Bible Commentaries

Proverbs 8:22-31 — Here was a prominent battle ground of the great Arian controversy, which was led by Arius and his followers during the fourth century of this era. They denied the oneness of Jesus Christ with the Father, basing their arguments largely upon Proverbs 8:22 in this passage. We have already noted the stupidity of that argument, on the grounds that the passage does not even mention Christ. That many of the things here stated with regard to Wisdom are also most certainly true of Christ is no proof whatever

Leviticus 11 overview — PART THREE ON "PUTTING AWAY" UNCLEANNESS (Leviticus 11-22) This is the principal part of Leviticus, consisting of eleven sections presented in Leviticus 11-22. Most of these sub-sections consist of one chapter each. This first one outlines the regulations concerning uncleanness from: (a)    eating

Amos 5:23 — "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols." There are two things God condemned in this verse: (1) the noise of the songs of their worship, and (2) the mechanical instruments used in their worship. Commentators generally have (1) either skipped the questions raised by this verse as did McKeating;Henry McKeating, op. cit., p. 46. (2) dismissed the verse on the grounds that the only thing God had

Numbers 18:8-20 — `anointed,' but rather to the gifts which had been `consecrated' to them. Smick rendered this place, "I have given them for an anointed (or consecrated) portion."Elmer Smick, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Old Testament, Vol. 1 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 136. Note that in Numbers 18:10, certain sacrifices were to be eaten by males only, while others in Numbers 18:11, were for the entire households of the priests. "The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land" (Numbers 18:13). These words

Matthew 23:5 — "for a token upon thy head, and for frontlets between thine eyes." In the inter-biblical period, we find the Jews converting this figure into outward fact. They took four passages adjacent to the thrice repeated injunction, namely, Exodus 13:2-10; Exodus 13:11-17; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; and Deuteronomy 11:13-22, and writing them on strips of parchment, encased the folded strips in minute leather boxes. These four boxes were set on edge and fastened upon one leather base, which was placed in the

Matthew 24:14 — witnessed the truth before "the kings and the Gentiles, and the children of Israel." Paul declared that "The gospel which ye heard … was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister" (Colossians 1:23). The same phenomenon will also occur before the second event, the end of the world. The end of the age is mentioned in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:20) and vividly described by the apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:1-8. In retrospect, how bold was the

Matthew 25:42-45 — hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me. See under Matthew 25:39-40. It is remarkable that in this passage the unsaved refer to Christ as "Lord," giving support to the interpretation which refers this entire judgment scene to the church only; but in refutation of that idea, it should be recalled that

Matthew 26:47 — staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. THE BETRAYAL AND SEIZURE OF JESUS Prompted by Judas' treachery, a fundamental strategy-change occurred in the camp of Jesus' enemies. They at first thought to murder Jesus privately (see Matthew 26:1-5), but now they decided to move against him boldly with a public arrest and trial. The great company of the arresting party showed that at that time, for better or for worse, the religious hierarchy was irrevocably committed to the more open tactic.

Mark 1:25-26 — show that he had nothing to do with them."E. Bickersteth, op. cit., p. 5. There were two excellent reasons why Christ forbade the testimony of evil spirits: (1) it was not the proper time that Christ should be made known as the Son of God, and (2) if it had been permitted, it would have been alleged as proof by the Pharisees that Christ was in league with Satan (Mark 3:22). Hold thy peace and come out … Christ ordered the evil spirit not to speak, and no further word was uttered by him,

Mark 3:23-27 — can enter into the house of the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Jesus met the charges of his foes with three arguments, two of which are in these verses, and the third in Mark 3:28-30. 1.    Argument of the divided kingdom. It is of immense importance that Jesus here revealed a world view of Satan and the kingdom of evil. The demoniacs whom Jesus had healed were actually controlled by forces administered by

Luke 1:35 — used in all the synoptic Gospels of the cloud that came at the transfiguration. The only other New Testament usage is in Acts 5:15. The term is always used of divine power. The concept is reminiscent of the Spirit hovering over the waters in Genesis 1:2. Here the Spirit would be active in a new "creation" of God.Anthony Lee Ash, op. cit., p. 39. This whole paragraph regarding the annunciation is fantastically beyond the power of any mere human being to have invented it. Like many other passages

Luke 6:8-9 — knew their thoughts … Why downgrade this by a comment that "This required no special knowledge on his part"?Ray Summers, op. cit., p. 71. The clear intention of Luke, in these words, was that of showing the omniscience of Jesus (John 2:25). To save a life, or destroy it … Jesus thus announced the principle that the withholding of good that may be done is equivalent to doing harm, and that refusing to save a life that could be saved is the same as destroying it. The Old Testament

Luke 9:49-50 — may have been a number of occasions when the Lord had sent them out "on their own." The incident in view here would seem to have taken place upon an occasion of their absence from Christ different from the sending "forth" of Luke 9:2. We forbade him … This was the true sectarian spirit! If he is not "with us," away with him! By Luke's record of such a blunder here, as well as by his recording the ignorant proposal of Peter in the transfiguration event, he forever

John 20:19 — and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. The first day of the week … This was already pinpointed as the time of these events (John 20:1), and therefore the repetition of this fact is emphatic. Chief among the days of the week is Sunday, not Saturday; and this profound change began the day our Lord rose from the dead and met with his disciples. Such New Testament passages at Matthew

Romans 1:29-32 — natural affection, unmerciful: who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practice them. There are several such lists of sins in Paul's writings, 2 Timothy 3:1-8 and Galatians 5:19-21 being two others. In one of these, Paul attributes such conduct to the "corrupted in mind," and in the other to those practicing the "works of the flesh"; therefore, the same type of sinner is

Romans 8:4 — and of itself; if so, the flesh of Jesus was sinful. … Christ had in his nature all that the word "man" implies. "Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also in like manner partook of the same" (Hebrews 2:14). "Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren" (Hebrews 2:17). If Christ's brethren were born sinful and he was not, then he was not like them in all things. But as Jesus was made in all things like unto his

Ephesians 1:4 — will not become a part of it and receive the intended blessing. Before the foundation of the world … All attempts to get rid of the plain meaning of this phrase have been futile; for, as Bruce said: Whatever be the interpretation of Genesis 1:2, it is certain that [@katabole] can mean nothing but "laying down" in the sense of "establishing" or "founding"; the phrase used here and in ten other New Testament passages is unambiguous and denotes the creation of the

Hebrews 6:4-6 — be exaggerated to the point of distortion when he is understood to say that for sins committed after baptism there can be no repentance. F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 122. The most difficult word in this passage is "impossible," which seems to perplex most of the writers. Macknight wrote that "The apostle does not mean that it is impossible for God to renew a second time an apostate; but that it is impossible

1 Peter 1:1-2 — of Jesus Christ …" Peter was the beloved name that Jesus himself had bestowed upon this apostle, and is the Greek form of the Aramaic name meaning "stone" or "pebble." Jesus had first spoken it prophetically (John 1:42), later confirming it, when in his great confession of Christ (Matthew 16:18), this great apostle was proving his perception and dependability. An apostle of Jesus Christ … There was no need for Peter to defend his apostleship, for it was never

Revelation 20:3 — many shall be deceived because they reject the truth, not through being deceived, but with their eyes wide open, just like Adam sinned. Having rejected it through a moral decision against it, they will then receive the "strong delusion" of 2 Thessalonians 2:11. After this, he must be loosed for a little time … Some respected scholars identify the "little time" here with the whole dispensation, the "loosing" being applied to Satan's operations against the vast