Bible Commentaries

Psalms 28:5 — of the Lord," that is, the first making; nor The operation of his hands — That is, the present disposing of his creatures, either by way of mercy or judgment, whereof these brutish persons make no observation at all, Psalms 92:5-7 Isaiah 5:12 ; particularly they neither regard my present affliction, Amos 6:6 , nor believe my future exaltation to the throne, as God hath promised me, but oppose it all they can, and would gladly prevent it, which yet they cannot, but will be found fighters

Psalms 30:7 — what though God in his favour had settled strength to David’s mountain? what though he had constituted and established it sure as Mount Zion (for there was David’s arx, et aula regia ) which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever? Psalms 125:1 ; yet, by a turn of his countenance only, God can soon dissweeten all in his enjoyments, and plunge him into a deplorable condition. Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled — i.e. Thou didst suspend the actual influence and communication

Psalms 50:8 — to do all righteousness, and yet to rest in none but Christ’s. Or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me — Heb. Thy burnt offerings have been continually before me; so that I am sated with the very sight of them, Isaiah 1:11 ; there God complained that all his senses were wearied, and his soul vexed, by the abundance of their outward ceremonies, but want of moral service.

Proverbs 11:30 — various commodities of the palm tree, and do therefore greatly honour it. Should not we much more honour the multifarious gifts of God in his righteous ones for our good? For whether it be "Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas," "All is ours." 1 Corinthians 3:4-9 And he that winneth souls. — And useth singular art and industry therein, as fowlers do to take birds (for so the Hebrew word imports), or fishermen fishes. "He is wise, and wiseth others," as Daniel hath it; Proverbs

Proverbs 12:28 — before and after, but it is of great consequence (for ex hoc momento pendet aeternitas ), and given us for this purpose, that glory may be begun in grace, and we have a further and further entrance into the kingdom of heaven here, as Peter saith, 2 Peter 1:11 . And in the path thereof there is no death. — Christ hath unstinged the first death, and made it of a punishment, a benefit; of a postern to let out temporal life, a street door to let in eternal life. Mors ianua vitae, porta coeli. - Bern.

Proverbs 13:7 — covetous. No Capuchin may take or touch silver; at the offer of it he starts back, as Moses from the serpent; yet he carries a boy with him that takes and carries it, and never complains of either metal or measure. Bishop Hall’s Epist., 5 D. c. 1. We had in King Stephen’s days a rich chancellor of England, who yet was, and would be, called Roger paupere censu. Godwin’s Catalog.

Proverbs 14:4 — nent: "They neither toil nor spin." Matthew 6:28 Man is born to toil, as the sparks fly upwards. Job 5:7 And spinster they say is a term given the greatest women in our law. Our lives are called "the lives of our hands," Isaiah 57:10 because to be maintained by the labour of our hands. But much increase is by the strength of the ox. — This is one of those beasts that serve ad esum et ad usum, and are profitable both alive and dead. A heathen counselleth good husbands and

Proverbs 15:30 — being warned of wine by the physicians as hurtful to his eyes, cried out, Vale lumen amicum; - If they will not bear with wine, they are no eyes for me. "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is to behold the sun." Ecclesiastes 11:7 Eudoxus professed that he would be willing to be burnt up by the sun presently, so he might be admitted to come so near it as to behold the beauty of it, and to see further into the the nature of it. Plutarch. And a good report maketh the bones fat.

Proverbs 19:13 — are certain cares, but uncertain comforts. Let them prove never so towardly, yet there is somewhat to do to breed them up, and bring them to good. But if they answer not expectation, the parent’s grief is inexpressible. See the note on Proverbs 10:1 , and xv. 20. How many an unhappy father is tempted to wish with Augustus, ‘O utinam caelebs vixissem, orbusque perissem?’ And the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. — Like as a man that hath met with hard usage abroad

Proverbs 24:12 — imposturum faciunt et patientur, defraud themselves, as the emperor said of him that sold glass for pearl. Deo obscura clarent, muta respondent, silentium confitetur. Isidor. God’s "eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men." Psalms 11:4 The former points out his knowledge, the latter his critical descant. Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider? — No man needs a window in his breast - as the heathen Momus wished - for God to look in at; for every man before God is all

