Bible Commentaries

Genesis 31 overview — Jacob, i.e. "came up with him," a far different thing from what was said in Genesis 31:23, not a duplication at all but an additional fact necessary to the intelligent continuity of the narrative. (4)    Genesis 31:31; Genesis 31:36 present "two different replies" of Jacob to Laban. So what? Two different replies were necessary, because they were made under widely different circumstances, and in starkly different situations. In Genesis 31:31, Jacob pleaded his fear, and responded

Genesis 5:1-2 — sources of Genesis is cumbersome, unprovable, and unreasonable. (See the Introduction to Genesis.) The great problems connected with the chapter are: (1) the longevity of the antediluvian patriarchs, and (2) the chronology of the passage which gives us 1,656 yearsJohn Skinner, International Critical Commentary, Genesis (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1910), p. 127. as the elapsed time between the Creation and the Great Deluge. Regarding the first of these, there is nothing actually unreasonable about the

Exodus 25:31-40 — that only the Word of God, which the candlestick typified, is the true light of God's church. One of God's prophets asked the meaning of this golden candlestick, receiving this answer from an angel of God, "This is the word of the Lord" (Zechariah 4:1-6); and despite there being a limitation there in the words "unto Zerubbabel," there can be little doubt that it stands for the Word of God as revealed to mankind in the Holy Bible. It most certainly is a fantastically accurate and instructive type of

Exodus 26 overview — Here we have the instructions for making the tabernacle proper, i.e., the curtain of fine linen making up the whole interior of the tent (Exodus 26:1-6). "Here the term tabernacle, in its stricter sense, refers to ten linen curtains with figures of cherubim woven into the blue, purple, and scarlet tapestry work."D. W. Gooding, The New Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,

1 Kings 8:1-11 — place, that the cloud filled the house of Jehovah, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah." "At the feast of Ethanim" This was the feast of Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:13), one of the great feasts when all the men of Israel were required to be present. This was the seventh month, and, as Solomon had finished building the Temple in the month Bul, which was the eighth month (1 Kings 6:38), it is evident that almost

1 Chronicles 22:6-11 — changing the word PEACE to SOLOMON. The conviction of this writer is that the passage in 2 Samuel 7 is focused, not upon Solomon at all, but upon Jesus Christ the Messiah. Certainly the word PEACE is far more applicable to the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) than it is to Solomon with his legions of slave-laborers. 3     God did not name David's successor to be Solomon; Bathsheba did so. "The name corresponds to `Irenaeus' in Greek, `Friedrich' in German (Frederick in English), and

Esther 1:1-8 — apparent in our text, the very first words in the the Hebrew text of the O.T. (the Hebrew) are "and it came to pass," which is made the occasion by Duff to declare that, "The book of Esther is a truncated narrative,"Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 336. but Keil pointed out that no such conclusion is justified.C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 3, p. 319. Many of the Biblical books begin with the word and, indicating their connection with the rest of the canonical books

Psalms 16:5-8 — David, or any other king of Israel; and as Kidner pointed out, "Of the Messiah alone can such words as these be perfectly and literally true. for example, the always of this verse."Derek Kidner, Psalms 1--72 (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), p. 86. The apostle Peter himself confirmed the accuracy of that opinion in Acts 2:25, where he quoted Psalms 16:8 and through the rest of this Psalm, stating specifically that David said these things concerning Jesus Christ the Messiah. Many of the errors

Leviticus 13:9-28 — burns, there must frequently have been occasions in which the people were beset with great anxieties in their fear of leprosy. What of those who were declared unclean? Their lot was tragic indeed. They were compelled to dress as mourners (Leviticus 10:6; Leviticus 21:10; Ezekiel 24:17; Micah 3:7), and to dwell apart from all human habitation (2 Kings 7:3; 2 Kings 15:5; Luke 17:12), and to warn any person passing by through chance by crying "Unclean! Unclean!… Like the Pariah in India, they were

Leviticus 18:19-23 — ancient Carthaginian documents mentioned by DeVaux seems to imply this, despite the affirmations also uncovered that suggest the children were first killed and then sacrificed.R. DeVaux, Studies in Old Testament Sacrifice (Cardiff: University of Wales, 1964), pp. 56-90. Wenham makes reference to this source, p. 259. It seems nearly incredible that Israel actually fell into repeated and arrogant violations of this ordinance of God. Solomon, under the influence of idolatrous wives built a high place for

Numbers 24:3-9 — his eyes open" (Numbers 24:4). Well, which was it? Jewish interpreters came up with the amazing postulation that Balaam was blind in one eye and could see with the other!Rishfei Esh, Wellsprings of Torah, Vol. 2, Numbers (New York: The Judaic Press, 1969), p. 332. Others, including such scholars as Albright, give another translation of the clause in Numbers 24:3, rendering it, "Whose eye is true."Harry M. Orlinsky, Notes on the New Translation of the Torah (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society

Matthew 6:9-13 — on earth. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. THE LORD'S PRAYER By a strange coincidence, this prayer is translated by 66 words in the King James Version, and by 39 words in the Luke account in the Revised Version, corresponding respectively to the 66 books in the Bible and to the 39 books in the Old Testament. The above rendition of the prayer has 55 words, due to the

Romans 16:7 — thus: They were Paul's real kin, according to the flesh, and not his kin merely in the loose sense of being of the same tribe or nation. Moses E. Lard, Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Romans (Cincinnati, Ohio: Christian Board of Publication, 1914), p. 456. There is a problem in this view, that being the question of why Paul came to mention two of his kin in this verse, another in Romans 16:11, and three more in Romans 16:21, prompting the query by Lenski: Did Paul have six relatives of the family in

2 Corinthians 4:18 — successfully met. The wealth, glory, power and splendor of Egypt were very visible. Moses could see the armies, orchards, palaces and pyramids which belonged to Pharaoh and might also have belonged to him; but he trusted the promises of the invisible God. 6.    This is exactly the challenge of faith in every generation, to believe in the things which no one can see. Heaven, hell, the final judgment of all people, the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead practically everything

Joshua 1:5-9 — and of good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for Jehovah thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." "Be strong and of good courage" The recurrence of these words, almost like the refrain of a song, should be noted in Joshua 1:6-7; Joshua 1:9; Joshua 1:18. It was indeed an incredibly daring and dangerous thing that God called upon Joshua to do. "According to all the law" Yes, indeed, according to this testimony, even in the days of Joshua, there was a "Law of Moses," containing

Joshua 24:1-3 — residence in Shechem! SHECHEM Another great renewal of the covenant ceremony had already been conducted there, as we read in Joshua 8. The place was rich in the history of the patriarchs. It was the scene of God's first covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:6-7). Abraham built an altar here, the first built in Canaan, on his way from Haran, after the death of Terah. Jacob is supposed to have come here on his flight from Esau. It was here, in all probability that Jacob commanded his family to bury their idols.

1 Timothy 6:1 — million slaves in the Roman Empire at the time of the writing of this letter; and it is hardly necessary to detail the facts concerning their miserable lot. Paul F. Barakman, The Epistles to Timothy and Titus (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1962), p. 68. The ancient empire was built upon slavery, at that time a world-wide institution, recognized and practiced in every nation under heaven. That slaves formed a considerable portion of all the congregations of Paul's day may be inferred from

James 5:14-15 — truth of the Christian gospel in the early days of its proclamation. R. V. G. Tasker, op. cit., p. 130. Supporting this view is the fact of the apostles, upon the Lord's instructions, using such a method when they were first sent out by Jesus (Mark 6:13). An objection to this view has been founded on the fact that the New Testament does not say that "the elders" were the ones who usually possessed such gifts; nevertheless, the passage here may be interpreted as implying that very thing,

2 Peter 3:10 — specific sense, destroyed by water; it is the literal earth which Peter here prophesied would be destroyed by fire. Macknight said, "There are things in the apostle's prophecy which show that it was intended to be taken literally." Ibid., p. 566. What will it all be like? We do not know. Faith in God and in his holy word is the only true enlightenment that is available on such a passage as this. As a thief … Paul used this figure of the thief's sudden coming (1 Thessalonians 5:2); the

1 Samuel 19:18-24 — prophetic seizure."The Teachers' Bible Commentary, p. 174. One is reminded of what happened to the armed detachment that approached Jesus Christ in Gethsemane for the purpose of arresting Jesus. They all fell flat upon their faces in his presence (John 18:6). The triple wonder of all this is that it happened three times to the different groups of messengers, and then a fourth time to the king himself! One can only imagine what a ridiculous figure he cut lying there stark naked on the ground all day and