Bible Commentaries

Exodus 23:20-24 — nations of Canaan, which, of course, included some thirty-two little kingdoms in all. "I will cut them off" The quibble that it is God who here will destroy the Canaanites, and that it is Israel who will do so, "thou shalt drive them out," in Exo. 23:34, is an excellent measure of the blindness of critical interpretations. Of course, God would remove the Canaanites by the strength of and through the efforts of Israel. What one does through his servants is legitimately held to be what he himself

1 Kings 18:41-46 — physical ability to run ahead of Ahab's chariot all the way to Jezreel. We encountered a number of such supernatural endowments of God's servants in the Book of Judges, as for example, when Samson carried away the gates of the city of Gaza (Judges 16:3). "The nearest point of Carmel is about 17 miles from Jezreel; and Elijah's feat of running that distance ahead of the king's chariot was proof of his Divine inspiration, like the exploits of Samson."Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 303. Whatever the

1 Kings 7:23-26 — Jeroboam for the bull images that he installed at Dan and in Bethel (1 Kings 12:28-29). "Ten cubits… brim to brim… thirty cubits compassed it round about" Of course, the exact ratio of the diameter and the circumference of a circle is 3.1416 to ten; but only a nit-picker could criticize the round numbers of 3 to 10 (or 10 to 30) which we find here. "It held two thousand baths" Nobody knows for sure just what a bath was in terms of gallons, so the scholars guess the contents of the

2 Kings 21:16-18 — of the kings of Judah? And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his stead." "According to an old Jewish legend, which is probably referred to in Hebrews 11:37, the prophet Isaiah was executed by Manasseh by being sawn in two."The Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 118. It is also significant that Manasseh's successor, his son, was named Amon, the same being the name of an Egyptian god. "Thebes, a capital of Egypt,

2 Kings 3:13-17 — water by digging for it!"The Interpreter's Bible, op. cit., p. 199. The water that filled that valley did not come from the army's digging wells all that night! No indeed, the text flatly declares that, "There came water by the way of Edom (2 Kings 3:20)" That can mean only that there was a cloudburst in the highlands of Edom where that wady originated, and that by the following morning the whole area was flooded! "Ye shall not see wind, neither… rain, yet this valley shall be filled with

2 Chronicles 15:8-15 — sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and Jehovah gave them rest round about." "And the prophecy of Obed" "Some versions have, `the prophecy of Azariah the son of Obed,' which may be the true reading."Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 391. "In the third month of the fifteen year of Asa" "This was June (Sivan), on the sixth day of which the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) was observed. The great sacrifices on this occasion included some of the booty they had taken in the war with Zerah";Pulpit

2 Chronicles 29:25-30 — what is written here. Both those versions make "the commandment" which came of God through his prophets applicable exclusively to the order that the Levites should praise God; "And the Hebrew text certainly supports such a rendition."Adam Clarke, Vol. 3, p. 690. Note that there is a distinction made in this very passage between the instruments of David (2 Chronicles 29:26) and the song of Jehovah (2 Chronicles 29:27). The importance of this is emphasized by the apparent contradiction which the ASV

Job 1:13-19 — Holy Scriptures concerning the evil one. (1) His deception of Eve was designed to accomplish her utter destruction, and to drown all of her posterity for ages to come in oceans of blood and tears. (2) Look what happened to the herd of swine (Matthew 8:32). (3) Look what happened to Judas Iscariot. John 13:27 states that, "After the sop, Satan entered into Judas"; and before the night ended Judas was dead by his own hand. This passage in Job probably was given unto God's people as an accurate portrayal

Job 34:31-37 — without knowledge, And his words are without wisdom. Would that Job were tried unto the end, Because of his answering like wicked men. For he addeth rebellion unto his sin; He clappeth his hands among us, And multiplieth his words against God." "Job 34:28-33 are replete with difficulty, and the LXX omitted them entirely."The Anchor Bible (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1982), op. cit., p. 225. Also, Driver noted that, "These verses, as a whole, are unintelligible, or at least very

Psalms 34:7-10 — Blessed is the man that taketh refuge in him Oh fear Jehovah, ye his saints; For there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; But they that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing." "The angel of Jehovah" (Psalms 34:7). The angel of Jehovah is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. He appeared to Joshua as, "The Captain of the host of the Lord" (Joshua 5:14), and also in the remarkable visions of Zechariah 9:8. "He is not merely an angelic messenger, but is

