Bible Commentaries

Genesis 33:18 — 18. Shalem—that is, "peace"; and the meaning may be that Jacob came into Canaan, arriving safe and sound at the city Shechem—a tribute to Him who had promised such a return (compare Genesis 28:15). But most writers take Shalem as a proper name—a city of Shechem, and the site is marked by one of the little villages about two miles to the northeast. A little farther in the valley below Shechem "he bought a parcel of a field," thus

Genesis 7:21 — 21. all flesh died . . . fowl . . . cattle, and . . . creeping thing—It has been a uniform principle in the divine procedure, when judgments were abroad on the earth, to include every thing connected with the sinful objects of His wrath (Genesis 19:25; Exodus 9:6). Besides, now that the human race was reduced to one single family, it was necessary that the beasts should be proportionally diminished, otherwise by their numbers they would have acquired the ascendancy and overmastered the

1 Chronicles 1:36 — 36. sons of Eliphaz—the tribe Adites, in the center country of the Saracens, so called from his mother, Adah (Genesis 36:10). Teman—gave rise to the land of Teman, near the head of the Red Sea. Omar—the tribe Beni-Amma, settled at the northern point of Djebel Shera (Mount Seir). Zephi—the tribe Dzaf. Gatam—Katam, inhabited by the tribe Al Saruat, or "people

Job 17:5 — 5. The Hebrew for "flattery" is "smoothness"; then it came to mean a prey divided by lot, because a smooth stone was used in casting the lots (Deuteronomy 18:8), "a portion" (Genesis 14:24). Therefore translate, "He that delivers up his friend as a prey (which the conduct of my friends implies that they would do), even the eyes," c. [NOYES] (Job 11:20). Job says this as to the sinner's children, retorting upon their reproach

Job 18:13 — 4:10). Rather, "destruction" from Lamentations 4:10- : is nominative to "devour." strength—rather, "members" (literally, the "branches" of a tree). the first-born of death—a personification full of poetical horror. The first-born son held the chief place (Genesis 49:3); so here the chiefest (most deadly) disease that death has ever engendered (Isaiah 14:30; "first-born of the poor"—the poorest). The Arabs call fever, "daughter of death."

Job 33:4 — 4. The Spirit of God hath made me—as He did thee: latter clause of :- (Genesis 2:7). Therefore thou needest not fear me, as thou wouldest God (Job 33:7; Job 9:34). On the other hand, "the breath of the Almighty hath inspired me" (as Job 32:8); not as English Version, "given me life"; therefore "I am according to thy wish

Psalms 123:2 — look (1) to His directing hand, to appoint them their work; (2) to His supplying hand ( :-), to give them their portion in due season; (3) to His protecting hand, to right them when wronged; (4) to His correcting hand (Isaiah 9:13; 1 Peter 5:6; compare Genesis 16:6); (5) to His rewarding hand.

Leviticus 12:2 — 2. If a woman, c.—The mother of a boy was ceremonially unclean for a week, at the end of which the child was circumcised (Genesis 17:12 Romans 4:11-13); the mother of a girl for two weeks (Leviticus 12:5) —a stigma on the sex (1 Timothy 2:14; 1 Timothy 2:15) for sin, which was removed by Christ; everyone who came near her during that time contracted a similar defilement.

Song of Solomon 1:7 — rest—distinct from "feedest"; periods of rest are vouchsafed after labor (Isaiah 4:6; Isaiah 49:10; Ezekiel 34:13-15). Communion in private must go along with public following of Him. turneth aside—rather one veiled, that is, as a harlot, not His true bride (Genesis 38:15), [GESENIUS]; or as a mourner (Genesis 38:15- :), [WEISS]; or as one unknown [MAURER]. All imply estrangement from the Bridegroom. She feels estranged even among Christ's true servants, answering to "thy companions" (Luke 22:28), so long

Isaiah 10:7 — not so—He is only thinking of his own schemes, while God is overruling them to His purposes. think—intend. Sinners' plans are no less culpable, though they by them unconsciously fulfil God's designs (Psalms 76:10; Micah 4:12). So Joseph's brethren (Genesis 50:20; Proverbs 16:4). The sinner's motive, not the result (which depends on God), will be the test in judgment. heart to destroy . . . not a few—Sennacherib's ambition was not confined to Judea. His plan was also to conquer Egypt and Ethiopia

Isaiah 36:16 — possession of your lands till my return from Egypt, when I will lead you away to a land fruitful as your own. Rab-shakeh tries to soften, in the eyes of the Jews, the well-known Assyrian policy of weakening the vanquished by deporting them to other lands (Genesis 47:21; 2 Kings 17:6).

