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
All the men who went out of the city gate listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male of the city was circumcised.
“Every male was circumcised - These simple people must have had very great affection for their chief and his son, or have been under the influence of the most passive obedience, to have come so readily into this measure, and to have submitted to this…”
Three days later, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons (Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi) took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and slaughtered every male.
“On the third day, when they were sore - When the inflammation was at the height, and a fever ensued which rendered the person utterly helpless, and his state critical, Simeon and Levi, the half brothers of Dinah, took each man his sword, probably assisted…”
Jacob’s other sons came upon the slaughter and looted the city, because their sister had been defiled.
“The sons of Jacob - The rest of Jacob’s sons, the remaining brothers of Simeon and Levi, spoiled the city.”
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land.
“Ye have troubled me - Brought my mind into great distress, and endangered my personal safety; to make me to stink - to render me odious to the surrounding tribes, so that there is every reason to suspect that when this deed is come abroad…”
But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
“Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot? - On this outrage alone they vindicated their flagitious conduct.”
So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
“Put away the strange gods - אלהי הנכר elohey hannechar, the gods of the foreigners, which were among them. Jacob’s servants were all Syrians, and no doubt were addicted less or more to idolatry and superstition.”
Then let us arise and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress.
“Answered me in the day of my distress - Not only when he fled from the face of his brother, but more particularly when he was in his greatest strait at the brook of Jabbok.”
So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.
“And - ear-rings which were in their ears - Whether these rings were in the ears of the gods, or in those of Jacob’s family, we may rest assured that they were not mere ornaments, but served for superstitious purposes.”
There Jacob built an altar, and he called that place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob as he fled from his brother.
“El-beth-el - אל בית אל the strong God, the house of the strong God. But the first אל el is wanting in one of De Rossi’s MSS., as it is also in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and some copies of the Arabic.”
Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bachuth.
“But Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died - She was sent with Rebekah when taken by Abraham’s servant to be wife to Isaac, Gen 24:59.”
After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
“God appeared unto Jacob again - He appeared to him first at Shechem, when he commanded him to go to Bethel, and now that he is arrived at the place, God appears to him the second time, and confirms to him the Abrahamic blessing.”
Then God went up from the place where He had spoken with him.
“And God went up from him - This was not a vision, nor a strong mental impression, but a real manifestation of God. Jacob saw and heard him speak, and before his eyes he went up - ascended to heaven.”
So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had spoken with him—a stone marker—and he poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil.
“A drink-offering - נסך nesech, a libation. These were afterwards very common in all countries. At first they consisted probably of water only, afterwards wine was used; see on Lev 7:1 (note), etc.”
Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.
“There was but a little way to come to Ephrath - The word כברת kibrath, translated here a little way, has greatly perplexed commentators.”
And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.
“As her soul was in departing - Is not this a proof that there is an immortal spirit in man, which can exist separate from and independent of the body?”
Jacob set up a pillar on her grave; it marks Rachel’s tomb to this day.
“Jacob set a pillar upon her grave - Was not this the origin of funeral monuments? In ancient times, and among rude nations, a heap of stones designated the burial place of the chief; many of these still remain in different countries.”
Israel again set out and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder.
“Tower of Edar - Literally, the tower of the flock, and so translated Mic 4:8. It is supposed that this tower was about a mile from Bethlehem, and to have been the place where the angels appeared to the shepherds.”
While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:
“Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine - Jonathan, in his Targum, says that Reuben only overthrew the bed of Bilhah, which was set up opposite to the bed of his mother Leah, and that this was reputed to him as if he…”
And the sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
“Born to him in Padan-aram - i.e., all but Benjamin was born in Canaan, Gen 35:16, Gen 35:17. It is well known that Padan-aram is the same as Mesopotamia, and hence the Septuagint translate Μεσοποταμια της Συριας, Mesopotamia of Syria.”
Jacob returned to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
“The city of Arbah, (which is Hebron) - See Gen 23:2. It has been conjectured that Jacob must have paid a visit to his father before this time, as previously to this he had been some years in Canaan; but now, as he was approaching…”
Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
“Isaac gave up the ghost - and was gathered unto his people - See Clarke on Gen 25:8 (note). Esau and Jacob buried him - See Gen 25:9.”
Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite,
“His wives - It appears that Esau’s wives went by very different names. Aholibamah is named Judith, Gen 26:34; Adah is called Bashemath in the same place; and she who is here called Bashemath is called Mahalath, Gen 28:9.”
Later, Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the people of his household, along with his livestock, all his other animals, and all the property he had…
“Esau took his wives, etc. - So it appears that Esau and Jacob dwelt together in Canaan, whither the former removed from Seir, probably soon after the return of Jacob.”
Additionally, Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, gave birth to Amalek. These are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.
“Timna was concubine to Eliphaz - As Timna was sister to Lotan the Horite, Gen 36:22, we see how the family of Esau and the Horites got intermixed.”
These are the chiefs among the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
“Dukes of the sons of Esau - The word duke comes from the Latin dux, a captain or leader.”