Bible Commentaries

Luke 20:41-44 — For David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. David therefore calleth him Lord, and how is he his son? Parallels: Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37. V. Jesus himself asks his questioners a question. As seen from the parallels, this is an abbreviation of a very significant question which Jesus' questioners were utterly unable to answer. Its importance merits some further study of it. 1.    The

Luke 21:1-4 — means "the thin one"; it was worth one-sixteenth of a penny; and therefore the offering of the widow was only half a farthing. All she had in the world was two LEPTA.William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1953), p. 265. Plummer revealed that "According to Jewish law at the time, it was not permissible to cast in less than TWO gifts."Alfred Plummer, The Gospel according to Luke (New York: T. and T. Clark, 1929), en loco. Thus, this woman's gift

John 16:33 — OVER. That ye may have peace … Hendriksen is right in seeing this peace as a dual blessing: "It is both objective (reconciliation with God) and subjective (the quiet, and comforting assurance of justification and adoption)." Ibid., II, p. 343. In the world … in me … Not even the apostles could receive the peace of God apart from being "in Christ." In him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All spiritual blessings in the heavenly places are in Christ (Ephesians

John 5:39 — have been sufficient to identify him when he came; but the hierarchy promptly projected two Messiahs, making one of them the lowly and suffering priest, and the other the mighty conqueror who would chase the Romans and restore the Solomonic empire. 3.    They rejected out of hand many of the plainest prophecies, especially those projecting the call of the Gentiles to salvation (Romans 9:25-29). No exhaustive treatment of so vast a subject is in order here; but this is enough

Acts 17:14-15 — Paul embarked at Dium and went by sea to Athens." J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 841. If that was the case, "The brethren sailed with him all the way to Athens." Don DeWelt, Acts Made Actual (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1958), p. 236. Either way, the brethren went to considerable expense; and the fact of a sea-voyage requiring only three days to Athens, contrasted with about a month overland, forces the conclusion that they would have gone by sea, if possible. Milligan thought

Romans 16:13 — men" (Judg. 22:16), and noted that: By the same use of the word, the companions of Paul and Barnabas are termed "chosen men," persons in whom the church of God could confide. Adam Clarke, Commentary (New York: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), Vol. VI, p. 163. His mother and mine … was very probably intended by Paul as a warm, personal, and respectful recognition of a gracious Christian woman who had treated him as a son and had aided and encouraged his marvelous work; but there

1 Corinthians 12:13 — man may see the kingdom of God. These are: obedience to the ordinance of baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit. Jesus joined these two essential elements by his requirement that people be "born of the water and of the Spirit" (John 3:5 ff). Peter joined them on Pentecost by the command that all people should "repent and be baptized … and … receive the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38 ff). There is no doubt whatever that Paul's words here refer to the same twin essentials

2 Corinthians 12:3-4 — such a man (whether in the body, or apart from the body, I know not; God knoweth), how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. The repetition of the same thought in 2 Corinthians 12:2-3 ("whether in the body …") is difficult to interpret. "Opinion is divided as to whether the apostle is merely repeating what he had just said, or is describing" Philip E. Hughes, Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand

Galatians 1:8 — possibility of Satan himself appearing as an angel of light to deceive them." R. A. Cole, op. cit., p. 42. It will be remembered that when Peter proposed to Christ the elimination of the cross, our Lord said, "Get thee behind me, Satan" (Mark 8:33). Anathema… Some have sought to soften the meaning of this word, but there can be no doubt that it is the strongest curse that can be uttered, having the meaning of "yielded up to the wrath of God, surrendered to the curse of God."

