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
“How you have helped the powerless and saved the arm that is feeble!
“How hast thou helped him - This seems a species of irony. How wonderfully hast thou counselled the unskilful and strengthened the weak! Alas for you! ye could not give what ye did not possess!”
To whom have you uttered these words? And whose spirit spoke through you?
“Whose spirit came from thee? - Mr. Good renders the verse thus: From whom hast thou pillaged speeches? And whose spirit hath issued forth from thee?”
Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.
“Hell is naked before him - Sheol, the place of the dead, or of separate spirits, is always in his view.”
He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.
“He bindeth up the waters - Drives the aqueous particles together, which were raised by evaporation, so that, being condensed, they form clouds which float in the atmosphere, till, meeting with strong currents of wind, or by the agency of the electric fluid, they are…”
He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.
“He hath compassed the waters with bounds - Perhaps this refers merely to the circle of the horizon, the line that terminates light and commences darkness, called here עד תכלית אור עם חשך ad tachlith or im chosech, “until the completion of light with darkness.””
By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab.
“He divideth the sea with his power - Here is a manifest allusion to the passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites, and the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host, according to the opinion of the most eminent critics.”
Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
“Lo, these are parts of his ways - קצות ketsoth, the ends or extremities, the outlines, an indistinct sketch, of his eternal power and Godhead. How little a portion is heard - שמץ shemets, a mere whisper; admirably opposed, as Mr.”
“As surely as God lives, who has deprived me of justice—the Almighty, who has embittered my soul—
“Who hath taken away my judgment - Who has turned aside my cause, and has not permitted it to come to a hearing, where I might have justice done to me, but has abandoned me to the harsh and uncharitable judgment of my enemies?”
I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.
“My righteousness I hold fast - I stand firmly on this ground; I have endeavored to live an upright life, and my afflictions are not the consequence of my sins.”
For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
“What is the hope of the hypocrite - The word חנף chaneph, which we translate, most improperly, hypocrite, means a wicked fellow, a defiled, polluted wretch, a rascal, a knave, a man who sticks at nothing in order to gain his ends.”
Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves. Why then do you keep up this empty talk?
“Ye yourselves have seen it - Your own experience and observation have shown you that the righteous are frequently in affliction, and the wicked in affluence. Why then are ye thus altogether vain?”
Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food.
“If his children be multiplied - As numerous families were supposed to be a proof of the benediction of the Almighty, Job shows that this is not always the case; for the offspring of the wicked shall be partly cut off by violent deaths, and…”
Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
“Though he heap up silver - Though he amass riches in the greatest abundance, he shall not enjoy them. Unsanctified wealth is a curse to its possessor.”
Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
“Iron is taken out of the earth - This most useful metal is hidden under the earth, and men have found out the method of separating it from its ore.”
Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.
“The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant - This passage is very difficult. Some think it refers to mining; others to navigation.”
He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.
“He cutteth out rivers among the rocks - He cuts canals, adits, etc., in the rocks, and drives levels under ground, in order to discover loads or veins of ore.”
But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?
“But where shall wisdom be found? - It is most evident that the terms wisdom and understanding are used here in a widely different sense from all those arts and sciences which have their relation to man in his animal and social state, and from…”
The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’
“The depth saith, It is not in me - Men may dig into the bowels of the earth, and there find gold, silver, and precious stones; but these will not give them true happiness.”
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
“The gold of Ophir - Gold is five times mentioned in this and Job 28:17 and Job 28:19, and four of the times in different words. I shall consider them all at once. 1. סגור Segor, from סגר sagar, to shut up. Gold.”
Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’
“Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof - אבדון ומות Abaddon vamaveth, the destroyer, and his offspring death.”
And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
“Unto man he said - לאדם laadam, unto man, he said: This probably refers to the revelation of his will which God gave to Adam after his fall. He had before sought for wisdom in a forbidden way.”
“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
“O that I were as in months past - Job seems here to make an apology for his complaints, by taking a view of his former prosperity, which was very great, but was now entirely at an end.”
when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
“The days of my youth - The original word rather means in the days of my winter, חרפי charpi, from חרף charaph, “to strip or make bare.” Mr.”
the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
“The young men saw me, and hid themselves - From all classes of persons I had the most marked respect.”
The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
“The nobles held their peace - Princes שרים sarim, and Nobles, נגידים negidim, must have been two different classes of the great men of Idumea.”