Bible Commentaries

Exodus 15:11-15 — to demonstrate that they did NOT exist. We might paraphrase the passage as asking, "Where, among the heathen idols, is there anything like the true God Jehovah?… The so-called gods of the heathen were non-entities."J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 61. The new translation of the Torah does not use the term "gods" here at all, rendering it "celestials."Harry M. Orlinsky, Notes on the New Translation of the Torah (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1969), p. 170. That this passage

2 Kings 24:1-7 — reference to the days of Jehoiakim. "And he became his servant" From this day, Judah was no longer an independent nation. The exact date when Jehoiakim became the servant of Nebuchadnezzar is not exactly clear. Josephus thought that it was in the years 603-601 B.C., but we agree with LaSor that it was, "Soon after Pharaoh-necoh withdrew to Egypt in 608 B.C.,"The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 367. which would have been very near the year 606 B.C., the year prior to the battle of Carchemish. This

Job 42:1-6 — done. "Now that thou hast revealed thyself unto me, my spiritual eyes are opened; and I begin to see thee in thy true might, thy true greatness, and thy true inscrutableness. I now recognize the distance that separates us."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 7d, p. 662. The same realization came to Job in this marvelous experience that was expressed by the Psalmist: "He (God) remembereth that we are dust" (Psalms 103:14). God, of course, holds this remembrance of men continually; and happy indeed is the man who

Psalms 16:9-11 — age,"Anthony L. Ash, Psalms (Austin: Sweet Publishing Company, 1980), p. 75. or "Probably the poet is thinking merely of a long life, the reward of the pious."W. E. Addis, Peake's Commentary on the Bible (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 376. All such interpretations are founded upon the proposition that David is God's Holy One, as stated here; but David could never have spoken of himself in such language. David was a murderer, an adulterer, and despite many good qualities could never in

Psalms 19:4-6 — theater in which the earth is set. "Far from worshipping the sun, as many ancients did, the psalmist regards it as an agent of God, who has set up a tent in the vast heavens for the sun's continual use."Leslie McCaw in The New Bible Commentary, Revised p.462. This, of course, harmonizes with Genesis where it is revealed that the design of the starry host was not that of controlling men's destiny, or of receiving human worship, but of serving mankind by providing light at night for human use. The status

Psalms 81:6-16 — at the appearance of the mother bird. There is a deep spiritual lesson in this. "God's gifts, both spiritual and temporal, are proportioned to our eager longing for them. Christ could do no miracles in one place because of the people's unbelief (Mark 6:5); and God cannot give lavishly unless we desire eagerly."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 168. Tiny birds that never open their mouths are never fed. "My people hearkened not to my voice… Israel would none of me" Israel paid no attention

Isaiah 15:1-9 — kin to Israel; but not even one's closest of kin can intervene against the judgment of God. Incidentally, this line in which the first person singular is used indicates that Isaiah himself is the author of this prophecy given in "time past" (Isaiah 16:13). There are seventeen place-names in this brief little chapter referring to places literally all over Moab. Eerdmans New Bible Dictionary (1962) does not even mention six of these, but here is that source's information on most of the others:ArChief

Isaiah 25:6-8 — all peoples," and explained even further by the following verse, "He hath swallowed up death forever." Scholars do not agree on what is meant by the destruction of the "veil," Hailey thinks that it was the veil mentioned by Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:14-16.Homer Hailey, p. 207. Dummelow stated that, "The face of the covering, etc. is put symbolically for the destruction of death,"J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 433. thus making `the face of the covering that covereth all peoples' and the `veil that is

Isaiah 65:1-7 — together, saith Jehovah, that have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemer me upon the hills: therefore will I first measure their work into their bosom." Kidner understood the first two verses here as, "An answer to the complaint of Isaiah 63:19."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 624. This, of course does not deny the application of the passage to the call of the Gentiles (Romans 10:20). There is also an answer to the complaint of Isaiah 64:9 that God has "hidden his face," making himself

Jeremiah 20:1-6 — thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied falsely." "Pashhur, the son of Immer... chief officer" Many scholars including Dummelow and Barnes believed that Pashhur was the father of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 38:1).J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 468. There was another Pashhur (Jeremiah 21:1), but he belonged to the fifth course (shift) of priests belonging to the sons of Melchiah; this Pashhur belonged to the sixteenth course and was the son of Immer. Both of these families were strongly represented

