Bible Commentaries

Psalms 34:16 — evil, that is, He observes them to bring judgment upon them.To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth - To cut off themselves, - their families - and all memorials of them, so that they shall utterly be forgotten among people. Compare Psalms 109:13-15. So, in Proverbs 10:7, it is said, “The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot.” Two things are implied here:(1) That it is “desirable” to be remembered after we are dead. There is in us a deep-rooted principle,

Psalms 37:3 — and the meaning is, that they should seek after truth, and find their support and comfort in that. There are, then, in this verse, four things prescribed as duty, in order to keep the mind calm in view of the fact that wickedness abounds in the world:(1) to confide in God;(2) to be actively employed in doing good;(3) to abide calmly and gratefully in the land which God has given us;(4) to seek after truth, or a true view of the character and government of God as the great Ruler.If people would do these

Psalms 42:1 — As the hart panteth after the water-brooks - Margin, brayeth. The word rendered hart - איל 'ayâl - means commonly a stag, hart, male deer: Deuteronomy 12:15; Deuteronomy 14:5; Isaiah 35:6. The word is masculine, but in this place is joined with a feminine verb, as words of the common gender may be, and thus denotes a hind, or female deer. The word rendered in the text “panteth,” and in the margin “brayeth”

Psalms 60:7 — is expressed by a reference to the two regions so situated - Gilead and Manasseh on the east, and Ephraim and Judah on the west. Gilead was on the east of the river Jordan, properly embracing the mountainous region south of the river Jabbok, Genesis 31:21-48; Song of Solomon 4:1. The word has sometimes, however, a wider signification, including the whole mountainous tract between the rivers Arnon and Bashan, and thus including the region occupied by the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, Numbers

Psalms 68:14 — diversity of opinion. The word rendered “was white as snow” is correctly rendered. It means to be snowy; then, to be white like snow. The verb occurs nowhere else. The noun is of frequent occurrence, and is always rendered snow. Exodus 4:6; Numbers 12:10; 2Sa 23:20; 2 Kings 5:27; et al. The word Salmon properly means shady, and was applied to the mountain here referred to, probably on account of the dark forests which covered it. That mountain was in Samaria, near Shechem. Judges 9:48. It is not

Psalms 68:6 — God setteth the solitary in families - Margin, as in Hebrew, in a house. The word rendered solitary means properly one alone, as an only child; Genesis 22:2, Genesis 22:12, Genesis 22:16; and then it means alone, solitary, wretched, forsaken. See the notes at Psalms 22:20. The word rendered “families” would be more literally and better translated as in the margin, houses. The idea then is, not that he constitutes families

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22 — That great anomaly in the moral government of this world, the seemingly unequal distribution of rewards and punishments, will be rectified by God, who has future times and events under His control Ecclesiastes 3:16-17. As for people, they are placed by God, who is their teacher, in a humble condition, even on a level with inferior animals, by death, that great instance of their subjection to vanity Ecclesiastes 3:18-19, which reduces to its original form all

Isaiah 10:22 — For though ... - In this verse, and in Isaiah 10:23. the prophet expresses positively the idea that “but” a remnant of the people should be preserved amidst the calamities. He had said Isaiah 10:20-21, that a remnant should return to God. He now carries forward the idea, and states that only a remnant

Isaiah 11:16 — And there shall be an highway - All obstructions shall be removed, and they shall be permitted to return without hinderance (compare the note at Isaiah 35:8).For the remnant of his people from Assyria - See note at Isaiah 11:11.Like as it was to Israel... - That is, God will remove all obstructions as he did at the Red Sea; he will subdue all their enemies; he will provide for their needs; and he will interpose by the manifest marks of his presence and protection, as their

Isaiah 14:19 — But thou art cast out of thy grave - Thou art not buried like other kings in a magnificent sepulchre, but art cast out like the common dead. This was a mark of the highest infamy (see Isaiah 34:3; Ezekiel 29:5; Jeremiah 22:19). Nothing was considered more disgraceful than to be denied the privileges of an honorable burial (see the note at Isaiah 53:9). On the fulfillment of this prophecy, see the note at Isaiah 14:20.As an abominable branch - (נתעב כנצר kenêtser nı̂te'āb).

