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.
The rest of the quotation
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
Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself.
“Fell down through a lattice - Perhaps either through the flat root of his house, or over or through the balustrades with which the roof was surrounded. Go, inquire of Baal-zebub - Literally, the fly-god, or master of flies.”
Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’” So Elijah departed.
“But shalt surely die - The true God tells you this; he in whose hands are both life and death, who can kill and make alive. Baal-zebub can do nothing; God has determined that your master shall die.”
“He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.
“He was a hairy man - That is, he wore a rough garment, either made of camels’ hair, as his successor John Baptist’s was, or he wore a skin dressed with the hair on.”
Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men.
“A captain of fifty with his fifty - It is impossible that such a man as Ahaziah, in such circumstances, could have had any friendly designs in sending a captain and fifty soldiers for the prophet; and the manner in which they are treated shows…”
Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”
“And there came down fire - Some have blamed the prophet for destroying these men, by bringing down fire from heaven upon them.”
Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.”
“And the angel of the Lord said - Go down with him - This is an additional proof that Elijah was then acting under particular inspirations: he had neither will nor design of his own.”
and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.”
“Tarry here, I pray thee - He either made these requests through humility, not wishing any person to be witness of the honor conferred on him by God, or with the desire to prove the fidelity of Elisha, whether he would continue to follow and…”
And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on…
“Took his mantle - Την μηλωτην αυτου, his sheep-skin, says the Septuagint. The skins of beasts, dressed with the hair on, were formerly worn by prophets and priests as the simple insignia of their office.”
“You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours.
“A hard thing - This is what is not in my power, God alone can give this; yet if thou see me taken away from thee, it shall be so.”
As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more.
“The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof - The Chaldee translates these words thus: “My master, my master! who, by thy intercession, wast of more use to Israel than horses and chariots.” This is probably the sense.”
Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked.
“Where is the Lord God of Elijah? - The Vulgate gives a strange turn to this verse: Et percussit aquas, et non sunt divisae; et dixu, Ubi est Deus Eliae etiam nunc? Percussitque aquas, et divisae sunt huc et illuc.”
Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
“Was a sheepmaster - The original is נקד naked, of which the Septuagint could make nothing, and therefore retained the Hebrew word νωκηδ: but the Chaldee has מרי גיתי marey githey, “a sheepmaster;” Aquila has ποιμνιοτροφος; and Symmachus, τρεφων βοσκηματα; all to the same sense.”
Then he asked, “Which way shall we go up?” “By way of the Desert of Edom,” replied Joram.
“Through the wilderness of Edom - Because he expected the king of Edom to join them, as we find he did; for, being tributary to Judah, he was obliged to do it.”
“Alas,” said the king of Israel, “for the LORD has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab!”
“The Lord hath called these three kings together - That is, This is a Divine judgment; God has judicially blinded us, and permitted us to take this journey to our destruction.”
and he said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Dig this valley full of ditches.’
“Make this valley full of ditches - The word נחל nachal may be translated brook, as it is by the Vulgate and Septuagint.”
The next morning, at the time of the morning sacrifice, water suddenly flowed from the direction of Edom and filled the land.
“When the meat-offering was offered - This was the first of all offerings, and was generally made at sun-rising.”
When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and it looked as red as blood to the Moabites across the way.
“Saw the water on the other side as red as blood - This might have been an optical deception; I have seen the like sight when there was no reason to suspect supernatural agency.”
When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but…
“Seven hundred men - These were no doubt the choice of all his troops, and being afraid of being hemmed up and perhaps taken by his enemies, whom he found on the eve of gaining possession of the city, he made a desperate sortie in…”
“How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
“Save a pot of oil - Oil was used as aliment, for anointing the body after bathing, and to anoint the dead. Some think that this pot of oil was what this widow had kept for her burial: see Mat 26:12.”
When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another.” But he replied, “There are no more jars.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
“And the oil stayed - While there was a vessel to fill, there was oil sufficient; and it only ceased to flow when there was no vessel to receive it. This is a good emblem of the grace of God.”
She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”
“Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt - He does not inveigh against the cruelty of this creditor, because the law and custom of the country gave him the authority on which he acted; and rather than permit a poor honest widow to have…”
One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal.
“Elisha passed to Shunem - This city was in the tribe of Issachar, to the south of the brook Kishon, and at the foot of Mount Tabor. Where was a great woman - In Pirkey Rab.”
Then the woman said to her husband, “Behold, now I know that the one who often comes our way is a holy man of God.
“This is a holy man of God - That is, a prophet, as the Chaldee interprets it. Which passeth by us continually - It probably lay in his way to some school of the prophets that he usually attended.”
Please let us make a small room upstairs and put in it a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him.
“Let us make a little chamber - See the note upon Jdg 3:20 (note). As the woman was convinced that Elisha was a prophet, she knew that he must have need of more privacy than the general state of her house could afford; and therefore…”
And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said.
“Thou shalt embrace a son - This promise, and the circumstances of the parties, are not very dissimilar to that relative to the birth of Isaac, and those of Abraham and Sarah.”