Bible Commentaries

Leviticus 4:1-12 — guilt-offering which was first offered in the case of multiple sacrifices. The other three were presented first in the text because, "they were already in existence, and had existed from the time of the Fall."F. Meyrick, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 2, Leviticus (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 53. A number of important differences appear in these instructions when compared to the offerings previously described. Note that all of the bullock was to be consumed, the priests

Matthew 19:21 — they have and give it to the poor? For many, these are hard questions. Nevertheless, in the New Testament it is abundantly clear that selling all one's possessions was never made a universal condition of discipleship. Mary's house in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12), Philip's great house in Caesarea Palestina (Acts 21:8), and the statement of the apostle Peter that Ananias and Sapphira were not under compulsion either to sell their property or give the money when they did (Acts 5:4) make it very clear that

Matthew 25:20-21 — achievements. In the case of the three servants here, if their lord had followed the plan in vogue today, they might well have presented themselves in a group, saying, "Look, you left us in charge of eight talents, and we have increased them by 87 1/2 percent!" It appears that men will not be judged on the basis of general success of some group or congregation of which they may be a part, but upon the basis of their individual fidelity. The five-talent man was applauded and approved, not because

Matthew 26:57 — led him away, to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders were gathered together. Christ was tried six times, three times before the Romans and three times before the Jewish tribunals: 1.    Before Annas 2.    Before Caiaphas 3.    Before the Sanhedrin 4.    Before Pontius Pilate 5.    Before Herod Antipas 6.    Before Pilate again THE FIRST TRIAL Matthew

Matthew 27:32 — And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to go with them, that he might bear his cross. Executions inside the city were forbidden (Numbers 15:35; 1 Kings 21:13; Acts 7:58; Hebrews 13:12). The necessity for having someone bear Jesus' cross probably derived from his fainting from physical weakness induced by the scourging and long previous night of brutal abuse. Luke's detail that Simon was coming out of

Matthew 28:7-8 — lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. The angel in this passage summoned the disciples to a prearranged meeting place with Christ in Galilee, upon a mountain (Matthew 26:32). Robertson identified the appearance there with the one mentioned by Paul (1 Corinthians 15:6) in which Christ was seen by more than five hundred brethren at one time.A. T. Robertson, A Harmony of the Gospels (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1922),

Deuteronomy 1:1 — deception was for "the purpose of rooting out the idolatry that had become rampant in the long reign of Manasseh!" Indeed, how noble, and commendable such a worthy purpose appears! We have a specific example of this "approval" by Edgar Goodspeed, one of the 20th-century modernists. He denied the Matthew authorship of that Gospel, saying, "It was written by a Jewish Christian of insight and devotion!" (at a time long after Matthew lived).Edgar J. Goodspeed, The Story of the Bible (Chicago: University of Chicago

Mark 10:6-8 — As Taylor said, "The seventh commandment has no uncommon sanctity; and the guilt of the transgression does not surpass the provisions of grace."J. J. Taylor, The Gospel according to Mark (Nashville: Southern Baptist Convention, 1911), p. 132. One flesh … "This is Semitic, or Biblical, idiom for `one,' as in RSV; and thus not only rules out polygamy but divorce also."Frederick C. Grant, Interpreter's Bible (New York: Abingdon Press, 1951), p. 796. God's purpose, from the

Mark 8:34-35 — positive and complete identity with him. Take up his cross … Cross-bearing is the soul's assumption of the role of Jesus Christ throughout life, the reception of his Holy Spirit, the indwelling of "the mind that was in him" (Philippians 2:5), the permitting of the word of Christ to dwell in the soul richly (Colossians 3:16). Taking up the cross has no reference to the wearing of any ornament, nor to the trials of life, nor the common misfortunes of humanity, but to the conscious acceptance

Luke 8:27 — Commentary on Mark. Luke added the detail of the man's wearing no clothes. In this series, several dissertations on demon possession have already been written, supporting the conclusion that: (1) demon possession was certainly a fact in those times; (2) it could be a fact today; (3) if it is not a fact today, it is due to the success of Jesus in destroying the works of Satan; and (4) there are too many unknowns regarding human behavior today to allow any dogmatic conclusion to the effect that such

