Bible Commentaries

Genesis 7:6 — "And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth." The exact beginning of the flood is pinpointed more definitely in Genesis 7:11, where it is placed in the second month on the seventeenth day of the month of the year when Noah was 600 years old. Unfortunately, no one knows just how the years mentioned here were reckoned.John T. Willis, Genesis (Austin, Texas: Sweet Publishing

2 Chronicles 34 overview — THE DISCOVERY OF THE BOOK OF MOSES IN THE TEMPLE XV. JOSIAH (640-609 B.C.) With the exception of 2 Chronicles 34:3-7 and 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, all of the events in these three concluding chapters of Second Chronicles we have already discussed in the parallel accounts in 2 Kings 22:1 to 2 Kings 25:12, where we have devoted pages 273 to 330 to our comments. We shall

Nehemiah 11 overview — INCREASING THE POPULATION OF JERUSALEM Several scholars link this chapter with Nehemiah 7, viewing the intervening three chapters as a unit; and it is true that Nehemiah 7:4 speaks of the fact that Jerusalem was a large area compared with the few people that lived in it. However, the unity of the Book of Nehemiah is apparent in the fact

Psalms 3:3-4 — prayer from "his holy hill," this, from Jerusalem where God had recorded his name and where, in time, the temple would be built. There is a marked similarity here to the prayer of Jonah who also mentioned God's answer as coming from the temple (Jonah 2:7).

Isaiah 65 overview — different subjects, regarding some of the most remarkable of the themes Isaiah has discussed throughout the prophecy. Regarding the divisions of this chapter, we have (1) God's reply to the complaints visible in Israel's prayer for deliverance (Isaiah 65:1-7); (2) regardless of the total destruction awaiting the irreligious majority, a faithful remnant shall be redeemed (Isaiah 65:8-12); (3) a mingling of threats to the unfaithful and promises to the faithful (Isaiah 65:13-16); (4) a glorious depiction

Daniel 1 overview — This chapter gives the historical setting (Daniel 1:1-2), introduces the four Hebrew young men whose deeds are featured in Daniel (Daniel 1:3-7), tells how these "four" did not wish to violate God's dietary rules and requested that they may eat only those things which God allowed (Daniel 1:9-13), reports how after an experimental period often days, the steward complied with their request (Daniel

Zechariah 7:10 — "And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother." This is a continuation of the teaching of the "former prophets," as a glance at Isaiah 1:16-17; Amos 5:14; Amos 5:24; Micah 6:8, etc. will show. "These ethical summaries draw heavily upon Israel's ancient covenant law."Ibid. Watts reinforced such an opinion by pointing out that: "Kindness" (Zechariah 7:9) is a word used to describe proper behavior

Matthew 9:18 — were three such wonders, forming a sequence: (1) Jairus' daughter had been dead only a very short time. (2) The son of the widow of Nain had been dead longer and was being carried to the tomb. (3) Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days (Luke 7:12; John 11). Christ considered raising the dead a part of his ministry (Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22), and he delegated the power to the apostles (Matthew 10:8). Peter raised Dorcas from the dead, acting under this commission (Acts 9:40). Regarding Jairus'

Luke 11:37 — Now as he spake, a Pharisee asketh him to dine with him; and he went in and sat down to meat. Our Lord frequently dined with Pharisees, as recorded in Luke 5:29; Luke 7:36; Luke 14:1; Luke 19:5; and in John 2:1-11; John 12:1-2. This was apparently the second meal of the day; and Jesus accepted an invitation to dine, entered the Pharisees' house, omitted the customary ablutions, so dear to the Jews, and sat down to

Luke 4:28 — them, having cited it in their own Scriptures; but as Lamar said, "To error, and especially to partisan error, nothing is so offensive as truth."J. S. Lamar, op. cit., p. 85. The same furious rage resulted from the discourse of Stephen (Acts 7:51-54), and from the sermon of Paul (Acts 22:22); and these examples of it demonstrate the invariable attitude toward faithful and uncompromising teachers of the word of God in all generations.

