Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 66:22-24 — flesh." Rawlinson mentioned that Isaiah 66:22 is usually taken to be a promise of some special pre-eminence of the Jew over the Gentile in the final kingdom of the redeemed; but Paul noted that all such privileges were already abolished in his day (Colossians 3:11).Pulpit Commentary, Vol. II, p. 488. In this connection, see also our extended remarks on this at the end of Isaiah 62. "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" There can be no doubt that the reference here is to the eternal punishment

Jeremiah 35:1-5 — Here is an example of the way in which the same word has multiple meanings. In the case of the Rechabites, the reference is to their group; but in the case of the temple it refers to a literal building. Of the persons whose names are given in Jeremiah 35:3, Ash declared that "nothing is known."Anthony L. Ash, Psalms (Abilene, Texas: A.C.U. Press, 1987), p. 249. "Into the chamber of the sons of Hanan" By reason of Haman's having a chamber in the Temple itself, and his being called, "the man of God,"

Jeremiah 45:1-5 — bring evil upon all flesh, saith Jehovah; but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest." "In the fourth year of Jehoiachim" "This prophecy is dated 604 B.C. when the first roll (`these words') was written (Jeremiah 36 :ff)."H. Wheeler Robinson, Jeremiah, p. 492. "I am weary with my groaning" "There were three grounds, probably, for Baruch's discouragement: (1) he was overwhelmed with the prophet's words on the seriousness of the peoples' sin and the shattering consequences

Jeremiah 46:5-12 — (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 649. In this long paragraph, note the words "terror" (Jeremiah 46:5), "they have fled… look not back" (Jeremiah 46:5), "the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty" (Jeremiah 46:12), etc. These verses (Jeremiah 46:3-12) do not contain a triumphal song over a defeat that has already taken place, but a prophecy of a defeat about to take place.C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 183. "Cush…

Jeremiah 47:1 — beginning of that campaign in order to secure his eventual retreat. (2) It has also been suggested that this same Pharaoh-Necho, severely defeated at Carchemish, took Gaza and fortified it, as a bastion against Nebuchadnezzar's following him into Egypt. (3) Another king, Pharaoh-Hophra (588-570 B.C.) is alleged to have taken Gaza in an expedition against Tyre and Sidon. J. R. Dummelow mentions all three of these possibilities.J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 479. The trouble with finding any certainty

Jeremiah 5:1-3 — an honest man in Jerusalem; but as McGee said, "Today you would probably have the same difficulty in Los Angeles or your own town!"J. V. McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Vol. III (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982), p. 367. Henderson proposed a solution to this difficulty, pointing out that: "It is beyond dispute that there did live in Jerusalem at the time of the prophet such good men as Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah… therefore we may suppose (1) either that

Jeremiah 8:1-3 — treated by some writers. The desecration of the graves of defeated peoples was widely practiced in antiquity; and there were excellent reasons for it in the case of Judah. Josephus tells us that: "Solomon buried David with great wealth;… and 1,300 years afterward, Hyrcanus the high priest, when besieged by Antiochus, opened one of the rooms of David's sepulchre and took out 3,000 talents of gold with which he bribed Antiochus to lift the siege... Also, Herod the king opened another room and

Lamentations 1:8-10 — filthiness was in her skirts." In ancient times, the punishment of an immoral woman was a brutal public display of her naked body, in which her skirts were tied above her head and she was shamefully scourged out of society. (See our commentary under Nahum 3:5 for a further discussion of this type of humiliation.) "She sigheth, and turneth backward" "She turns her back upon her spectators in order to hide herself from their gaze."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989 reprint

Ezekiel 30:20-26 — PHARAOH'S ARM "Eleventh year, first month, seventh day" "This was April 29,587 B.C."F. F. Bruce in the New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 897. "This was three months before the fall of Jerusalem and three months later than the prophecy of Ezekiel 29:3."B, p. 375. In the meanwhile Pharaoh-Hophra's attempt to aid Jerusalem had collapsed (Jeremiah 37:5), a fact that history is strangely silent about. Evidently Nebuchadnezzar inflicted a humiliating defeat upon Egypt that prevented any substantial relief

Daniel 12:2 — 6, Daniel (New York: Abingdon Press, 1954), p. 542. Note also that "everlasting contempt" for the wicked appears in the same verse. Although a number of other Old Testament passages speak somewhat ambiguously of the resurrection, these being: Ezekiel 37:11; Isaiah 55:10 ff; Isaiah 26:19; Ecclesiastes 3:18-22, Isaiah 53:10 ff; Ps. 17:39,49,73; Hosea 6:2; Job 19:26, etc, nevertheless this is the most forthright promise of the resurrection to be found in the Old Testament. The denials of most critical

