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
this is what the LORD says: ‘I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants.
“I will punish Shemaiah - 1. He shall have no posterity to succeed him. 2. His family, i.e., relations, etc., shall not be found among those whom I shall bring back from captivity. 3.”
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.
“Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book - The book here recommended I believe to be the thirtieth and thirty-first chapters; for among the Hebrews any portion of writing, in which the subject was finished, however small, was…”
For behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore from captivity My people Israel and Judah, declares the LORD.
“The days come - First, After the conclusion of the seventy years. Secondly, Under the Messiah. That I will bring again the captivity of Israel - The ten tribes, led captive by the king of Assyria, and dispersed among the nations.”
On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will break the yoke off their necks and tear off their bonds, and no longer will strangers enslave them.
“I will break his yoke - That is, the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. Of him - Of Jacob, (Jer 30:7), viz., the then captive Jews.”
Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
“But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their King - This must refer to the times of the Messiah and hence the Chaldee has, “They shall obey the Lord their God, וישת מאון למשיחה בר דוד veyishta meun limschicha bar David, and…”
For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have scattered you, I will not completely destroy…
“Though I make a full end of all nations - Though the Persians destroy the nations whom they vanquish, yet they shall not destroy thee.”
For this is what the LORD says: “Your injury is incurable; your wound is grievous.
“Thy bruise is incurable - אנוש anush, desperate, not incurable; for the cure is promised in Jer 30:17, I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds.”
Nevertheless, all who devour you will be devoured, and all your adversaries—every one of them—will go off into exile.
“They that devour thee - The Chaldeans. Shall be devoured - By the Medes and Persians. All that prey upon thee will I give for a prey - The Assyrians were destroyed by the Babylonians; the Babylonians, by the Medes and Persians; the Egyptians and…”
This is what the LORD says: “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings.
“The city shall be builded upon her own heap - Be re-edified from its own ruins. See the book of Nehemiah, passim.”
Their children will be as in days of old, and their congregation will be established before Me; and I will punish all their oppressors.
“Their children also - They shall have the education of their own children as formerly. And their congregation - Their religious assemblies.”
Their leader will be one of their own, and their ruler will arise from their midst.
“Their nobles shall be of themselves - Strangers shall not rule over them; and - Their governor shall proceed from the midst of them - Both Nehemiah and Zerubbabel, their nobles and governors after the return from Babylon, were Jews.”
“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”
“At the same time - This discourse was delivered at the same time with the former; and, with that, constitutes the Book which God ordered the prophet to write.”
This is what the LORD says: “The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness when Israel went to find rest.”
“The people which were left of the sword - Those of the ten tribes that had escaped death by the sword of the Assyrians. Found grace in the wilderness - The place of their exile; a wilderness, compared to their own land. - Dahler.”
Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing.
“O virgin of Israel - Israelites in general; now called virgin, because restored to their ancient purity. With thy tabrets - Women in general played on these; they were used in times of rejoicing, and accompanied with dancing.”
For there will be a day when watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Arise, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God!’”
“For there shall be a day - Literally, for this is the day, or the day is come. The watchmen - the prophets.”
Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and…
“I will bring them from the north country - From Babylon. From the coasts of the earth - The ten tribes were carried away partly into Assyria by Tiglath-pileser, and partly into Mesopotamia and Media by Shalmaneser, 2Ki 15:29; 2Ki 17:6.”
They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young…
“And shall flow together - Perhaps this may refer to their assembling at the three great national feasts, the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles.”
I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly, and will fill My people with My goodness,” declares the LORD.
“And I will satiate the soul of the priests - The worship of God being restored, they shall have their proper share of the victims brought to the temple.”
This is what the LORD says: “Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come, declares the LORD.
“They shall come again from the land of the enemy - This could not be said of the murdered innocents at Bethlehem; they never came again; but the Jews, who had gone into captivity, did come again from the land of their enemy to their…”
I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself - The exiled Israelites are in a state of deep repentance.”
After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
“After that I was turned - Converted from my sin, folly, and idolatry. I repented - To conviction of sin, I now added contrition for sin. Conviction, in this sense of the word, must precede contrition or repentance.”
Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him.
“Is Ephraim my dear son? - It is impossible to conceive any thing more tenderly affectionate than this. Let us consider the whole account. The ten tribes, called here Ephraim, for the reason before alleged, are represented as acknowledging their sins.”
“Set up the roadmarks, establish the signposts. Keep the highway in mind, the road you have traveled. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to these cities of yours.
“Set thee up waymarks - Alluding to stones, or heaps of stones, which travelers in the desert set up to ascertain the way, that they may know how to return.”
How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”
“A woman shall compass a man - נקבה תסובב גבר nekebah tesobeb gaber, “A weak woman shall compass or circumvent a strong man.” This place has given much trouble to Biblical critics.”
At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.
“Upon this I awaked - It appears that the prophecy, commencing with Jer 30:2 and ending with Jer 31:25 of this chapter, was delivered to the prophet in a dream.”