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
Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
“Grace - God’s favor; peace - the effects of that favor in the communication of spiritual and temporal blessings. Through the knowledge of God - Εν επιγνωσει· By the acknowledging of God, and of Jesus our Lord.”
Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption…
“Whereby are given unto us - By his own glorious power he hath freely given unto us exceeding great and invaluable promises.”
and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
“Temperance - A proper and limited use of all earthly enjoyments, keeping every sense under proper restraints, and never permitting the animal part to subjugate the rational. Patience - Bearing all trials and difficulties with an even mind, enduring in all, and persevering through all.”
For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“For if these things be in you and abound - If ye possess all there graces, and they increase and abound in your souls, they will make - show, you to be neither αργους, idle, nor ακαρπους, unfruitful, in the acknowledgment of our Lord Jesus…”
Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,
“Wherefore - Seeing the danger of apostasy, and the fearful end of them who obey not the Gospel, and thus receive the grace of God in vain; give all diligence, σπουδασατε, hasten, be deeply careful, labor with the most intense purpose of soul.”
Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.
“Wherefore I will not be negligent - He had already written one epistle, this is the second; and probably he meditated more should he be spared.”
because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
“Knowing that shortly I must put off - St. Peter plainly refers to the conversation between our Lord and himself, related Joh 21:18, Joh 21:19.”
For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
“Cunningly devised fables - Σεσοφισμενοις μυθοις. I think, with Macknight and others, from the apostle’s using εποπται, eye witnesses, or rather beholders, in the end of the verse, it is probable that he means those cunningly devised fables among the heathens, concerning the appearance of…”
And we ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
“And this voice - we heard - That is, himself, James, and John heard it, and saw this glory; for these only were the εποπται, beholders, on the holy mount.”
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation.
“Knowing this first - Considering this as a first principle, that no prophecy of the Scripture, whether that referred to above, or any other, is of any private interpretation - proceeds from the prophet’s own knowledge or invention, or was the offspring of calculation or…”
Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.
“Many shall follow - Will follow, because determined to gratify their sinful propensities. Pernicious ways - Ταις απωλειαις· Their destructions; i.e. the heresies of destruction, or destructive opinions, mentioned above.”
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
“For if God spared not the angels - The angels were originally placed in a state of probation; some having fallen and some having stood proves this.”
if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;
“The cities of Sodom and Gomorrha - See the notes on Genesis 19 (note), for an account of the sin and punishment of these cities.”
(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—
“That righteous man dwelling among them - Lot, after his departure from Abraham, A. M. 2086, lived at Sodom till A. M.”
Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.
“But chiefly them that walk - That is, God will in the most signal manner punish them that walk after the flesh - addict themselves to sodomitical practices, and the lust of pollution; probably alluding to those most abominable practices where men abuse themselves and…”
These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed.
“But these, as natural brute beasts - ‘Ὡς αλογα ζωα φυσικα· As those natural animals void of reason, following only the gross instinct of nature, being governed neither by reason nor religion.”
Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.
“Having eyes full of adultery - Μοιχαλιδος· Of an adulteress; being ever bent on the gratification of their sensual desires, so that they are represented as having an adulteress constantly before their eyes, and that their eyes can take in no other object but her.”
But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
“The dumb ass, speaking with man’s voice - See the note on Num 22:28. The madness of the prophet - Is not this a reference to the speech of the ass, as represented in the Targums of Jonathan ben Uzziel and Jerusalem?”
With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
“They speak great swelling words of vanity - The word ὑπερογκα signifies things of great magnitude, grand, superb, sublime; it sometimes signifies inflated, tumid, bombastic.”
If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their…
“The pollutions of the world - Sin in general, and particularly superstition, idolatry, and lasciviousness. These are called μιασματα, miasmata, things that infect, pollute, and defile.”
Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
“According to the true proverb - This seems to be a reference to Pro 26:11: ככלב שב אל קאו kekeleb shab al keo; as the dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool repeateth his folly.”
But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its…
“The day of the Lord will come - See Mat 24:43, to which the apostle seems to allude.”
as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.
“The heavens being on fire - See on 2Pe 3:10. (note). It was an ancient opinion among the heathens that the earth should be burnt up with fire; so Ovid, Met., lib. i. v. 256.”
Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.
“Seeing that ye look for such things - As ye profess that such a state of things shall take place, and have the expectation of enjoying the blessedness of it, be diligent in the use of every means and influence of grace, that ye may…”
He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters.
“As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things - Paul, in all his epistles, says Dr. Macknight, has spoken of the things written by Peter in this letter.”