Bible Commentaries

Nehemiah 8:10 — affluence (on thanksgiving days), especially provided that they feed with fear, and keep within the bounds of sobriety. And send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared — That is, to the poor, the fatherless, and the widows, Deuteronomy 16:14 , who have not their set meals, nor certain dishes; but as hard fare for their holy day cheer, as Christ’s disciples had once for their Sabbath day’s dinner, Matthew 12:1 . For this day is holy unto the Lord — A holy convocation,

Esther 2:7 — — 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 is compared to it for her lowly mindedness, Zechariah 1:8 . See Trapp on " Zechariah 1:8 " That is, Esther — This was her Persian name, say some: in heathen histories she is called Amestris (Herod. lib. 7, Sealig.). His uncle’s daughter — Not his brother’s daughter, as the

Esther 8:16 — The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. The Jews had light and gladness — "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun," Ecclesiastes 11:7 . Such as have been long shut up in a dark dungeon, as Joseph, will surely say so. These Jews had for two months and more lain buried alive, as it were, in heaviness and horror, they walked in the very vale of the shadow of death, the darkest side

Job 19:26 — flesh, as out of a casement. I shall see God — I shall see Christ, Christum in corpore (Austin’s wish), the human and glorified body of Christ, who is God blessed for ever, as also the mystical body of his Church perfectly united unto him, 1 John 3:2 . To this sense some render the text thus, I shall see God in my flesh, that is, I shall see Christ sitting in glory, clothed with flesh, or in the likeness of man. And here do but think with thyself, though it far pass the reach of any mortal

Job 42:8 — that offered them, who also were hereby reminded of their sins (for which they had deserved to be burnt in hell) and of their duties, to mortify their earthly members, and to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, Romans 12:1 . And my servant Job shall pray for you — Which, as he could do very well, Ezekiel 14:14 , so he should now do, to show his hearty reconciliation; but should have little availed for them had not they repented, and believed, and prayed for themselves.

Ecclesiastes 7:26 — amarus. ” The pomegranate, with its sweet kernels, but bitter rind, is an emblem of the bitter sweet pleasure of sin. It is observed of our Edward III that he had always fair weather at his passage into France, and foul upon his return. Speed, 710. Walsingham. Laeta venire Venus, tristis abire solet. The panther hides her head till she sees her time to make prey of those other beasts that, drawn by her sweet smell, follow her to their own destruction. Solin., cap. 27. The poet’s fable,

Isaiah 57:1 — righteous is taken away from the evil [to come]. The righteous perisheth. — So the world deemeth, but not rightly, for "the righteous hath hope in his death," when "the wicked dying is driven away in his wickedness" Proverbs 14:32 - by "him that had the power of death, even the devil" Hebrews 2:14 - having been "through fear of death all their lifetime subject to bondage." The Lacedaemonians all the time of their life adored death. The righteous can defy

Hosea 10:10 — gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. It is in my desire that I should chastise them — That is, I am unchangeably resolved, and fully bent upon it, to carry them captive and enslave them to their enemies, Nahum 1:9 , wherein they shall find that they have to do with God, and not with man; and that it is I that bind them, though I make use of the Assyrians to that purpose. Luther renders it, Valde cupide eos castigabo, exceeding desirously will I chastise them.

Joel 2:18 — will the Lord be jealous (or, zealous) for his land — Then dicto citius straight upon it: no sooner shall you repent (as is prescribed) but the Lord will be jealous, … Of God’s jealousy for his people, See Trapp on "Zechariah 1:14 ; Zechariah 8:2 " And of the happy effect of fasting turned to feasting, See Trapp on " Zechariah 8:19 " see also Judges 20:23 Ezra 9:6 Daniel 9:20 2 Chronicles 20:3 ; 2 Chronicles 20:24-25 Bacah turned into Berachah; besides the constant

Jonah 2:10 — say unto them cordially, as Zedekiah did to his courtiers colloquingly, The king is not he that can deny you anything. Prayer is of that power that it can open the doors of leviathan, as we see here (which yet is reckoned as a thing not feasible, Job 41:14 ), yea of the all devouring grave, Hebrews 11:35 . If the Lord, pricked on by the prayer of his people, set in hand to save them, and shall "say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters

