Bible Commentaries

Esther 2:17 — favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. And the king loved Esther — This was the Lord’s own work, who regarded the low estate of his handmaid, Luke 1:48 , and framed the king’s heart to affect her. Let all such maids as desire loving husbands, and all such wives as would have their husbands loyal and loving to them, get God’s favour, and adorn themselves with humility and modesty, as

Job 12:10 — In whose hand [is] the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. In whose hand is the soul of every living thing — That is, the life of every beast, flowing from a sensitive soul, Leviticus 17:10-11 . This, God both giveth to the creature and conserveth it; he suffereth it not to be taken away from little sparrows, or the like, without order from him; much less befalleth any such thing to man without his singular providence, since our very

Job 12:22 — discovereth deep things out of darkness — As he did to Joseph and Pharaoh by dreams, to the prophets by visions and revelations, and still doth to his people by his Spirit: "for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God," 1 Corinthians 2:10 . He bringeth to light also the hidden things of darkness, hellish conspiracies, as in the gunpowder plot; the deep reaches of kings to maintain their authority and compass their designs, resolving to suffer never a rub to lie in their

Job 12:24 — and causeth them to wander in a wilderness [where there is] no way. He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people — That is, of the greatest part of the people of the world (say some). These God suffereth to walk in their own ways, Acts 14:16 ; to become vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart is darkened; professing themselves to be wise, they become fools, Romans 1:21-22 . As the philosophers of old, and the Chinese at this day, who are known to be ingenious, and used to

Job 13:11 — His highness, his majesty, his surpassing sublimity and transcendent glory; shall not this frighten you, and rein you in from wrongly dealing and warping? "Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain," Jeremiah 10:7 . And, "Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence?" Jeremiah 5:22 . If an earthly king be so dread a sovereign; if the glory of angels hath so terrified the best saints on earth, that they could hardly outlive such

Job 14:6 — to go to supper and to bed. The word rendered accomplish signifieth properly to acquiesce, and rest in a thing, and vehemently to desire it. The saints, when they die, shall rest in their beds, Isaiah 57:2 , they rest from their labours, Revelation 14:13 , and that απαρτι , presently, straight upon the stroke of death; no sooner have they passed under the flaming sword of that punishing angel but they are forthwith in paradise. Here they are seldom quiet, but tossed up

Job 15:26 — thus, God runneth upon him, even upon the neck, … He breaking his shields, how many and how thick soever they be, drags him by the neck, as a miserable vanquished wretch, and lays upon him exquisite and high punishments, according to that, Job 31:3 , "Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?" Upon the thick bosses of his bucklers — Wherewith the Belialist, this champion for hell, thinks himself best armed and secured against the dint

Job 20:11 — did of her virginity, that she could not remember that ever she had been a maid, Iunonem meam iratam habeam si unquam me meminerim Virginem (Petron.). "This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice," Jeremiah 22:21 . Then thou hadst no mind to it, but now thou hast less, thy heart being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, Hebrews 3:17 . Now in the froth of these youthful vanities unrepented of breedeth that worm of an evil conscience that never dieth. In the

Job 21:15 — nothing else, yet that he might get off. Such queryings as this carry greatest contempt in them, and would lay the Almighty quite below the required duty; as if Almighty were but an empty title, and that he could do neither good nor evil, Zephaniah 1:12 , that it was to no purpose or profit to serve him, that the gains would not pay for the pains, … And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? — Heb. If we meet him, viz. by our prayers, Jeremiah 7:16 Amos 4:12 Malachi 3:14 ,

Job 21:19 — visiteth the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate him, Exodus 20:5 . Neither doth this contradict that of the prophet Ezekiel, "The son, shall not die for the iniquity of his father," Ezekiel 18:17 ; nor that of the apostle, "Every man shall bear his own burden," Galatians 6:5 ; for the meaning of those words is, that no man be damned for the sin of his father, nor one man for the sin of another, unless by commission, or approbation,

Job 21:21 — he shall die, saith one. But that is not all. Impius moritur importune, the wicked dieth in an ill time for himself; then when it were better for him to do anything than to die. Many of them live not out half their days, Psalms 55:23 Ecclesiastes 7:17 . God cut off Eli’s two sons in one day; and further threatened their father that there should not be an old man left in his house for ever, 1 Samuel 2:32 . Hezekiah, when he thought he should die, complained that he had cut off his life like

