Voices and influences
Adam Clarke
The self-taught Irish Methodist orientalist who rode preaching circuits for fifty years and spent forty of them writing a commentary on the whole Bible.
Summary
This site quotes Adam Clarke 9,015 times across 66 books, and lists 0 works.
- Lived 1762 to 1832.
- Quoted here most in Genesis: 673 of 9,015.
Adam Clarke
- Lived
- 1762 to 1832
- Tradition
- Methodist
5 of 9,015 quotations
Own words
Quoted in full, because Adam Clarke died in 1832 and these works are out of copyright. Each citation below names its edition and its year. A citation naming a modernised text means that edition makes its own editorial changes, and that edition's terms are not in this site's record.
The earth was without form and void - The original term תהו tohu and בהו bohu, which we translate without form and void, are of uncertain etymology; but in this place, and wherever else they are used, they convey the idea of confusion and disorder.
The rest of the quotation
From these terms it is probable that the ancient Syrians and Egyptians borrowed their gods, Theuth and Bau, and the Greeks their Chaos.
Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. BSB
Even a fool - He is counted wise as to that particular. He may know that he cannot speak well, and he has sense enough to keep from speaking. He is, as to that particular, a wise fool.
The rest of the quotation
A man may be golden-mouthed and silver-tongued in eloquence; but to know when and where to speak and to be silent, is better than diamonds. But who that thinks he can speak well can refrain from speaking? His tongue has no rest.
Proverbs 17:28 Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue. BSB
Thoughts of peace - Here God gives them to understand, 1. That his love was moved towards them. 2. That he would perform his good word, his promises often repeated, to them. 3. That for the fulfillment of these they must pray, seek, and search.
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4. That he would hearken, and they should find him; provided, 5. They sought him with their whole heart, Jer 29:10-13.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. BSB
Let your light so shine - Or more literally, Thus let your light shine, Ουτω λαμψατω το φως.
The rest of the quotation
As the sun is lighted up in the firmament of heaven to diffuse its light and heat freely to every inhabitant of the earth; and as the lamp is not set under the bushel, but placed upon the lamp-stand that it may give light to all in the house; Thus let every follower of Christ, and especially every preacher of the Gospel, diffuse the light of heavenly knowledge, and the warmth of Divine love through the whole circle of their acquaintance.
Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. BSB
A bruised reed shall he not break - A reed is, in Scripture, the emblem of weakness, Eze 29:6; and a bruised reed must signify that state of weakness that borders on dissolution and death. And smoking flax shall he not quench - Λινον τυφομενον.
The rest of the quotation
Λινος means the wick of a lamp, and τυφομενον is intended to point out its expiring state, when the oil has been all burnt away from it, and nothing is left but a mere snuff, emitting smoke.
Matthew 12:20 A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory. BSB
Influence, on the record
This site quotes Adam Clarke 9,015 times across 66 books.
This site’s own count of what it does with the voice
The life, in order
The life told as one accountfrom this site's record
Adam Clarke was born at Moybeg, in County Londonderry, Ireland, about 1760 — his father said 1762, and the exact year has never been settled. His father was a schoolmaster; the family was poor. As a boy Clarke was thought slow. He learned to read late, and then read everything he could reach. He was converted among the Methodists in 1778, and in 1782 John Wesley himself sent him to the Bradford circuit in England. He was about twenty-two, with almost no formal schooling and a horse. He spent the rest of his life as a travelling preacher, moving circuits every few years as Methodist rules required — Bradford, Norwich, the Channel Islands, Dublin, Manchester, Liverpool, London. He was elected president of the British Methodist Conference three times, in 1806, 1814, and 1822, an honor almost never repeated in that era. And all along he studied. Clarke taught himself Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, Arabic, Persian, Samaritan, Coptic, and more, and became one of the finest oriental scholars in Britain without ever holding a university chair. The government hired him: for years he worked for the Records Commission on Rymer's Foedera, the great collection of English state papers, and he catalogued manuscripts for private libraries. He was elected to the Royal Irish Academy and the Society of Antiquaries. The work he is known for took forty years. The Holy Bible... with a Commentary and Critical Notes was published in eight volumes between 1810 and 1826. It is enormous, digressive, and packed with material nobody else was supplying to English readers — Hebrew and Arabic parallels, ancient customs, natural history, textual notes, and long excursions on whatever caught his eye. It became the standard theological resource of Methodism for the better part of two centuries, and it is still consulted. He was open about where he broke ranks. Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ: he held the Son to be fully and eternally divine, but taught that the title "Son" describes the incarnation rather than an eternal relation. Methodists argued with him about it in his lifetime and long after, and Methodist doctrine did not follow him there. He also read the tempter of Genesis 3 as a creature more like an ape than a serpent — a reading nearly everyone else rejected. The commentary carries these views plainly, and readers have always had to weigh them. He gave himself away in other directions too. He worked for the early Bible society movement, championed the Sunday school, organized mission work in the Shetland Isles, and gave away most of what he earned. He died of cholera in London on August 26, 1832, during the epidemic that swept Britain that year, still working. Sources: Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible... with a Commentary and Critical Notes; J. B. B. Clarke, ed., An Account of the Infancy, Religious and Literary Life of Adam Clarke, LL.D.; Luke Tyerman, The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley; the Dictionary of National Biography (1887), "Clarke, Adam."
9,015 quotations across 66 books
Where this voice is quoted
Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.
“The Lord said - he would dwell - It was under the appearance of a cloud that God showed himself present with Israel in the wilderness; see Exo 14:19, Exo 14:20.”
