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
and on that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD; proclaim His name! Make His works known among the peoples; declare that His name is exalted.
“Call upon his name - קראו בשמו kiru bishmo, invoke his name. Make him your Mediator, or call the people in his name. Preach him who is the Root of Jesse, and who stands as an ensign for the nations.”
Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”
“Thou inhabitant of Zion - Not only the Jewish people, to whom his word of salvation was to be sent first; but also all members of the Church of Christ: as in them, and in his Church, the Holy One of Israel dwells. St.”
Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
“Exalt the voice - The word להם lahem, “to them,” which is of no use, and rather weakens the sentence, is omitted by an ancient MS., and the Vulgate.”
Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations gathered together!
“Of the battle “For the battle” - The Bodleian MS. has למלחמה lemilchamah. Cyrus’s army was made up of many different nations. Jeremiah calls it an “assembly of great nations from the north country,” Jer 50:9.”
Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.
“And they shall be afraid “And they shall be terrified” - I join this verb, ונבהלו venibhalu, to the preceding verse, with the Syriac and Vulgate.”
For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
“For the stars of heaven “Yea, the stars of heaven” - The Hebrew poets, to express happiness, prosperity, the instauration and advancement of states, kingdoms, and potentates, make use of images taken from the most striking parts of nature, from the heavenly bodies, from the…”
I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.
“I will make a man more precious than fine gold-wedge of Ophir - The Medes and Persians will not be satisfied with the spoils of the Babylonians.”
Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.
““And the remnant” - Here is plainly a defect in this sentence, as it stands in the Hebrew text; the subject of the proposition is lost. What is it that shall be like a roe chased?”
Their bows will dash young men to pieces; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; they will not look with pity on the children.
“Their bows also shall dash “Their bows shall dash” - Both Herodotus, 1:61, and Xenophon, Anab. iii., mention, that the Persians used large bows τοξα μεγαλα: and the latter says particularly that their bows were three cubits long, Anab. 4.”
Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.
“In their pleasant palaces “In their palaces” - באלמנותיו bealmenothaiv; a plain mistake, I presume, for בארמנתיו bearmenothaiv. It is so corrected in two MSS., the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate. Πουλυποδες δ’ εν εμοι θαλαμας φωκαι τε μελαιναι Οικα ποιησονται ακηδεα, χητεΐ λαων. Hom. Hymn.”
you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
“This proverb “This parable” - משל mashal, I take this to be the general name for poetic style among the Hebrews, including every sort of it, as ranging under one or other, or all of the characters, of sententious, figurative, and sublime; which are all…”
How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
“O Lucifer, son of the morning - The Versions in general agree in this translation, and render הילל heilel as signifying Lucifer, Φωσφωρος, the morning star, whether Jupiter or Venus; as these are both bringers of the morning light, or morning stars, annually in their…”
You will not join them in burial, since you have destroyed your land and slaughtered your own people. The offspring of the wicked will never again be mentioned.
“Because thou hast destroyed thy land, etc. “Because thou hast destroyed thy country; thou hast slain thy people” - Xenophon gives an instance of this king’s wanton cruelty in killing the son of Gobrias, on no other provocation than that, in hunting, he struck a…”
In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
“In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden - Uzziah had subdued the Philistines, 2Ch 26:6, 2Ch 26:7; but, taking advantage of the weak reign of Ahaz, they invaded Judea, and took, and held in possession, some cities in the southern part of…”
Then the firstborn of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety, but I will kill your root by famine, and your remnant will be…
“And the first-born of the poor, etc. - The Targum goes on applying all to the Messiah. “And the poor of the people shall he feed, and the humble shall dwell securely in his days: and he shall kill thy children with famine, and the…”
What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.”
“The messengers of the nation “The ambassadors of the nations” - The Septuagint read גוים goyim, εθνων, plural; and so the Chaldee, and one MS.”
Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
“He is gone to Bajith, and to Dibon - עלה הבית alah habbayith, should be rendered, he is gone to the House, i.e., to their chief temple, where they practiced idolatry.”
Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voices are heard as far as Jahaz. Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out; their souls tremble within.
“The armed soldiers “The very loins” - So the Septuagint, ἡ οσφυς, and the Syriac. They cry out violently, with their utmost force.”
Let my fugitives stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.” When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased, and the oppressors have vanished from the land,
“Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab “Let the outcasts of Moab sojourn with thee, O Zion” - Setting the points aside, this is by much the most obvious construction of the Hebrew, as well as most agreeable to the context, and the design of…”
We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
“We have heard of the pride of Moab “We have heard the pride of Moab” - For גא ge, read גאה geah; two MSS., one ancient, and Jer 48:”
For the fields of Heshbon have withered, along with the grapevines of Sibmah.
“Languish “Are put to shame” - Here the text of Jeremiah leaves us much at a loss, in a place that seems to be greatly corrupted. The Septuagint join the two last words of this verse with the beginning of the following.”
Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards.
“Neither shall there be shouting “An end is put to the shouting” - The Septuagint read השבת hishbeth, passive, and in the third person; rightly, for God is not the speaker in this place.”
When Moab appears on the high place, when he wearies himself and enters his sanctuary to pray, it will do him no good.
“When it is seen that Moab, etc. “When Moab shall see,” etc. - For נראה nirah, a MS. reads ראה raah, and so the Syriac and Chaldee. “Perhaps כי נראה ki nirah is only a various reading of כי נלאה ki nilah.” Secker.”
And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people.
“Within three years - בשלש beshalish כשלש keshalish, according, or in or about three years, is the reading of nine of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., and two ancient editions.”
The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.
“The cities of Aroer are forsaken “The cities are deserted for ever” - What has Aroer on the river Arnon to do with Damascus?”