Bible Commentaries

Genesis 16:1-2 — use of a slave girl, who was hardly in a position to deny what was demanded of her, to fulfill the personal desires of Abram and Sarai, and such an inconsiderate use of one's fellow human beings for his own purposes can never be anything but sinful. (3)    It was a presumption upon their part that God could not fulfill His promise except through their human devices. (4)    This introduction of polygamy was to continue among the patriarchs of Israel with the

Genesis 16:9-11 — easy to do; and in Hagar's case it might have been unusually difficult; but she returned and submitted. (2)    "I will multiply thy seed" This was fulfilled on a scale that no one in that age could have believed, not even Hagar. (3)    "Thou shalt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Ishmael" This recalls the prophecy of Gabriel to Mary. Only God can name in advance the sex of a child before it is conceived and bestow the name in the manner noted here.

Exodus 25:8-9 — of this tabernacle was necessary for several reasons: (1)    It would be a rallying place where God's Word would be proclaimed. (2)    It would serve as a physical reminder of God's presence among the people. (3)    It was the place where God recorded his name, the place where he would meet with them and bless them (Exodus 20:24). (4)    It was a singularly impressive "figure" of the ultimate spiritual realities to be

Exodus 29:38-42 — thee" God ordained that there should be only one altar for Israel throughout her generations, the one introduced in Exodus, the one in the tabernacle. The foolish notion that this restriction to the one altar "took place in Josiah's reign (1 Kings 23:4ff),"Ronald E. Clements, op. cit., p. 188. is refuted and denied by every word of Exodus. Some of the terminology here is not meaningful today without translating it into current language. "The ephah," for example "is about 3/5ths of a bushel."Wilbur

Exodus 34:5-8 — nature, or attributes, of God Himself. This sacred glimpse of God's loving mercy lies behind the N.T. revelation that "God is love." The O.T. prophets returned to these words again and again. They are quoted in Nehemiah 9:17; Psalms 86:15; Psalms 103:8; Psalms 145:8; Joel 2:15; Jonah 4:2; and also Numbers 14:18. It is an inexcusable error, however, to suppose that God will finally accommodate to human wickedness. He will "by no means clear the guilty"; and despite some efforts to distort the meaning

Exodus 7:3-5 — seven chapters. See under Exodus 4:21, above, for more on "Hardening." Canon George Harford has a very perceptive comment on this subject, as follows: "There are three forms of the word used in reference to hardening: (1) hard; (2) self-hardened; and (3) God-hardened; raising difficulty, but a little reflection lightens the difficulty. In all human conduct there is a mysterious combination of man's choice and God's enabling. God uses events to produce opposite effects upon different characters, as

1 Kings 4:20-25 — rebelled. "Provision for one day" Scholars have calculated the provisions listed here, declaring them to have been sufficient for feeding 14,000 people daily.Albert Barnes, Kings, p. 151. It is indeed amazing that "the household" of Solomon consumed 36,500 sheep, about 11,000 oxen and enough flour to make ten and one half million pounds of bread annually! (based upon the calculation that the bakery produced 28,000 pounds daily). Matheney calculated a month's provisions as, "5,000 bushels of flour,

2 Chronicles 9:22-28 — thing is certain; namely, that Solomon neither feared God nor honored his commandments. The passage that we have so often cited in Deuteronomy 17:16-17 specifically forbade Israel's kings to multiply unto themselves (1) wives, (2) silver and gold and (3) horses. Solomon wantonly violated all these commandments in the most extravagant manner. "A rate year by year" These words identify all those `gifts' that came to Solomon by those rulers throughout the world of that era, as `taxes,' or `tribute,' imposed,

Ezra 2:2-35 — and six hundred and thirty." "The children of Bethlehem, a hundred twenty and three" "Thus without any warning or transition, the list ceases to identify families by ancestors and begins to identify them by hometowns."Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 436. "Why this was done remains most uncertain."Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Vol. 16, p. 34.

Leviticus 2:1-3 — flour'; and thus the rendition should be simply `flour'."Robert P. Gordon, New Layman's Bible Commentary, Leviticus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979), p. 217. (2)    The worshipper poured oil upon the top of the flour, (3)    and then placed an appropriate amount of frankincense on the oil; (4)    next, the officiating priest took a handful of the oil and flour, being careful to lift all of the incense, (5)    and

Leviticus 20:6-9 — "repudiates."Harry M. Orlinsky, Notes on the New Translation of the Torah, (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1969), p. 27. Wenham wrote that, "To curse means more than uttering the occasional angry word (2 Samuel 16 :ff; Job 3:1 ff). It is the very antithesis of honoring one's father and mother.Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), p. 278.

