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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.
Exell's Victorian commentary identifies seven principles embedded in this moment.
Morris identified a universal human ailment—unreasonable expectations that breed disappointment across every station of life.
Proverbs 4:7 declares wisdom the principal thing—not merely intellectual attainment, but the *summum bonum* (*chief good*) that elevates the human soul. Joseph S. Exell's 1887 exposition reveals wisdom's four-fold excellence. First, wisdom addresses man's spiritual state before Elohim. True happiness...
Yahweh pleads the justice and equity of His cause through three arguments: attestation of creation itself (Verse 1), appeal to Israel's own memory, and commemoration of manifold blessings bestowed upon them.
One such truth concerns a child's early accountability.
First comes the temporal: "Afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2:28).
In Solomon's day, famines were frequent and trade communications uncertain between nations.
God's method of punishment is not arbitrary cruelty but divine permission—He lets us punish ourselves.
This declaration yields us a threefold warrant for Christmas observance.
Exell observed in 1887, this earthly life proved too shallow a vessel to hold peace, righteousness, worship, and divine love.
First, he framed obedience as *easy*—merely "say the word." Second, he presented *opportunity*: stones lay ready at hand.
Exell's Victorian commentary identifies three dynamics at work.
His brother said, "I go, sir," but went not.
The reason for this invitation rests in reconciliation: "that he may make peace with Me." God's offer reveals His unselfishness—He seeks not His own benefit but the sinner's restoration.
Though no one remains perpetually sorrowful, every life contains seasons when the mind is sore and the heart bruised.
The Biblical Illustrator identifies this legion as anger, malice, intemperance, murder, impurity, unfaithfulness, dishonesty, hypocrisy, ingratitude, disobedience, envy, covetousness, blasphemy, and atheism.
This doubled command demands a total mobilization of human capacity for worship.
What man could expect by prayer to make Elohim alter His decree?
These appear contradictory, yet they are essential antagonistic forces—like hydrogen and oxygen combining to form water, or attraction and repulsion functioning as complementary principles in nature.
Stephen presents the portrait of a dying saint: he was filled with the Holy Ghost, lifted above earthly consciousness of his enemies' gnashing teeth, granted a full vision of heavenly glory and his glorified Redeemer, and embodied the spirit of...
Though believers, Paul could not address them as spiritual persons, for they moved in the lower, earthly region of human nature, where strife and division held sway.
(Mark 4:21) The kingdom of Elohim expands through human agency.
King Josiah had fallen in an ill-advised battle; Assyria's power waned while Babylon's ascended.
First, her frailty: Scripture compares the church to vulnerable creatures—a vine requiring constant support, a lily without defense, a dove without gall, sheep amid wolves.