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
But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do that, because the sacrifices we offer to the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians.
“We shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians - That is, The animals which they hold sacred, and will not permit to be slain, are those which our customs require us to sacrifice to our God; and should we do this in Egypt the people…”
We must make a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He commands us.”
“And sacrifice to the Lord - as he shall command us - It is very likely that neither Moses nor Aaron knew as yet in what manner God would be worshipped; and they expected to receive a direct revelation from him relative to this subject…”
Pharaoh answered, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”
“I will let you go only ye shall not go very far away - Pharaoh relented because the hand of God was heavy upon him; but he was not willing to give up his gain.”
But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time as well, and he would not let the people go.
“Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also - See Exo 8:15. This hardening was the mere effect of his self-determining obstinacy.”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let My people go, so that…
“The Lord God of the Hebrews - It is very likely that the term Lord, יויה Yehovah, is used here to point out particularly his eternal power and Godhead; and that the term God, אלהי Elohey, is intended to be understood in the sense of…”
The LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land.”
“To-morrow the Lord shall do this - By thus foretelling the evil, he showed his prescience and power; and from this both the Egyptians and Hebrews must see that the mortality that ensued was no casualty, but the effect of a predetermined purpose in the…”
And the next day the LORD did just that. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.
“All the cattle of Egypt died - That is, All the cattle that did die belonged to the Egyptians, but not one died that belonged to the Israelites, Exo 9:4, Exo 9:6.”
The magicians could not stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and on all the Egyptians.
“The boil was upon the magicians - They could not produce a similar malady by throwing ashes in the air; and they could neither remove the plague from the people, nor from their own tormented flesh.”
For by this time I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the earth.
“For now I will stretch out my hand - In the Hebrew the verbs are in the past tense, and not in the future, as our translation improperly expresses them, by which means a contradiction appears in the text: for neither Pharaoh nor his people…”
But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
“But truly, on this very account, have I caused thee to subsist - (העמדחיך heemadticha), that I might cause thee to see my power, (הראתך את כחי harotheca eth cochi), and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth, (or, בכל הארץ becol…”
So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth.
“The Lord sent thunder - קלת koloth, voices; but loud, repeated peals of thunder are meant. And the fire ran along upon the ground - ותהלך אש ארצה vattihalac esh aretsah, and the fire walked upon the earth.”
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said. “The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
“The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked - The original is very emphatic: The Lord is The Righteous One, (הצדיק hatstaddik), and I and my people are The Sinners, (הרשעים hareshaim); i.e., He is alone righteous, and we alone are transgressors.”
Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”
“It is enough - There is no need of any farther plague; I submit to the authority of Jehovah and will rebel no more. Mighty thunderings - כלת אלהים koloth Elohim, voices of God; - that is, superlatively loud thunder.”
Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD.
“I will spread abroad my hands - That is, I will make supplication to God that he may remove this plague. This may not be an improper place to make some observations on the ancient manner of approaching the Divine Being in prayer.”
(Now the flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley was ripe and the flax was in bloom;
“The flax and the barley was smitten - The word פשתה pishtah, flax, Mr. Parkhurst thinks, is derived from the root פשט pashat, to strip, because the substance which we term flax is properly the bark or rind of the vegetable, pilled or stripped off…”
but the wheat and spelt were not destroyed, because they are late crops.)
“But the wheat and the rye were not smitten - Wheat, חטה chittah, which Mr. Parkhurst thinks should be derived from the Chaldee and Samaritan חטי chati, which signifies tender, delicious, delicate, because of the superiority of its flavor, etc., to every other kind of…”
When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart—he and his officials.
“He sinned yet more, and hardened his heart - These were merely acts of his own; “for who can deny,” says Mr.”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials, that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine…
“Hardened his heart - God suffered his natural obstinacy to prevail, that he might have farther opportunities of showing forth his eternal power and Godhead.”
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before…
“How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself - Had it been impossible for Pharaoh, in all the preceding plagues, to have humbled himself and repented can we suppose that God could have addressed him in such language as the preceding?”
But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow.
“To-morrow will I bring the locusts - The word ארבה arbeh, a locust, is probably from the root רבה rabah, he multiplied, became great, mighty, etc.; because of the immense swarms of these animals by which different countries, especially the east, are infested.”
They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and every Egyptian—something neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since the day they came into this…
“They shall fill thy houses - Dr. Shaw mentions this circumstance; “they entered,” says he, “Into our very houses and bed-chambers, like so many thieves.” - Ibid. p. 187.”
So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the LORD your God,” he said. “But who exactly will be going?”
“Who are they that shall go? - Though the Egyptians, about fourscore years before, wished to destroy the Hebrews, yet they found them now so profitable to the state that they were unwilling to part with them.”
Then Pharaoh told them, “May the LORD be with you if I ever let you go with your little ones. Clearly you are bent on evil.
“Let the Lord be so with you - This is an obscure sentence. Some suppose that Pharaoh meant it as a curse, as if he had said, “May your God be as surely with you, as I shall let you go!””
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the LORD. Even your little ones may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”
“Only let your flocks and your herds be stayed - Pharaoh cannot get all he wishes; and as he sees it impossible to contend with Jehovah, he now consents to give up the Israelites, their wives and their children, provided he may keep their flocks…”
Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we will need some of them to worship the LORD our God, and we will…
“We know not with what we must serve the Lord, etc. - The law was not yet given; the ordinances concerning the different kinds of sacrifices and offerings not known.”