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 while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.
“While they went to buy, the bridegroom came - What a dismal thing it is, not to discover the emptiness of one’s heart of all that is good, till it is too late to make any successful application for relief!”
For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions.
“Called his own servants - God never makes the children of men proprietors of his goods. They are formed by his power, and upheld by his bounty; and they hold their lives and their goods, as in many of our ancient tenures, quamdiu domino placuerit…”
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
“All nations - Literally, all the nations - all the Gentile world; the Jews are necessarily included, but they were spoken of in a particular manner in the preceding chapter. He shall separate them - Set each kind apart by themselves.”
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
“Ye blessed of my Father - This is the king’s address to his followers; and contains the reason why they were found in the practice of all righteousness, and were now brought to this state of glory - they were blessed - came as children…”
I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’
“I was sick, and ye visited me - Relieving the strangers, and visiting the sick, were in high estimation among the Jews.”
For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink,
“I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat - I put it in your power to do good, and ye would not.”
I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not…
“I was a stranger - If men were sure that Jesus Christ was actually somewhere in the land, in great personal distress, hungry, thirsty, naked, and confined, they would doubtless run unto and relieve him.”
And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
“Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, etc. - It is want of faith which in general produces hard-heartedness to the poor.”
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment - No appeal, no remedy, to all eternity! No end to the punishment of those whose final impenitence manifests in them an eternal will and desire to sin.”
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, He told His disciples,
“When Jesus had finished all these sayings - He began these sayings on Mount Olivet, Mat 24:1, and continued them till be entered into Bethany, whither he was going.”
At that time the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
“Then assembled together the chief priests - That is, during the two days that preceded the passover. The high priest, who was called Caiaphas - Caiaphas succeeded Simon, son of Camith, about a.d. 16, or, as Calmet thinks, 25.”
and they conspired to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him.
“And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty - The providence of God frustrated their artful machinations; and that event which they wished to conduct with the greatest privacy and silence was transacted with all possible celebrity, amidst the thousands who resorted to Jerusalem…”
“But not during the feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
“Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar - It was usual for the Jews to punish criminals at the public festivals; but in this case they were afraid of an insurrection, as our Lord had become very popular.”
a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He reclined at the table.
“There came unto him a woman - There is much contention among commentators about the transaction mentioned here, and in Joh 12:3; some supposing them to be different, others to be the same.”
When the disciples saw this, they were indignant and asked, “Why this waste?
“His disciples - One of them, viz. Judas. This mode of speaking was common among the Hebrews. So, Mat 27:44, the thieves also, i.e. one of them. So, Mat 28:17, some doubted, i.e. one, Thomas. See also Gen 8:4; Jdg 12:7; Neh 6:7, etc.”
This perfume could have been sold at a high price, and the money given to the poor.”
“And given to the poor - How often does charity serve as a cloak for covetousness! God is sometimes robbed of his right under the pretense of devoting what is withheld to some charitable purpose, to which there was no intention ever to give it.”
Aware of this, Jesus asked, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful deed to Me.
“Why trouble ye the woman? - Or, Why do ye put the woman to pain? See this sense of κοπους παρεχειν, established by Kypke in loco.”
The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me.
“Ye have the poor always with you - And, consequently, have the opportunity of doing them good at any time; but me ye have not always; my bodily presence is about to be removed from you for ever.”
By pouring this perfume on Me, she has prepared My body for burial.
“She did it for my burial - Or, She hath done it to embalm me - ενταφιασαι με. The Septuagint use ενταφιαϚης for the person whose office it was to embalm, Gen 50:2, and ενταφιαζω for the Hebrew הנט which signifies to prepare with spices…”
Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
“Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached - Another remarkable proof of the prescience of Christ. Such a matter as this, humanly speaking, depended on mere fortuitous circumstances, yet so has God disposed matters, that the thing has continued, hitherto, as firm and regular as the…”
and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.
“Thirty pieces of silver - Τριακοντα αργυρια, thirty silverlings; but στατηρας, staters, is the reading of the Codex Bezae, three copies of the Itala, Eusebius, and Origen sometimes; and στατηρας αργυριου, silver staters, is the reading of the famous Basil MS. No.”
So from then on Judas looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus.
“He sought opportunity - Ευκαιριαν, a convenient or fit opportunity. Men seldom leave a crime imperfect: when once sin is conceived, it meets, in general, with few obstacles, till it brings forth death. How deceitful, how deeply damning, is the love of money!”
He answered, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him that the Teacher says, ‘My time is near.
“Go - to such a man - Τον δεινα It is probable that this means some person with whom Christ was well acquainted, and who was known to the disciples.”
So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
“And the disciples did - The disciples that were sent on this errand were Peter and John. See Luk 22:8. They made ready the passover - That is, they provided the lamb, etc., which were appointed by the law for this solemnity. Mr.”
When evening came, Jesus was reclining with the twelve disciples.
“Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. - It is a common opinion that our Lord ate the passover some hours before the Jews ate it; for the Jews, according to custom, ate theirs at the end of the fourteenth…”