Bible Commentaries

Job 31:17 — this instance the five or six guests attained their object, and had not only the selling of the kid, but also the eating of it, while our poor Arabs, whose mouths had long been watering with expectation, were forced to take up with the fragments.” Vol. 1:118. There is often, indeed, much ostentation in the hospitality of the Orientals, but the law is stern and inflexible. “No sooner,” says Shaw (Travels, vol. 1:p. 20), “was our food prepared, than one of the Arabs, having placed himself on the highest

Job 37:11 — demanded by the parallelism, and is also more poetical than that in the common version.Wearieth - Or removes, or scatters. The verb used here (טרח ṭârach) occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures, though nouns derived from the verb are found in Isaiah 1:14, rendered “trouble,” and Deuteronomy 1:12, rendered “cumbrance.” In Arabic it means “to cast down, to project,” and hence, to lay upon as a burden. But the word may mean to impel, drive forward, and hence, the idea that the dark thick cloud is propelled

Psalms 101:6 — integrity. It does not necessarily imply that he is absolutely holy, or free from all sin, but that he is upright, consistent, honest: a man whose moral character is developed in proper proportions, or is such that it may be relied on. See the notes at Job 1:1.

Psalms 11:3 — This is supposed to be the case in the circumstances referred to in the psalm, when there was no respect paid to truth and justice, and when the righteous, therefore, could find no security. It is under these circumstances the advice is given Psalms 11:1, that the righteous should seek safety in flight.What can the righteous do? - What source of safety or confidence has he? His trust for his own safety, and for the good of society, has always been in the prevalence of just principles, and he has

Psalms 110:4 — The Lord hath sworn - He has confirmed the appointment of the Messiah by a solemn oath, or as by an oath. That is, It is as sure and fixed as if he had taken an oath. Compare Hebrews 6:13. The “time,” so to speak, if the word time can be applied to transactions in a past eternity, was that when he was designated in the divine purpose as Messiah; in the eternal counsels of God. Compare Psalms 2:7.And will not repent - Will not change

Psalms 18:23 — I was also upright before him - Margin, with. The meaning is that he was upright in his sight. The word rendered upright is the same which in Job 1:1 is rendered perfect. See the note at that passage.And I kept myself from mine iniquity - From the iniquity to which I was prone or inclined. This is an acknowledgment that he was prone to sin, or that if he had acted out his natural character he would

Psalms 55:2 — mourn - The word used here - רוד rûd - means properly to wander about; to ramble - especially applied to animals that have broken loose; and then, to inquire after, to seek, as one does “by running up and down;” hence, to desire, to wish. Thus in Hosea 11:12 - “Judah runs wild toward God,” - in our translation, “Judah yet ruleth with God.” The word occurs also in Jeremiah 2:31, “We are lords” (margin, have dominion); and in Genesis 27:40, “When thou shalt have the dominion.” It is not elsewhere found

Psalms 8:5 — is the more natural construction, and this would convey an idea conformable to the course of thought in the psalm, though it has been usually supposed that the word used here - אלהים 'Elohiym - may be applied to angels, or even men, as in Psalms 82:1; Psalms 97:7; Psalms 138:1; Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8-9. Gesenius (Thesau. Ling. Heb., p. 95) maintains that the word never has this signification. The authority, however, of the Aramaic, the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the author of the Epistle to the

Psalms 86:16 — unto me, and have mercy upon me - Look upon me; as if God were now turned away, and were unmindful of his danger, his needs, and his pleading. The expression is equivalent to those in which he prays that God would incline his ear to him. See Psalms 86:1, Psalms 86:6, and the notes at Psalms 5:1.Give thy strength unto thy servant - Give such strength as proceeds from thee, and such as will accomplish what thou alone canst effect. Enable me to act as if clothed with divine power. The ground of the plea

Isaiah 17:9 — Hebrew text. Rosenmuller translates it, ‘As the remnant of a grove when the thicket is cut down, and when few trees are left.’ The word rendered ‘bough’ (חרשׁ choresh) means, properly, a thicket, or thick foliage, a wood that is entangled or intricate 1 Samuel 23:15-16, 1 Samuel 23:18; 2 Chronicles 27:4; and probably this is the idea here. The phrase may be rendered, ‘as the leavings or residue of a grove, copse, or entangled wood;’ and the idea is, that as a “few” trees might be left when the axeman

