Bible Commentaries

Genesis 27:18-29 — Jacob: (1)    He said, "I am your first-born." (2)    "I have brought the venison, as you commanded." (3)    "I did it so quickly because `your God' gave me good speed." (4)    He wore Esau's clothes. (5)    He wore goat hair on his neck and hands. (6)    He answered his father's specific question, "Art thou Esau," by saying, "I am." (7)    He feigned the irreligion of Esau. It is curious that

Exodus 13:11-16 — were brought into the promised land."Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 1, (New York: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), p. 362. "The land of the Canaanite" There were actually six races of those peoples supplanted by Israel, but in Exodus 13:5, above, only five were listed, the Perizzites, a minor group, being omitted. Here, they were all referred to as Canaanites, there being, in fact, some thirty-two nations or petty-states included in the general designation. "Thou shalt set apart unto

Exodus 13:3-10 — heart), in a literal interpretation of what is commanded in these places. Esses tells us that these passages (Exodus 13:1-16) were always the ones worn on the left arm.Michael Esses, Jesus in Exodus (Plainfield, New Jersey: Logos International, 1977), p. 75. The Jewish literalization of the command here at last resulted in some bizarre behavior. The Pharisees of Jesus' time, having a desire to appear righteous in the eyes of men, enlarged the size of these religious ornaments and paraded them publicly

Exodus 34:29-35 — church of St. Pietro in Vincoli at Rome) depicts Moses as having horns! There is no doubt whatever that the proper meaning of the word here is exactly that given in this version. "With the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand" Deuteronomy 10:1-5 tells us that when Moses came down from the mount that Moses made an ark of acacia wood in which to place them. "This simple ark was the predecessor of the ark of the covenant described in Exodus 25:10 ff."Wilbur Fields, op. cit., p. 762. It was altogether

Exodus 37:1-29 — "And Bezaleel made the ark of acacia wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it.Of course, the statement in Deuteronomy 10:1-5, where Moses is said to have made an ark, is seized upon as a contradiction, but it is only a pseudocon. See comment on this under Exodus 34:29-35. And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without. and made a crown of gold to it round about. And

Numbers 14:20-25 — times" (Numbers 14:22). "Ten is the number which signifies completeness."F. C. Cook, op. cit., p. 213. "It seems to refer to the ten evil spies."Elmer Smick, op. cit., p. 132. "The Talmud understood this literally."George Buchanan Gray, op. cit., p. 157. Dummelow thought that ten is a "round number indicating `full measure'."J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 108. "Rabbi Judah from the second century enumerated ten instances of Israel's rebellion."W.

Numbers 33:1-49 — Jewish commentator declared emphatically that, "Forty-two way stations are listed in the recapitulation of the forty years wandering."W. Gunther Plaut, Torah, a Modern Commentary (Philadelphia: The Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1979), p. 315. It is most likely that it is in this number that we should seek the principal significance of the whole chapter. The very fact that so LITTLE is known about most of these places forces the conclusion that God Almighty had some other weighty reason

Deuteronomy 15:1-6 — rule over thee." The plain meaning of this is that all debts shall be cancelled and forgiven in the Sabbatical Year, i.e., all debts to fellow Israelites. However, this is one of the laws of God that the Jews "made void by their tradition" (Matthew 15:6). It is regrettable that a scholar like Keil would have fallen into the devious "reasoning" by which the Jews nullified this commandment, assuming that, Philo and the Talmudists were correct in the affirmation that, "This simply meant lengthening

Deuteronomy 3:5-11 — cubit of a man)." "Fortified with high walls" "The ruins of these cities remain until this day."J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 124. Cook gave the literal meaning of the Hebrew in Deuteronomy 3:5 as "with double gates and a bar."F. C. Cook, Barnes' Notes, Deuteronomy (Baker Book House), p. 275. "The height of the stone doors of Bashan point to a race of great stature, and numerous deserted cities (now in ruins) illustrate the statements of these

Romans 15:25-26 — fund-raising for the poor as "pathetic." It was not a mere strategy of Paul's to try and win favor in Jerusalem. He accepted the mission of aiding the poor in that city upon the basis that the Gentiles "owed" it to them (Romans 15:2); and his undertaking the personal delivery of that bounty was in order that he might seal "this fruit" to the credit of them that had given it. Paul had long advocated, encouraged, and promoted the collection for the poverty-ridden Christians

