Bible Commentaries

Genesis 18 overview — This remarkable chapter is divided about equally between the reaffirmation of the covenant for the benefit of Sarah (Genesis 18:1-15), and the announcement of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:16-33). As Payne pointed out, there are a number of dramatic contrasts visible in this chapter and the next, (Genesis 19), the two in fact being a unit and reaching a climax in the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. (1)    "The long-awaited

Deuteronomy 4 overview — structure of Deuteronomy has apparently been solved, and in a way that simultaneously vindicates its unity, and illuminates its purpose."Peter E. Cousins, The New Layman's Bible Commentary, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979), p. 283. Furthermore, we do not hesitate to add that this understanding has also corroborated the Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy. The key fact is that Deuteronomy follows very closely the covenant (treaty) pattern in vogue during the mid-second millennium

Ephesians 3:12 — pursue the subject further. See under Galatians 2:16, in this volume. There is no justification whatever for rendering this verse "through our faith in him." The Greek New Testament says no such thing. See in my Commentary on Romans, Romans 3:22 ff. Taylor, Wesley, MacKnight and many others, along with the KJV, testify to the correct translation as "faith of him," despite the fact that some who admit the true rendition still manage to deny the meaning of it! In whom we have boldness

Ephesians 5:3-4 — is another of Paul's catalogues of vice, none of them, not even all of them together being any complete list of sins, but merely typical. Other lists are in Romans 1:29 ff, 1 Corinthians 5:11 ff; 1 Corinthians 6:9 ff, Galatians 5:19 ff and Colossians 3:5 ff. Fornication is prominently mentioned in practically all of these, due to its prominence in the pagan culture from which Gentile converts to Christianity had been recruited. As Bruce said: We may think it strange to see covetousness so closely

Colossians 1:18 — Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 76. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that there is "one body" (1 Corinthians 12:20), and is not a body supposed to have a head? Furthermore, when Paul wrote that the head of "every man" is Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3), is this not absolutely equivalent to saying that Christ is the head of the church? As a matter of fact, the expression "in Christ" used so extensively in Paul's writings is the embodiment of that entire corpus of truth which surfaces in

1 Thessalonians 4:14 — him. If we believe, …. "There is no uncertainty implied by the use of the conditional, the same being an idiomatic way of arguing from a certainty, as when Jesus said, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I come again" (John 14:3). Asleep in Jesus … Stibbs construed the prepositional phrase in this passage as modifying "God will bring," rendering it: "Even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep"; A. M. Stibbs, New Bible

2 Thessalonians 1:1 — apostolic authority; and whatever slanders had been leveled against him had "risen over Paul's character." James Moffatt, The Expositor's Greek New Testament, Vol. IV (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 23. Paul's true character was of such noble quality that it formed the natural fountain of his moral and religious authority without any appeal to the apostolic office which was rightfully his. Besides that, "Paul was on such intimate terms with the

2 Thessalonians 1:8 — Jesus: Vengeance … Everywhere in Scripture this is the prerogative of Almighty God himself, not that of any man; and its being ascribed here as a purpose and action of the Lord Jesus Christ is another attestation of his deity. See Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30 and Deuteronomy 32:25. But vengeance there will be. God has a score to settle with sin and with the incorrigibly wicked, and the judgment of the final day is the occasion divinely appointed to that end. As Moffatt declared, "The repetition of

Titus 2:2 — temperate, grave, sober-minded, sound in faith, in love, in patience: The aged men… "This is not the elders in an official sense, but simply the old men." J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 1008. Temperate … means not given to excess in anything. While common enough as far as information about it is concerned, this virtue is often absent in believers. A life undistorted by any excessive indulgences of any kind is the thing

Titus 2:5 — Pauline authorship of Titus. The allegation is false, of course, White pointing out that "The verb is found in Clement of Rome," Ibid. who lived in the first century and was identified by Origen as Paul's companion mentioned in Philippians 4:3! Encyclopaedia Britannica (Chicago: William Benton, Publisher, 1961), Vol. 5, p. 793. Kind … This is one of the homely virtues that blesses mankind as much as any other. Being in subjection to their own husbands… This is fully in keeping

