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
And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun.
“The horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun - Jarchi says that those who adored the sun had horses which they mounted every morning to go out to meet the sun at his rising.”
He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up…
“On the top of the upper chamber - Altars built on the flat roof of the house. Such altars were erected to the sun, moon, stars, etc.”
The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of…
“Mount of corruption - This, says Jarchi, following the Chaldee, was the mount of Olives, for this is the mount המשחה hammishchah, of unction; but because of the idolatrous purposes for which it was used, the Scripture changed the appellation to the mount המשחית hammashchith…”
And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the…
“And as Josiah turned himself - This verse is much more complete in the Septuagint, and in the Hexaplar Syriac version at Paris.”
Then the king asked, “What is this monument I see?” And the men of the city replied, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah…
“What title is that - There was either a stone, an image, or an inscription here: the old prophet no doubt took care to have the place made sufficiently remarkable.”
Just as Josiah had done at Bethel, so also in the cities of Samaria he removed all the shrines of the high places set up by the kings of Israel…
“That were in the cities of Samaria - Israel had now no king; and Josiah, of the blood royal of Judah, had certainly a direct right to the kingdom; he had, at this time, an especial commission from God, to reform every abuse through the…”
No such Passover had been observed from the days of the judges who had governed Israel through all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah.
“Surely there was not holden such a passover - Not one on purer principles, more heartily joined in by the people present, more literally consecrated, or more religiously observed. The words do not apply to the number present, but to the manner and spirit.”
From Megiddo his servants carried his body in a chariot, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb.
“Dead from Megiddo - The word מת meth should here be considered as a participle, dying, for it is certain he was not dead: he was mortally wounded at Megiddo, was carried in a dying state to Jerusalem, and there he died and was buried.”
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.
“Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old - This was not the eldest son of Josiah, which is evident from this, that he was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; that he reigned but three months; that, being dethroned, his brother Eliakim was…”
Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim.
“Turned his name to Jehoiakim - These names are precisely the same in signification: Eliakim is God shall arise; Jehoiakim, Jehovah shall arise; or, the resurrection of God; the resurrection of Jehovah. That is, God’s rising again to show his power, justice, etc.”
So Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh Neco, but to meet Pharaoh’s demand he taxed the land and exacted the silver and the gold from the people, each…
“Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold - Nechoh had placed him there as viceroy, simply to raise and collect his taxes.”
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.
“He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord - He was a most unprincipled and oppressive tyrant. Jeremiah gives us his character at large, Jer 22:13-19, to which the reader will do well to refer.”
And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.
“Jehoiachin his son - As this man reigned only three months and was a mere vassal to the Babylonians, his reign is scarcely to be reckoned; and therefore Jeremiah says of Jehoiakim, He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David, Jer 36:30…”
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem.
“Jehoiachin was eighteen years old - He is called Jeconiah, 1Ch 3:16, and Coniah, Jer 22:24. In 2Ch 36:9, be is said to be only eight years of age, but this must be a mistake; for we find that, having reigned only three months, he…”
For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence.
“Zedekiah rebelled - This was in the eighth year of his reign: and he is strongly reproved for having violated the oath he took to the king of Babylon: see 2Ch 36:13.”
And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.
“And the city was besieged, etc. - Nebuchadnezzar, having routed the Egyptian army, returned to Jerusalem, and besieged it so closely that, being reduced by famine, and a breach made in the wall, the Chaldeans entered it on the ninth day of the fourth month…”
On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered…
“In the fifth month - On the seventh day of the fifth month, (answering to Wednesday, Aug. 24), Nebuzar-adan made his entry into the city; and having spent two days in making provision, on the tenth day of the same month, (Saturday, Aug.”
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over the people he had left behind in the land of Judah.
“Made Gedaliah - ruler - This was no regal dignity; he was only a sort of hind or overseer, appointed to regulate the husbandmen.”
In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed…
“Smote Gedaliah - This was at an entertainment which Gedaliah had made for them; see Jer 41:1, etc. He was not content with this murder, but slew fourscore more, who were coming with offerings to the temple, and took several as prisoners, among whom were…”
And the king provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life.
“A continual allowance given him of the king - He lived in a regal style, and had his court even in the city of Babylon, being supplied with every requisite by the munificence and friendship of the king.”