From Nave’s Topical Bible
Polytheism
Every passage the 1896 Nave’s Topical Biblegathers under this heading, in Nave’s own arrangement and then in Bible order. MannaFest has not written this page — it is the older index, transcribed, with the Word travelling beside each reference.
- 13Passages listed
- 6Books of the 66
- 1896Nave's edition
How Nave’s arranged it
The passages, in Bible order (13)
The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 13 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.
- Genesis 31:19
Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.
Commentary on Genesis 31:192 voices
(Verse 19) And Rachel stole her father's idols. Where we now read idols, it is written in Hebrew Theraphim, which Aquila interprets as μορφώματα, that is, figures or images. This is done so that we may understand what the word Theraphim means in the Book of Judges (17:5).
Jerome· Hebrew Questions on GenesisPatristic
Laban went to shear his sheep - Laban had gone; and this was a favorable time not only to take his images, but to return to Canaan without being perceived. Rachel had stolen the images - תרפים teraphim. What the teraphim were is utterly unknown.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the BibleEvangelical
- Genesis 35:2
So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
Commentary on Genesis 35:22 voices
After he was called by God, Jacob ascends to Bethel, that is, to the house of God (this is how the name Bethel is interpreted), offers sacrifices to God and is declared chief and master of the holy rites. He teaches his successors and descendants how they must enter the house of God. He orders the foreign gods to be rejected like dung and filth and to change the garments. It is fitting for us to do likewise when we are called before God, or enter the divine temple, especially in the time of the holy baptism.
Cyril of Alexandria· GLAPHYRA ON GENESIS, 5.4Patristic
Put away the strange gods - אלהי הנכר elohey hannechar, the gods of the foreigners, which were among them. Jacob’s servants were all Syrians, and no doubt were addicted less or more to idolatry and superstition.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the BibleEvangelical
- Genesis 35:4
So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.
Commentary on Genesis 35:42 voices
The oak being deemed a consecrated tree, to bury them at its root was to deposit them in a place where no bold hand would venture to disturb the ground; and hence it was called from this circumstance--"the plain of Meonenim"--that is, "the oak of enchantments" (Jud 9:37); and from the great stone which Joshua set up--"the oak of the pillar" (Jud 9:6).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
And - ear-rings which were in their ears - Whether these rings were in the ears of the gods, or in those of Jacob’s family, we may rest assured that they were not mere ornaments, but served for superstitious purposes. Ear-rings were certainly worn as amulets and charms, first consecrated to some god, or formed under some constellation, on which magical characters and images were drawn. A very ancient and beautiful one of this kind brought from Egypt, cut out of a solid piece of cornelian, now lies before me.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the BibleEvangelical
- Joshua 24:2
And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.
Commentary on Joshua 24:22 voices
THIS passage, though audibly uttered by the mouth of Joshua, is to be regarded as the immediate voice of God. Joshua said unto all the people, "Thus says Jehovah, God of Israel." Jehovah reminded the tribes, their elders and judges, of all that He had done and of all that He had been to them—and from this He challenged their allegiance, requiring that they should henceforth be loyal unto their great Benefactor. Addressing them, Himself, His argument became all the more impressive.
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1718: “Certain Singular Subjects” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1883
On the other side of the flood - The river Euphrates. They served other gods - Probably Abraham as well as Terah his father was an idolater, till he received the call of God to leave that land. See on Gen 11:31 (note); Gen 12:1 (note).
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the BibleEvangelical
- Joshua 24:23
“Now, therefore,” he said, “get rid of the foreign gods among you and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
Commentary on Joshua 24:231 voice
We need only to will perfection, since it is within our power and is developed by us, for, when the soul keeps the understanding in its natural state, perfection is confirmed. The soul is in its natural state when it remains as it was created, and it was created beautifully and exceedingly upright. For this reason, Joshua, the son of Nave [Nun], commanded the people: "Incline your hearts to the Lord the God of Israel," and John: "Make straight his paths." Rectitude of soul, then, consists in preserving the intellect in its natural state, as it was created.
Athanasius of Alexandria· Life of St. Anthony 20Patristic
- Judges 2:13
for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
Commentary on Judges 2:132 voices
Baal and Ashtaroth - That is, the sun and moon, whom many Heathens worshipped, tho' under divers names; and so they ran into that error which God had so expressly warned them against, Deut. iv, 19. Baalim signifies lords, and Ashtaroth, blessed ones, he-gods and she-gods.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765Evangelical
An attentive consideration of them, therefore, is of the greatest importance to a right understanding of the strange and varying phases of Israelitish history, from the death of Joshua till the establishment of the monarchy. served Baalim--The plural is used to include all the gods of the country.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
- Judges 3:7
So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
Commentary on Judges 3:71 voice
Served Baalim and the groves - No groves were ever worshipped, but the deities who were supposed to be resident in them; and in many cases temples and altars were built in groves, and the superstition of consecrating groves and woods to the honor of the deities was a practice very usual with the ancients. Pliny assures us that trees, in old times, served for the temples of the gods. Tacitus reports this custom of the old Germans; Quintus Curtius, of the Indians; and Caesar, and our old writers, mention the same of the Druids in Britain.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the BibleEvangelical
- Judges 10:16
So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.
