Bible Commentaries

Daniel 9:24-27 — notice some of what we hold to be impossible interpretations of it. (a)    The critics who deny the trustworthiness and dependability of the holy Bible refer this prophecy to Antiochus Epiphanes in the Maccabean period about the year 160 B.C. The desolation is caused by Antiochus, and the anointed one is Onias III; and the passage is robbed of any reference whatever to the Messiah. "The objections to this type of interpretation are so serious that it cannot possibly be regarded as

Amos 5:23 — condemned in this verse: (1) the noise of the songs of their worship, and (2) the mechanical instruments used in their worship. Commentators generally have (1) either skipped the questions raised by this verse as did McKeating;Henry McKeating, op. cit., p. 46. (2) dismissed the verse on the grounds that the only thing God had against anything at Bethel was the worshipper's violation of the rights of the poor; (3) suggested that instruments of music were a part of the regularly established Hebrew worship;

Numbers 26:1-65 — son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun." Here is a graphic summary of this census and that of the first chapter, showing the changes during the intervening 38 years. GRAPHIC SUMMARYFirstSecondNet%%TribeFamiliesCensusCensusChangeGainLossREUBEN446,50043,7302,2706%SIMEON559,30022,20037,10063%GAD745,65040,5005,15011%JUDAH574,60076,5001,9002 1/2%ISSACHAR454,40064,3009,90018%ZEBULUN357,40060,5003,1005 1/2%EPHRAIM440,50032,5008,00020%MANASSEH832,20052,70020,50063%BENJAMIN735,40045,60010,20029%DAN162,70064,4001,7002

Jonah 4:11 — Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 751. "No man has the right to question or resent the outpouring of God's love in saving man, any man, from sin and destruction."G. Herbert Livingston, Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 850. "Sixscore thousand persons who cannot discern between their right and their left hand" Efforts to apply these words to the entire population of Nineveh are fruitless, being usually for the purpose of showing that Nineveh, after all, was not

Matthew 18:23-34 — it. 4.    The king's forgiveness, without any merit on the part of the unmerciful servant, indicates God's grace. 5.    The unfeeling conduct of the unmerciful servant shows how God looks upon the refusal of his children to forgive others. 6.    The king's forgiveness "because thou soughtest me" shows that sinners need only to apply (in the proper way) in order to be forgiven. They need not "pay" anything. 7.    The ultimate punishment

Matthew 25:1-13 — favorite term in Scripture for the unsaved is precisely this, "foolish." It is the "fool" who says in his heart there is no God (Psalms 14:1). The man who built on sand is described not as vicious but as "foolish" (Matthew 7:26). The rich man who mistook his body for his soul was denominated by the Lord, "thou fool!" (Luke 12:20). Those unfortunate bridesmaids of this parable were in no sense reprobate or immoral, but "foolish." One sees their counterpart

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 — he will not answer them; yea, he will hide his face from them… concerning the prophets… it shall be night unto you, and ye shall have no vision; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them" (Micah 4-6). This dreadful condition of Israel's having no prophetic word lasted for about five hundred years. Where is all that "succession" of prophets the critics insist on finding in this chapter? Peter E. Cousins: "The promise has both individual and corporate

Deuteronomy 9:1-5 — warnings here were ignored by the historical Israel. In view of so many O.T. commentators appealing to Ephesians 2:8-9, we shall make a few observations about that verse. (For a full discussion of it see Vol. 8 in my N.T. series of commentaries, pp. 158-164.) F. F. Bruce declared that the "watchword of Reformation theology is: `sola gratia, sola fide, soli Deo gloria' (`by grace alone, through faith alone, to God alone be glory')."F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House,

Mark 13:14 — companions left Babylon and came to Jerusalem (for the purpose of rebuilding it, with the undeniable implication that the king had given such an order). That was in B.C. 458. Starting with this date, the end of the 490 years is A.D. 32, and the end of the 69 weeks (equivalent to 483 years) is A.D. 25.J. E. H. Thompson, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), p. 276. This means that Daniel prophesied the beginning of the ministry of the Messiah as 25 A.D.

Acts 2:1 — literal interpretation of the Scriptures, maintaining that by "the sabbath" here was meant the usual sabbath, the seventh day of the week. Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1953), Acts,. p. 26. Thus it is immaterial whether the Pharisees' or the Sadducees' position on this question prevailed in that year 30 A.D.; and all arguments based upon the date of the Jews' observance of Pentecost that year are irrelevant. The Christians would have

Romans 1:1 — Paulus, proconsul of Cyprus, and Hodge suggested the possibility that the new Gentile name of the apostle derived from that conversion. Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), p. 14. It was common among the Jews to mark some outstanding event in a person's life with a change of his name, as in the case of Abraham (Genesis 17:5), Jacob (Gen. 32:38), and Peter (John 1:42); and thus it appears that even in such a detail as

Romans 9:33 — two passages from Isaiah. They read thus in the Old Testament: Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste (Isaiah 28:16). And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Isaiah 8:14). Hodge commented on the manner of Paul's using these two

Ephesians 2:8-9 — writer says "we are not justified by faith alone." But what does the text say? By grace have ye been saved through faith … Some of the critical scholars declare the past perfect tense here to be un-Pauline; Francis W. Beare, op. cit., p. 645. but, while it is true that Paul often spoke of salvation as a continuing process (as in 1 Corinthians 1:18 and Romans 5:9), he was here speaking of being "saved" in the sense of having obeyed the gospel. Jesus said, "He that believeth

Joshua 10:1-5 — off-beat, unusual use, or alternative meaning of some well-known word, and then ramming such a bizarre meaning into the Sacred Text. We gave a classical example of this in our exegesis of 1 Peter 3:21. (See Vol. 11 of my N.T. series of commentaries, pp. 236-237). How is this wicked device implemented here? Note the following: "Some have suggested that Zedek was originally the name of a deity. This would make the meaning of Adonizedek to be, `My lord is Zedek.'"Marten H. Woudstra, The New International

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 — and having upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (Revelation 17:3-6). After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with glow. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and

Revelation 18 overview — consideration seems certain; but Criswell thought that Revelation 18 deals with the particular "judgment of God himself upon Babylon," W. A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1962), IV, p. 16. as sharply distinguished from the judgment of Revelation 17, in which "the nations of earth, not by the intervention of heaven, but by something that mankind does, grow weary of her and destroy her." Ibid. As we see it, this

2 Samuel 23:20-39 — Samuel 23:24-39) "Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty" He was one of the three sons of Zeruiah, David's sister, who lost his life when he tried to kill Abner (2 Samuel 2:18-23). Joab avenged Asahel's death by murdering Abner (2 Samuel 3:26-30). "Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem" This son of Dodo should not be confused with Eleazer the son of Dodo (2 Samuel 23:9). The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia distinguishes them as sons of different Dodo's.Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp.