Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 17:17-24 — remembrance" This thought of the child's mother was due to the ancient error of supposing that any kind of hardship or disaster was due to the sin of the person afflicted, an error that persisted in Israel until Jesus himself exposed it as a false view (John 9:3). We may believe that the death of this woman's son was also for the reason mentioned by Jesus, in the same verse, "That the works of God might be manifest in him." "And he… carried him up into the chamber, where he abode" "This woman was a person

1 Kings 22:24-28 — peace. And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, Jehovah hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hear ye, all of you." "Whether the prophets tell the truth or not, it is acknowledged that they are inspired of Jehovah."Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 304. Any such statement as this is untrue. It is the grossest kind of error to equate the ravings of some deluded false prophet with the sober pronouncements of one who is truly inspired. Falsehoods from a blinded, hardened and deluded false prophet are

2 Kings 5:10-12 — May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage." "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times" "The word for `wash' here is `dip'; and it is identified with `baptism' in the N.T."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 375. (See the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the O.T.) Thus, what was commanded was that Naaman should be IMMERSED seven times in Jordan. Jesus gave a similar command to the man born blind, "Go wash in the pool of Siloam" (John 9:7); and it should

2 Kings 6:1-7 — stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand and took it." Dentan alleged that this event is "the most trivial of the stories told of Elisha."The Layman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, p. 83. On the other hand, it is actually one of the most important miracles performed by that remarkable prophet. Why? It emphasizes God's concern for the problems pressing upon the hearts of the poor. It was no trivial matter at all that confronted this

2 Kings 9:4-10 — because of his wound, he left Jehu as "his general in charge"Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, p. 284. of the entire army at Ramoth-gilead. It is evident from this that only a summary of Elisha's instructions to the young prophet was given in 2 Kings 9:1-3. The entire charge of Elisha is revealed in the words of the young prophet to Jehu (2 Kings 9:7-10). "Him that is shut up, and him that is at large in Israel" These words are somewhat ambiguous, but they apparently mean infant children as well as those

2 Chronicles 13:13-22 — Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo." Regarding the huge numbers of the troops engaged in this battle, Curtis (Madsen) characterized them as `Midrash,'International Critical Commentary, Chronicles, p. 374 which is a critcal code-word for `false.' However the same writers admitted that, "The number of Jeroboam's warriors is exactly the same as the number credited to Israel in the census taken by Joab."Ibid. To this writer it appears to be an altogether

2 Chronicles 30:1-9 — Hezekiah attributed to their forsaking the true worship of God in Jerusalem. This is proof that long before the times of Josiah God had commanded the centralization of his worship in Jerusalem. Note also the significant words as it is written (2 Chronicles 30:5). The Book of the Law (the Pentateuch) was appealed to by Hezekiah in these words. It is also significant that Hezekiah admits here that the passover had indeed been kept previously but by small numbers of people (2 Chronicles 30:5). "The king had

Deuteronomy 14:1-3 — mentioned here were "pagan acts of sacrifice, the blood and the hair being offered up to heathen deities or to the dead but deified ancestors."T. Witton Davies, Peake's Commentary on the Bible, Deuteronomy (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 237. That such cuttings of the body with knives was a standard procedure in pagan worship is also noticeable in Elijah's contest on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:25 ff). Thus, such customs so closely allied to paganism were forbidden to Israel in the same Spirit

Deuteronomy 14:4-21 — unto the sojourner that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner: for thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk." "These verses agree closely with Leviticus 11:2-23,"T. Witton Davies, op. cit., p. 237. and we have already commented extensively on these regulations in my Commentary (Vol. 3) on Leviticus-Numbers en loco. However, the last sentence above regarding seething a kid in its mother's milk, is a reference

Deuteronomy 17:2-7 — therefore, to refuse to admit the testimony of any man who was not ready to execute judgment with his own hand."John Calvin, as quoted by C. F. Keil, Commentary on the Old Testament, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 381. "Unto thy gates" (Deuteronomy 17:5). "`Gates' here means the open spaces near the gates where the judicial proceedings took place (Nehemiah 8:1; Nehemiah 8:3; Job 29:7)."Ibid., p. 380. Thus, criminals were executed "outside the camp" in the period

