Bible Commentaries

Job 19:23 — expression may convey wholly an erroneous idea. The art of “printing” was then unknown; and the passage has no allusion to that art. The original word (חקק châqaq) means properly, to cut in, to hew; then to cut - e. g. a sepulchre in a rock, Isaiah 22:16; then to cut, or engrave letters on a tablet of lead or stone, Isaiah 30:8; Ezekiel 4:1; and generally it implies the notion of engraving, or inscribing on a plate with an engraving tool. Anciently books were made of materials which allowed of this

Job 30:24 — exposition lies in the word בעי be‛ı̂y, rendered in the text “in the grave,” and in the margin “heap.” If that word is compounded of the preposition ב be and עי ‛ı̂y, it means literally, “in ruins, or in rubbish” - for so the word עי ‛ı̂y is used in Micah 1:6; Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 3:12; Psalms 79:1; Nehemiah 4:2, Nehemiah 4:10. But Gesenius supposes it to be a single word, from the obsolete root בעה, Chaldee בעא, “to pray, to petition”; and according to this the meaning is, “Yea, prayer is nought when

Job 4:13 — tumultuous and anxious thoughts which occur in the night. The Hebrew word rendered thoughts, (שׂעפים śâ‛ı̂phı̂ym), means thoughts which divide and distract the mind.From the visions of the night - On the meaning of the word visions, see the notes at Isaiah 1:1. This was a common mode in which the will of God was made known in ancient times. For an extended description of this method of communicating the will of God, the reader may consult my Introduction to Isaiah, Section 7.When deep sleep falleth on men

Psalms 42:4 — used as denoting what the state of his mind would be, the immediate reference is to the past. The sorrows and afflictions which had overwhelmed him were the things he would remember.I pour out my soul in me - Hebrew, upon me. See the notes at Job 30:16. The idea is derived from the fact that the soul in grief seems to be dissolved, or to lose all firmness, consistency, or power, and to be like water. We speak now of the soul as being melted, tender, dissolved, with sympathy or grief, or as overflowing

Psalms 42:5 — voluntary, or had been indulged too freely, and that it was wrong: that it was proper for a man like him to seek for comfort in brighter views; that it was a duty which he owed to himself and to the cause of religion to take brighter views. We may remark,(1) That there are two sides to the events which occur, and which seem so discouraging to us - a dark side and a bright side.(2) That in certain states of mind, connected often with a diseased nervous system, we are prone to look only on the dark side,

Isaiah 1:6 — oils, and frictions, which are made use of in the East in most maladies. ‘In Judea,’ says Tavernier, ‘they have a certain preparation of oil, and melted grease, which they commonly use for the healing of wounds.’ Lowth. Compare the note at Isaiah 38:21.Neither mollified with ointment - Neither made soft, or tender, with ointment. Great use was made, in Eastern nations, of oil, and various kinds of unguents, in medicine. Hence, the good Samaritan is represented as pouring in oil and wine into the wounds

Isaiah 2:13 — were very numerous. One of the largest was twelve yards six inches in girth, and thirty-seven yards in the spread of its boughs. At six yards from the ground, it was divided into five limbs, each equal to a great tree. Dr. Richardson visited them in 1818, and found a small clump of large, tall, and beautiful trees, which he pronounces the most picturesque productions of the vegetable world that he had ever seen. In this clump are two generations of trees; the oldest are large and massy, rearing their

Isaiah 50:1 — used in the Bible. Thus in Isaiah 62:5 : ‘As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee;’ ‘For thy Maker is thy husband’ Isaiah 54:5; ‘Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you’ Jeremiah 3:14. Thus in Revelation 21:9, the church is called ‘the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ Compare Ezekiel 16:0: See Lowth on Hebrew poetry, Lec. xxxi. The phrase, ‘bill of divorcement.’ refers to the writing or instrument which a husband was by law obliged to give

Isaiah 57:6 — why they supposed that such worship was celebrated among the smooth or much-worn stones of the running stream. The true idea can probably be obtained by reverting to the primitive sense of the word as derived from the verb. The verb חלק châlaq means: 1. To smooth. 2. To divide, to distribute, to appropriate - as the dividing of spoil, etc.Hence, the noun also means dividing, or portion, as that which is divided - whether an inheritance, or whether the dividings of spoil after battle. Retaining this

Hosea 3:5 — it signifies a religious search. It is not such seeking as our Lord speaks of, “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled” John 6:26, or, “many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able” Luke 13:24, but that earnest seeking, to which He has promised, “Seek and ye shall find.” Before, she had diligently sought her false gods. Now, in the end she shall as diligently seek God and His grace, as she had heretofore sought her idols and her sins.And