Jonah 2:3 — and thy waves passed over me. For thou hadst cast me into the deep — A graphic description of his woeful condition, which yet he remembereth now as waters that are past, and is thankful to his Almighty deliverer: see the like in David, Psalms 116:3 , and learn of these and other saints to acknowledge the uttermost extremity of a calamity after we are delivered out of it. For hereby thy judgment will be the better instructed and the more convinced; thine heart also will be the more enlarged

Micah 4:9 — otherwise, I am in total dispair, writeth Miconius to Calvin, of the Church’s enemies: I am glad that Christ is Lord of all, for otherwise I should have had no hope of help at all. David in deep distress comforteth himself in the Lord his God, 1 Samuel 30:6 Psalms 119:94 , "I am thine, save me," saith he, q.d. my professed subjection to thee calleth for thy care and protection of me, and here he stays himself. Kings and counsellors are great stays to a state, but Christ is not tied

Zechariah 1:12 — LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? Then the angel of the Lord — That advocate with the Father, Jesus, the just one, 1 John 2:1 , who appeareth to his afflicted people, and feelingly pleads for them, as being afflicted in all their afflictions, even the angel of his presence that saveth them, Isaiah 63:9 . It much moved him to hear that God’s enemies were in better

Zechariah 12:12 — their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; And the land shall mourn — Not the generality of the Jews (unless it be at their last general conversion, that resurrection from the dead, as it is called, Romans 11:15 ), but the elect according to grace, who are here called the land, because more esteemed by God than all the other Jews besides; for he reckoneth of men by their righteousness, as he did of Lot at Sodom. Every family apart — To show the soundness

Zechariah 7:5 — abolish them, as those that rested in them without true repentance, faith, and new obedience. When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month — sc. For the slaughter of Gedaliah and the sad consequence thereof, 2 Kings 25:22 Jeremiah 41:1 . Even those seventy years — Wherein ye have lost full seven score fasts; and were not a bit the better for them, because they fasted rather to get off their chains than their sins; they rested in their fasts, in the work done, neither regarding

Malachi 2:12 — humbleth; Jeroboam’s wife goeth to the prophet; Joab taketh hold of the horns of the altar; the King of Persia, having lost some of his children by untimely death, as Ctesias reporteth, sends earnestly to the Jews for prayers for him and his, Ezra 6:10 . So did Maximinus in like case to the Christians. Cicero (de Nat. Deor.) tells us that they which prayed whole days together and offered sacrifice, ut sui liberi superstites sibi essent, that their children might outlive them, these were first called

Matthew 1:23 — shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Behold, a virgin, … — äòìîä , that Virgin, κατ εξοχην , that famous Virgin foretold, Isaiah 7:14 . That he should be the seed of the woman was made known to Adam; but not of what nation till Abraham, nor of what tribe till Jacob, nor of what sex till David, nor whether born of a Virgin till Isaiah. Thus by degrees was that great mystery of godliness

Matthew 10:17 — for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; But beware of men — Absurd and wicked men, saith Paul, 2 Thessalonians 3:2 ; "brutish men, skilful to destroy," saith the prophet, Ezekiel 21:31 ; "Men eaters," saith the Psalmist, Psalms 14:4 ; cannibals, that make no more conscience to mischief God’s people than to eat a meal’s meat when they are hungry. These be those lycanthropi, those wolves mentioned in the former

Matthew 4:5 — imagination, but really and indeed, as he was afterwards apprehended, bound, and crucified by that cursed crew. Spiritual assaults may be beaten back by the shield of faith; bodily admit no such repulse. A daughter of Abraham may be bound by Satan,Luke 13:16; Luke 13:16 , a Mary Magdalene possessed, a Job vexed, a Paul boxed, … κολαφιζη , 2 Corinthians 12:7 As for the souls of the saints, they are set safe out of Satan’s scrape; shake his chain

Matthew 5:16 — Brille tu luz delante de los hombres, para que vean tus buenas obras y glorifiquen a tu Padre que está en los cielos. Ver. 16. Deje que su luz brille ante los hombres ] Solíamos colgar el cuadro de un querido amigo en un lugar visible, para que parezca que nos regocijamos en él, como un adorno para nosotros: así deberíamos nosotros la imagen de Cristo, y su gracias. Y como