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
So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.
“He called it Shebah - This was probably the same well which was called Beersheba in the time of Abraham, which the Philistines had filled up, and which the servants of Isaac had reopened.”
When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
“He took to wife - the daughter, etc. - It is very likely that the wives taken by Esau were daughters of chiefs among the Hittites, and by this union he sought to increase and strengthen his secular power and influence.”
And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
“Which were a grief of mind - Not the marriage, though that was improper, but the persons; they, by their perverse and evil ways, brought bitterness into the hearts of Isaac and Rebekah.”
“Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death.
“I know not the day of my death - From his present weakness he had reason to suppose that his death could not be at any great distance, and therefore would leave no act undone which he believed it his duty to perform.”
Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me.
“Thy weapons - The original word כלי keley signifies vessels and instruments of any kind; and is probably used here for a hunting spear, javelin, sword, etc. Quiver - תלי teli, from תלה talah, to hang or suspend.”
Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
“Savory meat - מטעמים matammim, from טעם taam, to taste or relish; how dressed we know not, but its name declares its nature.”
Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back,
“And Rebekah heard - And was determined, if possible, to frustrate the design of Isaac, and procure the blessing for her favorite son.”
What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”
“I shall bring a curse upon me - For even in those early times the spirit of that law was understood, Deu 27:18: Cursed is he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way; and Jacob seems to have possessed at this time…”
His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”
“Upon me be thy curse, my son - Onkelos gives this a curious turn: It has been revealed to me by prophecy that the curses will not come upon thee, my son. What a dreadful responsibility did this woman take upon her at this time!”
And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.
“Goodly raiment - Mr. Ainsworth has a sensible note on this place. “The priest in the law had holy garments to minister in, Exo 28:2-4, which the Septuagint there and in this place term την στολην, The robe, and στολην ἁγιαν, the holy robe.”
Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me.
“I am Esau thy first-born - Here are many palpable falsehoods, and such as should neither be imitated nor excused. “Jacob,” says Calmet, “imposes on his father in three different ways. 1. By his words: I am thy first-born Esau. 2.”
Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
“And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy - From this circumstance we may learn that Isaac’s sense of feeling was much impaired by his present malady.”
So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field…
“The smell of my son is as the smell of a field - The smell of these garments, the goodly raiment which had been laid up in the house, was probably occasioned by some aromatic herbs, which we may naturally suppose were laid up with…”
May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine.
“God give thee of the dew of heaven - Bp. Newton’s view of these predictions is so correct and appropriate, as to leave no wish for any thing farther on the subject.”
May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
“Let people serve thee - “However alike their temporal advantages were to each other,” says Bp. Newton, “in all spiritual gifts and graces the younger brother was to have the superiority, was to be the happy instrument of conveying the blessing to all nations: In…”
Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me?
“And Isaac trembled - The marginal reading is very literal and proper, And Isaac trembled with a great trembling greatly. And this shows the deep concern he felt for his own deception, and the iniquity of the means by which it had been brought about.”
But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
“Hath taken away thy blessing - This blessing, which was a different thing from the birthright, seems to consist of two parts: 1. The dominion, generally and finally, over the other part of the family; and, 2. Being the progenitor of the Messiah.”
So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.”
“Is not he rightly named Jacob? - See note on Gen 25:26. He took away my birthright - So he might say with considerable propriety; for though he sold it to Jacob, yet as Jacob had taken advantage of his perishing situation, he considered the…”
You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
“By thy sword shalt thou live - This does not absolutely mean that the Edomites should have constant wars; but that they should be of a fierce and warlike disposition, gaining their sustenance by hunting, and by predatory excursions upon the possessions of others.”
Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him.
“The days of mourning for my father are at hand - Such was the state of Isaac’s health at that time, though he lived more than forty years afterwards, that his death was expected by all; and Esau thought that would be a favorable time…”
When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by…
“Doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee - מתנחם לך mithnachem lecha, which Houbigant renders cogitat super te, he thinks or meditates to kill thee.”
Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides—
“Tarry with him a few days - It was probably forty years before he returned, and it is likely Rebekah saw him no more; for it is the general opinion of the Jewish rabbins that she died before Jacob’s return from Padan-aram, whether the period…”
until your brother’s rage against you wanes and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there.
“Why should I be deprived also of you both - If Esau should kill Jacob, then the nearest akin to Jacob, who was by the patriarchal law, Gen 9:6, the avenger of blood, would kill Esau; and both these deaths might possibly take place in…”
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”
“I am weary of my life - It is very likely that Rebekah kept many of the circumstances related above from the knowledge of Isaac; but as Jacob could not go to Padan-aram without his knowledge, she appears here quite in her own character, framing…”
“Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
“Go to Padan-aram - This mission, in its spirit and design, is nearly the same as that in Genesis 24 (note).”