Amos 1:1 — (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 1. Schultz and many others have also discerned this: "The divine origin of the words of the prophet is emphasized by… `which he saw.'"Arnold C. Schultz, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 830. In the words of the prophecy of Amos: "We are in the presence of the miracle of inspiration (Ezekiel 2:8 to Ezekiel 3:4), that man, without losing individuality or sacrificing personality, should yet speak words which originated not with himself but

Amos 9:12 — (here, and in Isaiah) are fulfilled in this manner: Christ is the true Israel, of which ancient Jacob was only a feeble type; and all who are Christ's and worship him, are therefore worshipping Israel! Indirect reference to this is found in Revelation 3:9, where, in the present dispensation, the false Jews who opposed Christianity, received the word from Jesus that they would "come and worship before the feet" of the church at Philadelphia, fulfilled when Jews were converted and bowed before Christ

Zechariah 1:18 — "And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns." We do not hesitate to identify these horns as "the powers of the world, which rise up in hostility against Judah and hurt it."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 238. "Horns" when used figuratively, typify power and strength; and in Daniel 8:3, they specifically stand for mighty world powers. Leupold appeared to back away from this interpretation, saying, "The difficulty would be to pick out the four powers that

Zechariah 11:12 — weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver." The KJV here uses the word "price" instead of hire, and that is preferable, although the word used is actually "hire."Wilson's Old Testament Word Studies (McLean, Virginia.: Macdonald Publishing Company), p. 326. Although the word in Zechariah 11:12 actually means, "advantage arising from labor, wages, only one amount is spoken of in both verses; and it is far better to honor the AV rendition, despite the fact of two different words being used. The word "price,"

Zechariah 3:8 — Thomas, op. cit., p. 1070. "O Joshua" This name is actually the equivalent of "Jesus"; and, in fact, it appears in the Apocrypha a number of times simply as "Jesus."J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York City: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 602. Therefore we must add to the extensive witness, present throughout the vision, of the coming Christ the significant fact that the principal figure in it actually bore the name of the blessed Messiah. The entry into Canaan also came under

Malachi 3:6 — discerned the import of the passage: "Because of this ancient covenant, ye Jews are not totally consumed; but ye are now, and shall be still, preserved as a distinct people."Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, Vol. IV (London: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), p. 802. The continuity of fleshly Israel upon the earth, despite their perpetual and persistent rebellion against the will of God is one of the great mysteries of all time. Paul revealed in Romans 11:25-26 that this continuity of the fleshly Jews

Matthew 1:18 — the virgin birth. His birth accomplished the following: (1) It honored and elevated womanhood to a place of dignity, honor, and respect, hitherto unknown on earth. (2) It virtually destroyed infanticide by revealing the sanctity of embryonic life. (3) It has emphasized absolute chastity as one of the highest virtues in both men and women. (4) It has glorified motherhood as a state of purity and honor every whit as righteous and desirable as virginity. Concerning the infancy of Jesus Christ, Spurgeon

Matthew 13:3-9 — And he spake to them many things in parables, saying … Here Christ began a new type of teaching, using PARABLES, partly for concealment, partly for illustration. His reasons for this methods will be noted more fully under Matthew 13:10, below. There are, to be sure, parables in the Old Testament, but Christ's use of this device exceeded any previous conception of it, and are still, some 2,000 years afterward, the marvel of all who study them. A parable is a story which is made

Matthew 17:1 — favoring Tabor, first advocated by St. Cyril of Jerusalem in the fourth century,A. Lukyn Williams, Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1961), Vol. 15 II, p. 171. is much too late to have much weight. (3) Mount Tabor was populated, having a fortress on top, during the time of Christ,J. R. Dummelow, One Volume Commentary (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 683. and was not suitable for such an event as the transfiguration. To have ascended Tabor

Matthew 27:23 — men's astonished eyes is choking in intensity. It is not difficult to understand how the weakling governor wilted and quailed before such a sadistic onslaught of hatred and cruelty. "In his humiliation, his judgment is taken away" (Acts 8:33). That means that the verdict of his innocence was violently thwarted. Pilate's reference, even at that late stage, to the innocence of Christ was the prod which finally extorted from the Pharisees the REAL REASON for their demanding Christ's execution.