Bible Commentaries

Genesis 24:50-58 — imperative. Note the sacrifices that Rebekah made: (1)    She did not plead for time to make up her mind. (2)    She would say goodbye to her home and relatives, with the near certainty that she would never see them again. (3)    She believed the messenger completely, an incredible act of faith. (4)    She made the decision, saying, "I will go." (5)    She followed the messenger to meet her bridegroom. (6)    She

Genesis 43:31-34 — verses: (1)    There is the order of the seating of the brothers in exactly the sequences of their ages from oldest to the youngest. No wonder the men marveled at it. The mathematical odds that this could have been done accidentally were exactly 39,917,000 to 1.Ibid. p. 610. This is about forty million to one! (2)    The "mess" which Joseph sent to his brothers, with such preference for Benjamin. It was the custom at such banquets in ancient times for the host to send especially

Genesis 47 overview — We shall consider this chapter as embracing ten paragraphs, as follows: (1)    Joseph presents five of his brothers before Pharaoh (Genesis 47:1-4). (2)    Pharaoh confirms the settlement of Israel in Goshen. (3)    Jacob himself had an audience with Pharaoh (Genesis 47:7-10). (4)    Israel's settlement in Goshen was accomplished (Genesis 47:11-12). (5)    Money in Egypt became exhausted (Genesis 47:13-14). (6)    Cattle

Genesis 7:17-20 — heaven. Natural man has a rough time with this; it is totally beyond his capacity to believe or accept it, resulting in the response: "It has lost contact with history entirely!"William Neil, Harper's Bible Commentary (New York: Harper and Row, 1975), p. 32. There are simply too many things in this that men cannot explain for some of them to believe it, but, we might add, such men are exactly like Noah's generation who also could not conceive of such a thing. Did it really happen? Of course it did! Every

Exodus 13:1-2 — first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine." There were three great memorials of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage, namely: (1) The Passover; (2) The Feast of Unleavened Bread; and (3) the Sanctification of the First-born. Each of these was uniquely associated with the event of the deliverance and is incapable of being intelligently associated with anything else. The Passover stressed God's PASSING OVER the houses of the Israelites

2 Kings 9 overview — THE BLOODY END OF OMRI'S DYNASTY "This narrative comes from the school of the prophets; and it is an objective and highly dramatic political history, with which criticism can find little fault."International Critical Commentary, Kings, p. 399. This is in line with what this writer believes to be true regarding the entire group of historical books. No "Deuteronomist" had anything to do with any of them. As Josephus declared, "Only the prophets have written the original and earliest accounts."Flavius

Psalms 118 overview — CORNER A MESSIANIC PROPHECY OF THE SON OF GOD A PSALM OF DAVID We find ourselves unable to accept the dictum of most present-day scholars that, "This is a marching song sung by the pilgrims not yet arrived coming to Jerusalem to worship,"W. E. Addis, p. 392. or that it is a national hymn, "Referring to the whole congregation of Israel."H. C. Leupold, p. 311. Neither of these views is tenable. (1)    Regarding the liturgical explanation (pilgrims marching to the Temple), as Addis admitted,

Psalms 21 overview — treat such efforts with the contempt which they deserve. "The Davidic kingship was consciously acknowledged from early times as a figure of the true… and the Messianic expectation is rightly found here."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 463. Furthermore, there is a great deal of the language in this Psalm which cannot in the wildest employment of the imagination be ascribed to anyone else except the Messiah. Structurally, there are three divisions of the Psalm: (1) Psalms 21:1-7; (2) Psalms

Psalms 38 overview — PRAYER OF A SUFFERING PENITENT The chapter heading here is the one found in the superscription, which also names David as the author. As Delitzsch observed: "The occasion was David's adultery (2 Samuel 12:14); and Psalms 6; Psalms 38; Psalms 51; and Psalms 32 form a chronological series. Here, David is distressed both in mind and in body, forsaken by his friends, and regarded by his foes as one who is cast off forever. The fire of divine anger burns within him like a fever; and

Psalms 65 overview — be neither proved nor disproved."Ibid. There are three natural divisions of the psalm. (1) God is praised for his moral qualities (Psalms 65:1-5). (2) God is praised for his preparation of the earth as a dwelling place for mankind (Psalms 65:6-9). (3) God is praised for an abundant harvest (Psalms 65:10-13).