Proverbs 29:16 — all before them, and not to suffer a godly man to live - as in Spain, and where the Inquisition is admitted. But the righteous shall see their fall; shall see it and rejoice at it, as the Hebrew doctors expound this text by comparing it with Obadiah 1:12-13 , "Thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day of his calamity, neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah," … "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance"; being

Proverbs 8:1 — Virtue on the one hand, and Pleasure on the other; but Pleasure lost her sweet words upon him; he hearkened to Virtue rather. Shall not we to Wisdom? Put forth her voice. — In her ministers, who are criers by office, and must be earnest. Isaiah 58:1 See an instance in holy Bradford. "I beseech you," saith he, "I pray you, I desire you, I crave at your hands with all my very heart, I ask of you with hand, pen, tongue, and mind, in Christ, through Christ, for Christ, for his name,

Ecclesiastes 1:10 — anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? — Hoc ego primus vidi, saith Zabarel. But how could he tell that? Many men have been so befooled. We look upon guns and printing as new inventions; the former found out by Birchtoldin the monk, A.D. 1380, the other by friar Faustus, A.D. 1446. But the Chinese are said to have had the use of both these long before. Should we then so eagerly hunt after novelties, those mere new nothings, till we lose ourselves in the chase? Nil admirari prope res est

Ecclesiastes 2:20 — , Pεριηχθην . Symmachus. Metaph. ab equis, quos qui agitant circumagunt. signifies, I set a compass, I turned round, or I turned short again upon myself, by a reflex action of my mind, as Ephraim did, Jeremiah 31:19-20 as the prodigal did when he "came to himself," who before had been beside himself in the point of salvation, and as Solomon elsewhere prays, that the captive people may bethink themselves, or, as the Hebrew hath it, "bring back

Ecclesiastes 2:21 — own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts διαλογισμους . of the wise, their inward disceptations, their debating the matter with themselves, that they are vain. 1 Corinthians 3:19-20 The rich fool talked to himself, Dιελογιζετο . as fools used to do, and set down how everything should be; Luke 12:17 but it proved somewhat otherwise ere he was a day

Ecclesiastes 4:16 — γαρ το παρον βαρυ , as Thucydides long since observed, The present government, be it never so good, is always grievous. "O that I were made judge in the land," said Absalom. 2 Samuel 15:4 Oh that thou wert, said the people, who yet soon had enough of him. And so had they of their new king, Saul, whom contra gentes, they would needlessly have, after the manner of all other nations. 1 Samuel 8:6-7 How soon did the Baptist grow stale

Ecclesiastes 7:22 — nothing more bitter than to suffer that which thou hast done to others; because those sufferings sting the conscience with unquestionable conviction and horror, as is to be seen in Adonibezek, who acknowledged with a regret, a just remuneration. Judges 1:7

Ecclesiastes 9:16 — Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard. Then said I, Wisdom is better, … — This he had said before, Ecclesiastes 7:19 Proverbs 21:22 See Trapp on " Ecclesiastes 7:19 " See Trapp on " Proverbs 21:22 " but now upon this new occasion. Nunquam satis dicitur, quod nunquam satis discitur. Seneca. Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised.

Isaiah 11:3 — righteousness as the light, and their judgment as the noonday." Psalms 37:6 And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes. — He cannot be deceived, as knowing all hearts, and as having all things naked and dissected before his eyes. Hebrews 4:13 Matthew 9:12 John 2:24 Others judge by relation of others, and secundum allegata et probata - not so Jesus Christ; but he shall always proceed upon his own knowledge, and so pass a most righteous sentence. Oecolampadius thinks the prophet here alludeth

Isaiah 6:7 — — To the sign words are used to make a perfect sacrament. And here the cautiousness of the angel is to be noted. He saith not, I have touched, but, lo, this coal hath touched thy lips. So Paul, "Yet not I, but the grace of God in me." 1 Corinthians 15:10 So the good and faithful servant, Not I, but "Thy talent hath gained ten talents." Luke 19:16 The seraph was himself a burning creature, as his very name importeth; howbeit it was not the seraph but the retheph or burning