Jeremiah 44:15-19 — Canaan; it was depraved in the extreme; it was rife in the times of Samuel (1 Samuel 7:3-4); after Saul's death, his armour was placed in the temple of Ashteroth at Beth-shan (1 Samuel 21:10); and Solomon gave it royal sanction (2 Kings 23:13)."NBD, p. 96. "In the times of Jeremiah, prior to the exile, the Chosen People had given themselves over to the worst and vilest forms of heathen worship in their worship of the Queen of Heaven."International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, p. 2514. Furthermore, it

Daniel 6:4-9 — here is that of the Medes and Persians. "The Persians, being Zoroastrians, held fire to be sacred. Hence for them it would have been improper to cremate or execute by fire."Robert D. Culver, op. cit., p. 788. "All the presidents of the kingdom" (Daniel 6:7)." This passage does not imply that all of the satraps, counselors, etc. were engaged in the conspiracy, but that they were all present on that occasion. Their presence as a company was due to their having been convened by the presidents (without

Hosea 13:6 — him from the grave. How tragic, then, that so many live out their brief hour upon earth without remembering God, the Creator. Four times God thundered the warning from the Book of Deuteronomy, "Beware lest thou forget Jehovah thy God!" (Deuteronomy 6:10; Deuteronomy 8:11, etc.) I.    Most of the sins that people commit are only variations of forgetting God. Selfishness is the sin of forgetting God in others. Pride is the absence from the heart of any thought of God. Worry is

Deuteronomy 23:1-8 — enter into the assembly of Jehovah." Concerning the laws in this chapter, Watts declared, that, "They have been reworked in the preachy style of the editor."John D. W. Watts, Beacon Bible Commentary, Deuteronomy (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1970), p. 263. This of course is incorrect. There is no "editor" of Deuteronomy. It is amusing to this student that critical scholars pretend to know everything, except the names of any of those editors and redactors they are always talking about! The "preachy"

Deuteronomy 29:1-9 — Sinai leads to a very important deduction, pointed out by Oberst: "Thus, in future writings, `the Laws of Moses' includes both those given at Sinai and also these given here on the plains of Moab."Bruce Oberst, Deuteronomy (Joplin: College Press, 1968), p. 338. In a few minutes Moses would ask the people to swear allegiance to the covenant with God, and leading up to that, in order to have them in the proper frame of mind to do this, and also conforming strictly to the pattern of the suzerainty

Joshua 16:5-10 — unwillingness to clear out the Canaanites caused their complaint. "Joshua, in effect, told them that if they were the great people they claimed to be, they could extend their territory by clearance and conquest."Ibid. Before concluding this study of Joshua 16, we wish to take a close look at the final verse, which states that, "The Canaanites dwell in the midst of Ephraim unto this day, and are become servants to do taskwork." The critics maintain that "this has a bearing on the date when Joshua was written."Marten

Joshua 24:19-28 — covenant. As Sizoo said, "`He will not forgive your transgressions' refers specifically to the worship of foreign gods and more generally to any wrongdoing, for to transgress any commandment of God is to violate the covenant."Joseph R. Sizoo, op. cit., p. 670. Nowhere else in the history of the whole world is there any such thing as the forgiveness of sins except that which is available through the Lord Jesus Christ. This passage categorically denies that there was to be any forgiveness of sins under the

1 Samuel 5:1-2 — reaction to the terrible defeat they had just suffered. He gives us not a single word about the terrible destruction of Shiloh by the Philistine army; and we are able to know about that only from the later references to it in the Bible. From Psalms 78:60-64 and from Jeremiah 7:12 and Jeremiah 26:9, it is clear enough that Shiloh was brutally and thoroughly destroyed, remaining a total ruin for centuries afterward. All of the buildings were demolished; the inhabitants were put to the sword, men women

2 Samuel 19:1-7 — David's grief here was sinful, contrary to the will of God and detrimental to every interest pertaining to the king. Did not God Himself warn Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel?" (1 Samuel 16:1); and when the sons of Aaron the High Priest were slain for their disobedience of God's law, Moses, the great Lawgiver, commanded Aaron: "Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not rend your clothes, lest you die, but your brethren may

2 Samuel 7:4-7 — with the tabernacle. Christ himself is the True House (or Temple) of God (John 2:10). (And that means that the Jewish edifice was the False Temple). The true temple of God today is the "spiritual body" of Christ, namely, his holy church (1 Corinthians 6:19). It is no contradiction of this truth that God's Spirit did indeed, for a time dwell within the temple of Solomon, but Ezekiel gives the dramatic account of how that Spirit left it with the sound of a mighty rushing wind (Ezekiel 11:22-23). Also