Bible Commentaries

Job 35:9-16 — are not answered. (1) "Ye have not, because ye ask not" (James 4:2). A far greater tragedy than unanswered prayer is the tragedy of unoffered prayer. (2) "Ye ask, and receive not; because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures" (James 4:3). "Thou sayest thou beholdest him not" Job indeed had complained of his inability to find God; and Barnes believed that here, "Elihu says that, although God is invisible, yet this should not be regarded as a reason why Job should not confide in him."Barnes'

Job 6:14-23 — remembered by many in Job's generation. DeHoff explained what Job meant by this remarkable simile. "When Job was in prosperity, his friends were loyal to him; but, when he was struck down with suffering, they rejected him."George DeHoff's Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 22. They were just like those undependable `brooks' that had water in the winter time, but none at all when the water was needed. "Ye are nothing" That was just Job's way of saying his friends were worthless as far as any benefit to Job was concerned.

Psalms 115:4-8 — made them shall be like unto them; Yea, every one that trusteth in them." This is one of the classic passages in the Old Testament regarding idols. It ranks along with passages in Isaiah 40; Isaiah 42; and Isaiah 44 and is repeated verbatim in Psalms 135:15-18. We are surprised that Addis expresses the old heathen apology for idols, stating that, "The heathen did not, as the psalmist assumes, identify the idol and god."W. E. Addis, p. 392. Among the most intellectual pagans, that distinction was probably

Psalms 120:1-7 — the ages has often addressed the problem of the slandering tongue. Shakespeare spoke of one: Whose tongue is sharper than the sword, whose tongue Out venoms all the worms of Nile, whose breathRides on the posting winds.Cymbeline, Act III, Sc. 4, Line 35. "The tongue is a fire… a world of iniquity… is set on fire by hell… it is a restless evil… full of deadly poison" (James 3:6-9). The psalmist's prayer here is to be delivered from such ravages of such slanderous tongues. Delitzsch

Psalms 131:1-3 — Haughtiness is betrayed by a proud look, the same being the head of the list of the seven things that God hates (Proverbs 6:17). "Neither do I exercise myself in great matters" The "great matters" here refers to, "high positions, or the like."W. E. Addis, p. 394. Christians are admonished, "Set not thy mind on high things." (Romans 12:16). "Things too wonderful for me" "The secret things belong unto Jehovah; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever" (Deuteronomy 29:29). It

Psalms 137:7-9 — is an accurate statement of the attitude that was common among the warring peoples of antiquity. That such shameful cruelty and brutality against tiny children was actually executed upon the victims of conquest is a matter of Biblical record (Nahum 3:10). Christ prophesied that the same atrocities would be executed upon Israel herself in the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 19:44). There is this factor that entered into the destruction of the children, namely, that with the defeat and death of their

Psalms 25:1-7 — which men are incapable. The promise that God would both forgive and forget sins was revealed by the prophet Jeremiah as the outstanding characteristic of the New Covenant. "I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). All of the forgiveness available under the Old Covenant fell short of the absolute sense of it in the New Testament, because the Atonement of Christ was yet in the future. In the practical sense, however, a type of forgiveness was granted to Old

Psalms 34:1-6 — from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were radiant; And their faces shall never be confounded. This poor man cried, and Jehovah heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles." "I will bless Jehovah at all times… continually" (Psalms 34:1). This indicates David's purpose of praising God under all circumstances. Such continual prayer and thanksgiving are also required of Christians. "Giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus" (Ephesians 5:20) and "Pray without

Psalms 36:5-9 — promises, and his righteousness is determined by his holiness."F. Delitzsch, Vol. V-B, p. 5. "Thou preserveth man and beast" "There is not a man nor a beast in the whole earth that is uncared for by the Lord."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 473. Jesus himself taught the same thing, declaring with reference to sparrows, "That not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God" (Luke 12:6). "Mountains of God… a great deep" "In these verses, all that is infinite, sublime, and unfathomable

Psalms 38:1-10 — that recounts any such illness of David as that which appears here. Furthermore, there are definite statements in these ten verses that, by no stretch of imagination, can be literal. "God's arrows, and God's hand pressing sorely upon David" (Psalms 38:2), his sins piled up above his head (the figure is that of a drowning man) (Psalms 38:4), how could this be literal? There is nothing literal about such statements. Then why must the rest of the paragraph be construed as the literal description of

