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
And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You have promised,
“And do as thou hast said - David well knew that all the promises made to himself and family were conditional; and therefore he prays that they may be fulfilled. His posterity did not walk with God, and therefore they were driven from the throne.”
David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord.
“And measured them with a line - even with two lines - It has been generally conjectured that David, after he had conquered Moab, consigned two-thirds of the inhabitants to the sword; but I think the text will bear a meaning much more reputable to…”
David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.
“A thousand chariots - It is strange that there were a thousand chariots, and only seven hundred horsemen taken, and twenty thousand foot.”
And David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
“David took the shields of gold - We know not what these were. Some translate arms, others quivers, others bracelets, others collars, and others shields. They were probably costly ornaments by which the Syrian soldiers were decked and distinguished.”
Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
“Joab - was over the host - General and commander-in-chief over all the army. Ahilud - recorder - מזכיר mazkir, remembrancer; one who kept a strict journal of all the proceedings of the king and operations of his army; a chronicler.”
Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders.
“Benaiah - The chief of the second class of David’s worthies. We shall meet with him again. The Cherethites and the Pelethites - The former supposed to be those who accompanied David when he fled from Saul; the latter, those who came to him at…”
Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”
“Is there yet any that is left - David recollecting the covenant made with his friend Jonathan, now inquires after his family. It is supposed that political considerations prevented him from doing this sooner. Reasons of state often destroy all the charities of life.”
“Do not be afraid,” said David, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan.
“Will restore thee all the land - I believe this means the mere family estate of the house of Kish, which David as king might have retained, but which most certainly belonged, according to the Israelitish law, to the descendants of the family.”
You and your sons and servants are to work the ground for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat.
“Thou therefore, and thy sons - shall till the land - It seems that Ziba and his family had the care of the whole estate, and cultivated it at their own expense, yielding the half of the produce to the family of Mephibosheth.”
So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was lame in both feet.
“Did eat continually at the king’s table - He was fit for no public office, but was treated by the king with the utmost respect and affection.”
And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.”
“I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash - We do not know exactly the nature or extent of the obligation which David was under to the king of the Ammonites; but it is likely that the Nahash here mentioned was the same…”
So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.
“Shaved off the one half of their beards - The beard is held in high respect in the East: the possessor considers it his greatest ornament; often swears by it; and, in matters of great importance, pledges it.”
When this was reported to David, he sent messengers to meet the men, since they had been thoroughly humiliated.
“Tarry at Jericho - This city had not been rebuilt since the time of Joshua; but there were, no doubt, many cottages still remaining, and larger dwellings also, but the walls had not been repaired.”
When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from…
“The children of Ammon saw that they stank - That is, that their conduct rendered them abominable. This is the Hebrew mode of expressing such a feeling. See Gen 34:30.”
Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do what is good in His sight.”
“Be of good courage - This is a very fine military address, and is equal to any thing in ancient or modern times. Ye fight pro aris et focis; for every good, sacred and civil; for God, for your families, and for your country.”
Hadadezer sent messengers to bring more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates, and they came to Helam with Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.
“The Syrians that were beyond the river - That is, the Euphrates. Hadarezer - This is the same that was overthrown by David, 2Sa 8:3 and there called Hadadezer; which is the reading here of about thirty of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS.”
But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, who died there.
“Seven Hundred chariots - and forty thousand Horsemen - In the parallel place, 1Ch 19:18, it is said, David slew of the Syrians Seven Thousand men, which fought in chariots. It is difficult to ascertain the right number in this and similar places.”
One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
“In an evening-tide - David arose - He had been reposing on the roof of his house, to enjoy the breeze, as the noonday was too hot for the performance of business. This is still a constant custom on the flat-roofed houses in the East.”
And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
“And the woman conceived - A proof of the observation on 2Sa 11:4; as that is the time in which women are most apt to conceive.”
Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him.
“Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet - Uriah had come off a journey, and needed this refreshment; but David’s design was that he should go and lie with his wife, that the child now conceived should pass for his, the honor of…”
But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.
“Slept at the door - That is, in one of the apartments or niches in the court of the king’s house. But in Bengal servants and others generally sleep on the verandahs or porches in face of their master’s house.”
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
“David wrote a letter - This was the sum of treachery and villany. He made this most noble man the carrier of letters which prescribed the mode in which he was to be murdered.”
if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight?
“If - the king’s wrath arise - It is likely that Joab had by some indiscretion suffered loss about this time;; and he contrived to get rid of the odium by connecting the transaction with the death of Uriah, which he knew would be so…”
Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another.
“The sword devoureth one as well as another - What abominable hypocrisy was here! He well knew that Uriah’s death was no chance-medley; he was by his own order thrust on the edge of the sword.”
When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.
“She mourned for her husband - The whole of her conduct indicates that she observed the form without feeling the power of sorrow.”