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
But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
“But first must he suffer many things - As the cup of the iniquity of this people shall not be full till they have finally rejected and crucified the Lord of life and glory, so this desolation cannot take place till after my death.”
People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
“They did eat, they drank, etc. - They spent their whole lives in reference to this world; and made no sort of provision for their immortal souls.”
But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
“It rained fire and brimstone - Instead of it rained, Gen 19:24 justifies the insertion of the pronoun he, as implied in the verb εβρεξε; for it is there said that Jehovah rained fire and brimstone from Jehovah out of heaven.”
Remember Lot’s wife!
“Remember Lot’s wife - Relinquish every thing, rather than lose your souls. She looked back, Gen 19:26; probably she turned back also to carry some of her goods away - for so much the preceding verse seems to intimate, and became a monument of the…”
I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed: one will be taken and the other left.
“On the subject of these verses see Mat 24:40, Mat 24:41 (note). The 36th verse is, without doubt, an interpolation. It was probably borrowed from Mat 24:40.”
“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.
“A judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man - It is no wonder that our Lord calls this person an unrighteous judge, Luk 18:6.”
yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests.’”
“She weary me - Ὑπωπιαζῃ με, Stun me. A metaphor taken from boxers, who bruise each other, and by beating each other about the face blacken the eyes. See 1Co 9:27.”
And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge.
“Hear what the unjust judge saith - Our blessed Lord intimates that we should reason thus with ourselves: “If a person of such an infamous character as this judge was could yield to the pressing and continual solicitations of a poor widow, for whom he…”
I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”
“He will avenge them speedily - Or, He will do them justice speedily - εν ταχει, instantly, in a trice. 1. Because he has promised it; and 2. Because he is inclined to do it.”
“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
“A Pharisee - For a description of the Pharisees and their tenets, see on Mat 16:1 (note). Publican - See an account of these on Mat 5:46 (note). Both these persons went to the temple to pray, i.e.”
I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’
“I give tithes of all that I possess - Or, of all I acquire, κτωμαι. Raphelius has well observed, that this verb, in the present tense, signifies to acquire - in the preter, to possess: the Pharisee’s meaning seems to be, “As fast as I…”
I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
“Went down to his house justified - His sin blotted out; and himself accepted. Rather than the other - Η εκεινος: that is, the other was not accepted, because he exalted himself - he made use of the mercies which he acknowledged he owed to…”
Now people were even bringing their babies to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them. And when the disciples saw this, they rebuked those who brought them.
“They brought unto him also infants - On these verses the reader is requested to consult the notes on Mat 19:13 (note), Mat 19:14 (note), and on Mar 10:16 (note).”
Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
“It as easier for a camel - Instead of καμηλον, a camel, S, and four other MSS., read καμιλον, a cable. See the same reading noticed on the parallel place, Mat 19:24 (note).”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
“That hath left house, or parents, etc. - See on Mat 19:28, Mat 19:29 (note), and Mar 10:29, Mar 10:30 (note). Or brethren - Η αδελφας, Or Sisters, is added by the Cod. Bezae, and some others.”
They will flog Him and kill Him, and on the third day He will rise again.”
“And the third day he shall rise again - See Hos 6:2; and let the reader observe that the passage should be read thus: In the third day he will raise Him up, (יקמנו) and we shall live before him: his resurrection shall be the…”
But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
“They understood none of these things - Notwithstanding all the information which Christ had given them concerning this awful subject, they could not as yet fully comprehend how the Messiah should suffer; or how their Master, whose power they knew was unlimited, should permit the…”
As Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting beside the road, begging.
“A certain blind man - Bartimeus. See this transaction explained at large, on Mat 20:29-34 (note), and Mar 10:46 (note), etc.”
Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God. And all the people who saw this gave praise to God.
“And all the people - gave: praise unto God - They saw the finger of God in what was done; and they gave him that praise which was due to his name. The Pharisees either saw not, or would not acknowledge this.”
And there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, who was very wealthy.
“Zaccheus - It is not unlikely that this person was a Jew by birth, see Luk 19:9; but because he had engaged in a business so infamous, in the eyes of the Jews, he was considered as a mere heathen, Luk 19:7.”
So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that way.
“He ran before - The shortness of his stature was amply compensated by his agility and invention. Had he been as tall as the generality of the crowd, he might have been equally unnoticed with the rest.”
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it…
“The half of my goods I give to the poor - Probably he had already done so for some time past; though it is generally understood that the expressions only refer to what he now purposed to do.”
So He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to lay claim to his kingship and then return.
“A certain nobleman - In the following parable there are two distinct morals intended; let it be viewed in these two points of light. 1. The behavior of the citizens to the nobleman; and, 2. The behavior of his own servants to him. 1.”
When he returned from procuring his kingship, he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned.
“When he was returned - When he came to punish the disobedient Jews; and when he shall come to judge the world. See the parable of the talents, Mat 25:14 (note), etc.”
The first servant came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has produced ten more minas.’
“Lord, thy pound hath gained ten - The principal difference between this parable and that of the talents above referred to is, that the mina given to each seems to point out the gift of the Gospel, which is the same to all who hear…”