Bible Commentaries
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3,811 commentary entries
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible
Hezekiah's Vanity. (b. c. 712.)
HEZEKIAH'S VANITY. (B. C. 712.) Hence we may learn these lessons:—1. That humanity and common civility teach us to rejoice with our friends and neighbours when they rejoice, and to congratulate them on their deliverance…
Hezekiah's Vanity Punished. (b. c. 712.)
HEZEKIAH'S VANITY PUNISHED. (B. C. 712.) Hence let us observe, 1. That, if God love us, he will humble us, and will find some way or other to pull down our spirits when they are lifted up above measure. A mortifying mes…
Evangelical Predictions. (b. c. 708.)
EVANGELICAL PREDICTIONS. (B. C. 708.) We have here the commission and instructions given, not to this prophet only, but, with him, to all the Lord's prophets, nay, and to all Christ's ministers, to proclaim comfort to G…
Evangelical Predictions. (b. c. 708.)
EVANGELICAL PREDICTIONS. (B. C. 708.) The time to favour Zion, yea, the set time, having come, the people of God must be prepared, by repentance and faith, for the favours designed them; and, in order to call them to bo…
Evangelical Predictions. (b. c. 708.)
EVANGELICAL PREDICTIONS. (B. C. 708.) It was promised (Isaiah 40:5) that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; that is it with the hopes of which God's people must be comforted. Now here we are told, I. How it shall…
Evangelical Predictions. (b. c. 708.)
EVANGELICAL PREDICTIONS. (B. C. 708.) The scope of these verses is to show what a great and glorious being the Lord Jehovah is, who is Israel's God and Saviour. It comes in here, 1. To encourage his people that were cap…
Vanity of Idols. (b. c. 708.)
VANITY OF IDOLS. (B. C. 708.) The prophet here reproves those, 1. Who represented God by creatures, and so changed his truth into a lie and his glory into shame, who made images and then said that they resembled God, an…
Jehovah's Grandeur and Compassion. (b. c. 708.)
JEHOVAH'S GRANDEUR AND COMPASSION. (B. C. 708.) Here, I. The prophet reproves the people of God, who are now supposed to be captives in Babylon for their unbelief and distrust of God, and the dejections and despondencie…
Idolatry Exposed. (b. c. 708.)
IDOLATRY EXPOSED. (B. C. 708.) That particular instance of God's care for his people Israel in raising up Cyrus to be their deliverer is here insisted upon as a great proof both of his sovereignty above all idols and of…
Israel Encouraged. (b. c. 708.)
ISRAEL ENCOURAGED. (B. C. 708.) The scope of these verses is to silence the fears, and encourage the faith, of the servants of God in their distresses. Perhaps it is intended, in the first place, for the support of God'…
Idolatry Exposed. (b. c. 708.)
IDOLATRY EXPOSED. (B. C. 708.) The Lord, by the prophet, here repeats the challenge to idolaters to make out the pretentions of their idols: "Produce your cause (Isaiah 41:21) and make your best of it; bring forth the s…
The Messiah's Approach. (b. c. 708.)
THE MESSIAH'S APPROACH. (B. C. 708.) We are sure that these verses are to be understood of Christ, for the evangelist tells us expressly that in him this prophecy was fulfilled, Matthew 12:17-21. Behold with an eye of f…
The Messiah's Approach. (b. c. 708.)
THE MESSIAH'S APPROACH. (B. C. 708.) Here is I. The covenant God made with and the commission he gave to the Messiah, Isaiah 42:5-7, which are an exposition of Isaiah 42:1, Behold my servant, whom I uphold. 1. The royal…
Judgment and Mercy. (b. c. 708.)
JUDGMENT AND MERCY. (B. C. 708.) It comes all to one whether we make these verses (as some do) the song itself that is to be sung by the Gentile world or a prophecy of what God will do to make way for the singing of tha…
The Blindness of the Jews. (b. c. 708.)
THE BLINDNESS OF THE JEWS. (B. C. 708.) The prophet, having spoken by way of comfort and encouragement to the believing Jews who waited for the consolation of Israel, here turns to those among them who were unbelieving,…
Encouragement to God's People. (b. c. 708.)
ENCOURAGEMENT TO GOD'S PEOPLE. (B. C. 708.) This chapter has a plain connexion with the close of the foregoing chapter, but a very surprising one. It was there said that Jacob and Israel would not walk in God's ways, an…
A Challenge to Idolaters. (b. c. 708.)
A CHALLENGE TO IDOLATERS. (B. C. 708.) God here challenges the worshippers of idols to produce such proofs of the divinity of their false gods as even this very instance (to go no further) of the redemption of the Jews…
Promises to God's People. (b. c. 708.)
PROMISES TO GOD'S PEOPLE. (B. C. 708.) To so low an ebb were the faith and hope of God's people in Babylon brought that there needed line upon line to assure them that they should be released out of their captivity; and…
Reproof to God's People. (b. c. 708.)
REPROOF TO GOD'S PEOPLE. (B. C. 708.) This charge (and a high charge it is which is here exhibited against Jacob and Israel, God's professing people) comes in here, 1. To clear God's justice in bringing them into captiv…
Prosperity Foretold; The Supremacy of God. (b. c. 708.)
PROSPERITY FORETOLD; THE SUPREMACY OF GOD. (B. C. 708.) Two great truths are abundantly made out in these verses:— I. That the people of God are a happy people, especially upon account of the covenant that is between th…
The Folly of Idolatry. (b. c. 708.)
THE FOLLY OF IDOLATRY. (B. C. 708.) Often before, God, by the prophet, had mentioned the folly and strange sottishness of idolaters; but here he enlarges upon that head, and very fully and particularly exposes them to c…
Encouragement to the People of God. (b. c. 708.)
ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. (B. C. 708.) In these verses we have, I. The duty which Jacob and Israel, now in captivity, were called to, that they might be qualified and prepared for the deliverance designed them…
Prophecies Concerning Cyrus. (b. c. 708.)
PROPHECIES CONCERNING CYRUS. (B. C. 708.) Cyrus was a Mede, descended (as some say) from Astyages king of Media. The pagan writers are not agreed in their accounts of his origin. Some tell us that in his infancy he was…
The Divine Dominion. (b. c. 708.)
THE DIVINE DOMINION. (B. C. 708.) God here asserts his sole and sovereign dominion, as that which he designed to prove and manifest to the world in all the great things he did for Cyrus and by him. Observe, I. How this…