Bible Commentaries

Genesis 17:11-15 — sign indicated. "The rite was essential as the ritualistic confirmation of the determination to walk maturely before God (Genesis 17:11). It was no substitute for it."Clyde T. Francisco, The Teachers' Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972), p. 28. CIRCUMCISION Whitelaw's list of purposes of circumcision included the idea that it was intended to "foreshadow Christian baptism."Thomas Whitelaw, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 233.

Genesis 29:13-20 — Without doubt, Leah was the stronger and more suitable wife for Jacob, and that must be allowed as the reason God permitted the deception and greed of Laban to succeed, thus making Leah the principal wife of the patriarchal family. (See under Genesis 29:26 for the comment on the custom of marrying the firstborn daughter before giving the younger ones in marriage, as claimed by Laban as an excuse). Her pre-eminence consisted of the following: (1)    She was the actual mother of

Exodus 20 overview — DECALOGUE Introductory remarks: A.    The Divisions of the Decalogue God's division of the Decalogue was on two tables of stone, a division honored by Christ himself who marked the divisions as "Duties to God," and "Duties to Man" (Mark 12:28-31). And all major religious divisions have honored this, the differences being only in the question of which of the Ten Commandments belongs in which division. (1)    The Jewish division of the Decalogue places Commandments I-V

Exodus 20:15 — form of communal living, but thousands of years of experience have demonstrated invariably the futility and failure of all such systems. Jamestown Colony (1603), William Lane in South America (1883), Robert Owen on the banks of the Wabash, Indiana (1825), the Brook Farm Transcendentalists (1830), and, of course, the Russian fiasco (1917), are but a few of the historical failures. During the middle years of the 19th Century, "There were literally scores of such social experiments in North America alone."Clifton

Exodus 40:1-38 — "And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou rear up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.God was about to fulfill the promise regarding His dwelling among the people. See Exodus 25:8. This also gives the reason for the Tabernacle, i.e., that might, in a very special way, dwell among them. And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and thou shalt screen the ark with the veil.The ark, being the first thing installed,

Leviticus 13:9-28 — but be dim; it is the rising of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean: for it is the scar of the burning." From these instructions, it appears that the principal tell-tale signs of leprosy were: (1) white hairs in the affected area; (2) the encroachment of the disease below the epidermis; and (3) the progressive invasion of more and more body tissue. These certainly were "signs" that a priest could accurately discern and required no medical expertise to determine. Due to the very

Isaiah 34:1-7 — Biblical prophecies is called the "prophetic certainty." When God prophesies anything, it is as certain to be fulfilled as if it had already occurred. OBSERVATIONS ON THE ETERNAL JUDGMENT One of the six fundamentals of the Christian religion (Hebrews 6:2), the judgment is extensively mentioned throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament. It was promised in Genesis (Genesis 2:17) where God pronounced death upon the whole race of Adam if they ate of the forbidden fruit. The sentence will be

Numbers 25:1-5 — from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye everyone his men that have joined themselves unto Baal-peor." "Shittim" This means "Acacia Trees."Merrill F. Unger, Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1981), p. 219. It was the very last stopping place of Israel prior to crossing the Jordan (Joshua 2:1; Joshua 3:1). It was not very far from Mount Peor, from which the last effort of Balaam to curse Israel was attempted. It is thought that a special shrine or temple

Zechariah 11:12 — weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver." The KJV here uses the word "price" instead of hire, and that is preferable, although the word used is actually "hire."Wilson's Old Testament Word Studies (McLean, Virginia.: Macdonald Publishing Company), p. 326. Although the word in Zechariah 11:12 actually means, "advantage arising from labor, wages, only one amount is spoken of in both verses; and it is far better to honor the AV rendition, despite the fact of two different words being used. The word "price,"

Matthew 17:1 — AGAIN;JESUS PAYS TRIBUTE WITH THE MONEY IN THE FISH'S MOUTH And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. Luke makes the time interval "eight days" (Luke 9:28); but there is no discrepancy from Mark and Matthew. Luke used the inclusive method of reckoning time, counting the portion of a day at either end of the period, whereas Mark and Matthew counted only the complete days. A suggestion of this is in the

Mark 2:27 — And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: so that the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath. Sabbath made for man, not man for sabbath … is a reference to the sabbath: (1) as God made it, and (2) as the Pharisees made it. God indeed had made it for man; and quite early in the history of the sabbath law a man decided that his "human needs" took precedence over it, picking up sticks on the sabbath. Did God approve of such conduct? He

Luke 3:21-22 — gave, "thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15), indicates that it would have been unbecoming, even of the sinless Christ, to have withheld obedience to God's commandment. The message for all men in this is plain. (2) By so doing, he indicated the adoption of the rite of baptism to be the initiatory ceremony by which men are inducted into Christianity. (3) Through this obedience he "fulfilled" God's command. (4) His baptism, as revealed in the Scriptures,

Luke 5:36-39 — skins, and itself will be spilled, and the skins will perish. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no man having drunk old wine desireth new; for he saith, The old is good. There are three comparisons: (1) new cloth on an old garment, (2) new wine in old wineskins, and (3) no man having drunk old wine desires new. The meaning is very similar in all three, and they stress Jesus' unwillingness to make the ceremonial fasts of the Old Testament a large feature of the new kingdom, the necessity

Romans 16:7 — 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 Rome; and did he scatter them throughout his list of greetings instead of greeting them together in a group? R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 906. A careful study of this chapter

Romans 7:1-3 — doctrine concerning marriage, which is here incidentally taught, or rather which is assumed as known by Christians and Jews is, that the marriage contract can only be dissolved by death. The only exception to this rule is given by Christ (Matthew 5:32); unless indeed Paul (1 Corinthians 7:15) recognizes willful and final desertion as a sufficient ground of divorce. Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), p. 220. Regarding

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 the

Hebrews 10:25 — penned this formal commandment regarding church attendance. The significance of this is that even prior to this epistle, faithful and regular church attendance was a distinctive characteristic of the faith in Christ. Pliny, a secular writer about 112 A.D., made a report to the emperor Trajan in which he unconsciously bore witness to certain vital aspects of Christianity. Of special interest was the witness he bore to the tenacity maintained by the Christians in regard to their assemblies. They attended

2 Peter 3:10 — 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 apostle John used it twice (Revelation 3:3; Revelation 16:15); but it was Christ who first used it (Matthew 24:43). As Dummelow said, "All through this passage, Peter had in mind the prophecy of our Lord recorded in Matthew 24." J. R.

Revelation 7 overview — pertaining to the hope available to the Christians suffering under the six seals. The biggest problems for the commentators wrestling with the meaning of this chapter are: (1) the identity of the two groups, the 144,000, and the innumerable multitude; (2) the meaning of their being "sealed"; and (3) what is meant by the great tribulation. Fortunately for those who really know their New Testament, none of these problems presents any great difficulty. We shall determine the answer to these questions

1 Samuel 28:8-14 — obeisance." "They went… and came to the woman by night" "This was a perilous journey of some seven or eight miles from Saul's camp at Gilboa to Endor, and it involved skirting the Philistine encampment."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, op. cit., p. 291. "There is something unutterably pathetic in this yearning of the disanointed king to exchange words with the friend and counselor of his youth, perhaps thinking that if he was destined to hear the words of his doom, he would prefer to hear them from