comforts committed to them; their common nature must be assisted with a special word of blessing, or else they do us no good: man liveth not by bread only, … God maketh the merciful man’s bed, Psalms 41:3 . So he giveth his beloved sleep, quiet sleep (Shena with an Aleph quiescent), Psalms 127:2 He is the God of all mercies, and the Father of all consolation, 2 Corinthians 1:3 . It is he that shines through the creature, which else is but as the air,

Job 8:18 — seen thee — Heb. It shall tell a lie of him, …, the place, as ashamed to own him, shall feign and say, We have not seen him, we know not what is become of him. So Psalms 37:35-36 . As they have denied the Lord that bought them, 2 Peter 2:1 , so they shall one day be denied by the places they have bought or builded, by the people that once clawed them, and cried them up.

2 Samuel 24:3 — hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see [it]: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? And Joab said. — His conscience told him that David did this out of curiosity and vainglory, whereof he foresaw the evil effects, 1 Chronicles 21:3 and therefore doth what he can to dissuade him. And lest David should suspect that he did it out of any disaffection to him, he wisheth an increase of the people’s numbers; and that David might see it to his great joy and comfort. But