Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Adam Clarke (1762–1832) was an Irish-born Methodist preacher, three times president of the British Methodist Conference, and a serious student of Hebrew, Greek, and the languages of the East. His Commentary on the Bible was published in eight volumes between 1810 and 1826.

The SwordSearcher module contains the complete work: all sixty-six books in more than 21,000 entries, with Clarke's preface to each book. The preface to Genesis sets the tone:

Every believer in Divine revelation finds himself amply justified in taking for granted that the Pentateuch is the work of Moses. For more than 3000 years this has been the invariable opinion of those who were best qualified to form a correct judgment on this subject.... When they have proved that Moses is not the author of this work, the advocates of Divine revelation will reconsider the grounds of their faith.

Clarke's strength is information. He explains customs, geography, and history; he discusses the Hebrew and Greek words, and SwordSearcher shows the original characters; he compares manuscripts and ancient versions; and he quotes Jewish and classical sources freely. At the same time he writes as a preacher who wants the reader converted and sanctified, and he is Arminian throughout, in the manner of Wesley. His note on John 3:16 begins:

Such a love as that which induced God to give his only begotten son to die for the world could not be described: Jesus Christ does not attempt it. He has put an eternity of meaning in the particle ουτω, so, and left a subject for everlasting contemplation, wonder, and praise, to angels and to men.... First, The world was in a ruinous, condemned state, about to perish everlastingly; and was utterly without power to rescue itself from destruction. Secondly, That God, through the impulse of his eternal love, provided for its rescue and salvation, by giving his Son to die for it.

He goes on through the verse in numbered points: the world's need, the gift of the Son, faith, justification, sanctification. That mixture of explanation and appeal runs through the whole work.

Clarke is at his best when you want the background of a passage or the meaning of a word. For a Reformed exposition alongside him, Gill and Poole are in the same library; for the Methodist tradition in shorter form, Wesley and Benson.