Bible Commentaries

Genesis 28:10 — sleep, and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." "From Beersheba … toward Haran" Haran was some 500 miles from Beersheba, and this first event on the way to be mentioned by the sacred record occurred evidently about the third night after his departure. Bethel was some fifty or sixty miles distant from Beersheba. "He lighted upon a certain place"

Exodus 30 overview — (Exodus 30:17-21) the formula for making the holy oil for anointing (Exodus 30:22-33); and the recipe for making the holy incense (Exodus 30:34-38). Efforts of critics to downgrade this chapter by making it a late addition to the instructions in Exodus 25, when examined carefully, are altogether ridiculous and unreasonable. Of course, it is true that Bible students in all ages have wondered why these particular instructions occur just here instead of in the context (Exodus 25), where it usually seems

Leviticus 18:6-18 — 18:11). (f)    A paternal aunt (Leviticus 18:12). (g)    A maternal aunt (Leviticus 18:13). (h)    An aunt by marriage (Leviticus 18:14). (i)    A daughter-in-law (Leviticus 18:15). (j)    A sister-in-law (Leviticus 18:16). (k)    A granddaughter by marriage, whether by a son or a daughter (Leviticus 18:17). (l)    A marriage to the sister of one's wife during the wife's

Isaiah 65:17-25 — indicated by the apostle Peter on Pentecost (Acts 2:16); because it is the era in which the Gentiles are called to accept the gospel (cf. Romans 10:20), and it is the era when God's people are no longer Israelites but are called by "another name" (Isaiah 65:15). Therefore, we accept the designation of Douglas as correct. He designated these last nine verses as, "The Overflowing Blessings in the Messianic Age."George C. M. Douglas, p. 409. The great difficulty of accepting this understanding of the passage

Daniel 6:10-15 — who pray in the direction of Mecca."J. E. H. Thomson, op. cit., p. 189. This writer feels a certain appreciation of this text, which was the basis of a sermon delivered in the Sixteenth and Decatur Streets Church in Washington, D.C. in January of 1953, attended that morning by Major General Charles I. Carpenter, Chief of the Armed Services Board of Chaplains, for the United States of America. As a result of the General's strong approval of that sermon, he extended an invitation for this writer to

Hosea 2:2 — adulteries" Whoredoms is a reference to licentiousness generally, but "adulteries" refers to Israel's having broken their marriage covenant with the Lord by the committing of idolatry. This figure is used extensively in the Old Testament (Exodus 34:14-15; Leviticus 17:7; Leviticus 20:5-6; Numbers 14:33; Numbers 15:39; Deuteronomy 31:16; Deuteronomy 32:16; Deuteronomy 32:21, etc.). Of course, in the background of these remarks was Hosea's consciousness of Gomer's infidelity. "For she is not my wife,

Hosea 3:5 — and shall seek the service of the Lord their God, and shall obey the Messiah the Son of David, their King.Such an interpretation is found in some of the Targums and the Midrash and by such scholars as Ibn Ezra and Kimchi.Paul T. Butler, op. cit., p. 465. There is hardly any need to multiply names and citations from discerning scholars of all ages who have accepted this passage as a reference to the glorious age of Jesus Christ during that present dispensation, during which his holy name is honored

Numbers 10:1-10 — was to march and then instructed Moses to make these silver trumpets. "It does not follow necessarily that the command was given at this time."Thomas Whitelaw, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 2, Numbers (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 83. The trumpets were already procured, but their production, and the explanation of their use, was explained here. "Sons of Aaron shall blow" (Numbers 10:8). Only the priests were commissioned to blow these trumpets, a prerogative that was to

John 1:29 — "I know nothing against myself" (1 Corinthians 4:4); but, when he contemplated the work of Jesus on the cross, he had a far different estimate of himself, saying, "Jesus came to save sinners … of whom I am chief!" (1 Timothy 1:15). Every person who brings his heart to Christ will find it bleeding from a consciousness of sin; and this effective work of revealing man's sin constitutes a step in their redemption. B.    Christ ransoms from sin. Wonderful is the

John 1:51 — he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Ryle noted that the expression "Verily, verily" is unique to this Gospel, being used in it 25 times, always by Jesus, and having the equivalent meaning of "Amen, amen." It always implied a solemn and emphatic statement of some great truth. No other New Testament writer ever used this solemn double "Amen."J. C. Ryle, op. cit.,

