Bible Commentaries

Psalms 4:6 — good bargain, a good estate? …; but God, the chief good, is not in all their thoughts; they mind not communion with him or conformity to him, which is the Bonum hominis, good of a man Micah 6:8 , the totum hominis, whole of a man Ecclesiastes 12:13 , the one thing necessary, though nothing is less thought upon. What are these outward comforts, so much affected and admired, saith Plato, but Dei ludibria, banded up and down like tennis balls, from one to another? A spiritual man heeds not wealth,

Psalms 42:3 — trencher. - αγαθοι δ αριδακρυες ανθρες . The better any are, the more inclined to weeping; as David than Jonathan, 1 Samuel 20:41 Here we have him telling us that his tears were his meat, so Psalms 80:5 , or his bread, as Gregory readeth it; and he giveth this reason, that, like as the more bread we eat the dryer we are, and the more thirsty; so the more tears of

Proverbs 14:14 — with his own ways: and a good man [shall be satisfied] from himself. The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways. — He hath made a match with mischief, he shall soon have enough of it; he hath sold himself to do wickedness, Hebrews 10:38 and he shall be sure of his payment; he hath drawn back to perdition; he hath stolen from his colours, run away from his captain ( υποστειληται ), he shall have martial law for

Proverbs 15:1 — imbribus sopiuntur, saith Pliny, yet are they laid with soft showers. How soon was David disarmed by Abigail’s gentle apology, and made as meek as a lamb! So were the hot and hasty Ephraimites by Gideon’s mild and modest answer. Judges 8:1-3 "By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone." Proverbs 25:15 Howbeit, some persons must be more roughly dealt with, or they will never have done - nettles hardly handled sting not as they will if gently

Ecclesiastes 11:2 — and also to eight. — A portion - i.e., a good deal, a fair proportion - to a good many; as B. Hooper did to his board of beggars, whom he fed every day by course, serving them by four at a mess, with whole and wholesome food. Acts and Mon., fol. 1368. Or give a portion, i.e., a part, such as thou canst well part with, not stretching beyond the staple, lest ye mar all, while "others are eased, and you burdened, but by an equality," … 2 Corinthians 8:13-14 Give to him that asketh,

Ecclesiastes 7:16 — meet that maketh sins where God hath made none, as those superstitiostdi of old, and the Papists to this day do with their "Touch not, taste not, handle not: which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship," … Colossians 2:21 ; Colossians 2:23 Will worshippers are usually over wise, i.e., overweening, and also too well conceited of their own wisdom and worth. Hence it is that they cannot do, but they must overdo, Quisquis plus iusto non sapit, ille sapit. - Mart. till "wearied

Ecclesiastes 8:8 — augmentis vita ad detrimenta impellitur, Greg., Moral. Every day we yield somewhat to death. Stat sua cuique dies, Virg. Aeneid. Our last day stands, the rest run. Death is this only king, against whom there is no rising up Nulli cedo. Proverbs 30:31 The mortal scythe is master of the royal sceptre, and it mows down the lilies of the crown as well as the grass of the field, saith a reverend writer. Mr Ley, his Monitor of Mortality. And again, death suddenly snatcheth away physicians, oft as it were

Isaiah 5:2 — plantavit. it. — Maceria munivit; he hedged it in, or walled it about, protecting his people from the rage of enemies wherewith that country was begirt. God was "a wall of fire to them," Zechariah 2:5 and a wall of water to them, as Exodus 14:22 whence their land, though part of the continent, is called "an island," Isaiah 26:6 not only because separated from other countries, but because secured and made media insuperabilis unda. And gathered out the stones thereof. — He

Isaiah 55:7 — cleanse the outside of the platter. Castae manus sunt, sed mens habet piacula, said a heathen, who saw by the light of nature that clean hands and foul hearts did not suit well. And let him return unto the Lord. — See Trapp on " Zechariah 1:2 " See Trapp on " Joel 2:12 " See Trapp on " Joel 2:13 " For he will abundantly pardon. — He will multiply to pardon: as we multiply sins, he will multiply pardons. God in Christ mollis est el misericors, not an "austere

Hosea 11:10 — after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. They shall walk after the Lord — Powerfully calling them by his Word and Spirit, going before them, and bringing up the rear, Isaiah 3:12 ; their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them, Micah 2:13 . There was a time when they fled from God, Hosea 7:13 , and said, "I will go after my lovers," … Hosea 2:5-7 . Now they are of another mind and other

