**Caveats
Regarding
Clarke's Commentary on Jeremiah
Adam Clarke has
many excellent comments but unfortunately occasionally
misinterprets prophetic passages as illustrated below. Clarke
was
an
Arminian, (e.g., he "suggested
that although God can know all future events, He chooses not to know some
events beforehand" Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, page 808), did
not always interpret Scripture
literally
and thus not surprisingly was amillennial (did not believe
Messiah would reign 1000 years in His earthly Kingdom - he interpreted
Revelation as a
Historicist) which led
him to misinterpret the church as fulfilling many Old Testament promises
given to Israel. He was influential in the
development of the doctrine of entire sanctification. Although Clarke
affirmed the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, thus holding to a
belief of "plenary dynamic inspiration" (idea of every thought
inspired), he fell short of a belief in the "plenary verbal inspiration"
(every single word inspired) (Bibliotheca Sacra: Volume 125, p 163, 1968).
In summary, Adam Clarke can be a useful commentary but in view of some of
his beliefs you are advised to "Be
a Berean"
when utilizing his material, lest you become
confused by his comments on prophetic passages. C H Spurgeon
writes that "If you have a copy of Adam
Clarke, and exercise discretion in reading it, you will derive immense advantage from
it, for frequently by a sort of side light he brings out the meaning of
the text in an astonishingly novel manner. I do not wonder that Adam
Clarke still stands, notwithstanding his peculiarities, a prince among
commentators." (in
Commenting
and Commentaries) Clarke's
comments below are in
green.
The most conservative, evangelical and millennial resources on
this page are Ray Stedman, Thomas Constable, most of
the resources listed under "Miscellaneous" and the
NET Bible (notes on each verse)