Leviticus 27 overview — religious duties which were obligatory upon all Israelites, but the regulations of this chapter, on the contrary, have to do with special vows which were not obligatory, but voluntary. `If thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee' (Deuteronomy 23:22)."S. H. Kellogg, The Book of Leviticus (Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham), p. 541. From this it is easy to see why the instructions regarding vows would not have fit into any other location earlier in Leviticus. Voluntary religious actions have no

Isaiah 60 overview — the church of God, by the conversion and accession to it of the heathen nations; which is set forth in such ample and exalted terms as plainly show that, the full completion of this prophecy is reserved for future times."Robert Lowth's Commentary, p. 381. Barnes agreed with this, and called it, "A description of the Golden Age under the Messiah," stating also that, "The description continues to the end of the next chapter."Albert Barnes' Commentary, Vol. II, p. 358. Some scholars, of course, disagree.

Isaiah 66 overview — fulfilled long after that date, absolutely destroying the critical dictum regarding the impossibility of predictive prophecy; (2) the subject matter, the vocabulary, the style, and the spirit of Isaiah dominate every paragraph of the whole prophecy; and (3) our Lord Jesus Christ and his holy apostles had the utmost respect for the whole prophecy, fight down to this very last chapter, quoting from it, by inspiration adding to it, and by attributing it repeatedly to Isaiah. In our opinion, the critical

Numbers 4:21-28 — charge all their burden. This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest." "All that enter in to wait upon the service" (Numbers 4:23). "Literally, this is, `to war the warfare.' The same phrase is rendered in Numbers 4:3, `enter into the host to do the work.' The language is military. The service of God is a sacred warfare."F. C. Cook, op. cit., p. 190. The Levites were not to look,

Deuteronomy 1:3-8 — far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the !and which Jehovah sware unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them." Deuteronomy 1:3 places the event of the writing of Deuteronomy almost at the end of the period of Israel's wilderness sojourn and just before the death of Moses. It was an opportune time indeed for the aged commander to turn the mantle of authority over to Joshua and

Deuteronomy 21 overview — each other. As Cousins stated it, "It is hard to distinguish any pattern in this section, although some laws are grouped together."Peter E. Cousins, The New Layman's Bible Commentary, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979), p. 300. For example, Deuteronomy 21:10-21 concerns family affairs, and Deuteronomy 23:1-18 deals with the purity of the community. Keil wrote that: "The reason for grouping these five laws which are apparently so different from one another, as well as for

Joshua 1:10-11 — within three days ye are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which Jehovah your God giveth you to possess it." "Within three days" Here we encounter somewhat of a problem. This is due to the mention of another "three days" in Joshua 3:2 before Joshua gave the order mentioned here. This is rather a complicated problem, and scholars have given conflicting opinions on it for many years. We do not consider it to be of any earth-shaking importance, because of two reasons: (1)    The

Joshua 21:3-8 — "Their number by this time might well have been several thousand."Ibid. Besides that, as Plummer noted: (1) the cities, at first, were probably not inhabited exclusively by priests; (2) all of these cities had not yet been taken from the Canaanites; and (3) the cities themselves, in some cases, were very small.Alfred Plummer, op. cit., p. 300. The Aaronic priests are all located within the area of Judah and Benjamin. The working of providence is seen in this, because all of the priests drew cities in

Joshua 21:9-19 — descendants of Kohath were the Levites, thus giving us: (1) the sons of Kohath (through Aaron) the priests (Note that the priests also, as descendants from Levi, were Levites, sometimes called Levitical priests); (2) the sons of Kohath (the Levites); (3) the sons of Gershon (Levites); and (4) the sons of Merari (Levites). There is another list of these Levitical cities in 1 Chronicles 6:54-81, with certain variations in it due to the double names borne by some cities, and to changes which, from time

Revelation 18:3 — totally inadequate to view the seduction of "the kings" as being derived solely from "the vast luxury trade bringing widespread prosperity." G. B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p. 223. Something far more significant is indicated. And the merchants waxed rich … This enters into the ultimate disaster, because the proliferation of a rich class indicates a loss of spiritual values. "The English word waxed comes from the German