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 — dead bodies of the executed in public places. Here is found the basis of Paul's wonderful words, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written: `Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree'" (Galatians 3:13). The epic failure of Israel appears in the truth that when the Redeemer himself came into the world, they caused him to be fastened to a tree in his death, supposing, of course, that they had fastened upon Jesus the curse of a passage like this,

Deuteronomy 8:11-16 — in this paragraph is, "that luxury and ease could blunt the edge of Israel's awareness of God.Meredith G. Kline, op. cit., p. 166. "Wealth is likely to engender in the possessor a spirit of self-gratulations and pride."W. L. Alexander, op. cit., p. 153. Concerning wealth which is very much in view here, the Saviour himself called it wicked. "Make unto yourselves friends, using Mammon, wicked as it is, that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal habitations" (Luke 16:9). Moffatt rendered

Joshua 22:1-6 — is "essential to the story of the invasion, showing that God kept faith with those who kept faith with Him, answering, as it does to Joshua 1:12-18."John Lilley, The New Layman's Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979), p. 334. Far from being a late addition by unscrupulous priests desiring to change God's law, as the critics allege, "The events of this chapter, without doubt, are recorded in their proper historical order."F. C. Cook, Barnes' Notes, Joshua (Grand Rapids:

Judges 21:8-12 — seek. "Jabesh-Gilead was related by blood to Gibeah (1 Chronicles 7:12-15))."Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 462. It was a very costly mistake which they made. "This is the first mention of Jabesh-Gilead in the Bible,"The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 3-C, p. 208. but it is mentioned twice, later. (1)    In 1 Samuel 11, it is stated that King Saul responded to their appeal and rescued them from an invasion of the Ammonites; and (2)    When King Saul was slain,

1 Samuel 12:19-25 — cit., p. 89. "The Lord will not cast away his people" The great factor underlying a promise like this was the purpose of God as revealed to Abraham that through his Seed (singular), the Messiah, God would bless all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:3). God's promise of the Messiah to be born of the posterity of Abraham absolutely required that God preserve and protect that posterity (Israel) until that goal was actually achieved in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately the Israelites

1 Samuel 15:24-31 — anarchy."Ibid. (2)    Another possibility is that Saul might have threatened to take Samuel's life if he refused. His seizing Samuel's robe was in itself an act of violence; and Saul was certainly capable of killing anyone whom he considered to be a threat to himself. (3)    The third alternative is that Samuel's action here constituted a sin on the prophet's part. We consider this to be the least likely of the reasons cited here, and that the first reason is probably correct.

1 Samuel 27:5-7 — we are following) guessed the time as a year and four months; but the Septuagint (LXX) guessed it as only four months; and according to H. P. Smith, both versions missed it, being far "Too short in the light of Achish's own statement in 1 Samuel 29:3."International Critical Commentary, Samuel, p. 235.

2 Samuel 3:26-30 — discharge, or who is leprous, or who holds a spindle, or who is slain by the sword, or who lacks bread" The five curses here invoked by David upon the head of Joab and upon his father's house were itemized by Willis as: "(1) gonorrhea; (2) leprosy; (3) effeminacy; (4) untimely death; and (5) hunger."John T. Willis, p. 305. David did not content himself with this imprecation against Joab; he also took further action against Joab. "During the intervening years, Joab was deprived of his office, which

2 Samuel 3:6-11 — Commentary, p. 406. "Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?" "It was the exclusive right of the successor to the throne to cohabit with the concubines of the deceased king."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 2b, p. 301. Right here is the full explanation of why it is stated in 2 Samuel 2:10 that Ishbosheth reigned only two years. Afterward and until Abner's defection to David the real king and ruler of northern Israel was no one else but Abner. Ishbosheth, although

2 Samuel 8:1-2 — with a line, making them lie down on the ground; two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute." "After this" "This is not a temporal clause."John T. Willis, p. 334. It has nothing to do with chronology. The NIV renders it, "In the course of time"; and Willis affirmed that the word "'Now' might be better."Ibid, p. 335. "David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines" From the parallel account in 1