Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 22:3-7 — with them of the money that was delivered into their hand; for they dealt faithfully." The appearance of this paragraph just here was to set the occasion for the discovery of The Book mentioned in the next verse. The parallel account in 2 Chronicles 34:3-7 indicates that Josiah's reforms had already been going forward for a number of years. Keil referred to this paragraph as "a parenthesis."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 3b, p. 477. "He began the purging of the

Hosea 10:10 — quite generally accepted that it was the rejection of the Theocracy in the enthronement of Saul that constitutes one of them. Some of the sins thought to be the other one are: (1) the establishment of the cult, (2) defection from the house of David, (3) the calves at Dan and Bethel, (4) their falling into idolatry, etc. However, it does not appear that any of such things were any more identified with the people of Gibeah than with other places of Israel. But there is one gross, reprobate sin that

Hosea 13:3 — concerning the accused."James Luther Mays, op. cit., p. 174. Four distinct and eloquent similes are used here to stress the impermanence of the doomed state. "As the morning cloud" This figure is used in both testamentst and notably by James (James 4:13 ff) in the New Testament. Nothing could be more ephemeral than a vanishing cloud in the early morning. "As the chaff that is driven" The chaff was made a symbol of the lost in the New Testament (Matthew 3:12). In the ancient custom of threshing grain,

Amos 4:7 — call it that, of man's natural environment is a condition ordered and directed by God himself as a response to the human race which is in open rebellion against God, a situation that has existed ever since God cursed the ground for Adam's sake (Genesis 3:17-19), and a condition that should not be expected to change. Despite the sorrows and; inconveniences that come as a result of environmental woes, God's purpose in it is surely that of leading men to repentance, and not merely that of punishing men. "When

Amos 9:7 — great promise to Abraham, upon which all Jewish and Christian hopes must ultimately rest, had never been given with a view to benefiting his secular posterity alone, but that, in Abraham, "All the families of the earth might be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). Even from the first, as demonstrated by the rejection of a great portion of Abraham's literal descendants, such as Esau, Ishmael, and the sons of Keturah, Abraham's fleshly posterity was never the true possessor of the promise, which pertained to

Haggai 2:4 — declared (Ezekiel 16) that both the northern and the southern Israel were "worse" than Sodom and Gomorrah. However, there were strong impediments to such an execution. The continuity of the prophecies of the Messiah, reaching all the way back to Genesis 3:15 demanded the continuity of Israel. God had promised the Messiah "through" them. His prophets had foretold the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. Any execution of the deserved penalty upon the old Israel would have checkmated God's purpose in the far more

Zechariah 3:1 — Priest when Zechariah prophesied is apparent from Haggai 1:1; Ezra 5:2; and from Zechariah 6:11, in which passage he appears again. "Before the angel of Jehovah" Keil's analysis of the persons appearing here appears to be correct: "He" in Zechariah 3:1 is Jehovah, and not the mediating angel, for his work was to explain the visions to the prophet, and not to introduce them; nor the angel of Jehovah, because he appears in the course of the vision, although in these visions he is sometimes identified

Matthew 10:40-42 — equivalent to receiving Christ, and that receiving Christ is equivalent to receiving God. The importance of the apostolic mission is underscored by these words. It is "through their word" (John 17:20) and "through your apostles" (2 Peter 3:2) that all the benefits of the Christian faith may be acquired. Note also the limitation, "in the name of a disciple," equivalent to "for my sake" in Matthew 10:39. All spiritual blessings are of and through Christ; and unless related

Matthew 16:4 — An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of Jonah. And he left them, and departed. For notes on the "sign of Jonah," see under Matthew 12:38-40. What is called the first announcement of the Lord's passion and resurrection is recorded later in this chapter, but it must be admitted that Christ's "sign of Jonah" is embryonically a statement of the same thing. The relation between

