Bible Commentaries

Genesis 14:18 — And he gave him a tenth of all." Neil gave the only secret of understanding this place when he declared that: "We must be guided by the N.T. writers and by our Lord himself."William Neil, Harper's Bible Commentary (New York: Harper and Row, 1975), p. 43. The N.T., of course, has a magnificent discussion of this event in Hebrews, where it is mentioned in Hebrews 5:5-6; Hebrews 5:10; Hebrews 6:20, and repeatedly throughout Hebrews 7. The only other reference to Melchizedek in the Bible is in Psalms 110:4.

Psalms 44:17-22 — slaughter." The marginal reading gives us `though' instead of the word `that' at the beginning of Psalms 44:19. These five verses state the problem of the psalmist. "Israel had not been unfaithful to God, and yet afflictions had come upon her."H. C. Leupold, p. 346. Furthermore, the problem was greatly aggravated by the evident fact that their faithfulness to God actually appeared to be "the reason why" they suffered. That is the meaning of the thundering words, "For thy sake" in Psalms 44:22. Of course, this

Jeremiah 3:1-5 — it perfectly clear that he was NOT taking Gomer back as his wife, but as a slave! "And Hosea said unto her: Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be any man's wife: so will I also be toward thee!"(Hosea 3:3). Yes, there is a triple betrothal mentioned later in Hosea; but it was for Jezreel, not Israel, to the New Israel, not to the old reprobate whore! (See the full development of this in Vol. 2 of my series on the Minor Prophets.) The true meaning of

Luke 11:24-26 — teaching of the futility of negative morality, or religion. Barclay titled this section, "The Peril of the Empty Soul," stressing (1) that a man's soul may not be left empty, (2) that a genuine religion cannot be erected on negatives, and (3) that the best way to avoid evil is to do good.William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1956), p. 151. However, it is a mistake not to see more than moralizings in the parable before us. Jesus had already spoken this parable,

Luke 18:11-14 — teach the vanity and emptiness of self-righteousness. All people are sinners. Although it is true that some like the Pharisee are not sinners of grosser type, yet their respectability only emphasizes the sins they do have. None are righteous (Romans 3:10); all have sinned (Romans 3:23); and all human righteousnesses are "as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). I.    These teach some vital facts about prayer. A short prayer is better than a long one (Matthew 6:7-8; Matthew 23:14).

Luke 21:32-33 — Note: This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world; and then shall the end come (Matthew 24:14). Now after a long time the lord of those servants cometh (Matthew 25:19). And this gospel must first be preached to all the nations (Mark 13:10). Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her (Mark 14:9). If that servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming … (Luke

John 1:14 — but remains the Word, even God.Ibid., p. 84. Thus, our Lord was perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, and yet one Person. Flesh … as used here simply means human nature in possession of a body but does not imply any taint of sin (Romans 8:3). This assumption of a human body by our Lord was of his own volition, as attested in Hebrews 2:16 and Philippians 2:7. "Flesh," as used by John in this verse, carries with it none of the implications of Paul's frequent usage of the term,

Romans 1:17 — parallel expression a moment later, in verse 18, as "the wrath of God." Barmby noted that "`A wrath of God' has no intelligent meaning," J. Barmby, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1963), Vol. 18 (iii), p. viii. and the same is true of "a righteousness of God." As Barmby noted, the two expressions simply mean "God's righteousness" and "God's wrath." Regarding the broader question of "the righteousness

Romans 2:16 — the words of the Master or the gospel of Paul. By Jesus Christ … The fact of the judgment's being "by Jesus Christ" is comprehensive: (1) Christ is to be the judge (John 5:22). (2) Christ's word is the basis of judgment (John 12:48). (3) The word of the apostles is also part of the platform of eternal judgment (2 Peter 3:2). (4) All authority in heaven and upon earth belongs to Christ (Matthew 28:18-20). My gospel … does not imply any difference between Paul and other New Testament

Romans 3:20 — "law" that seems to be broader than Moses' law, and some of the commentators have made much of that; but what is unanswered is why Paul who had just mentioned the law in a context where it was positively identified as the Old Testament (Romans 3:19), should here be thought of as having introduced another subject. It would seem, from this consideration, that the English Revised Version (1885) committee did well in rendering it "the law" here as in the previous verse. It is true, of