Joel 3:4 — swiftly [and] speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, … — Or, what are ye to me? I value you not, but look upon you as vile persons, how great soever in the world. See Daniel 11:21 . Or, what have I to do with you? What wrong have I done you that ye invade my land and molest my subjects? It is an idle misprision to sever the sense of an injury done to any of his members, from the head, and it was a malapert demand of the devil,

Obadiah 1:4 — ne iterum ad cohabitandum convolent, that they might never breed again among us. Lucifer and his antitype Nebuchadnezzar spake of ascending into heaven, above the heights of the clouds, and of the setting their thrones above the stars of God, Isaiah 14:13-14 . See the like language, or bigger, from the prince of Tyre, Ezekiel 28:2 , with the issue, much like this that here followeth. Thence will I bring thee down — Down with a vengeance, as he did Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Edom, Attilas,

Jonah 1:6 — or dozing person. ŒD into the boiling caldron; but such is not God’s manner of dealing with his people, though he be deeply displeased. Correct them he will, but with judgment, not in his anger, lest they be brought to nothing, Jeremiah 10:24 . Instruct them also he will ("Corrections of instruction are the way of life," Proverbs 6:23 ) by one means or other, as he did here Jonah by a rude mariner, and as long before he had done Abraham and Sarah by Abimelech, a heathen prince,

Jonah 1:8 — lawful? whether he "laboured the thing that was good," Ephesians 4:28 . For if any man overreach or oppress his brother in any matter, by the use of any ill arts, he shall be sure to find that "the Lord is the avenger of all such," 1 Thessalonians 4:6 ; though haply they lie out of the walk of human justice, or come not under man’s cognizance. And whence comest thou? — Art thou not of an accursed country? and is not thy people a people of God’s wrath, as England

Jonah 1:9 — And he said unto them, I [am] an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry [land]. And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew — i.e. A true believer, as was Eber the patriarch, Genesis 10:21 , and, after him, Abram the Hebrew, as he is called, Genesis 14:13 . This name of Hebrews, as it was the first title given to Abraham and his seed, so it endureth one of the last, 2 Corinthians 11:22 Philippians 3:5 ; Epistle to the Hebrews, title. And

Jonah 4:10 — thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: Then said the Lord — He did not roar upon Jonah, nor run upon him with a drawn sword, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers, Job 15:26 ; but gently said unto him, that he might the more admire his own impotence and God’s lenity; both which he studiously describeth all along this prophecy; a good sign of his sound repentance. Thou hast had pity on the gourd — Here is

Micah 5:8 — upon which the Lord Christ rode about the world, "conquering and to conquer?" Revelation 6:2 . That Lion of the tribe of Juda, Revelation 5:5 , had put upon them of his own spirit; and of his fulness bestowed upon them grace for grace, John 1:16 ; hence their transcendent zeal and courage for the truth. Stephen was among his countrymen, the Jews, as a lion among the beasts of the forest. So were in their several generations Athanasius, Basil, Ambrose, Luther, Latimer, Farel, …, that

Nahum 2:7 — other, as was thought. Some render it, quae firma stabat, ducta est in exilium. She that was wont to stand at the king’s right hand, as Psalms 45:9 which is a place both of dignity and of safety. As Christ is at God’s right hand, Psalms 110:1 , so the Church is at his, Psalms 45:9 , and he hath led captivity captive, Ephesians 4:8 , spoiled principalities and powers, made an open show of them, triumphing over them in himself, Colossians 2:15 . This is the saints’ happiness: they

Nahum 3:10 — captivity — Whereof though there be no other record, yet we ought not to doubt the truth, since it is here alleged by the Holy Ghost, as a thing either done before or shortly after to be done, as may be probably gathered from Jeremiah 46:25 Ezekiel 30:19 ; Ezekiel 30:21 cf. Jeremiah 20:5 ; Jeremiah 44:28 . To God (by reason of the vastness of his being) all things are present. As he that stands on a high mountain, and looks down, though to the passenger that goes by some are before some behind, yet

Nahum 3:3 — their corpses: The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword — Heb. The flame of the sword, brandished against the sun, which maketh it seem flaming. Such a sword is man’s tongue, thin, broad, long, and of a red fiery colour. See Psalms 42:10 ; Psalms 44:3 Proverbs 12:18 . David cries out of this murdering weapon in his bones, whereby they killed him alive, as with a tuck, or rapier, and buried him in their throats, those gaping graves, open sepulchres. And the glittering spear —