Hosea 5:6 — fell back again after his death. And so God speaketh here, as He does by David, “I will take no bullock out of thine house, nor he-goat out of thy fold. Thinkest thou, that I will eat bulls’ flesh, or drink the blood of goats?” Psalms 50:9, Psalms 50:13, and by Isaiah, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts” Isaiah 1:11.He hath withdrawn Himself from them - Perhaps he would say, that God, as it were “freed Himself”

Joel 2:30 — portending other dispensations of God, of joy to His faithful, terror to His enemies. As when Israel came out of Egypt, “the pillar of the cloud was a cloud and darkness to the camp of the Egyptians,” but “gave light by night” to the “camp of Israel” Exodus 14:19-20, so all God’s workings are light and darkness at once, according as people are, who see them or to whom they come. These wonders in heaven and earth “began in” the First Coming and “Passion of Christ, grew in the destruction of Jerusalem, but

Amos 3:12 — canopied couch to them, in which they stayed themselves. It is an image of listless ease and security, like that of these whom the false prophetesses lulled into careless stupidity as to their souls; “sewing pillows to all armholes,” or “wrists” Ezekiel 13:18, whereon to lean in a dull inertness.In vain! Of all those who then dwelt at ease and in luxury, the Good Shepherd Himself should rescue from “the lion,” (the enemy, in the first instance the Assyrian,) a small remnant, in the sight of the enemy

Zephaniah 1:7 — I will lay mine hand upon my mouth” Job 40:4. “Now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” Job 42:5-6. “Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, O Lord, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified” Psalms 143:2. How much more must the “man without the wedding garment be speechless” Matthew 22:11-12, and every false plea, with which he deceived himself, melt away before the Face of God! The voice of God’s Judgment echoes in every heart, “we indeed justly”

Haggai 1:5 — acts are not only “ways” in which we go, each day of life being a continuance of the day before; but that they are ways which lead, somewhere in God’s Providence and His justice; to some end of the “way,” good or bad. So God says by Jeremiah Jeremiah 21:8. “I set before you the way of life and the way of death;” and David Psalms 16:11, “Thou wilt show me the path of life,” where it follows, “In Thy presence is the fullness of joy and at Thy Right Hand there are pleasures forevermore;” and Solomon Proverbs

Zechariah 14:16 — His visitations, that, in proportion to the largeness of the rebellion and the visitation upon it, shall be the largeness of the conversion. “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled” Luke 21:24. And Paul, “Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles shall be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved” Romans 11:25-26. Hitherto prophets had spoken of a “remnant” of Jacob, who should “return to the mighty God”

Romans 11:36 — Para él - εξ αὐτοῦ ex autou; compare 1 Corintios 1:3; 1 Corintios 8:6. Esta expresión sin duda significa que él es la fuente original y la fuente de todas las bendiciones. Él es el Creador de todo, la rica "fuente de la que surgen todas las corrientes de existencia. El diseño de este versículo

1 Timothy 2:15 — de dolor con un espíritu apropiado, permaneciendo en la fe y la santidad, será salva. Ella no debe considerarse a sí misma como separada de la esperanza del cielo. Doddridge, Macknight, Clarke y otros suponen que se refiere a la promesa en Génesis 3:15, y significa que la mujer se salvará a través, o por medio de un hijo, a saber, el Mesías; y que el apóstol significa sostener a la mujer en sus penas, y en su estado de subordinación e inferioridad, al referirse al honor que le ha sido otorgado por

Hebrews 8:13 — todas las características de un sistema anticuado y en declive; y se había declarado expresamente que se debía dar una dispensación nueva y más perfecta al mundo. Pablo concluyó, por lo tanto, que el sistema judío debe desaparecer pronto. Observaciones 1. El hecho de que tengamos un sumo sacerdote es adecuado para impartir consuelo a la mente piadosa; Hebreos 8:1. Él vive y es siempre el mismo. Él es un ministro del verdadero santuario, y está siempre antes del propiciatorio. Él ingresa allí no solo

Revelation 2:7 — oiga ... - Esta expresión aparece al final de cada una de las epístolas dirigidas a las siete iglesias, y es sustancialmente un modo de dirección a menudo empleado por el Salvador en su ministerio personal, y bastante característico de él. Ver Mateo 11:15; Marco 4:23; Marco 7:16. Es una forma de expresión diseñada para atraer la atención y denotar que lo que se dijo fue de especial importancia. Lo que el Espíritu dice a las iglesias - Evidentemente lo que dice el Espíritu Santo - porque él es considerado