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
Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!”
“Then Peter took him - Προσλαβομενος - took him up - suddenly interrupted him, as it were calling him to order - see Wakefield. Some versions give προσλαβομενος the sense of calling him aside.”
But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me.
“Get thee behind me, Satan - Υπαγε οπισω μου σατανα. Get behind me, thou adversary. This is the proper translation of the Hebrew word שטן Satan, from which the Greek word is taken.”
Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
“Will come after me - i.e. to be my disciple. This discourse was intended to show Peter and the rest of the disciples the nature of his kingdom; and that the honor that cometh from the world was not to be expected by those who…”
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
“For whosoever will save his life - That is, shall wish to save his life - at the expense of his conscience, and casting aside the cross, he shall lose it - the very evil he wishes to avoid shall overtake him; and he shall…”
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
“Lose his own soul - Or, lose his life, την ψυχην αυτου. On what authority many have translated the word ψυχη, in the 25th verse, life, and in this verse, soul, I know not, but am certain it means life in both places.”
For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father - This seems to refer to Dan 7:13, Dan 7:14.”
There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
“Was transfigured - That fullness of the Godhead, which dwelt bodily in Christ, now shone forth through the human nature, and manifested to his disciples not only that Divinity which Peter had before confessed, Mat 16:16, but also the glorious resurrection body, in which they…”
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.
“Peter said - let us make, etc. - That is, when he saw Moses and Elijah ready to depart from the mount, Luk 9:33, he wished to detain them, that he might always enjoy their company with that of his Lord and Master, still supposing…”
When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.
“Fell on their face - Dismayed by the voice, and dazzled by the glory of the cloud. So Daniel, Dan 8:17, and Saul of Tarsus, Act 9:4.”
Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Do not be afraid.”
“Jesus came and touched them - Exactly parallel to this account is Dan 8:18, I was in a deep sleep, i.e. (a trance) on my face towards the ground; but he Touched me, and set me upright.”
The disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
“His disciples - instead of His disciples, some MSS., with the Coptic, Armenian, Vulgate, all the Itala except two, and Origen, read simply, οι μαθηται, The disciples, i.e. those only who had been with him on the mount, Peter, James, and John.”
Jesus replied, “Elijah does indeed come, and he will restore all things.
“Elias - shall first come, and restore all things - Or will reform, αποκαταστησει; this word our Lord quotes from the Septuagint; who render the Hebrew והשוב לב אבות על בנים vehesheb leb aboth al banim, he will cause the heart of the fathers to…”
But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him whatever they wished.
“Knew him not - Or, ουκ επιγνωσαν αυτον, They have not acknowledged him. That is, the Jewish rulers have not acknowledged him, did not receive him as the forerunner of the Messiah.”
Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them about John the Baptist.
“Then the disciples understood - When he spoke of the sufferings of this prophetic Elijah, and also of his own, which had been the subject of the conversation on the mount, during the transfiguration, they clearly apprehended that he spoke of John the Baptist.”
When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus and knelt before Him.
“When they were come to the multitude - It appears that a congregation had been collected during our Lord’s stay on the mount: how great must have been the desire of these people to hear the words of Christ!”
I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
“Thy disciples could not cure him - No wonder, when the cure must be effected by supernatural agency, and they had not faith enough to interest the power of God in their behalf, Mat 17:20.”
Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
“Jesus rebuked the devil - Deprived him of all power to torment the child; and obliged him to abandon his present usurped habitation.”
“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move…
“Because of your unbelief - Are we preachers of the Gospel? Do the things of God rest upon our minds with a deep and steady conviction?”
When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.
“They abode in Galilee - Lower Galilee, where the city of Capernaum was. The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men - Μελλει - παραδιδοσθαι εις χειρας - The Son of man is about to be delivered into the hands, etc.”
They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised to life.” And the disciples were deeply grieved.
“They were exceeding sorry - Since the conversation on the mount, with Moses and Elijah; Peter, James, and John could have no doubt that their Lord and Master must suffer, and that it was for this end he came into the world; but, while they…”
After they had arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your Teacher pay the two drachmas?”
“They that received tribute - This was not a tax to be paid to the Roman government; but a tax for the support of the temple.”
“Yes,” he answered. When Peter entered the house, Jesus preempted him. “What do you think, Simon?” He asked.
“He saith, Yes - From this reply of Peter, it is evident that our Lord customarily paid all taxes, tributes, etc., which were common among the people wherever he came.”
“From others,” Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus declared.
“Then are the children free - As this money is levied for the support of that temple of which I am the Lord, then I am not obliged to pay the tax; and my disciples, like the priests that minister, should be exempted from the…”
“But so that we may not offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish you catch.
“Lest we - offend them - Be a stumbling-block to the priests, or rulers of the Jews, I will pay the tribute - go thou to the sea - cast a hook, and take the first fish - thou shalt find a piece of money…”
“Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
“Except ye be converted - Unless ye be saved from those prejudices which are at present so baneful to your nation, (seeking a temporal and not a spiritual kingdom), unless ye be clothed with the spirit of humility, ye cannot enter into the spirit, design…”