Loading...
Loading...
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.
Yet a great intellect dissociated from moral control becomes a scourge and terror.
The prophet first compares the Lord to a mother-bird hovering over her nest, wings spread protectively over helpless fledglings.
Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?" (Judges 5:28).
The Lord of hosts has purposed to stain the pride of all glory—exposing the fundamental corruption underlying human honor derived solely from men's approval.
The Hebrew rendering cuts deeper than arbitrary punishment: "He that despiseth the Word shall bring ruin on himself." This reveals a foundational law of Biblical revelation—that destruction is not merely God's external penalty imposed from above, but rather self-ruin, a...
Eight ancient stone steps descend to waters that supplied Jerusalem's citizens for millennia.
Yet four men dared to dismantle one where Jesus taught, lowering their paralyzed neighbor through the opening on ropes while rabbis from all the schools gathered below.
The winepress figure denotes supreme contempt—the Mighty Conqueror compares His victory over enemies to the crushing of grapes beneath His feet.
The distinction between "lively" and "living" reveals Scripture's nature: where *lively* denotes mere animation, *living* (*zōē*) signifies life as an operative principle—comprehensive, generative, self-perpetuating.
The apostle deliberately substitutes "is known of Him" for "knows Him"—a rhetorical choice that elevates God's initiative above human capability.
Joseph Exell's 1887 *Biblical Illustrator* frames this eschatological promise through three movements.
For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.—The reign of Christ establishes this world as His battlefield now; when this conflict ends, His reign concludes also. "He shall reign till," and no longer. Who are...
The guilt of forsaking God rests upon a fundamental truth: man is bound by the law of his nature to obey the Almighty Being who made him an intelligent and immortal creature.
The prophet employs striking, elevated language to convey God's gracious thoughts toward His erring but repentant people.
The Heavenly Physician addresses those who neglect His healing: those depending upon their own moral virtue, those trusting in religious duties alone, and those resting in correct doctrine without transformation.
The kiss signifies multiple progressive meanings in Scripture.
There is a time for the divine decree to be issued against a nation; a time when, though Noah, Job, and Daniel should stand before Him, yet He will not be entreated; though they cry early, cry aloud, cry with...
The Greek *ochlos* (ὄχλος), meaning "great multitude," designates not merely a numerical crowd but those without wealth, power, exalted rank, or intellectual refinement.
This teaching rests upon nature's own law—that no creature exists in isolation, but all things experience mutual action and reaction within Elohim's creation.
The prophet employs the phrase "men of strange lips" to underscore the *alien* nature of this divine communication.
He possessed dominion over all terrestrial creatures and stood in a state of perfect communion with his Maker.
The Jews, having exhausted rational debate with Jesus, abandoned discourse for violence.
The possessions of the world often lighten life's sorrows and increase its enjoyments; the Word of Yahweh itself recognizes prosperity as a subject for gratitude.
*Didymus* means "the twin," derived from his sibling relationship—whether brother or sister named Lysia, born simultaneously with Thomas.