Bible Commentaries

Genesis 19:26 — 26. Lot was accompanied by his wife and two daughters. But whether it was from irresistible curiosity or perturbation of feeling, or that she was about to return to save something, his wife lingered, and while thus disobeying the parting counsel, "to look not back, nor stay in all the plain" [Genesis 19:17], the torrent of liquid lava enveloped her so that she became the victim of her supine indolence or sinful rashness.

Genesis 31:14 — 14. Rachel and Leah answered—Having heard his views, they expressed their entire approval; and from grievances of their own, they were fully as desirous of a separation as himself. They display not only conjugal affection, but piety in following the course described—"whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do" [Genesis 31:16]. "Those that are really their husbands' helpmeets will never be their hindrances in doing that to which God calls them" [HENRY].

Genesis 35:2 — number of Mesopotamian retainers, who were addicted to superstitious practices; and there is some reason to fear that the same high testimony as to the religious superintendence of his household could not have been borne of him as was done of Abraham (Genesis 18:19). He might have been too negligent hitherto in winking at these evils in his servants; or, perhaps, it was not till his arrival in Canaan, that he had learnt, for the first time, that one nearer and dearer to him was secretly infected with

Job 11:12 — 12. vain—hollow. would be—"wants to consider himself wise"; opposed to God's "wisdom" (see on Job 11:1); refuses to see sin, where God sees it (Romans 1:22). wild ass's colt—a proverb for untamed wildness (Job 39:5; Job 39:8; Jeremiah 2:24; Genesis 16:12; Hebrew, "a wild-ass man"). Man wishes to appear wisely obedient to his Lord, whereas he is, from his birth, unsubdued in spirit.

Job 12:18 — 18. He looseth the bond of kings—He looseth the authority of kings—the "bond" with which they bind their subjects (Isaiah 45:1; Genesis 14:4; Daniel 2:21). a girdle—the cord, with which they are bound as captives, instead of the royal "girdle" they once wore (Isaiah 22:21), and the bond they once bound others with. So "gird"—put on one the bonds of a prisoner instead of the ordinary girdle (Isaiah 22:21- :).

Job 24:5 — 5. wild asses— ( :-). So Ishmael is called a "wild ass-man"; Hebrew (Genesis 16:12). These Bedouin robbers, with the unbridled wildness of the ass of the desert, go forth thither. Robbery is their lawless "work." The desert, which yields no food to other men, yields food for the robber and his children by the plunder of caravans. rising betimes—In the East travelling is begun very early, before the heat comes on.

Song of Solomon 4:12 — tomb of Joseph, in which His body was laid amid "myrrh," c. (Song of Solomon 4:6), situated in a nicely kept garden (compare "gardener," Song of Solomon 4:6- :) "sealed" with a stone (Song of Solomon 4:6- :); in which it resembles "wells" in the East (Genesis 29:3; Genesis 29:8). It was in a garden of light Adam fell; in a garden of darkness, Gethsemane, and chiefly that of the tomb, the second Adam retrieved us. Spiritually the garden is the gospel kingdom of heaven. Here all is ripe; previously (Song

Isaiah 11:11 — of Egypt, now Abyssinia, or the southern parts of Arabia, along the Red Sea. Elam—Persia, especially the southern part of it now called Susiana. Shinar—Babylonian Mesopotamia, the plain between the Euphrates and the Tigris: in it Babel was begun (Genesis 10:10). In the Assyrian inscriptions RAWLINSON distinguishes three periods: (1) The Chaldean; from 2300 B.C. to 1500, in which falls Chedorlaomer (Genesis 10:10- :), called in the cuneiform characters Kudur of Hur, or Ur of the Chaldees, and described

Ezekiel 32:29 — 29. princes—Edom was not only governed by kings, but by subordinate "princes" or "dukes" (Genesis 36:40). with their might—notwithstanding their might, they shall be brought down (Isaiah 34:5; Isaiah 34:10-17; Jeremiah 49:7; Jeremiah 49:13-18). lie with the uncircumcised—Though Edom was circumcised, being descended from Isaac, he shall lie with the uncircumcised; much more shall Egypt, who had no hereditary right to circumcision.

Ezekiel 34:29 — 29. plant of renown—Messiah, the "Rod" and "Branch" ( :-), the "righteous Branch" ( :-), who shall obtain for them "renown." FAIRBAIRN less probably translates, "A plantation for a name," that is, a flourishing condition, represented as a garden (alluding to Eden, Genesis 2:8-11, with its various trees, good for food and pleasant to the sight), the planting of the Lord (Isaiah 60:21; Isaiah 61:3), and an object of "renown" among the heathen.