Romans 4:5 — salvation by keeping the law of Moses. It is not a reference to one who will not obey the gospel of Christ. Believeth on him that justifieth … is a reference to obedient faith, the kind exemplified by Abraham and discussed at length under Romans 4:3; the fact of obedience not being mentioned is not significant, "believeth" being another example of the synecdoche, in which one of a related group of actions stands for all of them. What is significant is the omission of "only"

1 Corinthians 16:2 — Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1969), p. 291. Grosheide declared the meaning to be "On every Sunday"; F. W. Grosheide, The New International Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1953), p. 398. and Hodge said it means, "The collection was to be made every Lord's day." Charles Hodge, First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishing Company, 1974), p. 363. Pliny's letter to Trajan bears

2 Corinthians 12:7 — for centuries. The thorn has been speculatively identified as follows: Tertullian thought it was a headache. Tertullian, De Pudis, xiii, 16. Klausner believed it was epilepsy. Joseph Klausner, From Jesus to Paul (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1943), pp. 325-330. Ramsay identified it as recurrent malarial fever. Sir William M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and Roman Citizen London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1903), p. 97. Chrysostom said it was "all the adversaries of the Word. R. V. G. Tasker,

Joshua 6 overview — 251. A mine (of explosives) was planted under the walls while the men of Jericho were distracted by the Israelites marching around the city.A critic named Paulus, as quoted by Plummer, advanced this idea. Alfred Plummer, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 3, Joshua (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 99. The marchers served to distract the attention of the watchers from Israelite sappers at work undermining the walls!This solution was advanced by C. G. Howie in 1967, quoted by

2 Thessalonians 1:6-7 — Christ," and that it will be for the purpose of the final judgment, stems from the oft-repeated mention of "that day," always in the singular and never in the plural. For detailed discussion on this, see my Commentary on Corinthians, pp. 365-367. Rest … The rest in view here is the final rest that remains for the redeemed and which will be theirs only when the Lord has come to reward his saints. A further study of the Christian's "rest" is outlined in my Commentary on

2 Timothy 2:11-13 — preliminary identification? No. This is Paul's own way of emphatically affirming the truth of the pithy statement he was about to write. It has exactly the same force as "Before God, I lie not" (Galatians 1:20; Romans 9:1; 2 Corinthians 11:31; 1 Timothy 2:7). Also, one of these affirmations is just as Pauline as the other. If we died with him … "This is the death which occurs in baptism" Ibid., p. 793. (see Romans 6:3-5). Dying with Christ is a metaphorical reference to

Hebrews 8:6-7 — designated "the first" and "the second." Now God made a covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18; Genesis 9:9), and two covenants with Abraham (Genesis 17:2; Genesis 17:10; Genesis 15:18 ff), and a covenant of salt (Numbers 18:19; Leviticus 2:13), and a covenant of the everlasting priesthood (Numbers 25:13); but the "first covenant" of these verses is none of these covenants. It is the covenant so great and extensive that it overshadows all such lesser covenants and is known as "the

James 3:1 — era. (2) Three of the great uncial manuscripts, the Vatican, the Alexandrinus and the Sinaitic, were not available to the KJV translators; and in a few instances, their work needed correction in the light of the manuscript authority of those uncials. (3) Archeological discoveries, in a very few instances, have shed further light on the science of translation, which was not available to KJV translators. However, modern translators are all too frequently carried away from the truth by wild, speculative,

Jude 1:3 — his plans, we are not told; but it may be surmised that news from churches in which he was vitally interested might have been the decisive factor. Beloved … The only other example of a New Testament book beginning with this particular word is 3 John 1:2. "As Jude's subject was a very unpleasant one, he hastens to assure his readers of his affection for them, to prevent his strong language from offending them."Alfred Plummer, op. cit., p. 508. Exhorting you to contend earnestly …

Revelation 3:1 — Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 546. and which probably existed even before the Lydian kingdom came into being in 1200 B.C. E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the New Testament (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1965), p. 113. Great names of ancient history were associated with the place, such as Croesus (with fabulous riches), Cyrus, and Alexander the Great. When Xerxes launched his disastrous invasion of Greece, Sardis was the staging area for his immense army. It was