Psalms 65:10-13 — on yonder hill;And back of the hill is the sunAnd the shower and the Father's will. Leupold mentioned half a dozen so-called "interpretations" of this psalm: "(1) that it was written for some great festival, (2) or after a drought had been averted, (3) or as a liturgical piece for the congregation, (4) or as a reference to a sickness from which the writer had recovered."H. C. Leupold, p. 472. He then added that, "All such approaches stand upon too insecure a footing and should not dominate the trend

Psalms 78:12-31 — of God went up against them, And slew of the fattest of them, And smote down the young men of Israel." "Marvelous things… in the field of Zoan" "Zoan was the capital of Egypt in the times of the exodus."Mitchell Dahood in The Anchor Bible, p. 230. "It is the same as the ancient `Tanis,' in the northeast of the Nile Delta; and it was either identical with Rameses II's capital or not many miles from it."Derek Kidner, op. cit., p. 282. "He clave the sea… caused them to pass through" This

Psalms 8:5-6 — renditions. Those older translations were unduly influenced by the Septuagint (LXX) which mistranslated "Elohim," reading it as "angels" instead of "God." More on this below. Look at some of the other reasons for man's unique place in the Creation of God: (3) God created him but a little lower than Himself and in his very image! (4) He crowned him with glory and honor, and (5) He put all things under man's feet, giving him dominion over God's works! "But a little lower than God" The Septuagint (LXX) mistranslated

Psalms 99:6-9 — vengeance of their doings" Moses and Aaron were forbidden to enter Canaan; and, "Samuel's judgeship seems to have been brought to an end through his undue leniency toward his sons Joel and Abijah (1 Samuel 7:1-5)."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 345. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" is a law which is not abrogated by forgiveness. All of God's forgiveness is accompanied by punishment in order to show the pardoned man how deadly his sin was. The worst penalty of sin, i.e., separation

Ecclesiastes 8:1-5 — respect for all legitimate authority is the foundation of all law, civilization and social order. It begins with respect for the authority of parents and teachers and continues as mandatory for all civil authority, as Paul himself pointed out in Romans 13. Waddey agreed that, "The first five verses here admonish us to be submissive to governmental authority."James Waddey, p. 47. "A man's wisdom maketh his face to shine" "The claim here is that wisdom gives insight and charm."Broadman Bible Commentary

Song of Solomon 5:1 — understanding of the Song, this little paragraph corresponds exactly with Christ's statement: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20). This is continually fulfilled in the Church's observance of the Lord's Supper. Waddey understood the verse to mean, "That the marriage is now consummated (with the king)."James Waddey, p. 113 We agree that this celebrates a marriage, all right;

Isaiah 22:20-25 — altered to extend the ownership of the key of David to all of the apostles of Christ (Matthew 18:18), and by no means restricting it merely to Peter. Besides that, "The ultimate authority is claimed in these very terms for Christ himself (Revelation 3:7-8)."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 603. This reference to the key of David is all but proof of the proposition that there are indeed in this half of the chapter overtones of the messianic kingdom and the rejection of racial Israel as the chosen

Isaiah 40:27-31 — is not even a hint of such things in the text. This attitude on the part of the chosen people was characteristic of nearly any period in their long history of distrust and rebellion against God and by no means was confined to the captivity.Ibid., p. 301. As a matter of truth, the Jews fared very well in Babylon; and the vast majority of them found it so good there that they even refused to go back to Jerusalem when the opportunity finally came. Remember, it was only a "remnant," and a very pitifully

Isaiah 51:1-3 — discouraged followers of the Messiah in future generations. The purpose of the encouragement given here is, "To convince them of the certainty and permanence of the coming deliverance."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p, 335. "He was but one when I called him" The point here, given for the encouragement of the captive remnant is simple enough. If God called Abraham when he was only one person, and a hundred years old at that, and his wife barren at the age of 90 years,

Isaiah 66:1-4 — slew a man" This means that a man who is without poverty of spirit and not having a contrite heart who offers an ox, "is not any more pleasing to God than a murderer would be."Pulpit Commentary, Vol. II, p. 485. The following major clauses in Isaiah 66:3-4, are reiterations of the same thought in different terminology. Kelley pointed out that there is another interpretation of this passage, making it, "The most violent rejection of the Temple cultus to be found in the Old Testament. It places the sacrifice