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By Joseph S. Exell · 1887 · 1,353 illustrations
The Biblical Illustrator is a 56-volume reference work compiled by Joseph S. Exell in the late 19th century. Each passage of Scripture is illuminated with historical anecdotes, biographical sketches, analogies from nature, and homiletical observations drawn from ancient and contemporary sources. These illustrations have been carefully restored from the original public-domain text and rewritten for clarity and accessibility — preserving the historical depth while removing Victorian OCR artifacts.
The wisdom of religion is vindicated in the contrasting ends of good and evil men.
The latter we enjoy now through faith and hope; but the former is present with us, the certain consequence and necessary attendant upon a mind truly virtuous and religious.
Propriety demands three conditions: first, that things be done in their proper time; second, that they be kept to their proper use; third, that they be put in their proper place.
Love proves far more effective than logic in attaining the best ends.
Everything depends upon the prevailing sentiment of the hour.
The *peripateo* (walking) denotes chosen motion—not forced proximity, but intentional association.
One Victorian writer imagined hours passing like solemn virgins in silent procession, their faces veiled, carrying caskets filled with treasures: brilliant diadems, ripe fruits, faded flowers.
Exell (1887) identifies flattery's essential character: it assumes all forms and colors, a universal countenance indifferent to truth.
Thomas Carlyle observed with prescience: "There is a great necessity indeed of getting a little more silent than we are.
The present is intimately related to the future, and the future will faithfully reflect the character.
Iniquity expresses unevenness or inequality—a want of rectitude or moral principle.
Exell observes that science itself demonstrates this principle: the passions of grief, disappointment, anger, jealousy, and revenge derange the bodily system in proportion to their strength, while pleasurable emotions rooted in moral virtue give buoyancy and vigor to the body.
While all persons possess some sense of duty rooted deeply in the human heart, the constant strife between inclination and principle generates contradiction in conduct.
Their *sedulity*—their persistent, uninterrupted devotion—admitted no indifference in their religious offices.
This text reveals a profound truth: bodily satisfaction depends entirely upon the soul's condition.
Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." — Psalm 19:12 Sin possesses a remarkable tenacity and cunning.
It is through blindness and inconsonsideration that any man becomes entangled in the snares of the foolish woman.
The Pharisees came, bound by scrupulous external observance and self-satisfied pride.
He writes, "These things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes." Rather than naming the false teachers at Corinth who had created divisions, Paul applies his corrective principles to himself and Apollos—respected...
Exell's 1887 commentary illuminates this paradox of proximity: practical presence surpasses emotional kinship when assistance is required.
First, *Satan* (Hebrew: adversary, opponent) is not mere allegory but a real spiritual being, the prince of darkness and accuser of mankind (Job 1:7; Revelation 12:9).
Exell's Victorian commentary illuminates three fatal substitutes for love-driven charity.
Mystery envelops human existence—commonest objects raise unanswerable questions—yet from this unknowable realm emerge four irreversible certainties.
Yet the mind claims a sovereignty over the body that the body can never assert in return.