Bible Commentaries

Psalms 55:16-19 — circumstances of the rampant rebellion. "Jehovah will save me" Why was David so confident? The answer is simple enough: God specifically said to David, "Thy house and thy kingdom shall be made sure forever before thee; thy throne shall be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:16). These words of God to David through the prophet Nathan were known throughout Israel, to Ahithophel and to Absalom particularly; and their conspiracy to dethrone David was an action directed squarely against the will of God. No wonder David

Psalms 96:10-13 — New Testament. Jesus Christ the Messiah, indeed a `Personal Messiah' was none other than God Himself in the person of his only begotten Son, who in the New Testament is declared to be "God" in no less than a dozen passages (John 1:1; John 1:18; John 20:28; Acts 20:38; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; James 1:1; Revelation 5:13; Revelation 6:16). "Jehovah reigneth… he will judge the peoples with equity" The reign of Jehovah was announced

Song of Solomon 2:1-2 — "As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters" (Song of Solomon 2:2). Many of the commentators view the word `love' here as Solomon's reference to the Shulamite. If that had been the case, the word would have been `beloved' as the triple use of it in Song of Solomon 1:15 indicates. What Solomon is saying here is that

Amos 5:24 — "But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." There are two things commanded here: (1) let justice be done, and (2) return to the commandments and ordinances of God. It was not merely the proper regard for the poor and needy that God wanted, as in (1); but it was also a return to true worship which was required by the admonition in (2). Most of the commentators

Matthew 2:1 — Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the King, behold, Wisemen came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, (Matthew 2:1) Bethlehem of Judaea distinguishes between the two Bethlehems in Israel. One of them was in Zebulun (Joshua 19:15-16) and the other in Judaea. Micah had firmly foretold the birth of the Messiah in the Judean Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). The word BETHLEHEM

John 21:5 — Jesus therefore saith unto them, Children, have ye aught to eat? They answered him, No. Children … This shows the tender affection Jesus had for his disciples. John himself adopted this address to Christians (1 John 2:13; 1 John 2:18). Have ye aught to eat …? Jesus was not asking them for food, but he was rather emphasizing the fact that their return to their old tasks (however momentarily) had resulted in failure. The Lord was not yet through with those men;

John 6:11 — to obey the Lord's command, they would have forfeited the blessing. Note that Christ was not the waiter on that occasion, but the provider. All spiritual benefit of all ages comes, like that bounty came, from Christ the provider THROUGH HIS APOSTLES (2 Peter 3:2).

Acts 10:25 — "worship" indicate that worship is an act, not some kind of subjective feeling. Note these: (1)    [@proskuneo] means "to bow down toward" and is used of: (a)    worshiping God (Matthew 4:10; John 4;:21f; 1 Corinthians 14:25; Revelation 4:10, etc.). (b)    worshiping Christ (Matthew 2:2; Matthew 2:8; Matthew 2:11; Matthew 8:2; Matthew 9:18; Matthew 28:9; Matthew 28:17; John 9:38; Hebrews 1:6, etc.). (c)    worshiping

Acts 15 overview — to pass on the preaching of the apostle Paul, especially with regard to the relationship between the law of Moses and the Christian gospel. However, this so-called council can never be understood without reference to another report of it in Galatians 2:1 ff, delivered in that epistle by the apostle Paul himself. The widespread disagreement among scholars, many of them denying that the two reports are of one event, is due to false assumptions regarding the nature of this event in Jerusalem. It is rather

Acts 2:17 — prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams: In the last days … This refers to the Christian dispensation then beginning. The same thought occurs often in the New Testament. Note such passages as Hebrews 1:2, 1 Peter 1:20, and 1 John 2:18. The day of Pentecost, therefore, ushered in the "last days"; but the meaning is compound. (1) Those were the last days in the sense of this being the final dispensation of God's grace to men, the same thought

Acts 24:25 — quality of character demanded of all who hope to be saved; and the persons who composed Paul's audience on this occasion were notoriously deficient in it. Judgment to come … This is one of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity (Hebrews 6:2). Briefly stated, it means that Jesus Christ will summon all the dead and living of the entire world to the judgment of the Great Day, and that every man shall receive the reward of the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or bad. The Christian

1 Corinthians 2 overview — pretentious, empty philosophy of the Greeks who so highly regarded the eloquent speeches of the popular leaders of such sophistry; and Paul gave his reasons for not following the popular methods of oratory in his preaching of the word of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). However, fully mature Christians could look forward to an understanding of the true wisdom of God (as contrasted with the current sophistry); and the mystery of God, far more wonderful than the so-called mysteries of the Greeks, could be participated

2 Corinthians 2:1 — meaning of several passages in this letter demands the conclusion that it was made and that it cannot be identified with the original visit which led to the founding of the church. Paul wrote: "This is the third time I am ready to come to you (2 Corinthians 12:14); and he repeated it, "This is the third time I am coming to you" (2 Corinthians 13:1). Even the verse before us contributes to the certainty that Paul had already made two visits to Corinth when 2 Corinthians was written;

2 Corinthians 3:1 — recommendations as church letters are misapplying it. "We are not dealing simply with letters attesting that the bearers are church members in good standing." F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1972), p. 101. There are the following examples from the New Testament of what might be entitled church letters: 1.    The Book of Philemon, a letter on behalf of Onesimus. 2.    Acts 18:27, a letter on behalf of Apollos. 3.    Acts

Galatians 1:7 — preferred as the simplest and best, "that which the English Revised Version (1885) gives in the margin," William M. Ramsay, A Historical Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1965), p. 264. giving the thought thus: "A different gospel which is nothing else save that there are some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ." There is no hint in this passage that Paul actually considered Judaism "another gospel"

Galatians 3:5 — He therefore that supplieth to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith? Worketh miracles among you … "This is exactly the same phrase as in 1 Corinthians 12:10," W. J. Conybeare, The Life and Epistles of St. Paul (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966), p. 484. and logically refers to the miracles which Paul himself had performed among them, notable examples of which, as

James 1:22 — But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves. This is exactly the teaching of Paul in Romans 2:13; and taken together with what James would write in the second chapter, it is clear enough that this epistle was written for the purpose of correcting the abuse of Paul's teaching regarding justification by faith. By this reference, James almost says,

Judges 21:8-12 — THE DESTRUCTION OF JABESH-GILEAD (Judges 21:8-12) "And they said, What one is there, of the tribes of Israel that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-Gilead to the assembly. For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the

Revelation 2:22 — into a bed … into great tribulation … This appears to be an immediate and summary judgment against the type of wicked error rampaging in Thyatira. It is hard not to see in this exactly the same kind of judgment referred to in Revelation 2:16; that is, a divine visitation similar to that which befell Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10). There even seems to be a distinction between "them that commit adultery with her," as in this verse, contrasted with "her children"

2 Samuel 9:11 — of the king was evidently made with reluctance; and he rebelled at the first opportunity. Before leaving this study, we should note that two of Saul's sons were named Mephibosheth (Meribbaal): (1) the son of Jonathan whom David befriended here, and (2) another Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 21:7-9) who, along with six other sons of Saul, was executed by King David to avenge King Saul's heartless slaughter of the Gibeonites.