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
When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had attended to His people by providing them with food, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the land of Moab.
“She had heard - By the mouth of an angel, says the Targum. The Lord had visited his people - “Because of the righteousness of Ibzan the judge, and because of the supplications of pious Boaz.” - Targum.”
Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
“And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law - The Septuagint add, Και επεστρεψεν εις τον λαον αυτης, And returned to her own people. The Vulgate, Syrian, and Arabic, are to the same purpose.”
“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”
“Gone back - unto her gods - They were probably both idolaters, their having been proselytes is an unfounded conjecture. Chemosh was the grand idol of the Moabites. The conversion of Ruth probably commenced at this time.”
Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
“The Lord do so to me, and more - May he inflict any of those punishments on me, and any worse punishment, if I part from thee till death.”
So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women of the city exclaimed, “Can…
“All the city was moved about them - It appears that Naomi was not only well known, but highly respected also at Bethlehem; a proof that Elimelech was of high consideration in that place.”
“Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.
“Call me not Naomi - That is, beautiful or pleasant. Call me Mara - That is, bitter; one whose life is grievous to her. The Almighty - שדי Shaddai, He who is self-sufficient, has taken away the props and supports of my life.”
So Naomi returned from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
“In the beginning of barley harvest - This was in the beginning of spring, for the barley harvest began immediately after the passover, and that feast was held on the 15th of the month Nisan, which corresponds nearly with our March.”
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.” “The LORD bless you,” they replied.
“Boaz came from Beth-lehem - This salutation between Boaz and his reapers is worthy of particular regard; he said, יהוה עמחם Yehovah immachem, “Jehovah be with you!” They said, יברכך יהוה yebarechecha Yehovah, “May Jehovah bless thee!””
And Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
“His servant that was set over the reapers - This was a kind of steward or hind who had the under management of the estate.”
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go and glean in another field, and do not go away from this place, but stay here close to my…
“Abide here fast by my maidens - These were probably employed in making bands, and laying on them enough to form a sheaf, which the binders would tie and form into shocks or thraves.”
At this, she fell on her face, bowing low to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you should take notice…
“Then she fell on her face - Prostrated herself, as was the custom in the East when inferiors approached those of superior rank.”
At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here; have some bread and dip it into the vinegar sauce.”
“Dip thy morsel in the vinegar - The חמץ chomets, which we here translate vinegar, seems to have been some refreshing kind of acid sauce used by the reapers to dip their bread in, which both cooled and refreshed them.”
When Ruth got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not insult her.
“Let her glean even among the sheaves - This was a privilege; for no person should glean till the sheaves were all bound, and the shocks set up.”
She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned.
“And gave to her that she had reserved - As Ruth had received a distinct portion at dinner-time, of which she had more than she could eat, Rth 2:14; it appears she brought the rest home to her mother-in-law, as is here related.”
Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living or the dead.”
“To the living and to the dead - Naomi and Ruth were the living; and they were also the representatives of Elimelech and Mahlon, who were dead.”
Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished gathering all my harvest.’”
“Keep fast by my young men - The word הנערים hannearim should be translated servants, both the male and female being included in it; the latter especially, as we see in Rth 2:22, Rth 2:23.”
So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean grain until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
“And of wheat harvest - That is, she was to continue gleaning in the farm of Boaz to the end of the barley harvest; and then, when the wheat harvest began, to continue to its conclusion in the same way.”
One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a resting place for you, that it may be well with you?
“Shall I not seek rest for thee - That is, Shall I not endeavor to procure thee a proper husband? See Rth 1:9, and the observations at the end of that chapter.”
Now is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been working, a relative of ours? In fact, tonight he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor.
“He winnoweth barley tonight - It is very likely that the winnowing of grain was effected by taking up, in a broad thin vessel or sieve, a portion of the corn, and letting it down slowly in the wind; thus the grain would, by its…”
When he lies down, note the place where he lies. Then go in and uncover his feet, and lie down, and he will explain to you what you should do.”
“Uncover his feet, and lay thee down - It is said that women in the East, when going to the bed of their lawful husbands, through modesty, and in token of subjection, go to the bed’s foot, and gently raising the clothes, creep under them…”
After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain.
“When Boaz had eaten and drunk - The Targum adds, “He blessed the name of the Lord, who had heard his prayer, and removed famine from the land of Israel.””
At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman!
“The man was afraid, and turned himself - The verb ילפת yillapheth, which we render he turned himself, has puzzled even the Targumist, who translates the clause thus: “The man trembled, and his flesh became like a (boiled) turnip through fear.””
“Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
“Spread therefore thy skirt over thine hand maid - Hebrew, Spread thy wing. The wing is the emblem of protection, and is a metaphor taken from the young of fowls, which run under the wings of their mothers, that they may be saved from birds…”
Yes, it is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I.
“There is a kinsman nearer than I - It is very likely that Naomi was not acquainted with this circumstance.”
Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.
“He took ten men - Probably it required this number to constitute a court. How simple and how rational was this proceeding! 1. The man who had a suit went to the city gates. 2.”