Ezekiel 35:2 — 2. Mount Seir—that is, Idumea (Genesis 36:9). Singled out as badly pre-eminent in its bitterness against God's people, to represent all their enemies everywhere and in all ages. So in Isaiah 34:5; Isaiah 63:1-4, Edom, the region of the greatest enmity towards God's people, is the ideal scene of the final judgments of all God's foes. "Seir" means "shaggy," alluding to its rugged hills and forests.

Daniel 4:30 — might to God's, as though God's threat, uttered a year before, could never come to pass. He would be more than man; God, therefore, justly, makes him less than man. An acting over again of the fall; Adam, once lord of the world and the very beasts (Genesis 1:28; so Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 2:38), would be a god (Genesis 3:5); therefore he must die like the beasts (Psalms 82:6; Psalms 49:12). The second Adam restores the forfeited inheritance (Psalms 49:12- :).

Micah 6:8 — moral duties here are summed up by our Lord (Amos 5:24- :), "judgment, mercy, and faith" (in Amos 5:24- :, "the love of God"). Compare Amos 5:24- :. To walk with God implies constant prayer and watchfulness, familiar yet "humble" converse with God (Genesis 5:24; Genesis 17:1).

Zechariah 9:9 — colt—untamed, "whereon yet never man sat" (Philippians 2:7-50.2.9- :). The symbol of a triumphant conqueror and judge (Judges 5:10; Judges 10:4; Judges 12:14). foal of an ass—literally, "asses": in Hebrew idiom, the indefinite plural for singular (so Genesis 8:4, "mountains of Ararat," for one of the mountains). The dam accompanied the colt (Genesis 8:4- :). The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem at His first coming is a pledge of the full accomplishment of this prophecy at His second coming. It shall

Mark 7:37 — 37. And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well—reminding us, says TRENCH, of the words of the first creation (Genesis 1:31, Septuagint), upon which we are thus not unsuitably thrown back, for Christ's work is in the truest sense "a new creation," he maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak—"and they glorified the God of Israel" (Matthew 15:31). See on Mark 7:31.

Luke 20:14 — 14. reasoned among themselves—(Compare Genesis 37:18-20; John 11:47-53). the heir—sublime expression of the great truth, that God's inheritance was destined for, and in due time to come into the possession of, His Son in our nature (Hebrews 1:2). inheritance . . . ours—and so from mere servants we may become lords; the deep aim of the depraved heart, and literally "the root of all evil."

Romans 9:7 — 7-9. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children—"Not in the line of mere fleshly descent from Abraham does the election run; else Ishmael, Hagar's child, and even Keturah's children, would be included, which they were not." but—the true election are such of Abraham's seed as God unconditionally chooses, as exemplified in that promise. in Isaac shall thy seed be called— (Genesis 21:12).

Ephesians 5:31 — Bride (Luke 2:48; Luke 2:49; Luke 8:19-21; Luke 11:27; Luke 11:28). He shall again leave His Father's abode to consummate the union (Matthew 25:1-10; Revelation 19:7). they two shall be one flesh—So the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, c., read (Genesis 2:24), instead of "they shall be one flesh." So Genesis 2:24- :. In natural marriage, husband and wife combine the elements of one perfect human being: the one being incomplete without the other. So Christ, as God-man, is pleased to make the Church,

James 1:17 — in contrast to "sin" in its initiatory stage ( :-), so the "perfect boon" is in contrast to "sin when it is finished," bringing forth death ( :-). from above—(Compare :-). Father of lights—Creator of the lights in heaven (compare :- [ALFORD]; Genesis 4:20; Genesis 4:21; Hebrews 12:9). This accords with the reference to the changes in the light of the heavenly bodies alluded to in the end of the verse. Also, Father of the spiritual lights in the kingdom of grace and glory [BENGEL]. These were

Revelation 20:6 — walks in the light of God, and the full life of humanity is at last realized. Scripture does not view the human race as an aggregate of individuals and nationalities, but as an organic whole, laid down once for all in the first pages of revelation. (Genesis 9:25-27; Genesis 10:1; Genesis 10:5; Genesis 10:18; Genesis 10:25; Genesis 10:32; Deuteronomy 32:8 recognizes the fact that from the first the division of the nations was made with a relation to Israel). Hence arises the importance of the Old