Bible Commentaries

Psalms 109:6 — Set thou a wicked man over him - This commences the imprecatory part of the psalm, extending to Psalms 109:20. The first thing that the psalmist asks is, that his foe might be subjected to the evil of having a man placed over him like himself: a man regardless of justice, truth, and right; a man who would respect character and propriety no more than he

Psalms 116:3 — Those sorrows, therefore, become the representation of the intensest forms of suffering; and such, the psalmist says, he experienced on the occasion to which he refers. There would seem in his case to have been two things combined, as they often are:(1) actual suffering from some bodily malady which threatened his life, Psalms 116:3, Psalms 116:6,Psalms 116:8-10;(2) mental sorrow as produced by the remembrance of his sins, and the apprehension of the future, Psalms 116:4. See the notes at Psalms 18:5.And

Psalms 118:27 — bestowed on us the blessings of safety and of peace.Bind the sacrifice with cords - Come freely with the sacrificial victim; with the offering which is to be presented to God in sacrifice. The word - חג châg - commonly means a festival or feast, Exodus 10:9; Exodus 12:14; and then it means a festival-sacrifice, a victim, Exodus 23:18; Malachi 2:3. The Septuagint and Vulgate render it, “Prepare a solemn feast.” Our translation probably expresses the true sense. The word rendered cords, means properly

Psalms 138:2 — praise thy name for thy loving-kindness - Praise thee for thy benignity; thy mercy; thy benevolence.And for thy truth - Thy truthfulness; thy faithfulness to thy promises.For thou hast magnified thy word - Thou hast made it great. Compare Isaiah 42:21. The reference here is to the promises of God, and especially to the promise which God had made to David that the Messiah would descend from him. Compare 2 Samuel 7:0.Above all thy name - Above all else that thou hast done; above all the other manifestations

Isaiah 1:31 — is, that the nation would be punished; and that all their works of idolatry and monuments of sin would be the occasion of their punishment, and would perish at the same time. The “principle” involved in this passage teaches us the following things: (1) That the wicked, however mighty, shall be destroyed. (2) That their works will be the “cause” of their ruin - a cause necessarily leading to it. (3) That the works of the wicked - all that they do and all on which they depend - shall be destroyed.

Isaiah 14:11 — Thy pomp - Thy magnificence (see the note at Isaiah 5:14).The noise of thy viols - Instruments of music were often used in their feasts; and the meaning here is, that instead of being surrounded with splendor, and the instruments of music, the monarch was now brought down to the corruption and stillness

Isaiah 19:13 — The princes of Zoan - (the note at Isaiah 19:11). This “repetition” is intensive and emphatic, and shows the deep conviction of the prophet of their folly. The design is to show that “all” the counselors on which the Egyptians depended were fools.The princes of Noph - The Vulgate, the Septuagint,

Isaiah 24:23 — earth. These expressions are not to be pressed ad unguem as if the sun denoted one thing and the moon another; but they are general poetic expressions designed to represent rulers, princes, and magistrates of all kinds (compare Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:30-31).Shall be confounded - Shall be covered with shame. That is, shall appear to shine with diminished beauty, as if it were ashamed in the superior glory that would shine around it. The sense is, that when the people should be returned to their land, the

Isaiah 26:21 — For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place - That is, from heaven, which is the dwelling-place or residence of God Psalms 115:3; Ezekiel 3:12; Micah 1:3. When God executes vengeance, he is represented as coming from his abode, his dwelling-place, his capitol, as a monarch goes forth to war to destroy his foes.To punish the inhabitants of the earth - The land of Chaldea,

Isaiah 3:3 — was so called from the aspect of dignity which a man in office would assume. In the previous chapter, the phrase is used to denote rather the “pride” which attended such officers, than the dignity of the office itself.And the counselor - Note, Isaiah 1:26.The cunning artificer - Hebrew, The man wise in mechanic arts: skilled in architecture, etc.And the eloquent orator - לחשׁ נבון nebôn lâchash. literally, skilled or learned in whispering, in conjuration, in persuasion. The word לחשׁ lachash denotes

