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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.
He is a ruminating animal, forever chewing the cud of private joy or grief.
A superficial glance at our Lord's mission suffices to show that His work was for the sinful.
Wisdom speaks as a person in Scripture, and the New Testament declares, "Christ Jesus is made of God unto us Wisdom." Thus Christ the Son of God Himself teaches the fear of Yahweh in this text.
Israel possessed intellectual knowledge—their scribes could recite the Law—yet this knowledge never reached the heart.
When Abram fled Ur of the Chaldees, renouncing idolatry in a pagan land, westward distance became his sanctuary.
Its rarity made it precious; it formed an essential ingredient in incense throughout the ancient world.
The Paschal moon flooded the landscape nightly with splendor as pilgrims from across Palestine and beyond arrived in Jerusalem in family groups and bands, filling the city to overflowing.
Growing old, Paul refuses further interference in his calling, appealing to the Master whom he serves and by whom alone he shall be judged.
God announces Himself the witness and judge of all mankind.
The psalmist does not teach that consciousness ceases at death, but rather contemplates the *second death* (*thanatos deuteros*), the grave of the lost where soul and body suffer separation from Elohim's presence.
Both originate from God, yet they operate differently.
Christ quoted Hosea 6:6 to challenge the Pharisees' misaligned devotion.
Exell's Victorian homily traces how humanity perpetually distorts the divine nature through carnal reasoning.
The gospel of Jesus Christ inaugurates what all Scripture converges toward and radiates from.
Capernaum, meaning "field of repentance" or "city of comfort," sat on the western shore of the Galilean Lake, a prosperous junction where the Damascus-to-Accho highway brought commerce and wealth.
John Locke defined it as "the uneasiness which a man feels within him on the absence of anything whose present enjoyment carries delight with it." Our desires reveal our destiny.
The upright—those bent on fulfilling God's will and keeping His commandments—walk a highway characterized not merely by abstinence from evil, but by active *apochōreō* (departure, turning away).
Mark 13:11 reveals three essential principles for disciples facing trial.
Life is not blind accident but the deliberate operation of the great Workman, and perceiving Elohim's purpose becomes our shield against sorrow, doubt, despondency, and fear.
Matthew Arnold observed that "conduct is three-fourths of human life," and the Church's proper aim has always been to regulate and improve moral behavior.
William Perkins observed that God's logic is inescapable: human arguments have exhausted themselves.
The children of Israel polluted Yahweh's inheritance by filling it with the carcases of their abominable things—idolatries, wicked inventions, and corrupt ways.
The text concerns those stern dealings of God which appear painful and unwelcome, yet contain dual truths we must grasp.
Blake notes this luminous title describes God Himself, not merely His attributes.