And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all
“Blessed all the congregation - Though this blessing is not particularly stated, yet we may suppose that it was such as the high priest pronounced upon the people: “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee!”
‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that…
“Since the day, etc. - Mention is here made, says Dr. Kennicott, of some one place and some one person preferred before all others; and the preference is that of Jerusalem to other places, and of David to other men.”
And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the…
“Wherein is the covenant of the Lord - As it is said, 1Ki 8:9, that there was nothing in the ark but the two tables of stone, consequently these are called the Covenant, i.e., a sign of the covenant; as our Lord calls the cup…”
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,
“Stood - He ascended the brazen scaffold, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and then kneeled down upon his knees, with his hands spread up to heaven, and offered up the following prayer: see 1Ki 8:54, and 2Ch 5:12, 2Ch…”
Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.
“Toward this place - Both tabernacle and temple were types of our Lord Jesus, or of God manifested in the flesh; and he was and is the Mediator between God and man.”
When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city You have chosen and…
“If thy people go out to battle - The Sixth case refers to wars undertaken by Divine appointment: whithersoever thou shalt send them; for in no other wars could they expect the blessing and concurrence of the Lord; in none other could the God of…”
When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to…
“If they sin against thee - This Seventh case must refer to some general defection from truth, to some species of false worship, idolatry, or corruption of the truth and ordinances of the Most High; as for it they are here stated to be delivered…”
May You forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions they have committed against You, and may You grant them compassion in the eyes of their…
“And give them compassion before them who carried them captive - He does not pray that they may be delivered out of that captivity, but that their enemies may use them well; and that they may, as formerly, be kept a separate and distinct people.”
And may these words with which I have made my petition before the LORD be near to the LORD our God day and night, so that He may uphold the…
“And let these my words - This and the following verse is a sort of supplement to the prayer which ended 1Ki 8:53; but there is an important addition to this prayer in the parallel place, 2Ch 6:41, 2Ch 6:42: “Now therefore arise, O Lord…”
On the fifteenth day Solomon sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things that the LORD…
“They blessed the king - Wished him all spiritual and temporal happiness. They were contented with their king, at peace among themselves, and happy in their God; so that they returned to their houses magnifying their God for all his bounty to them, their country…”
And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving…
“Have taken hold upon other gods - When an indigent person claims the protection of a superior, he casts himself down before him, and lays hold of his feet; and this expression is frequently used when there is no prostration: I have taken hold of…”
Now at the end of the twenty years during which Solomon built these two houses, the house of the LORD and the royal palace,
“At the end of twenty years - He employed seven years and a half in building the temple, and twelve years and a half in building the king’s house; see 1Ki 7:1; 2Ch 8:1.”
And Hiram had sent the king 120 talents of gold.
“Sixscore talents of gold - This was the sum which Hiram had lent, and in order to pay this Solomon had laid a tax upon his people, as we afterward learn. The whole is very darkly expressed.”
Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to…
“Pharaoh - had gone up, and taken Gezer - This city Joshua had taken from the Canaanites, Jos 10:33; Jos 12:12, and it was divided by lot to the tribe of Ephraim, and was intended to be one of the Levitical cities; but it appears…”
Baalath, and Tamar in the Wilderness of Judah,
“And Tadmor in the wilderness - This is almost universally allowed to be the same with the celebrated Palmyra, the ruins of which remain to the present day, and give us the highest idea of Solomon’s splendor and magnificence.”
their descendants who remained in the land, those whom the Israelites were unable to devote to destruction—Solomon conscripted these people to be forced laborers, as they are to this day.
“A tribute of bond-service - He made them do the most laborious part of the public works, the Israelites being generally exempt.”
King Solomon also assembled a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.
“A navy of ships - Literally, אני oni, a ship: in the parallel place, 2Ch 8:17, it is said that Hiram sent him אניות oniyoth, ships; but it does not appear that Solomon in this case built more than one ship, and this was manned…”
They sailed to Ophir and imported gold from there—420 talents—and delivered it to Solomon.
“And they came to Ophir - No man knows certainly, to this day, where this Ophir was situated. There were two places of this name; one somewhere in India, beyond the Ganges, and another in Arabia, near the country of the Sabaeans, mentioned by Job…”
She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones.
“She came to Jerusalem with - spices, etc. - Those who contend that she was queen of the Sabaeans, a people of Arabia Felix, towards the southern extremity of the Red Sea, find several proofs of their opinion: 1.”
And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for the king to explain.
“Solomon told her all her questions - Riddles, problems, fables, apologues, etc., formed the principal part of the wisdom of the East; indeed they use and delight in them to the present day.”
King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired—whatever she asked—besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty.
“All her desire whatsoever she asked - Some imagine she desired progeny from the wise king of Israel; and all the traditions concerning her state that she had a son by Solomon called Menilek, who was brought up at the Israelitish court, succeeded his mother…”
For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and…
“A navy of Tharshish - For probable conjectures concerning this place, and the three years’ voyage, see at the end of this, 1Ki 10:29 (note) and the preceding chapter, 1 Kings 9 (note). Apes - קפים kophim; probably a species of monkey rather than ape.”
Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue; the royal merchants purchased them from Kue.
“Horses brought out of Egypt - It is thought that the first people who used horses in war were the Egyptians; and it is well known that the nations who knew the use of this creature in battle had greatly the advantage of those who…”
Now the LORD grew angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
“The Lord was angry with Solomon - Had not this man’s delinquency been strongly marked by the Divine disapprobation, it would have had a fatal effect on the morals of mankind. Vice is vice, no matter who commits it.”