Hebrews 13:18-19 — Brooke Foss Westcott, op. cit., p. 446. The author, therefore, reinforces his right to ask their prayers with the affirmation that he has a clear conscience and that all of his efforts have been directed to living "honor ably in all things." (3) Another deduction regards the increased efficacy of prayers offered by many, as contrasted with prayers offered by only one, or a few. The scriptures teach that the prayers of many may prevail where the prayers of one, or only a few, might not. Even

Hebrews 4:3 — again strikes at the tragic failure of Israel who, though entering Canaan, did not in fact enter into God's rest, in the higher and better sense of becoming a holy nation of righteous and devoted worshipers of God, as God had commanded them (Exodus 19:3-6); but on the other hand, they rebelled against God time and again; they rejected the theocracy, demanded a king like the nations around them, worshipped idols, oppressed the poor, and even made their children pass through the fire to Molech! Thus,

2 Peter 1:20 — church alone (that is, their church alone). Nothing like this could possibly be in this passage. As Kelcy said, "There are many New Testament passages which indicate that the writers expected their readers to understand what they wrote (Ephesians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:27; 1 John 2:12-13)." Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 133. Christ himself bore witness of the fact that every man is responsible for studying and reading the word of God for himself, when he demanded of the lawyer, "What

2 Peter 2:18 — stimulated their thinking!" This report, after being given in the Journal of Medical Education, was widely circulated in newspapers throughout the United States, the information given here, having been published in the Houston Chronicle, Section 3, page 20, Wednesday, May 8, 1974. It is reproduced here for the purpose of pointing up this writer's observation that there is also an incredible amount of the same kind of nonsense being disseminated from religious platforms in the present era. Perhaps

2 Peter 3:18 — understood the "grace" to be that which Christ bestows; but as Caffin said, "Peter insists on the knowledge of Christ as essential for growth in grace," B. C. Caffin, op. cit., p. 71. which, of course, it is. "Beware" in 2 Peter 3:17 and "grow" in this, were seen by Fuhrman as, "the essence and theme of this whole epistle." Eldon R. Fuhrman, op. cit., p. 338. There are false teachers abroad; beware! A Call to progress' has been sounded; grow! To him be the

1 John 1:8 — because the apostle here identified himself with the false teachers, not through any agreement with them, but out of a delicate regard for his readers. This identification of an apostle with those addressed is prevalent in the New Testament. Hebrews 2:3 is a remarkable example of the same thing; and yet that instance of it has been perverted to mean that no first generation Christian could have written that epistle! Some have pointed out that the need for John's teaching here resulted from the most

1 John 5:3 — from obeying him. Only to those whose inclinations are distorted, perverted and corrupted by sin can God's laws seem irksome.W. M. Sinclair, Ellicott's Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 490. (3) Despite the fact of there being genuine obligations in Christian service, called by Jesus himself "my yoke" (Matthew 11:19), it is in the nature of those precious obligations that they make all other burdens lighter. Christ's service is the

Jude 1:11 — and his successors as champions of right, and claimed to be akin to him "and to the men of Sodom and Esau and Korah" (as Epiphanius informs us)F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1972), p. 134. There is further discussion of this above, under 1 John 3:12, where Cain was cited as an example of wickedness. Also see above, under 2 Peter 2:15, where Balaam was similarly cited. Apparently, all three of these, Cain, Balaam, and Korah were considered

Revelation 3:10 — the meaning is the great persecution that was upon the point of breaking out against the church. We agree with Beasley-Murray that it is certainly possible that, "an identical period of trial is referred to in both Revelation 2:10 and Revelation 3:1." G. R. Beasley-Murray, op. cit., p. 101. The looming persecution against the church is starkly evident in all the New Testament books, and hardly any of them failed to address the situation. In fact, the principal burden of the great prophecies

Revelation 6:11 — 129. They shall rest … Russell cautioned that: Care should be taken not to reason from this passage, that all shall sleep unconsciously in an intermediate world. Sleep is a symbol of rest, but it belongs to life (2 Thessalonians 1:7; Hebrews 4:3; Revelation 14:13). James William Russell, Compact Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1964), p. 630. Hinds also pointed out in this connection that: This passage shows that the death of the body does not end the

Revelation 8:6 — the seal judgments were ordinary events; these are supernatural and represent the direct intervention of God in the progress of the natural order of creation. There is clearly here an echo of the primeval curse upon Adam and his posterity in Genesis 3:17-19, when God intervened to reduce the desirability of the natural environment "for Adam's sake"; and these judgments show that God is still doing the same thing, and, presumably, for precisely the same reason, "for Adam's sake."