Bible Commentaries

Esther 4:4-8 — raiment to clothe Mordecai… but he received it not" "Mordecai's refusal to accept the clothing was evidence to Esther that his actions were not caused by personal sorrow, but by an unusually dire public caalamity."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 3, p. 853. "The exact sum of money that Haman agreed to pay" Throughout the Book of Esther, it is evident that Mordecai had access to any information that he requested; and this mention of that ten thousand talents of silver Haman agreed to pay the king

Job 24:2-12 — wounded crieth out: Yet God regardeth not the folly." The picture that emerges here is that of the heartless oppressors of the poor. These wicked men steal land by moving landmarks (Job 24:2), they steal whole flocks of animals and keep them (Job 24:3), they steal an orphan's ass, exact an unjust pledge from widows (Job 24:4) and force their poor laborers who work for them to scavenge for food in the mountains, where they have no residences, and are not sufficiently clothed, and where they are often

Job 41:26-34 — any kind was effective against the crocodile."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), op. cit., p. 264 "His underparts are sharp like potsherds" See quotation from Driver under Job 41:23, above. "He maketh the deep to boil like a pot… a path to shine after him (in the deep); one would think the deep to be hoary" Barnes and other scholars remind us that "the deep" in these verses is not a reference to the ocean but to the Nile

Psalms 126:5-6 — spiritual harvest without pain and tears. When our hearts are broken with grief at man's transgressions, we shall break other men's hearts. Tears of earnestness beget tears of repentance: `Deep calleth unto deep.'"Charles Haddon Spurgeon, op. cit., p. 236. Right here is the secret of the ineffectiveness of many Christian people's influence over others. There is simply no tearful earnestness in their desire for their salvation. We reject as ridiculous the notion that back of this verse is, "The ancient

Psalms 20:1-5 — covenant had now been transferred to Jerusalem, an event which is described in 2 Samuel 6:12-19. "This means that the psalm is pre-exilic."The Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 48. "Remember all thy offerings… accept thy burnt-sacrifice" (Psalms 20:3). This might be a reference to the prayers and offerings of King David in days gone by; but as Ash wrote, "It more likely refers to the sacrifices being offered upon the occasion of the Psalm's use."Anthony L. Ash, p. 88. The word "Selah" inserted at

Psalms 21:5-6 — and majesty dost thou lay upon him" (Psalms 21:5). What is indicated here according to Dahood (in The Anchor Bible) is, "A characteristic attribute of the (pagan) gods, consisting of a dazzling aureole or nimbus which surrounds divinity."Ibid., p. 132. This connotation of the terminology here fully confirms the view that the person spoken of here must be identified with divinity. "It is from the salvation arising out of David's relationship to the coming Messiah that it is said here that, `Honor

Psalms 25:8-15 — the grace and goodness of God to bestow it. "The meek… such as keep his commandments" (Psalms 25:9-10). The kind of sinners who may expect God's forgiveness appear in this psalm as (1) those who repent, (2) those who seek God's forgiveness, (3) the meek, or humble, and (4) those who keep the Lord's commandments. "Pardon mine iniquity" (Psalms 25:11). Another word is here added as an explanation of the grounds upon which David asked God's pardon, namely, for thy name's sake. Added to the mercy,

Psalms 58:6-9 — whirlwind, the green and the burning alike." This prayer against the hardened and unrepentant wicked men of this passage reveals a seven-fold curse upon them. 1. Break their teeth (Psalms 58:6). 2. Break out (pull) the teeth of lions (Psalms 58:6). 3. Let them melt away as water that runs off (Psalms 58:7). 4. His arrows… let them be cut off (Psalms 58:7). 5. Let them be as a snail that melteth (Psalms 58:8). 6. Let them be like an aborted fetus (Psalms 58:8) 7. Let their `pot' be carried

Psalms 63:9-11 — forest devoured more people that day than the sword." Thus, more than twenty-thousand more were numbered among the slain. "They shall be a portion for the foxes" "The word here should be translated `jackals,' as that is the meaning of it,"W. E. Addis, p. 384. as is indicated by the alternative reading in the American Standard Version margin. What a remarkable fulfilment of David's prophecy came to pass. With no less than forty-thousand of Absalom's partisans to be buried, there was no earthly way that

