Bible Commentaries

Genesis 14:18 — hand. 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

Exodus 20:14 — (Genesis 39:9); (2) It is against the very body of the sinner (1 Corinthians 6:18); (3) It is even against the soul of the violator (Proverbs 6:32); (4) It is against the family. No marriage can withstand the destructive force of this sin (Matthew 19:9); (5) It is a sin against personality. Adultery produces the fallen countenance, and one may see a hundred of them on any street corner any day. The glorious distinction of Christian women consists in large measure of that striking absence from their faces

Psalms 79 overview — FOR VENGEANCE George DeHoff called this psalm, "The Funeral Anthem of a Nation."George DeHoff's Commentary, Vol. III, p. 177. Charles M. Miller's analysis of this psalm points out that it exhibits several elements found in other psalms: (1) Psalms 79:5; Psalms 79:7; Psalms 79:10 a are lamentation; (2) Psalms 79:6; Psalms 79:10 b,12 are imprecations; (3) Psalms 79:8-9 are pleas for forgiveness; (4) Psalms 79:11 pleads for deliverance; and (5) Psalms 79:13 carries a pledge of praise and thanksgiving

Proverbs 12:25 — "Heaviness in the heart of a man maketh it stoop; But a good work maketh it glad." "A word of terror disturbs the heart of a (righteous) man, but a good message will gladden him."The Greek Septuagint (LXX). In the first clause, the subject is anxiety; and the Savior, "Bids us beware of anxiety, and not to perplex ourselves with solicitude for the future (Matthew 6:34; 1 Peter 5:7)."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 237.

Proverbs 19:28 — "A worthless witness mocketh at justice; And the mouth of the wicked swalloweth iniquity." "The scene of the first clause here is a court of justice (Exodus 20:16; Leviticus 5:1); and the second clause, from the parallelism, is to be so understood. The wicked witness inflicts injury by false statements; and the iniquity refers not to the harm done to his own soul, but to the legal rights of others."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 381.

Proverbs 21:20 — "There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; But a foolish man swalloweth it up." This is the common viewpoint of Proverbs that the wise are wealthy and the fool is in poverty. There is a limited sense in which this is true; "But in the spiritual warfare, earthly wisdom avails nothing at all (1 Corinthians 1:5-16 and 2 Corinthians 10:4)."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 145.

Leviticus 19:32 — "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah." a.    Respect for the old That society which does not honor the aged is headed for destruction (Isaiah 3:5). The fall of the Northern Israel began when Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the old men and acted upon that of the "young Turks" in his kingdom.

Jeremiah 16:5-7 — had become worse than Sodom and Gomorrah, the eternal justice required their removal also. "Nor cut themselves… nor make themselves bald" This is a reference to pagan customs which were strictly forbidden in Israel (Leviticus 19:28; Leviticus 2:5; Deuteronomy 14:1). However, it appears that such practices were widely prevalent anyway (Jeremiah 41:5; Jeremiah 47:5; Ezekiel 7:18; Amos 8:10; and Micah 1:16). But there would be no time for such behavior in the approaching calamity; and the very

Ezekiel 30:1 — ORACLES (3) Ezekiel 30:1-19 AND (4) Ezekiel 30:20-26 AGAINST EGYPT We may outline this chapter thus: A. Announcement of the Day of the Lord (Ezekiel 30:1-5) B. Allies, Dependents also destroyed (Ezekiel 30:6-9) C. Wealth of Egypt to be carried away (Ezekiel 30:10-12) D. Princes and Cities to be destroyed (Ezekiel 30:13-19) E. God breaks Pharaoh's arm (Ezekiel 30:20-26)

Daniel 7:5 — empire."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 247. "This hypothesis of Medo-Persia being two empires is destitute of every foundation."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 249. In Daniel's prophecy that Babylon would be divided and given to "the Medes and the Persians" (Daniel 5:28), the fulfillment is given in Daniel 5:31, "Darius the Mede took the kingdom," indicating that there was just one kingdom, Darius taking "the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians."

