Bible Commentaries

Genesis 23:19 — wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same [is] Hebron in the land of Canaan. And Abraham buried Sarah his wife. — The last office of love to bring the deceased saints honourably to their "long home," Ecclesiastes 12:5 to lay them in their last "bed," Isaiah 57:2 to put them into the grave, as into a haven and harbout, where they may rest from their labours, "till their change shall come." Job 14:14 This is to "deal kindly with the dead";

Genesis 24:16 — down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the damsel was very fair. — Kαλη και σοφη , Fair and wise, as it was said of Aspasia Milesia. Aelian, Var. Hist., lib. xii., cap. 1. Here beauty was not ill-bestowed, as a gold ring in a swine’s snout, but (as the history Life of Edward VI., p. 176. reports of the Lady Jane Gray) adorned with all variety of moral virtues, as a clear sky with stars, as a princely diadem with

Genesis 34:16 — dream, revenge the wrong now done to thy Name, and me; and show thy power upon thy perjurious people, who, in their deeds, deny thee their God. Ibid., 297. And it happened out accordingly: for God hates foul and faithless dealing. Zechariah 5:4 Romans 1:31 Periurii poena divina exitium; humana, dedecus. This was one of the laws of the twelve tables in Rome. Heu miser, etsi quis primo periuria celat, Sera tamen tacitus poena venit pedibus - Tibull.

Genesis 45:11 — And there will I nourish thee; for yet [there are] five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. And there will I nourish thee. — To requite parents is "good and acceptable before God." 1 Timothy 5:4 At Athens, Athenis capitale fuit, parentibus θρεπτηρια non persolvere - Melanct., Not. in Hesiod. it was death not to be kind to parents and cherish them. The stork nourisheth her old sire and

Ezra 4:3 — end, they would be brought to their wit’s end before they could accomplish this work’s end, to make a reconciliation between Rome and us. They have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God. From such stand off, saith the apostle, 1 Timothy 6:5 . Say to them, when they offer their cost and service, as here, Pura Deus mens est: procul, o procul este profani. This was one of those ancient laws of the twelve tables among the Romans, Impius ne audeto placare donis iram deorum, Let

Ezra 9:13 — fidei, food of faith. When ye stand and pray, believe; when ye humble and tremble before God, keep up your faith still. Nihil retinet qui fidem amisit, lose that and lose all (Seneca). Take away the iniquity of thy servants, saith David, 2 Samuel 24:10 . It is as if he should say, I am thy servant, Lord, still, though an unworthy one. And to prove himself so, he addeth, for I have done very foolishly. I confess it, Lord, that thou mayest cover it. Homo agnoscit, Deus ignoscit. This he believes, and

Esther 2:4 — a very sink and sewer of all lewdness and abomination. Be queen instead of Vashti — This was held a great business, and a sufficient recompense. The bramble held it a goodly thing to reign over the trees: not so the vine and fig tree, Judges 9:15 . And the thing pleased the king — Because it added more fuel to the fire of his lust, and that he may lengthen out his days in dalliance and wantonness: ut libidine libidinem provocante, nihil nisi muliebris fiat, saith an expositor here, that

Esther 3:7 — proved lucky, and such a day in the month; and, by God’s providence, it so fell out that their supposed lucky day was on the twelfth month, whereby it came to pass that their plot was defeated before the time of accomplishing thereof, Esther 9:1-11 . From day to day, … — This is not to be taken as if they had continued twelve months about in casting of these lots; but as in the note next above. That is, the month Adar — In all which time that wicked Haman might have bethought

Esther 9:16 — scattered and peeled, a contemptible and feeble folk, lately destined to destruction; yet by faith they subdue kingdoms, escape the edge of the sword, out of weakness become strong, wax valiant in fight, turn to flight whole armies of the aliens, Hebrews 11:33-34 , prevail and prosper against all the malignant power of Persia: thus were they helped with a little help (as it is, Daniel 11:34 ), that God might have a great deal of glory, as indeed he had. Gathered themselves together — United their

Job 13:23 — through the windows, the beams thereof discover an infinite number of motes in all places; so will it be with the best, if narrowly examined. Lesser sins, secret faults, are of daily, and almost hourly, incursion; yet we must be cleansed from them, Psalms 19:12 , or else vae hominum vitro quantumvis laudabili, saith one, Woe to the life of men, though praiseworthy, as the world judgeth. A pardon there is of course for such sins, and they do not usually distract and plunge the conscience; but yet that pardon

Job 29:18 — gaudentes in Spiritu Sancto, sed tamen caventes a recidivo: Be merry we may, but not carnally secure; rejoicing in the Holy Ghost, but yet beware that we backslide not. David by misreckoning of a point, missed the haven, and ran upon the rocks, Psalms 30:1-12 And Job here seemeth to have been mistaken, by taking the promises of outward happiness without exception of the cross; for the which he is afterwards reproved by Elihu, and also by God himself. And shall multiply my days as the sand — i.e.