Psalms 7:3-5 — at peace with me (Yea, I have delivered him that without cause was mine adversary); Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; Yea, let him tread my life down to the earth, And lay my glory in the dust. (Selah)" Notice the triple "if" in Psalms 7:3-5. This format was typical of what was called The Oath of Clearance which is mentioned in 1 Kings 8:31-32. When one was accused, he could go to the temple and there take a solemn oath after the pattern noted here, asking that God would receive his affirmation

Numbers 32:6-15 — immediate response to this was correct. This response, of course, was a rehearsal of events following Kadesh-Barnea and the sending out of the spies which resulted as follows: (1) it discouraged Israel; (2) Jehovah's anger was kindled against Israel; (3) God forbade any of that generation except Caleb and Joshua to enter Canaan; and (4) the Lord punished the whole nation by some forty years of aimless wanderings in the wilderness. Now, forty years later, once more standing on the verge of entering

Deuteronomy 32:28-36 — THE WAY IT WAS WITH ISRAEL (Deuteronomy 32:28-36) "For they are a nation void of counsel, And there is no understanding in them. Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight,

Joshua 18:1 — apparent reason for mentioning this change of the tabernacle from Gilgal near the Jordan, where it had been set up shortly after the Jordan crossing, is that it was to remain there at Shiloh for a long time. "The tabernacle remained at Shiloh for more than 300 years."Robert Jamieson, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary, Joshua (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House), p. 154. In fact, it remained there until the times of Eli and the loss of the Ark of the Covenant to the Philistines who also destroyed

Judges 18:7-10 — Qadi, some 26 air-miles due east of Tyre."Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 454. "One of the largest fountains in the world, called El Leddan, which, according to Josephus, is the source of the lesser Jordan, is at Laish."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 3-C, p. 185. Also, Campbell, a frequent visitor to this area, gave this quotation from a fellow visitor: "Water comes from every rock and hill, pouring down from the nearby mountains of Lebanon. Like Scotland, this part of Galilee is green and overgrown

1 Samuel 23:1-5 — letters as Qilti and identified with Khirbet Qila, located eight miles northwest of Hebron overlooking the Elah Valley road to Hebron. In the times of Nehemiah, the city was reoccupied by the Israelites returning from the captivity in Babylon (Nehemiah 3:17-18)."Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 985. At the time of this episode, the citizens of Keilah were harvesting their grain crops, which afforded the principal means of their livelihood. It seldom rained in the summer; and the threshing floors

1 Samuel 3:1 — Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision." "The boy Samuel" "The term `boy' as used here is applied to an infant (1 Samuel 4:21) or to a man forty years old (2 Chronicles 13:7)."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 384. Samuel was probably about twelve years of age at the time of this episode, as was stated by Josephus.Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, p. 169. That was traditionally among the Jews the age at which bar-mitsvah

1 Samuel 8:4-9 — discerning scholar listed a number of motivations for the request of Israel's elders: "The elders gave several reasons why Israel should have an earthly king: (1) Samuel is near the end of his career; (2) Samuel's sons do not have godly qualities; (3) a king would be a permanent judge; (4) the surrounding nations all have kings; and (5) a king would effectively lead them in battle."John T. Willis, p. 98. There is even a sixth motivation suggested by the elders in their use of the words of Deuteronomy

2 Samuel 1:11-16 — long! (2)    The Amalekite's claim of being "the son of a sojourner," had it been the truth would have meant that he knew it was a great sin to kill the "Lord's anointed." The fact that he did not know this indicated emphatically the falsehood of his claim. (3)    And then there is the fact pointed out by Young that, "This just punishment of the Amalekite once and for all precluded any untrue accusations of David's enemies that he might have had a part, directly or indirectly, in the death

2 Samuel 20:14-22 — fortified city of Abel and try to hold out there against David. That place was located at the extreme northern boundary of Israel. "It is identified as the modern Tel Abil, twelve miles north of Lake Huleh and four miles west of Dan."John T. Willis, p. 394. DeHoff also tells us that, "It is supposed to have been the capital of the district called Abilene in Luke 3:1."George DeHoff's Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 222. "Then a wise woman called from the city" "This woman was probably someone on the border line