Isaiah 22:11 — inhabitants would be cut off from it, and an enemy would be able easily to subdue them. To prevent this, Hezekiah appears to have performed two works, one of which was particularly adapted to the times of the siege, and the other was of permanent utility. (1) He made a wall on the west side of Gihon, so as to make the pool accessible to the inhabitants of the city, as described here by Isaiah; and (2) he ‘stopped the upper water-course of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city

Isaiah 28:25 — sâman, “to designate, to mark, to seal;” and that it means barley that had been put aside and marked as especially excellent, or seed-barley. In Chaldee, the word סמן simman occurs in the sense of “to seal, to mark, to designate” (Chaldee Par. Num 17:3; 2 Kings 9:13; Esther 5:1). The Septuagint, translated it κέγχρον kengchron, and the Vulgate, Aquila, and Theodotion, understand the word as denoting a species of grain, the millet. The idea is probably that expressed by Grotius, and in our version

Isaiah 28:27 — For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument - The word used here (חרוּץ chârûts) denotes properly that which is pointed or sharp, and is joined with מורג môrag in Isaiah 41:15 - meaning there the threshing dray or sledge; a plank with iron or sharp stones that was drawn by oxen over the grain (compare 2 Samuel 24:22; 1 Chronicles 21:23). In the passage before us, several methods of threshing are mentioned as adapted to

Isaiah 33:23 — it is impossible to navigate a ship. It is to be observed here, however, that the word which our translators have rendered ‘well’ (כן kên), not only signifies ‘well’ as an adverb, but is also used as a noun, and means a stand or station Genesis 40:13; Genesis 41:13; Daniel 11:20-21; and also a base or pedestal (Exodus 30:18, Exodus 30:28; Exodus 31:9; Exodus 35:16; Exodus 38:8; Leviticus 8:11; 1 Kings 7:31. It may be used here to denote the socket or base of the ship’s mast; or the cross beam which

Isaiah 33:7 — autois. Most or all the versions seem to have read it as if it were compounded of לם אראה 'ere'eh lm - ‘I will appear to them.’ But probably the word is formed from אראל 'ăre'el, the same as אריאל 'ărı̂y'êl (Ariel), ‘a hero’ (see the note at Isaiah 29:1), and means “their hero” in a collective sense, or their heroes; that is, their men who were distinguished as military leaders, and who were sent to propose terms of peace with Sennacherib. The most honorable and valiant men would be selected, of course,

Isaiah 35:1 — Judea, but to all places that might be properly called a moral wilderness, or a spiritual desert; and thus aptly expresses the condition of the world that was to be benefited by the blessings foretold in this chapter. The parallel expressions in Isaiah 41:17-19; Isaiah 44:3-4, show that this is the sense in which the phrase is here used; and that the meaning is, that every situation which might be appropriately called a moral wilderness - that is, the whole pagan world - would ultimately be made glad.

Isaiah 36:1 — In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah - Of his reign, 709 b.c.That Sennacherib - Sennacherib was son and successor of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and began to reign A.M. 3290, or 714 b.c., and reigned, according to Calmet, but four years, according to Prideaux eight years, and according to Gesenius eighteen years. The immediate occasion of this war against Judah was the fact that Hezekiah had shaken off the yoke of Assyria, by

Isaiah 37:38 — Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword - What was the cause of this rebellion and parricide is unknown. These two sons subsequently became, in Armenia, the heads of two celebrated families there, the Arzerunii, and the Genunii (see Jos. Ant. x. 1, 5, note).And they escaped - This would lead us to suppose that it was some private matter which led them to commit the parricide, and that they did not do it with the expectation of succeeding to the crown.Into the land of Armenia - Hebrew, as Margin,

Isaiah 43:24 — It was to be obtained only from abroad. This is expressly affirmed in Jeremiah 6:20 : ‘To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from afar country?’ That it was an article of commerce is also apparent from Ezekiel 27:19 : ‘Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs (that is, Tyre): bright iron, cassia, and calamus (קנה qâneh), were in thy market.’Sweet cane - The word used here (קנה qâneh), denotes properly “cane, reed, calamus” (Greek κάννα kanna

Isaiah 5:11 — dissipation.”That rise up early ... - That rise “for this purpose,” when nothing else would rouse them. It may illustrate this somewhat, to remark, that it was not common among the ancients to become intoxicated at an early hour of the day; see the note at Acts 2:15; compare 1 Thessalonians 5:7. It indicated then, as it does now, a confirmed and habitual state of intemperance when a man would do this early in the morning. ‘The Persians, when they commit a debauch, arise betimes, and esteem the morning as the best