Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 2:23-25 — discussed this passage at length, pointing out that, "The Hebrew words here may also be translated `young men,' and they are so rendered frequently in the Bible. The word means not only a child, a servant, but even a soldier. Isaac was so-called at age 28; at age 39 Joseph was described by the same word; and Ahab's bodyguard (the militia) received the same designation in 1 Kings 20:14."Adam Clarke, op. cit., p. 486. Hammond also agreed that such a rendition here as "little boys," "small boys," or "little

2 Kings 4:1-7 — tradition and even stated that the debt which the woman's husband had acquired was contracted for the purpose of feeding the faithful prophets of Jehovah whom he had hidden in caves from the murderous wrath of Jezebel.Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, p. 279. One of the great imperfections of the Mosaic Law was its toleration of the ancient custom of seizing the family of a debtor and pressing them into slavery as payment of a debt. Of course, there was a limitation in God's law that terminated all such

Isaiah 14:9-11 — wicked dead; and what we have here represents these wicked dead as welcoming the king of Babylon, "with malicious satisfaction, because all of his brief earthly glory has been extinguished, even as was theirs."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 622 SHEOL Properly speaking, this word means "the grave" or the realm of the dead. It comes from a word which means "asking, demanding, requiring, seeking,"Albert Barnes' Commentary, p. 268 and carries with it the thought of insatiable desire to consume

Isaiah 41:8-16 — hills as chaff. Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel." In these verses (including also the text through Isaiah 41:20) Israel is assured (1) of the faithfulness of God, Isaiah 41:8-9; (2) that they will receive strength from God, Isaiah 41:10, (3) that weakness will afflict their enemies, Isaiah 41:11-12; (4) that God will raise up aid for them, Isaiah 41:13-14; (5)

Isaiah 6:1-5 — source of our hope and salvation. Note our assumption here that Uzziah was already dead when this vision came to Isaiah. As Lowth said, "The phrase, In the year that king Uzziah died, probably means `after the death of Uzziah'; as the same phrase, Isa. 24:28, means `after the death of Ahaz.'"Robert Lowth, op. cit., p. 181. "His train filled all the temple" The marginal note gives "skirts" instead of "train" here. "Robes" might be a better word. The three pairs of wings on each of the seraphim are believed

Ezekiel 23:11-21 — breasts of thy youth." "Clothed most gorgeously" "The word here means `perfection,' and the thought intended is, perfect beauty of clothing."George Barlow, The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1891), p. 282. Ezekiel 23:12-13 stress the attractiveness of the clothing and appearance of Assyrian and Chaldean cavalry. "Chaldeans, as used later in the paragraph is a symbol for Babylonians."F. F. Bruce in the New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 882. "Men portrayed

Ezekiel 37:1-6 — resurrection of dead Israelites, but to a revival of the dead nation."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 515. "It almost surpassed conception in those days that a restoration of Israel was even possible."John Skinner in the Expositor's Bible Commentary, p. 342. Their state had been destroyed; their king had been captured, blinded and carried away to Babylon to die; countless thousands of the people had been slaughtered; the heart of the nation had been carried to captivity in Babylon; their beloved Jerusalem

Amos 9:1 — are suggested in order to justify the application of this verse to Bethel, such as: "it is the only holy place at which tradition locates Amos during his ministry;"James Luther Mays, Amos, A Commentary (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1969), p. 152. "the chief temple of Northern Israel was located at Bethel;"W. R. Harper, Amos and Hosea (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910), p. 188. "Jacob saw the Lord at Bethel;"Ralph L. Smith, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 7 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972),

Luke 17:17-18 — said, "I was already much improved." "How often do the love and life of the pardoned sinner fail to respond to the grace that saved him!"J. S. Lamar, The New Testament Commentary (Cincinnati, Ohio: Chase and Hall, 1877), Vol. II, p. 219. These lepers had come to Jesus in the extremity of a most loathsome and pitiful disease; they pleaded with him to help, and he healed them; but nine of them never even said, "Thanks." Barclay developed a sermon on ingratitude from this

Luke 21:34-36 — sitting with Jesus when these words were uttered, and they found no discomfort whatever in his presence; but the scene here transferred to the Great Assize, "when the great and terrible day of the Lord has come, and who shall be able to stand!" (2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 6:17).

