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
Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures.
“I do remember my faults - It is not possible he could have forgotten the circumstance to which he here alludes; it was too intimately connected with all that was dear to him, to permit him ever to forget it.”
“I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.”
“It is not in me, etc. - בלעדי biladai, without or independently of me - I am not essential to thy comfort, God himself has thee under his care.”
when seven cows, well-fed and sleek, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.
“Seven kine, fat-fleshed - See Clarke on Gen 41:2 (note). And observe farther, that the seven fat and the seven lean kine coming out of the same river plainly show, at once, the cause both of the plenty and the dearth.”
When they had devoured them, however, no one could tell that they had done so; their appearance was as ugly as it had been before. Then I awoke.
“And when they had eaten them up, etc. - Nothing can more powerfully mark the excess and severity of the famine than creatures of the beeve or of the hippopotamus kind eating each other, and yet without any effect; remaining as lean and as wretched…”
At this, Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
“God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do - Joseph thus shows the Egyptian king that though the ordinary cause of plenty or want is the river Nile, yet its inundations are under the direction of God: the dreams are sent by him…”
Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.
“A man discreet and wise - As it is impossible that Joseph could have foreseen his own elevation, consequently he gave this advice without any reference to himself.”
Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.
“Let him appoint officers - פקדים pekidim, visitors, overseers: translated by Ainsworth, bishops; see Gen 39:1.”
So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?”
“In whom the Spirit of God is? - רוח אלהים ruach Elohim, the identical words used Gen 1:2; and certainly to be understood here as in the preceding place.”
You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people are to obey your commands. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”
“According unto thy word shall all my people be ruled - Literally, At thy mouth shall all my people kiss.”
Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.
“And Pharaoh took off his ring - and put it upon Joseph’s hand - In this ring was probably set the king’s signet, by which the royal instruments were sealed; and thus Joseph was constituted what we would call Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper of…”
He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.
“He made him to ride in the second chariot - That which usually followed the king’s chariot in public ceremonies.”
Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife.
“Zaphnath-paaneah - The meaning of this title is as little known as that of abrech in the preceding verse. Some translate it, The revealer of secrets; others, The treasury of glorious comfort. St. Jerome translates the whole verse in the most arbitrary manner.”
Now Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt.
“Joseph was thirty years old - As he was seventeen years old when he was sold into Egypt, Gen 37:2, and was now thirty, he must have been thirteen years in slavery.”
Before the years of famine arrived, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
“Two sons - Whom he called by names expressive of God’s particular and bountiful providence towards him. Manasseh, מנשה menashsheh, signifies forgetfulness, from נשה nashah, to forget; and Ephraim, אפרים ephrayim, fruitfulness, from פרה parah, to be fruitful; and he called his sons by these…”
the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt.
“The seven years of dearth began to come - Owing in Egypt to the Nile not rising more than twelve or thirteen cubits; (See Clarke on Gen 41:31 (note)); but there must have been other causes which affected other countries, not immediately dependent on the…”
When extreme hunger came to all the land of Egypt and the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do whatever…
“When all the land of Egypt was famished - As Pharaoh, by the advice of Joseph, had exacted a fifth part of all the grain during the seven years of plenty, it is very likely that no more was left than what was merely necessary…”
When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of…
“Over all the face of the earth - The original, כל פני הארץ col peney haarets, should be translated, all the face of that land, viz., Egypt, as it is explained at the end of the verse.”
Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people.
“Joseph was the governor - שליט shallit, an intendant, a protector, from שלט skalat, to be over as a protector; hence שלטים shelatim, shields, or arms for protection and defense, 2Sa 8:7; and שלטון shilton, power and authority, Ecc 8:4, Ecc 8:8; and hence the…”
Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”
“Ye are spies - מרגלים אתם meraggelim attem, ye are footmen, trampers about, footpads, vagabonds, lying in wait for the property of others; persons who, under the pretense of wishing to buy corn, desire only to find out whether the land be so defenceless that…”
We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
“We are all one man’s sons - We do not belong to different tribes, and it is not likely that one family would make a hostile attempt upon a whole kingdom.”
And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
“By the life of Pharaoh - חי פרעה chey Pharaoh, Pharaoh liveth. As if he had said, As surely as the king of Egypt lives, so surely shall ye not go hence unless your brother come hither.”
and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:
“I fear God - את האלהים אני ירא eth haelohim ani yare, literally translated the passage runs thus, I also fear the gods; but the emphatic ה ha is probably added by Joseph, both here and in his conversation with Pharaoh, the more particularly to…”
Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen.
“We are verily guilty - How finely are the office and influence of conscience exemplified in these words! It was about twenty-two years since they had sold their brother, and probably their conscience had been lulled asleep to the present hour.”
They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.
“For he spake unto them by an interpreter - Either there was a very great difference between the two languages as then spoken, or Joseph, to prevent all suspicion, might affect to be ignorant of both.”
And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.
“Took - Simeon and bound him before their eyes - This was retaliation, if, as the rabbins suppose, it was Simeon who bound Joseph, and put him into the pit. A recollection of this circumstance must exceedingly deepen the sense he had of his guilt.”