Malachi 4:5 — etc. Of course, this divine revelation was rejected out of hand by the Pharisees, because it contradicted their literal view that the Tishbite was meant. Nevertheless, as Keil said: "This address of the angel gives an authentic explanation of Malachi 4:5-6: the words, "and the heart' of the children to the fathers" being omitted, as implied in the turning of the heart of the fathers to the children, and the explanatory words, "and the unbelieving to the wisdom of the just," being introduced in their

Matthew 3:11 — which are mentioned in this verse. They are: 1.    The baptism unto Moses (1 Corinthians 10:2). 2.    The baptism of sufferings (Mark 10:38-39). 3.    The baptism for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29). 4.    The baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11, see above). 5.    The baptism of fire (Matthew 3:11, see above). 6.    The baptism of John the Baptist (Acts 19:3). 7.    The

Matthew 9:7 — And he arose, and departed to his house. Thus, another mighty wonder performed by the Master followed the usual pattern: (1) It was complete. (2) It was immediate. (3) It was accomplished by a mere word. (4) There were no incantations. (5) There was no agonizing. (6) There were no loud prayers. (7) It was totally accomplished with the utmost ease in the presence of his enemies, without prior staging, and without any props.

John 4 overview — This chapter relates the journey of the Lord and his disciples through Samaria (John 4:1-5), recounts the interview with the woman at the well (John 4:6-26), gives the conversation with the disciples upon their return (John 4:27-38), sums up the results of Christ's teaching in Samaria (John 4:38-42), narrates the continuation to Galilee, and records the performance of the second of the seven great signs (John 4:46-54).

John 8:13 — The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest witness of thyself: thy witness is not true. This proves that Jesus was reading their hearts when he answered this same objection before (John 5:31). In this instance, the Lord refused, even for a moment, or for argument's sake, to notice their objection, having checkmated it in advance through his presentation of himself as the light of the world. Light, by its very nature, is a witness of itself.

Acts 5:5 — we think of the incident in the light of Paul's words about another offender against the Christian community: "Deliver such a one unto the destruction of the flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5). Ibid., p. 114. Those who view this act of divine judgment against this couple as some kind of vindictive and spiteful punishment inflicted by the apostle Peter are totally wrong. It was not Peter, but God, who executed this extreme penalty; and

Philippians 2:5 — exhorted the Philippians in Philippians 2:4." John Wesley, op. cit., in loco. Have this mind in you … This is one of eight Scriptural expressions describing the redeemed in Christ. For a full list and discussion of these, see under Galatians 5:23, this volume. Which was also in Christ Jesus … The proper verb in this clause must be "is" rather than "was"; because, while true enough either way, the eternity and pre-existence of Christ clearly enunciated in the whole

1 Thessalonians 3 overview — The chain of events which puts this chapter in focus was as follows: Paul left Silas and Timothy at Berea, proceeding to Athens (Acts 17:14-15). On arriving in Athens he urgently summoned them to join him. They did so at once, and Timothy was sent back to Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 3:1-12). Silas was sent to another part of Macedonia (Berea?) (Acts 18:5). Paul left Athens and went to Corinth

1 Peter 5:10 — short duration of the persecutions. In the relative sense, even a long life is but "a little while." Perfect … This verb is the same that is used of "preparing" the earthly body for the incarnation of Christ in Hebrews 10:5; W. E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1940), vol. iii, p. 175. and is therefore strongly suggestive of other passages in the New Testament where total and absolute perfection

1 Samuel 25 overview — DRASTIC CHANGES IN DAVID'S SITUATION The changes referred to in our title of this chapter include (1) the death of the prophet Samuel, David's truest friend and ally; (2) the increasing difficulty of providing supplies for his growing band of followers; (3) the renewal of Saul's efforts to hunt him down and kill him; (4) his withdrawal to the wilderness of Paran; and (5) his acquisition of Nabal's estate through marriage to Abigail.