Romans 2:17-20 — associated in the mind of the Jew with all upon which he prided himself. Ibid., p. 82. "Judah" means "praised," being the name given by Leah to her fourth son, because, as she said, "Now will I praise the Lord" (Genesis 29:35). The same meaning of "praise" is therefore attached to the name Jew. The name had the highest status among the Hebrews. Even upon his death-bed, Jacob said, "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise" (Genesis 49:8), which

Romans 2:28-29 — example, the submission to the ordinance is itself a part of the laying hold, for in that ordinance, faith becomes obedient; and the salvation Paul taught in Romans has nothing to do with anything else, other than an "obedient faith" (Romans 1:5; Romans 16:26, etc.). Having at this point completed his argument concerning the sinfulness of all people, Jew and Gentile alike, and having established the broad principles of it, Paul then proceeded in the next chapter to answer some objections to

Romans 4:11 — deference to the feelings of his Jewish countrymen; but he implied it here, and did not hesitate to state his position dogmatically upon any occasion when the Judaizers sought to bind it upon Gentiles, as in any way pertinent to their salvation (Galatians 5:2).

1 Corinthians 12:10 — of 1 Corinthians 12:10 here; but it may never be supposed that he engaged in the non-sensical blabberings affected by the Corinthian tongue speakers. The nine miraculous gifts mentioned here are: (1) wisdom; (2) knowledge; (3) faith; (4) healings; (5) miracles; (6) prophecy; (7) discernments of spirits; (8) tongues; and (9) interpretation of tongues. Is the true gift of speaking in tongues on earth today? The answer has to be negative. What is admittedly true of all other gifts in this list may

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 — number, but their nominative is our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, thus implying the unity between these divine Persons. P. J. Gloag, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 21, 2 Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 59. Note: Relying so heavily in the interpretations advocated in this chapter upon ancient and traditional opinion, the writer is aware of the sense of shock that will come to some who read this; but, as Gloag, writing in Pulpit Commentary (perhaps

Hebrews 10:29 — themselves nor allow others to do so. Trodden under foot here translates a Greek word used by Matthew for heartless and totally indifferent action. Bristol says: The verb is used by Jesus of the useless salt cast out and trodden under foot (Matthew 5:13) and of the perils of being trampled down by swine (Matthew 7:6). Here it denotes that the sinner rejects the Son of God completely and brutally. Lyle O. Bristol, Hebrews, A Commentary (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: The Judson Press, 1967), p. 134. It

Hebrews 2:14 — but they have been made partakers of flesh and blood; thereby making a distinction between what constitutes the essential and eternal part of man's nature, and what is merely accidental, and in which we now live, as in a clay tabernacle (2 Corinthians 5:1). R. Milligan, New Testament Commentary (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1962), p. 98. Here is the explanation of the mingled love and pity that humankind have for animals, flesh and blood being the common bond between them, and man's higher self

Hebrews 2:17-18 — owed, and indicates that Christ, having decided to help people, incurred the frightful obligations inherent in such a decision. "Like unto his brethren" is suggestive of the great prophecy concerning "that Prophet" (Deuteronomy 18:15) who was specifically promised as one who would be "like unto his brethren." That Christ was made "in all things" like his brethren should be qualified by the considerations that: (1) in his birth; (2) in his sinlessness; and (3)

1 John 1:1 — that Roberts' firm comment on this is correct: John is referring to Christ and to his existence with the Father from eternity. In 1 John 2:13, he will speak of Christ as "one who was from the beginning." Compare John 1:1-2; John 1:14; John 17:5.J. W. Roberts, The Letters of John (Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet Company, 1968), p. 20. That which we have heard … Who are the "we" of this clause? The conviction here is that the apostolic eyewitnesses of Christ throughout his ministry

Revelation 17:11 — in any sense even similar to Nero. "His reputation (Domitian's, as being a persecutor) rests on a very modest historical foundation." F. F. Bruce, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing Company, 1969), p. 658. This theory would make Domitian the eighth Roman emperor, an outright falsehood, no matter how the emperors are counted. Look at the "lists of emperors" various Left Wing scholars have posted in their vain efforts to support this; not a