Jeremiah 49:8 — abound in Idumea. Others refer it to the Arab custom of retiring into the depth of the desert when avoiding an offended foe (Jeremiah 49:30). Dedan—a tribe bordering on and made subject by Idumea; descended from Jokshan, son of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:1-3). Esau—The naming of Edom's progenitor, reprobated by God, recalls the remembrance of the old curse on him for his profanity, both his sin and its punishment being perpetuated in his descendants (Hebrews 12:16; Hebrews 12:17).

Jeremiah 6:15 — 15. ROSENMULLER translates, "They ought to have been ashamed, because . . . but," c. the Hebrew verb often expressing, not the action, but the duty to perform it (Genesis 20:9; Malachi 2:7). MAURER translates, "They shall be put to shame, for they commit abomination; nay (the prophet correcting himself), there is no shame in them" (Jeremiah 3:3; Jeremiah 8:12; Ezekiel 3:7; Zephaniah 3:5). them that fall—They shall

Ezekiel 28:13 — 36:35). In the person of the king of Tyre a new trial was made of humanity with the greatest earthly advantages. But as in the case of Adam, the good gifts of God were only turned into ministers to pride and self. every precious stone—so in Eden (Genesis 2:12), "gold, bdellium, and the onyx stone." So the king of Tyre was arrayed in jewel-bespangled robes after the fashion of Oriental monarchs. The nine precious stones here mentioned answer to nine of the twelve (representing the twelve tribes)

Daniel 2:1 — (Daniel 1:5- :; compare Jeremiah 25:9; Ezekiel 28:12-15; Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1; Romans 13:1), is honored with the revelation in the form of a dream, the appropriate form to one outside the kingdom of God. So in the cases of Abimelech, Pharaoh, c. (Genesis 20:3 Genesis 41:1-7), especially as the heathen attached such importance to dreams. Still it is not he, but an Israelite, who interprets it. Heathendom is passive, Israel active, in divine things, so that the glory redounds to "the God of heaven."

Hosea 11:8 — 8. as Admah . . . Zeboim—among the cities, including Sodom and Gomorrah, irretrievably overthrown (Deuteronomy 29:23). heart is turned within me—with the deepest compassion, so as not to execute My threat (Lamentations 1:20; compare Genesis 43:30; 1 Kings 3:26). So the phrase is used of a new turn given to the feeling (1 Kings 3:26- :). repentings—God speaks according to human modes of thought (1 Kings 3:26- :). God's seeming change is in accordance with His secret everlasting

Hosea 3:4 — to "thou shalt abide for me" (1 Chronicles 15:27- :). Abide in solitary isolation, as a separated wife. The teraphim were tutelary household gods, in the shape of human busts, cut off at the waist (as the root of the Hebrew word implies) [MAURER], (Genesis 31:19; Genesis 31:30-35). They were supposed to give responses to consulters (2 Kings 23:24; Ezekiel 21:21, Margin; Ezekiel 21:21- :). Saul's daughter, Michal, putting one in a bed, as if it were David, proves the shape to have been that of a

Hosea 9:4 — unclean (Deuteronomy 26:14; Jeremiah 16:7; Ezekiel 24:17). their bread for their soul—their offering for the expiation of their soul [CALVIN], (Leviticus 17:11). Rather, "their bread for their sustenance ('soul' being often used for the animal life, Genesis 14:21, Margin) shall not come into the Lord's house"; it shall only subserve their own uses, not My worship.

Matthew 21:38 — 38. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves—Compare Genesis 37:18-20; John 11:47-53. This is the heir—Sublime expression this of the great truth, that God's inheritance was destined for, and in due time is to come into the possession of, His own Son in our nature (John 11:47-43.11.53- :). come, let

Galatians 3:17 — time of his entrance into Egypt, the land of bondage. It was to Christ in him, as in his grandfather Abraham, and his father Isaac, not to him or them as persons, the promise was spoken. On the day following the last repetition of the promise orally (Genesis 46:1-6), at Beer-sheba, Israel passed into Egypt. It is from the end, not from the beginning of the dispensation of promise, that the interval of four hundred thirty years between it and the law is to be counted. At Beer-sheba, after the covenant