Psalms 42:5 — soul? — Here David seemeth to be Homo divisus in duas partes, saith Vatablus, a man divided into two parts, as indeed every new man is two men; and what is to be seen in the Shulamite but as it were the company of two armies? Song of Solomon 6:13 . David chideth David out of his dumps. So did Alice Benden, the martyr, rehearsing these very words (when she had been kept in the bishop’s prison all alone nine weeks with bread and water), and received comfort by them in the midst of her miseries

Psalms 68:18 — St Paul applieth it, Ephesians 4:8-9 , and teacheth us to understand it of his wonderful ascension. Thou hast led captivity captive — i.e. Thou hast captivated those that once held us in captivity; for so God’s justice required, Isaiah 33:1 , so he had forepromised, Isaiah 24:22 Revelation 13:10 , and so Christ hath fulfilled, Colossians 2:15 , saving his people to the uttermost, from sin, death, hell, and the devil, who had taken them alive captive at his pleasure, 2 Timothy 2:26 . Thou

Proverbs 15:12 — A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise. A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him. — Nay, he "hateth those that reprove him in the gate," Amos 5:10 as Ahab did Micaiah; Herodias, John Baptist; the Pharisees, our Saviour. Bishop Ridley, lamenting, a little before his death, the state of England, even of the greatest magistrates, some, the king’s highness excepted, evermore unkindly and urgently

Proverbs 29:20 — man, as he never wants woe, so - because he is no less headstrong than headlong, wise in his own conceit, than witless in every man’s else - there is more hope of a natural than of him, and sooner he will be wrought upon. Scaliger Scal., Exercit. 140. Numbers 12:1-16 . tells us the nature of some kind of amber is such, that it will draw to itself all kind of stalks of any herb, except basilisk, a herb called capitalis, because it maketh men heady, filling their brains with black exhalations. Thus

Proverbs 3:7 — Socrates’s Hoc scio quod nihil scio, got him the name of the wisest among men. Consilii satis in me mihi Arachne apud Ovid. Metamor, lib. vi. is the proud man’s posy. "He that would be wise, must be a fool, that he may be wise." 1 Corinthians 3:18 Intus existens prohibet alienum. A conceit of wisdom bars out wisdom. Fear the Lord. — This makes a modest opinion of a man’s self. Joseph, a man famous for the fear of God, when Pharaoh expected from him an interpretation

Ecclesiastes 10:2 — right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left. A wise man’s heart is at his right hand. — He doth his business discreetly and dexterously, he is handy and happy at it. And as he "ordereth his affairs with discretion," Psalms 112:5 so he doth his affections too, reining them in with his right hand, and not suffering them to run riot, as the fool doth oft to his utter ruin. As the wise man’s "eyes are in his head," Ecclesiastes 2:14 so his "heart is at

Ecclesiastes 8:13 — But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow; because he feareth not before God. But it shall not be well with the wicked. — (1.) Not always well, Isaiah 3:12 for "sin will be sure to find him out," Numbers 32:23 and he that hath guilt in his bosom hath vengeance at his back. Oυδεις ανθρωπων αδικων

Song of Solomon 1:17 — board, house, all. It should be so between married couples, who should not have several purses, interests, &c., but both bring in what they have or get to the common hive. The Church is Christ's house, and every faithful soul is God's building; (1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 3:6) he "plants the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, that he may say to Zion, Thou art my people." (Isaiah 51:16) The great Architect of the world doth as wonderful a work in converting a soul to himself as he did

1 Samuel 31:4 — uncircumcision: as if his condition had been better than theirs, because he was circumcised. Whereas external privileges profit nothing those that are profane; but they are therefore the worse, because they ought to be better. Galatians 5:6 ; Galatians 6:15 And abuse me, — i.e., My body, whereof he took more care than for his precious soul; a common fault. His body was abused, nevertheless. But his armourbearer would not. — No more would Mark Antony’s armourbearer Eras: but, that he