Hebrews 10:30-31 — For we know him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. These quotations are Deuteronomy 32:35-36; but a check of those verses will show that their form, but not their meaning, has been altered by the author of Hebrews. The quotation is not like the Septuagint, nor like Philo, so what is it? It is the apostle Paul quoting a well-known scripture

Hebrews 11:8 — Abraham through Hagar and Keturah; the Jewish race came through Isaac, and Abraham's wife Sarah; and the Christians are the seed of Abraham by faith in Christ who was Abraham's promised "seed," and through being baptized into him (Galatians 3:26-28). By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed. Here again, as invariably in this chapter, it was not mere faith, but obedient faith, that commended its possessor to God and stands a stimulating example for people today. He went out, not knowing

Hebrews 13:8 — fact of the unchanging Christ will reward a more particular attention to it. Why is Christ changeless? Because he is God (see under Hebrews 1:8), and changelessness is an attribute of deity. God said, "For I, Jehovah, change not" (Malachi 3:5). Also, because Christ is perfect, there can be no change; for to change perfection is to mar it. What consolation for Christian hearts is the changelessness of Christ! Soon or late in every life, there appears the great emotion to "hold to God's

Hebrews 6:13-15 — since he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And thus having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For notes regarding God's swearing, see under Hebrews 3:10 and under Hebrews 6:16. The reference to Abraham is for the purpose of holding him up as an example. He was the most illustrious of the patriarchs and prophets, of whom the author had already said that his readers should imitate them. There seems

1 Peter 5:13 — of the spiritual implications of such a designation? (1) Just as ancient Babylon was a center of enmity and oppression of God's people, so Rome had become in the times of the apostles. (2) As Babylon was destroyed, so shall Rome also be destroyed. (3) Peter reminds his readers afresh that they, as the Israel of God, are "exiles in a foreign land," G. J. Polkinghorne, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 598. as were the ancient Jews

Revelation 2:20 — same, that being the type of wickedness described here; and that the principal thrust of the messages regards the progression of this evil from: (1) the conduct of a few at Ephesus; to (2) the justification of it by a body of teaching at Pergamum; to (3) the leadership of the church, in the person of Jezebel, having been thoroughly corrupted by it.

Revelation 21:9 — close-up elaboration of exactly what is included in Revelation 1-8 : Michael Wilcock, I Saw Heaven Opened (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1975), p. 199. Revelation 21:2 = Revelation 21:10-12, the revelation of God's city. Revelation 21:3 = Revelation 21:22-27, the revelation of God's dwelling. Revelation 21:4-5 a = Revelation 21:1-5, the revelation of God's world renewed. Revelation 21:5 b = Revelation 22:6-10, the revelation of God's word validated. Revelation 21:6 a = Revelation 22:11-15,

Revelation 6:5-6 — priced almost out of the reach of the poor, the rich still have their oil and wine. As Hendriksen put it, "The rich enjoy their abundance, but the poor have hardly enough to hold body and soul together." William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 123. The other view, that of Beckwith, is that the words are "merely intended as a limitation on the severity of the famine." Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 521. It is believed that the latter interpretation is correct. (1) It corresponds with

1 Samuel 10 overview — necessary. (1)    There was the private, even secret, anointing of Saul (1 Samuel 10:1-8). (2)    Then there was a public presentation of Saul as king, confirmed by the casting of lots, which was opposed by some of the people. (3)    The Divinely-inspired victory of Saul over the Ammonites propelled him into the universal acceptance of his kingship by all Israel. The first of these three phases prepared Saul himself for the assignment, especially by his being

1 Samuel 21 overview — Bennett has a word of wisdom on this subject. "It is likely that originally stories of single incidents of David's adventures circulated separately by oral tradition or otherwise, not forming a connected narrative."Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 283. None of the critical scholars whose works we have studied has been able to propose any better arrangement of the text than that which has come down to us; and some of the attempted rearrangements of the various episodes are not only unconvincing, but