Isaiah 40:13 — Who hath directed - This passage is quoted by Paul in Romans 11:34, and referred to by him in 1 Corinthians 2:16. The word rendered ‘directed’ here (תכן tikēn) is the same which is used in the previous verse, ‘and meted out heaven.’ The idea here is, ‘Who has fitted, or disposed the mind or spirit of Yahweh? What

Isaiah 40:27 — noticed. The word ‘way’ here denotes evidently the state or condition; the manner of life, or the calamities which they experienced. The term is often thus employed to denote the lot, condition, or manner in which one lives or acts Psalms 37:5; Isaiah 10:24; Jeremiah 12:1. The phrase, ‘is hid,’ means that God is ignorant of it, or that he does not attend to it; and the complaint here is, that God had not regarded them in their calamities, and would not interpose to save them.And my judgment - My cause.

Isaiah 41:4 — and had accomplished all this by means of him, had power to deliver his people.Calling the generations from the beginning - The idea here seems to be, that all the nations that dwell on the earth in every place owed their origin to God (compare Acts 17:26). The word ‘calling’ here, seems to be used in the sense of commanding, directing, or ordering them; and the truth taught is, that all the nations were under his control, and had been from the beginning. It was not only true of Cyrus, and of those

Isaiah 44:7 — as I - This verse contains an argument to prove that he is God. In proof of this, he appeals to the fact that he alone can predict future events, and certainly declare the order, and the time in which they will come to pass (see the notes at Isaiah 41:21-23; Isaiah 44:9-10).Shall call - That is, call forth the event, or command that to happen which he wills - one of the highest possible exhibitions of power. See a similar use of the word call in Isaiah 46:2; Isaiah 48:15.And shall declare it - Declare,

Isaiah 50:10 — Encouraged by his example, he exhorts all others to cast themselves on the care of him who would defend a righteous cause.That feareth the Lord - Who are worshippers of Yahweh.That obeyeth the voice of his servant - The Messiah (see the note at Isaiah 42:1). This is another characteristic of piety. They who fear the Lord will also obey the voice of the Redeemer John 5:23.That walketh in darkness - In a manner similar to the Messiah Isaiah 50:6. God’s true people experience afflictions like others, and

Isaiah 52:1 — Awake, awake - (See the notes at Isaiah 51:9). This address to Jerusalem is intimately connected with the closing verses of the preceding chapter. Jerusalem is there represented as down-trodden in the dust before her enemies. Here she is described under the image of a female that had been clad

Isaiah 55:3 — Hear, and your soul shall live - That is, if you attend to my command and embrace my promises, you shall live. Religion in the Scriptures is often represented as life John 5:40; John 6:33; John 8:13; John 20:31; Romans 5:17-18; Romans 6:4; Romans 8:6; 1 John 5:12; Revelation 2:7-10. It stands opposed to the death of sin - to spiritual and eternal death.And I will make an everlasting covenant with you - On the word ‘covenant,’ see the notes at

Isaiah 60:9 — Surely the isles - On the meaning of the word ‘isles’ in Isaiah, see the notes at Isaiah 41:1.Shall wait for me - (See the notes at Isaiah 41:4).And the ships of Tarshish - (See the notes at Isaiah 2:16). The main idea here is clear. These ships were the principal vessels known to the Hebrews as employed in foreign commerce, and the prophet

Daniel 2:25 — Chaldee word used here implies “in tumultuous haste,” as of one who was violently excited, or in a state of trepidation, from בהל bâhal - “to tremble, to be in trepidation.” The trepidation in this case may have arisen from one or both of two causes:(1) exultation, or joy, that the great secret was discovered; or(2) joy that the effusion of blood might be stayed, and that there might be now no necessity to continue the execution of the sentence against the wise men.I have found a man - Margin, as

Daniel 2:6 — handwriting on the wall to Belshazzar, he admitted the justness of it, and loaded him with honors, Daniel 5:29. So when Joseph explained the dreams of Pharaoh, he at once saw the appropriateness of the explanation, and admitted it to be correct Genesis 41:39-45; and so in the case above referred to (notes on Daniel 2:2), of Astyages respecting the dreams of his daughter (Herod. 1, cvii.; cviii.), he at once saw that the interpretation of the dreams proposed by the Magi accorded with the dreams, and took