Psalms 71:17-19 — special need" of God's help; hence the appeal, "Forsake me not." "Among sensitive men and women of high culture and Christian feeling, there is a beautiful sacredness about the `hoary head,' that wins for the aged abundant honor and care,"Wilson Jones, p. 374. but even under the most favorable and sympathetic circumstances, the infirmities and incapacities of age are among the very saddest things that can happen to the human pilgrim; and in situations where Christian care and concern are not available,

Psalms 85:4-7 — accommodated to their situation in Babylon, many of them amassing wealth, simply refused to return to Jerusalem. (2) Those who did return had no enthusiasm whatever for rebuilding the temple, their chief concern being the building of their own houses. (3) They grossly neglected the requirements of God's worship. (4) Even after the second temple had finally been constructed, Malachi flatly declared that the people were "robbing God"! Things in Israel had gone from bad to worse during that first generation

Isaiah 27:1 — not proceed very far in the Bible until it is encountered. Cheyne identified it with the "turning sword by the cherubim,"T. K. Cheyne's Commentary, p. 158. which God placed eastward in the Garden of Eden "to keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24). It is of interest that sea-monster in our version is rendered "dragon" in the KJV and that this is one of the names of Satan (Revelation 12:9). The mythological background of these great enemies points to the sea, or the Nile river (the same being

Isaiah 42:18-22 — thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed," the reference was not to the fleshly nation in any sense whatever; but as Paul declared, "God said not `and to seeds, as of many; but as of one' And `to thy seed,' which is Christ" (Galatians 3:16). Therefore, it was through Christ, the Seed-Singular, that God promised Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed. There is nothing in the whole Old Testament that suggests fleshly Israel would be the means of God's blessing all

Isaiah 44:18-20 — and hearts of men, but that is never an arbitrary action on God's part. The hardened and blinded are themselves responsible for it (Romans 1:20-28). In their self-imposed darkened state the idolaters cannot understand their own folly."Homer Hailey, p. 375. Furthermore, we consider the consecration of so-called "sacred images" in certain allegedly "Christian" communions of our own era as just as foolish, and just as loaded with folly, as was the practice of idolatry in ancient times. Yes indeed, we

Isaiah 51:4-8 — righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation unto all generations." "This second strophe describes God's salvation as comprehending all mankind and as outlasting the heavens and the earth."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 336. This analysis is certainly true, and therefore, we must question the use of the word "nation" here instead of "nations," the latter word meaning "Gentiles," and the former leaving the impression that the old fleshly nation of the Jews were God's

Isaiah 58:1-3 — singular "ordinance." What was it? It was that single fast that God had commanded on the day of Atonement! That is precisely the thing they had omitted in favor of all kinds of fasts proclaimed by their false leaders. God's further word in Isaiah 58:3 notes that, "In the day of your fast (not mine), ye find your own pleasure, and exact all your labors." Some have applied this to the exaction imposed upon servants by their masters; but we fail to see how "your labors" can be applied to servants, as

Isaiah 60:1-3 — nation was in no better position, despite their possession of God's Law, which they had formalized and perverted; and by their transgression of it dishonored God, leading to the blasphemy of God on their account by the whole Gentile world (Romans 2:23-24). (3) The vain philosophy of the Greeks and Romans provided no relief from the awful darkness of that era. "Nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising" The religion of Jesus Christ dispersed the darkness that lay over

Jeremiah 15:15-18 — seeming failure of his mission. Green pointed out that Jeremiah's appeal to God has the following: (1) he appeals to God to remember him; he feels forsaken, and checkmated by his enemies; (2) he reminds God of his love and respect for the divine word; (3) he protests his loneliness and his being left out of the assemblies of the people; (4) and he even echoed the sentiments of Christ on Calvary, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"; and (5) finally, in Jeremiah 15:18 he seemed to hit the very

Jeremiah 2:1-3 — is reiterated no less than a dozen times in this chapter. "The love of thine espousals" "The word `love' in this passage is a reference to Israel's love as a bride for God her husband."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 34. The NIV renders this, "your love as a bride;" and Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition) translated it, "your bridal love." Such expressions of Israel's devotion to the Lord are quite

Jeremiah 5:30-31 — God's answer then was the Great Deluge. (2) Then there was the organized wickedness that culminated in the Tower of Babel; and God's answer then was the confounding of the languages of humanity and the introduction of the device of the Chosen People; (3) Now that the whole race of Adam, Jews and Gentiles alike, had given themselves to Satan for the third time, what would God do? He sent the Blessed Saviour in his FIRST ADVENT. That is the reason God has been so careful to announce three times in the