1 Corinthians 13:13 — of that very fact it becomes a Christian virtue. WHY LOVE IS THE GREATEST THING Love is the fulfillment of the law, which was never true of faith (Romans 13:10). Love outranks faith in the power to motivate people. Love includes obedience (John 14:15), which is not true of faith or hope. Love is the heart of the Great Commandment to love God and one's neighbor (Mark 12:28-31). Love shall abide eternally, whereas both faith and hope shall not, except in some exceptional sense. Love, if lacking in

Joshua 22 overview — the central sanctuary was NOT VALID from the very beginning, but that such a law came into being only after the construction of Solomon's Temple."Samuel Holmes, Peake's Commentary on the Bible, Joshua (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 255. This theory is incorrect; it is founded upon two tremendous errors, namely: (1) that, "A plurality of sanctuaries does not seem to be frowned upon in the O.T. prior to Josiah's reforms (about 621 B.C.)."Marten H. Woudstra, The New International Commentary

Hebrews 11:36-38 — of atrocities given here can be only a partial account of all the inhumanities and indignities heaped upon God's children by unbelievers through the long centuries during which the light shone in the darkness and the darkness overcame it not (John 1:5). Many whose names none shall ever know until the judgment have suffered these or similar trials. Some of the names of such persons are preserved in the Old Testament. Samson (Judges 16:25); Micaiah (1 Kings 22:27), Hanani (2 Chronicles 16:10), and

Hebrews 3:13 — as it is called Today; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The Greek pronoun rendered here "one another" is variously translated in the New Testament, as in "be at peace AMONG YOURSELVES" (1 Thessalonians 5:14); "Fervent in your love AMONG YOURSELVES" (1 Peter 4:8); "And be ye kind ONE TO ANOTHER" (Ephesians 4:32); and "Forbearing ONE ANOTHER and forgiving EACH OTHER" (Colossians 3:13). Thus the persons so strongly commanded

Judges 10:10-16 — the stern words of Judges 10:13-14. "Did I not deliver you," Reference is here made to no less than seven nations from whose power the Lord had delivered Israel. These are: (1) The Egyptians; (2) the Amorites; (3) the Ammonites; (4) the Philistines; (5) the Sidonians; (6) the Amalekites; and (7) "The Maonites who are otherwise unknown to this period."Ibid. It is surprising that the Midianites were not included here, but it may be, as suggested by Dalglish, that, "`Maonites' is here a reference to

Jude 1:24-25 — Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now, and forevermore. Amen. Rose remarked that, "If Jude is known or noticed at all by churchgoers, it is because of the frequent use of Judges 1:24-25,"Delbert R. Rose, op. cit., p. 448. in such things as the benediction. To this writer, this benediction instantly brings to mind Ike Thorne (a faithful deacon from the Central Church of Christ, Houston, Texas, a retired member of Plasterers' Labor

Revelation 1:1 — having come from God through Jesus Christ, it is also true in the extended sense of being a revelation of the Son of God in his capacity as the judge appointed by the Almighty God himself and divinely commissioned to "execute judgment" (John 5:27). The word "Revelation," capitalized in the text, was so rendered in order to indicate the word as the title of the prophecy. It is translated from a Greek word [@apokalupsis], from which also comes the similar English word given to the

Revelation 13 overview — working. (2)    The identity of the "seven heads." Regarding this, Pieters has an extensive study of various views of their identity: Albertus Pieters, Studies in the Revelation of St. John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1954), p. 214ff. The seven forms of government under which Rome existed; however, there were only six of these! Seven prominent emperors of Rome during the latter part of the first century B.C. and the first part of the first century A.D. Of course, there

1 Samuel 31:1-7 — upon Saul by the witch, and that the `prophecy itself' was not fulfilled. H. P. Smith's claim that there are two contradictory Biblical accounts of Saul's death, the one here, and the one in 2 Samuel 1:6-10,International Critical Commentary, Samuel 251. is incorrect, being only an example of another radical scholar's willingness to believe an Amalekite rather than the inspired record. One must be naive indeed to accept the word of that self-seeking Amalekite who came to David with his tale regarding

1 Samuel 7:5-12 — not drink the water which his mighty men, at great risk to themselves, had drawn for him from the well in Bethlehem. David, "Poured it out to the Lord, and said, `Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives'"? (2 Samuel 23:15-16). "The lords of the Philistines went up against Israel" As H. P. Smith stated it, "The opportunity for plundering an unwarlike community was not to be lost. Josephus correctly understands that the people had come without arms."International Critical