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
I and the Father are one.”
“I and my Father are one - If Jesus Christ were not God, could he have said these words without being guilty of blasphemy?”
But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”
“Many good works have I showed you - I have healed your sick, delivered those of you who were possessed from the power of demons; I have fed multitudes of your poor, and I have taught you in all places, at all times, without expense…”
Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’?
“Is it not written in your law - The words which our Lord quotes are taken from Psa 82:6, which shows that, under the word law, our Lord comprised the Jewish sacred writings in general. See also Joh 12:34; Joh 15:25. Ye are gods?”
If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
“Unto whom the word of God came - Bishop Pearce thinks that “the word λογος, here, is put for λογος κρισεως, the word or matter of judgment, as in 2Ch 19:6, where Jehoshaphat, setting up judges in the land of Judah, says: Take heed what…”
If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me.
“If I do not the works, etc. - I desire you to believe only on the evidence of my works: if I do not do such works as God only can perform, then believe me not.”
But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me…
“Believe the works - Though ye do not now credit what I have said to you, yet consider my works, and then ye will see that these works prove that I am in the Father and the Father in me; and, consequently, that I and…”
Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had first been baptizing, and He stayed there.
“Beyond Jordan - Rather, to the side of Jordan, not beyond it. See the note on Joh 6:22, and Mat 19:1. Where John at first baptized - That is, at Bethabara: see Joh 1:28. Afterwards, John baptized at Aenon: Joh 3:23.”
And many in that place believed in Jesus.
“Many believed on him there - The people believed on him: 1. because of the testimony of John the Baptist whom they knew to be a good and a wise man, and a prophet of the Lord; and they knew he could neither deceive nor…”
(Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was to anoint the Lord with perfume and wipe His feet with her hair.)
“It was that Mary which anointed - There is much disagreement between learned men relative to the two anointings of our Lord, and the persons who performed these acts.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
“Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus - Therefore his staying two days longer in Bethabara was not through lack of affection for this distressed family, but merely that he might have a more favorable opportunity of proving to them how much he…”
“Rabbi,” they replied, “the Jews just tried to stone You, and You are going back there?”
“The Jews of late sought to stone thee - It was but a few weeks before that they were going to stone him in the temple, on the day of the feast of the dedication, Joh 10:31.”
His disciples replied, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get better.”
“If he sleep, he shall do well - That is, if he sleep only, etc. Though the word sleep frequently meant death, (see Act 7:60; 1Co 11:30; 1Co 15:18, 1Co 15:20), yet, as it was an ambiguous term, the disciples appear here to have mistaken…”
Then Thomas called Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”
“Thomas, which is called Didymus - Thomas, or תאום Thaom, was his Hebrew name, and signifies a twin - one who had a brother or a sister born with him at the same time: Didymus, Διδυμος, is a literal translation of the Hebrew word into…”
So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him; but Mary stayed at home.
“Martha - went and met him - Some suppose she was the eldest of the two sisters - she seems to have had the management of the house. See Luk 10:40.”
Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
“I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection - The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was then commonly received; and though it was our Lord who fully exemplified it by his own resurrection, yet the opinion was common, not only among…”
And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Shall never die - Or, Shall not die for ever. Though he die a temporal death. he shall not continue under its power for ever; but shall have a resurrection to life eternal. Believest thou this?”
After Martha had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside to tell her, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.”
“The Master is come - This was the appellation which he had in the family; and from these words it appears that Christ had inquired for Mary, desiring to have her present, that he might strengthen her faith, previously to his raising her brother.”
Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met Him.
“Jesus was not yet come into the town - As the Jewish burying places were without their cities and villages, it appears that the place where our Savior was, when Martha met him, was not far from the place where Lazarus was buried.”
Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
“Behold how he loved him! - And when we see him pouring out his blood and life upon the cross for mankind, we may with exultation and joy cry out, Behold how he hath loved Us!”
But some of them asked, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept Lazarus from dying?”
“Could not this man, which opened the eyes, etc. - Through the maliciousness of their hearts, these Jews considered the tears of Jesus as a proof of his weakness.”
Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
“It was a cave, etc. - It is likely that several of the Jewish burying-places were made in the sides of rocks; some were probably dug down like a well from the upper surface, and then hollowed under into niches, and a flat stone, laid…”
Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
“If thou wouldest believe, etc. - So it appears that it is faith alone that interests the miraculous and saving power of God in behalf of men. Instead of δοξαν, the glory, one MS. reads δυναμιν, the miraculous power.”
The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth.
“Bound hand and foot with grave-clothes - Swathed about with rollers - κειριαις, from κειρω, I cut. These were long slips of linen a few inches in breadth, with which the body and limbs of the dead were swathed, and especially those who were embalmed…”
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him.
“Many of the Jews - believed on him - They saw that the miracle was incontestable; and they were determined to resist the truth no longer. Their friendly visit to these distressed sisters became the means of their conversion.”
But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
“But some of them went their ways - Astonishing! Some that had seen even this miracle steeled their hearts against it; and not only so, but conspired the destruction of this most humane, amiable, and glorious Savior!”