Bible Commentaries

Exodus 14:19-20 — fifties, thousands, or tens of thousands. The order to "go forward" had been given. God made it possible, and they did it! Just a few details are recorded. In these verses, we have: (1) the positioning of the Angel of Jehovah between the two encampments; (2) the positioning of the pillar to correspond with that, indicating that the pillar was a visible manifestation of the Angel of Jehovah; and (3) the fact of darkness resting upon the Egyptians and light enabling the Israelites to go forward at night,

1 Kings 1:15-21 — mention of his oath that Solomon should succeed him was anything other than the exact truth. "I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders" The word for "offenders" here is often translated "sinners." "It is a common word, but used here secularly as in 2 Kings 18:14 for treason against the throne."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 76.

Esther 7:1-4 — whom Haman had determined to destroy, and that she herself was among the number. This request was most skillfully presented. (1)    Esther protested that if the Jews had merely been sold as slaves, she would have held her peace. (2)    She protested that Haman had lied about being able to compensate the king for the damage done. (3)    She displayed perfect knowledge of Haman's immense bribe, noting that she and her people had been "sold." (4)    She

Job 40:1-2 — 147. God's disapproval of Job's complaint appears to have centered, "In the spirit which Job had manifested, and especially for his presumption,"Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition),Job, Vol. 2, p. 238. in supposing that he could even carry his case before God Himself (Job 13:3; Job 13:21-22). But now, having considered the immeasurable greatness and wonder of God's power as exhibited in the natural and sidereal creations, the contender with

Psalms 116:12-14 — once made, they had to be kept punctiliously."H. C. Leupold, p. 807. Apparently, vows were often made and seldom kept. In the case of Jonah's prayer from the belly of "the great fish" he promised God that, "I will pay that which I have vowed" (Jonah 2:9). Here the rescued psalmist asks, "Just what could be appropriate as a gift to God in appreciation for all he has done for me?" It would be well indeed for every Christian to ask himself the same question. We naturally ask questions similar to this

Psalms 18:15-17 — waters… foundations of the earth laid bare." "This language is reminiscent of the exodus";Anthony L. Ash, Psalms (Austin: Sweet Publishing Co., 1980), p. 81. but it also fits the event of the Final Judgment mentioned by Zephaniah (Zephaniah 1:2) in which all the "fishes of the sea: will be consumed on that Day when God will "cut off man from the face of the ground." The language here will allow the meaning that the waters of the whole earth shall be dried up, exposing the "channels of the

Psalms 29:9 — "The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to calve, And strippeth the forests bare: And in his temple, everything saith, Glory." "Maketh the hinds to calve" (Psalms 29:9). This is usually interpreted to mean that wild animals, mammals, living in the forests were caused to bring forth their young prematurely because of their terror of the violent thunderstorm. The hinds here are the female deer. Dahood affirmed that,

Psalms 30:11-12 — sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee and be not silent. O Jehovah my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever." "Thou hast turned" (Psalms 30:11). What had happened so quickly? The explanation is in 2 Samuel 24:18, which records how God sent the Prophet Gad to David with word that the plague was ended. "Thou hast loosed my sackcloth" (Psalms 30:11). "That the king had clothed himself in sackcloth upon this occasion is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 21:16,"The

Psalms 68:11-14 — passage is that of McCaw. "A great host of women shouted God's praises as they accompanied the ark to Jerusalem (Psalms 68:11). Their chants consisted of disjointed sentences; some cried one thing, some another, snatches of old war songs (Psalms 68:2; Psalms 68:13), fragments of unpreserved psalms (Psalms 68:18), and festive folk songs (Psalms 68:13). All of these are woven together so as to create a sense of pageantry enriched by memory, just as modern radio and TV documentaries are able to evoke

Psalms 73:23-26 — moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). "Whom have I in heaven but thee" These beautiful words were utilized by Fanny J. Crosby: "Thou the spring of all my comfort, More than life to me.Whom have I on earth beside thee,Whom in heav'n but thee."Hymn No. 189, `Pass Me

Psalms 94:4-7 — fatherless. And they say, Jehovah will not see, Neither will the God of Jacob consider." During the long reign of Manasseh, the Scriptures tell us that, "Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another" (2 Kings 21:16). "Throughout the Near East, the protection of widows, orphans and strangers was held to be the most sacred duty of leaders."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 667. "They prate" To prate is to speak idly, to chatter. The wicked were indulging

Isaiah 1:21-23 — answer. Due to the Divine promises to the great patriarchs of Israel's history, God had no honorable course except to retain his watchfulness over the apostate nation till Messiah should come, fulfilling the ancient promises. See my comment in Vol. 2 of the commentary on the Minor Prophets, p. 198.

Jeremiah 18:15-17 — the day of their calamity." "The ancient ways" "These were the way of loyalty to God's covenant, the `good way' mentioned in Jeremiah 6:16."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), p. 124. The false prophets, false priests, false rulers and false gods of Israel had mined the nation; and, as a consequence, God would scatter the nation as with an east wind; their land shall be destroyed, deserted, and an astonishment to all who see it!

Ezekiel 16:30-34 — shameful episode in the history of Israel than the vain and foolish efforts of her final series of kings to mimic the scandalous conduct of Solomon in his alliances with many nations. The whole world was ashamed of them, even the Philistines (Ezekiel 16:27); and they were also the laughing-stock of all the nations. It must be admitted that Ezekiel, at this point, had fulfilled his commission to "Make Jerusalem know her abominations" (Ezekiel 16:2). If language could accomplish such an assignment, then

Ezekiel 17:11-16 — Zedekiah, accompanied by the total ruin of Jerusalem. "He took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him" The person mentioned here was, "An uncle of Jehoiachin, named Mattaniah, whom Nebuchadnezzar made king of Judah under the name of Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17), and from whom he took an oath."Thomas H. Leal in The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary (Funk and Wagnalls), p. 184.

Joel 2:4 — "The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run. Revelation 9:7-12 has a remarkable elaboration of this same comparison of the locusts to "many horses rushing to war," even the sound of the locust's wings being compared to the noise of a cavalry charge. The impossibility of understanding John's words in Revelation

Numbers 34:13-15 — final and irrevocable. Their fate forever afterward would lie "beyond the Jordan"! Jesus used words similar to these when he said concerning sinful people, "They have received their reward," applying the words to several classes of people in Matthew 6:2-3; Matthew 6:16, etc.

1 Samuel 13:5-7 — the Philistine forces at Michmash and also afforded him the option of fleeing across the Jordan if necessary. The hiding of the Israelites in caves, holes, rocks, tombs and cisterns was similar to that of the people in the days of the Judges (Judges 6:2; Judges 6:11) and in the times of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 40:11-12). The situation looked bleak indeed for Israel at the time indicated here.

2 Samuel 13:37-39 — David's heart once more longed for the return of Absalom. As Matthew Henry expressed it, "Time wore off David's grief for Amnon, but it also wore off entirely too much of his detestation of Absalom's terrible sin.Matthew Henry's Commentary, op. cit., p. 512. This final little paragraph is difficult, and scholars tell us there are imperfections in the text; "But the sense must be that David gradually became resigned to Amnon's death and anxious to see Absalom again."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p.

2 Samuel 4:4 — him up and fled; and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth." Some have spoken of this verse as "being out of place"; and H. P. Smith called it "an interpolation,"International Critical Commentary, Samuel, p. 283. at the same time admitting that the purpose of its inclusion here might have been to show how "The house of Saul had been reduced; the heir to the throne was a cripple."Ibid. What he did not write, however, is the reason why it would have been any