Bible Commentaries
Go deeper in Scripture
Browse trusted public-domain commentary alongside DiscipleDeck Bible study. References inside each commentary open Bible previews in place.
27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 16:23-31
EXPOSITION 16:23 Gathered them, i.e. themselves. To rejoice. The Hebrew is for a festivity, or merry-making, or feast. There was to be a great feast upon the sacrifices offered to Dagon their God. Dagon (from dag, a fis…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 18:1-31
EXPOSITION 18:1 In those days, etc. See 17:6. The tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance, etc. This does not mean that the whole tribe of Dan were still seeking their inheritance. The bulk of the tribe, as we r…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 19:1-30
EXPOSITION 19:1 When there was no king ( 17:6; 18:1; 21:25). It appears from 20:27, 20:28 that the events narrated in these three last chapters of the Book of Judges happened in the lifetime of Phinehas, and while the a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 20:1-17
EXPOSITION 20:1 Went out, i.e. from their several homes to the place of meeting. The congregation. The technical term (not, however, found in Samuel and Kings, except in 1 Kings 12:20) for the whole Israelitish people (…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 20:18-48
EXPOSITION 20:18 The house of God. In this rendering the A.V. follows the Vulgate, which has in domum Dei, hoc est, in Silo. But the Septuagint has βαιθὴλ, and all the ancient authorities, as well as modern commentator…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:1-5
The emigrants and their trials. We are introduced to the Hebrew family into which the Moabitess Ruth was married. I. THE BEAUTIFUL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NAMES of both the Hebrew parents. II. THE WOLF OF HUNGER HAD COME PR…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:1-5
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:1
Now it came to pass. Or, more literally, "And it came to pass." The "And" is somewhat remarkable, standing at the commencement of the Book. But as it is also found at the commencement of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Josh…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:1
"In the days when the judges ruled." This is the age in which the story happened which constitutes Ruth's history, beautiful as an epic, and touching as a pathetic drama of home life. The judges. Whether the earlier or…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:1
"There was a famine in the land." Providence led Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his two sons Mahlon and Chillon, into the land of Moab, on the other side of Jordan. Whilst there was scarcity of bread in Israel, there wa…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:2
And the name of the man was Elimelech. That is, "God is King," not, as the older critics were accustomed to interpret it, "My God is King." The intermediate i is not the possessive pronoun, but the vowel of union. The n…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:3
And Elimelech Naomi's husband died. Apparently soon after the settlement of the family. No details, however, are given, as, on the one hand, no blame is attached to the conduct of Elimelech, and as, on the other, the li…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:3-5
"In these words," says Fuller, "we have two marriages ushered and followed by funerals."
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:3
Widowhood. In the country of Moab Elimelech and his family found a home. A period of repose seems to have been granted them. They learned to reconcile themselves to new scenes and associations. But life is full of vicis…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:4
And they took to themselves wives of the women of Moab. It was their own act. Josephus, reproducing the narrative from memory, represents the event as occurring in the father's lifetime, and as brought about by his arra…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:4
Marriage. The notes of time found in this narrative are meager. It is not easy to decide to what the "ten years "here mentioned refer. After the death of Elimelech, the two sons were spared to be the occupation and the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:5
And, to make a long story short, Machlon and Chillon died also both of them. "Like green apples," says Fuller, "cudgelled off the tree." But why "cudgelled?" There is no evidence in the text of Divine displeasure, and t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:5
Double desolation. In the happiness of her children Naomi would revive the happy years of her own early married life. But the bright sky was soon clouded over by the shadow of death. Perhaps inheriting their father's co…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:6
Then—the conjunction in Hebrew is the common generic copulative and—she arose. She had been sitting, as it were, where her husband had settled, and she now rose up to depart (see Ruth 1:4). She, and her daughters-in, la…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:6-14
Longing for the old home. Brings to view I. NAOMI'S RESOLUTION. No wonder that she formed it; for— 1. The ties that bound her to the land of Moab had been snapped by the hand of death. In the death of her husband there…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:6-14
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:7
And so she went forth out of the place where she was. There is no attempt on the part of the writer to localize the spot. And her two daughters-in-law with her. They had kept, it seems, on terms of affectionate sympathy…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:8
And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house. She reverted, with deeper earnestness, to their theme, of discussion. She acknowledged that most kindly had they acted toward her. Her h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ruth 1:8
Kindness. Tidings reached Naomi that peace and plenty had returned to Judah, and she resolved to return to Bethlehem. She acknowledged the Lord's goodness, who "had visited his people in giving them bread." Doubtless sh…