John 14:14 — anything in my name, that will I do. The insertion of "me" in this verse, as in many manuscripts, suggests that prayers might be offered directly to Jesus, as well as addressed to the Father in Jesus' name. Note the prayer of Stephen (Acts 7:59). Dummelow cited Acts 9:14; Acts 9:21 and 1 Corinthians 1:2, where "calling upon the name of the Lord" was construed by him as examples of the same thing. J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937),

John 21:2 — … were James and John, the author of this Gospel, their names being omitted because of the reticence this author had for naming himself. It is not surprising that they were in Galilee, for there the Lord had promised to meet them (Matthew 28:7; Matthew 28:10).

1 Corinthians 2:7 — definition of mystery, to the effect of its being something once unknown now revealed, while true enough, is inadequate. Some elements of the mystery of God will not even be finished until "the days of the voice of the seventh angel" (Revelation 10:7). Russell said that: The mystery in the scriptures denotes (a) something above the ordinary human understanding (Mark 4:11); (b) something formerly hidden in the counsel of God, but afterward revealed as a plan understood by its own fulfillment; and

1 Corinthians 7:26 — I think therefore that this is good by reason of the distress that is upon us, namely, that it is good for a man to be as he is. That the meaning of "virgins" in 1 Corinthians 7:25 includes both sexes is implicit in the specific mention of "men" here. As Macknight said, "Paul declared, beginning with the case of the male virgin, that it was good in the present distress to remain unmarried." James Macknight,

2 Corinthians 3 overview — Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 56. Paul spoke of letters of commendation (2 Corinthians 3:1-3); his sufficiency as of God (2 Corinthians 3:4-6); the new covenant is more glorious than the one given to Moses (2 Corinthians 3:7-11); Paul's ministry needs no veil on the face (2 Corinthians 3:12-13); the veil still darkens Israel (2 Corinthians 3:14-15); the veil is done away in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:16-18).

Philippians 4:9 — both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you. This is the equivalent of Paul's frequent admonitions to follow (or imitate) him as he followed (or imitated) Christ. See under Philippians 3:17. The God of peace … In Philippians 4:7, Paul had written "the peace of God"; and, as Barry said, "The inversion is striking." Ibid. The peace of God passes all understanding, but the God of peace is more, peace being that

1 Timothy 1:8 — of the law of Moses having been "taken out of the way," "fulfilled," "abrogated," "nailed to the cross," etc. Paul flatly declared that Christians are "dead to the law by the body of Christ" (Romans 7:4), this having reference, of course, to all requirements of the law in their totality. Not even the moral code of the Decalogue is the law of Christ, for in the Magna Carta of the Christian Religion (the Sermon on the Mount), our Lord took up, one

Philemon 1:12 — therefore Paul utilized the opportunity for having Onesimus, accompanied by Tychicus the bearer of Colossians, in the journey back to Colossae. "Although Tychicus is not mentioned in Philemon, he in the company of Onesimus is bearer of it (Colossians 4:7-9)." John B. Nielson, op. cit., p. 699.

Hebrews 8:8-9 — tie with the Old Testament, and it was therefore better procedure on his part to prove his proposition from the Old Testament. For proper identification of the "covenant" Jeremiah had in mind, the one to be abrogated, see under Hebrews 8:1-7. Two basic reasons why the old covenant was abolished are: (1) God promised that he would make a new one, which he would not have done if the old one had been faultless. (2) Israel themselves had broken the old covenant by not continuing in it; and

James 4 overview — The sermonic nature of this epistle is quite pronounced in this chapter, as in the third. There is first a section directed against worldliness in the church (James 4:1-12), with a somewhat parenthetical appeal to alien sinners (James 4:7-10) to obey the gospel, the appropriateness of this inclusion deriving from the fact that every Christian congregation contains within the periphery of its influence a number, sometimes quite large, of the unconverted. The admonition against worldliness