Jeremiah 52 overview — FULFILLED This chapter is usually styled "Historical Appendix"; but its obvious application to the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecies suggests the title we have given it. Although many writers speak of this chapter's being a copy of 2 Kings 24:18 to 2 Kings 25:30,Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 687. this is true only of certain verses in this chapter. The chapter does apparently quote from 2 Kings, "but with a very significant omission (regarding events leading to the assassination

Ezekiel 24 overview — BEFORE THE FALL OF JERUSALEMTHE RUSTED CALDRON, AND THE DEATH OF EZEKIEL'S WIFE There are three connected themes in this chapter: (1) the parable of the rusty caldron (Ezekiel 24:1-14); the sign of the death of Ezekiel's wife (Ezekiel 24:15-24); and (3) the prophecy of the end of Ezekiel's dumbness (Ezekiel 24:25-27).G. R. Beasley-Murray in the New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 676 The date of this chapter is January 15, 588 B.C., a date confirmed in 2 Kings 25:1, and in Jeremiah 39:1; Jeremiah 52:4.

Romans 9 overview — his own nation, and showing his appreciation of what God had done through them (Romans 9:1-5). (2) God's rejection of Israel, due to their rejection of the Messiah, was shown to be consistent with God's promises and his sovereignty (Romans 9:6-24). (3) The rejection of Israel was specifically foretold by the Jewish prophets (Romans 9:25-29). (4) Conclusions from this line of reasoning (Romans 9:25-30). Lard called this chapter "emphatically the artistic chapter of the Letter." Moses E.

Joshua 1:3-4 — of scholars make something big out of the fact that the Septuagint (LXX) omits here in Joshua 1:4 the words "all the land of the Hittites," affirming on that basis that, the words "are possibly a later interpolation."William H. Morton, op. cit., p. 396. However, the MAJORITY of the ancient manuscripts have the words, and there is no logical reason for rejecting them on the basis of their omission in the Septuagint (LXX) and the Vulgate. A check of the Septuagint (LXX) shows that of the eighteen

Joshua 22:7-9 — of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the commandment of Jehovah by Moses." Here we have another instance of the constant repetition that characterizes so much of the O.T. Here in Joshua 22:7 is the fourth time since Joshua 13 that we have been told that the half-tribe of Manasseh had been settled east of Jordan through the commandment of God by Moses, and that the other half received their portion west of Jordan! See Joshua 13:8; Joshua 14:3, and Joshua 18:7. That this salient

Judges 1:30-36 — region. The mention of `the rock' points to the neighborhood of Mount Hor and the city of Petra (which means `rock'). The exact location of this territory is not known but it is believed to be immediately south of the Dead Sea."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 3-C, p. 15. The message of this whole chapter is evident enough. Israel totally failed to obey the word of the Lord regarding their replacement of the Canaanites. They enslaved them. They lived among them. They soon became tempted to worship their fertility

Judges 20:17-18 — their asking Jehovah's approval, inquiring of God, only as to the tribe that should be the first to fight. Armerding, however, expressing disagreement with that view, stated that, "The confidence was justified."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 366. It is true, of course, that God was sorely displeased with Israel, as evidenced by his allowing the Benjamites to defeat them in successive battles. As Keil stated, however, "Their sin was not in the fact that they started the war, for the Law in

2 Samuel 2:24-28 — the decisive factor in Joab's mind. "They did not fight any more" This does not mean that the war was over. As Willis noted, "This states only that the battle which began at the pool of Gibeon was terminated. The war went on for a long time (2 Samuel 3:1)."John T. Willis, p. 298.

2 Samuel 9:3 — may show the kindness of God to him?' Ziba said to the king, `There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.'" This crippled son, of course, was Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:6), whose real name was Meribbaal (or Meribaal) (1 Chronicles 8:34; 1 Chronicles 9:40). This writer finds it impossible to agree with the position maintained by many scholars that, "Until the times of Jezebel, the name `Baal' retained its innocent meaning."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 4b, p. 240. No, we do not believe