Luke 22:17-18 — Jesus did not observe. This understanding is clear from the following summary of the pattern for the Passover meal, described by Farrar: 1.    Each drank a cup of wine, "the cup of consecration," followed by a blessing. 2.    Hands were washed, a table carried in, on which were bitter herbs, unleavened bread, the paschal lamb, dates and vinegar. 3.    The father dipped a morsel of unleavened bread and bitter herbs, about the size

Luke 22:36 — the acceptance of it by many commentators make this verse "a real problem" for many. Most commentators view the passage as figurative, as did Geldenhuys, who said, "The Lord intended (these words) in a figurative sense."Ibid., p. 672. But if the sword is figurative, what about the purse, the wallet, and the cloak? As Hobbs said, "It is impossible to tone down this statement; neither can we dismiss it as not being a genuine saying of Jesus."Herschel H. Hobbs, An Exposition

John 12:12-13 — do not conflict in any way."William Hendriksen. Exposition of the Gospel according to John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1961), II, p. 184. For comments on the primary features of this event, see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 12. Went forth to meet him … The two sources of the great throng of people were: (1) the crowd following from Bethany, and (2) the great crowd who, hearing that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, went forth from the Holy City to meet him. Branches

John 14:26 — the word of God as the only direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit is to give loose rein to dreams, imaginations, reasonings, and philosophies of men. David Lipscomb, A Commentary on the Gospel of John (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1960), p. 232. Concerning the theory that the Spirit speaks "of himself" and apart from the word of God, see under John 16:13. All things that I have said unto you … What Jesus taught is the one true foundation of Christianity. Other passages bearing

John 5:2 — Bethesda, having five porches. There is … The present tense in this has led to the supposition that John was written before the destruction of Jerusalem; but it may be explained (1) by the pool's still being there after the ruin of the city, or (2) by the apostle's vivid memory of it leading to his use of the present tense, speaking of it as what he was actually seeing in retrospect. By the sheep gate … The word "gate" is not in the text and was supplied by the translators. The

Acts 2:42 — the Lord's Supper"; Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 64. but Milligan, Boles and Campbell were certain that the reference is to the Lord's Supper. Campbell supported his conclusion thus: The expression itself may designate an ordinary meal, as in Luke 24:35; but that here would be an unmeaning notice. There can be no doubt that the Eucharist at this period was preceded uniformly by a common repast, as when the ordinance was instituted. Most scholars hold that this was the prevailing usage in the first

Acts 24:5-8 — who moreover assayed to profane the temple: on whom also we laid hold: … from whom thou wilt be able, by examining him thyself, to take knowledge of all these things whereof we accuse him. Briefly stated: Paul was accused of being (1) a pest, (2) an insurrectionist, (3) a ringleader of the Nazarenes, and (4) one who had attempted to profane the temple. All these charges except No. 3 were unspecific, and even it was unsupported by any evidence whatever. "The weak part of Tertullus' case

Romans 6:6 — absolute and perfect righteousness of Christ through the heavenly mechanics of his having been, through his conversion, inducted into Christ, being part of Christ, "in him." This is the purging from "his old sins," as Peter called them (2 Peter 1:9). What an electrifying challenge, what an incentive to holy living, what a joy to the soul, what a burst of heavenly sunlight in the soul that is instantly endowed with absolute perfection "in Christ"! If such a thing cannot inspire

1 Samuel 31:1-7 — God fulfilled what he had said through his prophet Samuel, that the Lord had rejected him from being king over Israel. "Now the Philistines fought against Israel" Payne, like most modern scholars saw this battle as coming immediately after 1 Samuel 29:11,The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 302. following, as so many do, the alleged "prophecy of Samuel" (1 Samuel 28:19) to the effect that Saul and his sons would die the next day. (See our comment on this in 1 Samuel 28.) There is a very real possibility

2 Samuel 19:16-23 — thoughts."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 364. "Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord's anointed?" It was an extremely serious crime either to kill or to curse the Lord's anointed as indicated in 1 Samuel 24:6; 1 Samuel 24:10; 1 Samuel 26:9. If David had allowed Abishai to kill Shimei, which he undoubtedly wanted to do, he could easily have precipitated a battle with great slaughter. Some scholars have suggested that Shimei's thousand men were actually