Commentary on Judges 10:161 voice
And his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel - What a proof of the philanthropy of God! Here his compassions moved on a small scale; but it was the same principle that led him to give his Son Jesus Christ to be a sacrifice for the sins of the Whole world. God grieves for the miseries to which his creatures are reduced by their own sins. Be astonished, ye heavens, at this; and shout for joy, all ye inhabitants of the earth! for, through the love whence this compassion flowed, God has visited and redeemed a lost world!
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the BibleEvangelical
- Judges 17:5
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
Commentary on Judges 17:52 voices
And the man Micah had an house of gods,.... Having two images in it, besides teraphim, which were a sort of idols; and the Targum is, an house of images, or idols; though it may be rendered "an house of God"; a temple, a place for religious worship: and made an ephod; a priestly garment, a linen one very probably, not so rich an one with a breastplate to it as the high priest had, which was very costly.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)Reformed
The man Micah had a house of gods - בית אלהים beith Elohim should, I think, be translated house or temple of God; for it is very likely that both the mother and the son intended no more than a private or domestic chapel, in which they proposed to set up the worship of the true God.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the BibleEvangelical
- Jeremiah 2:28
But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah.
Commentary on Jeremiah 2:282 voices
(Verse 28.) Where are your gods, whom you made for yourself? Let them arise and deliver you in the time of your affliction. It is a shameless request to seek help from one whom you have despised in times of peace. And it should be read with the emotion of rebuke: Let your gods deliver you, whom you made for yourself. So that when God, the Creator of mankind, becomes a man, man may make a god, and the necessity may prove what power those whom you worshiped with confidence before possess.
Jerome· Commentary on JeremiahPatristic
According to the number of thy cities are thy gods - Among heathen nations every city had its tutelary deity. Judah, far sunk in idolatry, had adopted this custom. The Church of Rome has refined it a little: every city has its tutelary saint, and this saint has a procession and worship peculiar to himself. So here; not much of the old idolatry is lost.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the BibleEvangelical
- Jeremiah 11:13
Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, O Judah; the altars of shame you have set up—the altars to burn incense to Baal—are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’
Commentary on Jeremiah 11:132 voices
That shameful thing - Baal, called a shameful thing, because it was what they had reason to be ashamed of, and what would certainly bring them to shame and confusion. Baal - Signifies Lord, and was a common name given to more idols than one; the Phoenicians used the name Baal, the Chaldeans, Bell.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765Evangelical
(Verse 13) For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah, and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars of confusion to burn incense to Baal. Let us read the books of Kings and Chronicles (2 Kings 21, 2 Chronicles 33), and we will find that Judah and Jerusalem have done far worse than Israel, so that as many cities as they had, they had just as many idols.
Jerome· Commentary on JeremiahPatristic
- Daniel 4:8
But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream:
Commentary on Daniel 4:82 voices
Verse 8. "'Then at last my associate, Daniel, whose name according to the name of my god is Belteshazzar, entered before my presence.'" With the exception of the Septuagint translators (who for some reason or other have omitted this whole passage), the other three translators have translated the word as "associate" (collega). Consequently by the judgment of the teachers of the Church, the Septuagint edition has been rejected in the case of this book, and it is the translation of Theodotion which is commonly read, since it agrees with the Hebrew as well as with the other translators.
Jerome· St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FOURPatristic
Then he described what happened in his second vision, as none of the magicians, soothsayers, and Chaldeans were able to declare the matter to the king, until Daniel was called who also described to Nebuchadnezzar his first vision, so that in all things God might glorify his own slaves the prophets beyond the other barbarians and foreign nations, who pretend to be flattered in their human wisdom, having practiced earthly learning.
Hippolytus of Rome· Commentary on Daniel 3.2.2-6Patristic
- 1 Corinthians 8:5
For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many so-called gods and lords),
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 8:52 voices
Assuredly also, when (the apostle) rules that marriage should be "only in the Lord," that no Christian should intermarry with a heathen, he maintains a law of the Creator, who everywhere prohibits marriage with strangers. But when he says, "although there be that are called gods, whether in l heaven or in earth," the meaning of his words is clear-not as if there were gods in reality, but as if there were some who are called gods, without being truly so.
Tertullian· Against Marcion Book VPatristic
That are called gods - Gods so called. The pagans everywhere worshipped multitudes, and gave to them the name of gods. Whether in heaven - Residing in heaven, as a part of the gods were supposed to do.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)Evangelical