John 1:29 — is the word that Christ ransoms people from sin. In this world's terrible night of darkness and despair, how grandly do the words go marching in the gloom: ransomed, redeemed, propitiated, bought with a price, saved by the blood of Christ (1 Timothy 2:6; 1 John 4:10; 1 John 2:1-2; Romans 3:25; 1 Peter 1:18-19; and 1 Corinthians 6:20). C.    Christ removes sin far away. He takes away the guilt, the penalty and the practice of sin. He is the sin-bearer for all humanity. God "laid

Romans 2:28-29 — which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and the circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not is the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. In these two verses, the principle is stated both negatively (Romans 2:28) and positively (Romans 2:29) that the rite of circumcision is useless unless the moral values of the law, which were pledged and symbolized by that circumcision, are also maintained. The false circumcision would therefore be the circumcision of

Joshua 18:21-28 — Mizpeh, and Gibeah. Boling's assertion that these boundaries of Benjamin set up "contradictory claims"Robert G. Boling and G. Ernest Wright, Joshua, a New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Garden City, New York, Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1982), p. 432. on territory already allotted fails to take account of the fact, as mentioned by Plummer, above, that these seven allotments were deliberately designed to reduce the allotments of both Judah and Ephraim. What a superficial view it is to make

Hebrews 11:31 — Sodom and Gomorrah, and Tyre, Babylon, and Nineveh, to name only a few. In all of such examples there was the same pattern of excessive sin, reprobacy, judgment, and destruction; nor was Israel itself exempt from the same righteous judgment. Matthew 22:6-7 reveals that the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was a judgment of God upon that people for their rejection of Christ. (See further discussion of this in Commentary on Matthew.) James Burton Coffman, Commentary on Matthew (Abilene, Texas, ACU

Hebrews 2:17-18 — Prophet" (Deuteronomy 18:15) who was specifically promised as one who would be "like unto his brethren." That Christ was made "in all things" like his brethren should be qualified by the considerations that: (1) in his birth; (2) in his sinlessness; and (3) in his death for our sins according to the scriptures, Christ was utterly different from all others who ever lived. The expression "merciful and faithful high priest" involves a dual relationship, toward God and

1 Peter 2:6-8 — and man's glory united. In Christ, the destiny of every man is turned, those on the right entering his joy forever, and those on the left departing from his presence forever. Elect, precious … See the comments on these expressions under 1 Peter 2:4. In this section of Isaiah, especially the 29th chapter which came in close connection with Peter's quotation here, the destruction of Jerusalem is foretold and also the reprobacy of the Jewish leaders who changed the word of God by their traditions;

1 Peter 3:21 — Christians? (1)    It was the water of the flood that separated Noah from the disobedient generation that perished; and it is the water of Christian baptism that separates between the saved of today and the disobedient who perish. (2)    Noah (and family) were borne through the flood for a period of nine months; and as Macknight noted, "Noah's coming forth from the water to live again on the earth, after having been full nine months in the water, might fitly

1 Peter 4:7 — is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer: DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM Such a verse as this, along with many others similar to it, is a problem to some people. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand" (Romans 13:12), "The Lord is at hand" (Philippians 4:5), "The coming of the Lord is at hand" (James 5:8), "It is the last hour" (1 John 2:18), "The time is near" (Revelation 1:3). What is actually meant by all such expressions

1 John 1:1 — sentence, the entire four verses of the prologue being "but one highly compressed and complicated sentence in the Greek."Leon Morris, The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1260. This complexity has led to different opinions as to how it should be translated. That which … This neuter pronoun seems opposed to the usual view that "Word of life" here is a reference to Jesus Christ; therefore some render it

Revelation 17:11 — and accompanying it, is the seventh head that succeeded the pagan empire. This head will continue throughout the dispensation, but itself also will be succeeded by an eighth, which we believe to be the era of the "ten horns" (Revelation 17:12). The Harlot will finally lose her power to persecute, a development which, in the principal part, has already occurred; but she will nevertheless continue to the very end. See under Revelation 17:12. The eighth beast will be far more wicked than any