Isaiah 26:3 — Thou wilt keep him - The following verses to Isaiah 26:11, contain moral and religious reflections, and seem designed to indicate the resignation evinced by the ‘righteous nation’ during their long afflictions. Their own feelings they are here represented as uttering in the form of general truths to be sources

Isaiah 42:10 — Sing unto the Lord a new song - It is common, as we have seen, to celebrate the goodness of God in a hymn of praise on the manifestation of any special act of mercy (see the notes at Isaiah 12:1-6; Isaiah 25:1-12; Isaiah 26:0) Here the prophet calls upon all people to celebrate the divine mercy in a song of praise in view of his goodness in providing a Redeemer. The sentiment is, that God’s goodness in providing a Saviour demands the thanksgiving

Isaiah 44:20 — is reduced to ashes;’ the Septuagint, ‘Know thou that their heart is ashes.’ The word rendered here ‘feedeth’ (רעה ro‛eh) means properly “to feed, graze, pasture”; and then, figuratively, to delight, or take pleasure in any person or thing Proverbs 13:20; Proverbs 15:14; Proverbs 28:7; Proverbs 29:3. In Hosea 12:1, ‘Ephraim feedeth on wind,’ it means to strive after something vain or unprofitable; to seek that which will prove to be vain and unsatisfactory. So here it means, that in their idol-service

Isaiah 47:5 — Sit thou silent - The same general sentiment is expressed here as in the preceding verses, though the figure is changed. In Isaiah 47:1-3, Babylon is represented under the image of a frivolous and delicately-reared female, suddenly reduced from her exalted station, and compelled to engage in the most menial and laborious employment. Here she is represented as in a posture of mourning.

Isaiah 60:14 — of those who had oppressed them would become tributary to them, and acknowledge them as favored by Yahweh.Shall come bending unto thee - Shall come to time in a posture of humiliation and respect, In regard to the fulfillment of this, we may observe:1. That there was a partial fulfillment of it in the conquest of Babylon. The sons, the descendants of those who had destroyed Jerusalem, and led the Jews into captivity, were constrained to acknowledge them, and, under Cyrus, to reconduct them to the

Isaiah 61:2 — To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord - (see the notes at Isaiah 49:8). There is probably an allusion here to the year of Jubilee, when the trumpet was blown, and liberty was proclaimed throughout all the land (so Leviticus 25:9-10). In like manner the Messiah would come to proclaim universal liberty - liberty to all the world from the degrading servitude of sin. The time of his coming would be a time when Yahweh would be pleased to proclaim through him universal emancipation

Isaiah 65:3 — apology that it was supposed he did not see the offender. It is a great aggravation of the guilt of the stoner, that his offence is committed in the very presence, and under the very eye, of God.That sacrificeth in gardens - (See the notes at Isaiah 1:29).And burneth incense - On the meaning of the word ‘incense,’ see the notes at Isaiah 1:13.Upon altars of brick - Margin, ‘Bricks.’ The Hebrew is simply, ‘Upon bricks.’ The command of God was that the altars for sacrifice should be made of unhewn

Daniel 11:25 — was caused by the fact that, as Ptolemy Philometor for was in the hands of Antiochus, the Egyptians had raised Ptolemy Physcon (the Gross) to the throne. This prince assumed the name of Euergetes II. The pretended object of Antiochus in this invasion (168 b.c.) was to support the claims of Ptolemy Philometor against the usurpation of his brother, but his real purpose was to subject the whole country to his own power. He defeated the Alexandrians by sea near Pelusium, and then drew up his land forces

Daniel 2:16 — It may seem remarkable, as no time was allowed to the Chaldeans that they might make inquiry Daniel 2:8, that such a favor should have been granted to Daniel, especially after the execution of the sentence had been commenced; but we are to remember(1) that the king would recollect the favor which he had already shown Daniel on good grounds, and the fact that he regarded him as endowed with great wisdom, Daniel 1:19-20.(2) Daniel did not ask, as the Chaldeans did, that the king should tell the dream

Numbers 20:1 — Numbers 20:0 and Numbers 21:0 narrate the journey of the people from Kadesh round Mount Seir to the heights of Pisgah, near the Jordan, and the various incidents connected with that journey (compare Numbers 33:37-41). This formed the third and last stage of the progress of Israel