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
“Depart from me!” Pharaoh said to Moses. “Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”
“See my face no more - Hitherto Pharaoh had left the way open for negotiation; but now, in wrath against Jehovah, he dismisses his ambassador, and threatens him with death if he should attempt any more to come into his presence.”
“As you say,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.”
“I will see thy face again no more - It is very likely that this was the last interview that Moses had with Pharaoh, for what is related, Exo 11:4-8, might have been spoken on this very occasion, as it is very possible that God…”
And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.
“The man Moses was very great - The miracles which Pharaoh and his servants had already seen him work had doubtless impressed them with a high opinion of his wisdom and power.”
So Moses declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,
“About midnight will I go out - Whether God did this by the ministry of a good or of an evil angel is a matter of little importance, though some commentators have greatly magnified it.”
But among all the Israelites, not even a dog will snarl at man or beast.’ Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.
“Not a dog move his tongue - This passage has been generally understood as a proverbial expression, intimating that the Israelites should not only be free from this death, but that they should depart without any kind of molestation.”
“This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.
“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months - It is supposed that God now changed the commencement of the Jewish year.”
If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly.
“If the household be too little - That is, if there be not persons enough in one family to eat a whole lamb, then two families must join together.”
They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
“They shall eat the flesh - roast with fire - As it was the ordinary custom of the Jews to boil their flesh, some think that the command given here was in opposition to the custom of the Egyptians, who ate raw flesh in honor…”
Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over.
“Ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning - Merely to prevent putrefaction; for it was not meet that a thing offered to God should be subjected to corruption, which in such hot countries it must speedily undergo.”
On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods…
“Against all the gods of Egypt, etc. - As different animals were sacred among the Egyptians, the slaying of the first-born of all the beasts might be called executing judgment upon the gods of Egypt.”
The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you.
“The blood shall be to you for a token - It shall be the sign to the destroying angel, that the house on which he sees this blood sprinkled is under the protection of God, and that no person in it is to be injured.”
On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day.
“In the first day and in the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation - This is the first place where we meet with the account of an assembly collected for the mere purpose of religious worship.”
So you are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt.
“Self-same day - בעצם beetsem, in the body of this day, or in the strength of this day; probably they began their march about day-break, called here the body or strength of the day, and in Deu 16:1, by night - sometime before the sun…”
Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin, and brush the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe.
“A bunch of hyssop - The original word אזוב ezob has been variously translated musk, rosemary, polypody of the wall, mint, origanum, marjoram, and Hyssop: the latter seems to be the most proper.”
When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’
“What mean ye by this service? - The establishment of this service annually was a very wise provision to keep up in remembrance this wonderful deliverance.”
During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there was no house without someone dead.
“There was a great cry - No people in the universe were more remarkable for their mournings than the Egyptians, especially in matters of religion; they whipped, beat, tore themselves, and howled in all the excess of grief.”
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested.
“Called for Moses and Aaron - That is, he sent the message here mentioned to them; for it does not appear that he had any farther interview with Moses and Aaron, after what is mentioned Exo 10:28, Exo 10:29, and Exo 11:8.”
So the people took their dough before it was leavened, carrying it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing.
“The people took their dough before it was leavened, etc. - There was no time now to make any regular preparation for their departure, such was the universal hurry and confusion.”
Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years.
“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, etc. - The statement in this verse is allowed on all hands to be extremely difficult, and therefore the passage stands in especial need of illustration.”
It must be eaten inside one house. You are not to take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of the bones.
“In one house shall it be eaten - In one family, if that be large enough; if not, a neighboring family might be invited, Exo 12:4.”
And on that very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.
“By their armies - צבאתם tsibotham, from צבא tsaba, to assemble, meet together, in an orderly or regulated manner, and hence to war, to act together as troops in battle; whence צבאות tsebaoth, troops, armies, hosts.”
Then the LORD said to Moses,
“The Lord spake unto Moses - The commands in this chapter appear to have been given at Succoth, on the same day in which they left Egypt.”
“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
“Sanctify unto me all the first-born - To sanctify, קדש kadash, signifies to consecrate, separate, and set apart a thing or person from all secular purposes to some religious use; and exactly answers to the import of the Greek ἁγιαζω, from a, privative, and γη…”
So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt arrayed for battle.
“But God led the people about - Dr. Shaw has shown that there were two roads from Egypt to Canaan, one through the valleys of Jendilly, Rumeleah, and Baideah, bounded on each side by the mountains of the lower Thebais; the other lies higher, having…”
They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
“Encamped in Etham - As for the reasons assigned on Exo 13:17, God would not lead the Israelites by the way of the Philistines’ country, he directed them towards the wilderness of Shur, Exo 15:22, upon the edge or extremity of which, next to Egypt…”