Matthew 16:5-6 — against him and were advocating his rejection with every cunning and lying argument possible. They argued: (1) that Christ could not be the Messiah, because Elijah had not yet come; (2) that his signs were not "from heaven," but from earth; (3) that the demons he exorcised were, in truth, cast out by the power of the devil; (4) that he was a violator of sacred traditions; (5) that he profaned the sabbath; (6) that the Scriptures "proved" the Messiah could not come from Galilee,

Matthew 2:2 — Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him. The Old Testament opens with a question, God seeking man, and asking, "Adam, where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9). The New Testament opens with a question, man seeking God, and asking, "Where is he …?" Born King of the Jews. That the Messianic hope of the Hebrews was well known throughout the ancient world is evident from the following considerations:

Matthew 22:31-33 — with their fundamental trouble, namely, a failure to believe the Old Testament as God's word. Christ, then, in the presence of the multitude, made an argument for immortality of the soul, basing it absolutely upon what "God said" in Exodus 3:6. The argument is bold, plain, and easily understood. Since God used the present tense in that Old Testament passage, saying, "I AM" instead of "I WAS," etc., it means that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still living. This is a most

Matthew 4:1 — Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. (Matthew 4:1) Led up of the Spirit … does not mean that the Spirit provided the temptation, because God does not tempt any man (James 1:13). However, the Holy Spirit did desire that Jesus' temptation should take place at this particular time. Jesus' two great temptations were this one in the wilderness and that in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:42; Matthew 26:39); but he was tempted

Matthew 5:48 — merit it, and that any real perfection he might eventually attain must be the free gift of Christ. Illustration: In a measure of music, in ordinary 4/4 or quadruple time, a single half-note fills the measure half-full; a dot after that note brings it to 3/4 full, another dot 7/8 full, another to 15/16 full, another to 31/32 full, and so on and on. If one added a million dots, the measure would never be full, for each dot would add only half the value of the preceding dot. In a manner of speaking, this

Matthew 6:9-13 — 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 omission of the doxology. After this manner

Matthew 7:13-14 — salvation is obtainable and available for all who truly desire it, the plain fact is that the majority in all generations will despise it. And, of wheat, it will be remembered that Christ himself used this grain as a figure of the saved and lost in Matthew 3:12. The relative number of redeemed souls in any generation is not the scale by which God's success may be measured. God will keep on saving men until the "fullness" of his purpose is achieved (Romans 11:25). The term "narrow" is

Mark 6:47-48 — unconvincing. Taking all of the accounts together for a composite report of what happened, one finds the following: (1) Jesus could see the apostles in the lake at night in a storm from a distance of several miles. (2) He walked on the lake to go unto them. (3) He commanded Peter to walk on the lake, and for a time Peter did so. (4) He rescued Peter from drowning. (5) The wind ceased as soon as Christ came aboard. (6) The boat was "straightway" at the landing (John 6:21). Were all of these but ordinary

Luke 14:18-20 — the things men of the world hold to be most important: real estate, business, and family relations. There is evident a progressive unwillingness to attend in the excuses offered: (1) One pleads necessity; (2) the next pleads his will not to go; and (3) the third said flatly, "I cannot," but did not bother to ask any release from his obligation. In the case of this last, a marriage did exempt the bridegroom from the war (Deuteronomy 24:5; Deuteronomy 20:7), but not from a feast it was his

Luke 15:32 — brother was dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found. Thy brother … In these words, the father brought the elder son back to the basic fact of his oneness with his brother, a unity denied by the contemptuous "thy son" (Luke 15:30), as the elder brother called him. All men are inherently sinful and unworthy of God's blessings; and there is no greater sin than the self-righteousness which denies such a truth. This marvelous story teaches eternal truth, including: (1) the fact

Luke 6:30-31 — Give to every one that asketh thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. Luke 6:27-31 have some of the most difficult teaching ever presented by the Son of God; and it is doubtful that any person has ever been fully confident of living up to the standards here exalted by the holy Saviour. Most of the religious commentators who have