Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 1:6 — Had not displeased him - i. e. “His father had never checked or thwarted him all his life.”A very goodly man - Here, too, Adonijah resembled Absalom 2 Samuel 14:25. The Jews, like the other nations of antiquity, regarded the physical qualities of rulers as of great importance, and wished their kings to be remarkable for strength, stature, and beauty 1 Samuel 9:2. Adonijah’s personal advantages no doubt helped

1 Kings 15:22 — Geba, situated opposite to Michmash 1 Samuel 14:5, is almost certainly “Jeba,” which stands picturesquely on the top of its steep terraced hill on the very edge of the “Wady Suweinit.” Its position was thus exceedingly strong; and, as it lay further north than Ramah, Asa may have considered

1 Kings 17:12 — have thus addressed him: Baal-worshippers would have admitted Yahweh to be “a” living God. The woman does not say “as the Lord my God liveth.”That we may eat it and die - Phoenicia always depended for its cereal supplies on the harvests of Palestine (1 Kings 5:9 note); and it is evident that the famine was afflicting the Phoenicians at this time no less than the Israelites.

1 Kings 17:18 — imagines that Elijah’s visit had drawn God’s attention to her, and so to her sins, which (she feels) deserve a judgment - her son’s death.Thou man of God - In the mouth of the Phoenician woman this expression is remarkable. Among the Jews and Israelites 1 Kings 12:22; Judges 13:6, Judges 13:8 it seems to have become the ordinary designation of a prophet. We now see that it was understood in the same sense beyond the borders of the holy land.

1 Kings 2:2 — reproduces several of its leading expressions and sentiments (compare the margin reference). Solomon’s youth clearly constituted one of the chief difficulties of his position. If he was about nineteen or twenty, and known to be of a pacific disposition 1 Chronicles 22:9, then to have to rule over the warlike and turbulent Hebrew nation, with a strong party opposed to him, and brothers of full age ready to lead it, was evidently a most difficult task. Hence, he is exhorted, though in years a boy, to

2 Kings 16:17 — mutilation, but steps in the conversion of these sacred objects to other uses, as to the ornamentation of a palace or of an idol temple. The bases, the oxen, and the sea were not destroyed - they remained at Jerusalem until its final capture Jeremiah 52:17, Jeremiah 52:20. Probably they were restored to their original uses by Hezekiah 2 Chronicles 29:19.A pavement of stones - Probably a pavement made expressly, for the stones of the court seem to have been covered with a planking of cedar 1Ki 6:36; 1

1 Chronicles 12:23 — Rather, “These are the numbers of the men, ready equipped for the host, that came to David, etc.”In the list which follows such points as(1) The large mumber sent by the trans-Jordanic tribes;(2) The large numbers from Zebulon, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan, all tribes somewhat remote, and generally speaking undistinguished;(3) The small size of the contingent from Judah, which is generally

1 Chronicles 25:8 — As well the small as the great - Compare 1 Chronicles 24:31. The lot was not applied indiscriminately to all the 24 courses, but was only used to settle which course of Asaph, which of Jeduthun, and which of Heman, should on each occasion be taken. Asaph was given the precedence over his brethren,

1 Chronicles 7:6 — are mentioned; in Numbers, five (marginal references). Neither list, however, contains Jediael who was perhaps a later chieftain. If so, “son” as applied to him means only “descendant.”It is conjectured that Becher has disappeared from the lists in 1 Chronicles 8:0 and in Numbers, because he, or his heir, married an Ephraimite heiress, and that his house thus passed over in a certain sense into the tribe of Ephraim, in which the “Bachrites” are placed in Numbers Numbers 26:35. He retains, however,

2 Chronicles 20:6-9 — Jehoshaphat’s appeal is threefold:(1) to God omnipotent 2 Chronicles 20:6;(2) to “our God;”(3) the God especially “of this house” the temple.2 Chronicles 20:7Abraham thy friend - Historically, this is the first use of this remarkable expression, afterward repeated (marginal references).

Job 34:1 — Furthermore, Elihu answered and said - That is, evidently, after a pause to see if Job had anything to reply. The word answered in the Scriptures often means “to begin a discourse,” though nothing had been said by others; see Job 3:2; Isaiah 14:10; Zechariah 1:10; Zechariah 3:4; Zechariah 4:11-12. Sometimes it is used with reference to a subject, meaning that one replied to what could be suggested on the opposite side. Here it maybe understood either in the general sense of beginning a discourse,

Ruth 4:3 — This right Boaz advertises the גאל gā'al of, so as to give him the option which the law secured to him of redeeming “our brother Elimelech’s” land, i. e. our kinsman’s, according to the common use of the term brother, for near relation (see Genesis 13:8; Genesis 24:27; Leviticus 25:25; Numbers 27:4; Judges 9:1).

1 Samuel 12:11 — commentators read “Barak,” the form of the letters of both words being in Hebrew somewhat similar.And Samuel - There is nothing improper or out of place in Samuel mentioning his own judgeship. It had supplied a remarkable instance of God’s deliverance 1 Samuel 7:12-15; and, as it was the last as well as one of the very greatest deliverances, it was natural he should do so. The passage in Hebrews 11:32 is quite as favorable to the mention of Samuel here as to that of “Samson,” which some propose to

1 Samuel 16:2 — and concealment are not the same as duplicity and falsehood. Concealment of a good purpose, for a good purpose, is clearly justifiable. There is therefore nothing in the least inconsistent with truth in the occurrence here related. Compare Exodus 7:16; Exodus 8:1; Exodus 9:13.

1 Samuel 30:14 — The Cherethites - Here used as synonymous with Philistines 1 Samuel 30:16. In David’s reign the body-guard commanded by Benaiah consisted of Cherethites and Pelethites (Philistines?) and a picked corps of six hundred men of Gath commanded by Ittai the Gittite. It would seem from this that the Cherethites and

1 Samuel 30:20 — All the other plunder of the camp - arms, ornaments, jewels, money, clothes, camels, accoutrements, and so on - was divided among the little army. David’s motive in choosing the sheep and oxen for himself was to make presents to his friends in Judah 1 Samuel 30:26-31.

1 Samuel 8:6 — See the margin which implies that the thing spoken of caused anger, indignation, or some revulsion of feeling (see Genesis 21:11-12). The answer of the Lord 1 Samuel 8:7 shows that Samuel’s personal feelings had been hurt. They were soothed by being reminded of the continued ingratitude of the people to God Himself, upon whom, in fact, a greater slight was put by this very

2 Samuel 13:13 — My shame - Better, “my reproach.” Compare Genesis 30:23; Gen 34:14; 1 Samuel 11:2.Speak unto the king ... - It cannot be inferred with certainty from this that marriages were usual among half brothers and sisters in the time of David. The Levitical law forbade them (marginal reference), and Tamar may have merely wished

2 Samuel 23:39 — Thirty and seven in all - This reckoning is correct, though only 36 “names” are given, the names of only two of the second triad being recorded, but 31 names are given from 2 Samuel 23:24 to the end, which, added to the two triads, or six, makes 37. Joab as captain of the whole host stands quite alone. In 1 Chronicles 11:41-47; after Uriah the Hittite, there follow sixteen other names, probably the

2 Samuel 6:19 — word unexplained, one might infer that it was already obsolete and unknown in his time. The Septuagint translates it: “a cake baked on the hearth;” the Vulgate “a piece of roast beef.”A flagon of wine - Rather, “a cake” of grapes or raisins Hosea 3:1; Song of Solomon 2:5, or made with oil or mead.