Job 22:29 — delivered by the purity of thy hands; that is, saith he, So great shall his love be to thee, and his blessing upon thee, that for thy sake he shall show mercy to others, though they be none of the best, according to the promise made to Abraham, Genesis 12:3 ; Genesis 18:24 . And hence Job’s intercession is joined with that of Noah and Daniel, Ezekiel 14:14 . And he shall save the humble person — Heb. Him that is low of eyes, as was Job at this time; and the publican, Luke 18:13 . "A

Job 28:26 — — Or, for the lightning and the thunder. In both which there is much of God to be seen and heard; these being the harbingers, as it were, and officers to make room for him, and to manifest his power, which the greatest must acknowledge, Psalms 29:1-2 , and the saints must take comfort in, Job 28:11 . As for those impious wretches, that slight these wonderful works of Almighty God, and speak basely of them (as he of whom Mr Perkins somewhere writeth, that hearing it thunder, said it was nothing

Job 31:22 — be broken from the bone. Then let mine arm fall from the shoulder blade — That unworthy arm of mine (as Cranmer cried out of that unworthy right hand of his, which he therefore burnt first), so injuriously lifted up against the fatherless, Job 31:21 , let it never be useful to me any more, but let me be punished with that wherewith I have sinned. God sometimes takes notice of the offending member; as in Jeroboam’s withered hand, Abimelech’s head, which had stolen the crown, Samson’s

Job 31:24 — art] my confidence; If I have made gold my hope — The Seventy read, Si posui aurum in coniugmm meum; signifying the covetous man’s great love (Minut. Octav.). If I have trusted in uncertain riches, and been high minded, as Paul expounds it, 1 Timothy 6:17 , holding myself simply the better or the safer for the wealth I have gotten; this is creature confidence, this is fiat idolatry, worse than that of the belly god, who sacrificeth to his gut, but trusteth not to it. An ancient complaineth

Job 32:12 — and rightly considered them (as our Mr Bradshaw was wont to do at the ministers’ meetings, and was therehence called the weighing divine), that you may not think I answer the matter before I understand it, as fools do, to their shame, 2 Peter 2:12 , daring to reprehend what I do not comprehend, as did that Popish expositor, who calleth Ezekiel’s description of the temple insulsam descriptionem, an absurd description (Sanctius in cap. 40, Ezek. in argum.). And, behold, there was none of

Job 33:15 — of old by dreams in the night, by visions in the day time, imprinting upon their minds what by them he would have understood, or uttered to others. This he did, especially before the law written, whereof therefore here is made no mention. See Numbers 12:6 . Indeed with Moses, by a specialty of his favour, he spake mouth to mouth; even apparently (as a man doth to his friend), and not in dark speeches; the similitude of the Lord did he bebold, sed non absque aliquo Maiestatis eius involucro, but not

Job 36:27 — and for the same cause are of the philosophers called meteors, or airy impressions; as namely, clouds, rain, hail, snow, thunder, lightning, and such like; whereof he here discourseth very gravely and learnedly; and first of rain, which he describeth, 1. By the form or manner of producing it, Job 36:27-28 Job 36:2 . By the largeness of the clouds, and their noise, Job 36:29 Job 36:3 . By the sudden succession of fair weather and foul, Job 36:30 . And lastly, by the different use thereof in the three

Job 6:15 — My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, [and] as the stream of brooks they pass away; My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook — Even you, whom I esteemed as my brethren (for to them he applieth this speech, Job 6:21 ), prove hollow and helpless to me; like the river Araris, that moveth so slowly, that it can hardly be discerned, saith Caesar, whether it flow forward or backward (Caesar, de Bell Gal. l. 1); or rather, to a certain fish in that river Araris, called

Job 7:3 — chronicled. For mouths of vanity some read empty moons; as if Job’s moon were always in the wane, or ever in the eclipse. And wearisome nights are appointed to me — sc. By God; and that so exactly as if he had numbered them to a night. See Daniel 10:1 . Pondere, mensura, numero Deus omnia fecit, It is he that cutteth us out our conditions, that prepareth for us troublesome days and tiresome nights, and purposely that he may take us off from the inordinate love of life: like as by strait binding