Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 19:1-4 — been safe under Jehoshaphat from all the persecutions of Jezebel, but went to Beer-sheba, and thence into the wilderness, there to pour out before the Lord the weariness of his life."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 3a, p. 253. This writer agrees with Keil that it was discouragement, NOT FEAR, that drove Elijah to flee, having once himself experienced in the year 1965 the overwhelming frustration and discouragement that resulted from what appeared to be a HOPELESS

Psalms 17:1-5 — actually the meaning of the text; and some scholars have registered rather bold claims of damaged or corrupt passages. "Psalms 17:4 is hopelessly corrupt,"W. E. Addis, Peake's Commentary on the Bible (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 376. according to Addis; and Maclaren's comment on Psalms 17:3-5 was that: "The general drift is clear, but the precise meaning and connection are extremely obscure. Probably the text is faulty. It has been twisted in all sorts of ways; the Masoretic

Psalms 48:1-3 — intended to identify the place where God is praised, but the place where God resides. It is the indwelling of God in his chosen city that glorifies and secures the city as nothing else in heaven or upon earth could accomplish. Note also that in Psalms 48:3, God is even "in" the palaces of the nobles as "a refuge." Before leaving this verse, we should remember that Jesus himself referred to Jerusalem as, "The city of the Great King" (Matthew 5:35). This, of course, was not spoken of any Davidic king, but

Leviticus 6:1-7 — flock, according to thy estimation, for a trespass-offering unto the priest: and the priest shall make atonement for him before Jehovah; and he shah be forgiven concerning whatsoever he doeth so as to be guilty thereby." "And swear to a lie" (Leviticus 6:3), "hath sworn falsely" (Leviticus 6:5), "in the day of his being found guilty" (Leviticus 6:5). All of these expressions appear to indicate a situation in some kind of court procedure. The person here was under oath and was "found guilty," indicating

Leviticus 8:6-9 — finds amusing, appearing as nothing more than clever little devices by which men seek to excise "baptism" from this passage. Note these: "How do we get that washing? It is by confession that we are forgiven and cleansed."J. Vernon McGee, op. cit., p. 356. This is simply not true. There is no reference whatever in this whole ordination to confession, and even if the laying of Aaron's hands upon the head of the sacrifice somewhat later, and after the washing, should be considered as a confession, it

Isaiah 14:9-11 — the mire of some battlefield, or eaten by wild beasts. It is called: Abaddon (destruction), Job 26:6; a place of silence, Psalms 94:17; a place of darkness and the shadow of death, Job 10:21; in Sheol are the foundations of the mountains, Deuteronomy 32:22; men penetrate Sheol by digging into the earth, Amos 9:2; the roots of trees strike down into it, Ezekiel 21:16; Korah and others went down alive into it, Numbers 16:30; Numbers 16:33; "In Sheol, there is no knowledge, nor can any praise God or

Isaiah 17:12-14 — Commentary, p. 449 These verses were especially fulfilled in the destruction of Sennacherib's army.J. R. Dummelow Commentary, p. 428 God's promise that he would rebuke the Assyrians in a night of plague and destruction.Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 623 This vividly and graphically describes the coming of the Assyrians. God is in control. He uses nations to accomplish his purpose, and then brings them to an end. It became clear when Sennacherib's army was destroyed before Jerusalem.Homer Hailey, p

Isaiah 2:5-11 — word [~'ililim], which has also been translated "nonentities." Kidner also commented on this, saying that, "The word is a favorite of Isaiah, perhaps because it is identical with the word worthless."Derek Kidner, The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 593. There is no reason to trust the guesses of scholars as to the date when various prophecies of Isaiah were written, because there is practically no agreement among the participants in such futile activity; but we do like the opinion of Payne who placed

Isaiah 41:8-16 — 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) that their enemies shall be scattered, Isaiah 41:15-16; (6) and that they shall receive spiritual refreshment during their worst

Jeremiah 12:5-6 — having with the prosperity of the wicked. The Psalmist was tempted to stumble on the problem that troubled Jeremiah; but he confessed that the truth appeared to him, "When I went into the sanctuary of God, and considered their latter end." (Psalms 73:17). The ultimate fate of the wicked nullifies and cancels out all of the earthly joys and prosperities of evil men; and that sublime truth was surely available to all of God's children living in that dispensation. "The pride of Jordan" "The `pride

Jeremiah 34:1-5 — against him. "And against all the cities thereof" This refers to the surrounding cities in Palestine which were fortified towns and would of necessity be captured prior to the assault against Jerusalem the major stronghold. Lachish and Azekah (Jeremiah 34:7) were the last two of these to hold out against the Chaldeans. "Thou shalt not escape out of his hand" This meant that Zedekiah would most certainly he required to give an account to Nebuchadnezzar his overlord, with whom he had negotiated a covenant

Jeremiah 9:12-16 — and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them." These verses "are often referred to as the work of Deuteronomic editors";J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 312. but this critical fembu is unworthy of any attention. All of the redactors and editors of the radical critics are shadowy creatures of imagination, for whom there exists no dependable evidence whatever. They are the self-made crutches upon which

Ezekiel 26:1-6 — 26:2) is often translated "gates"; and Keil believed that, "The plural was used to indicate the folding doors which formed `the gate.'"Carl Friedrich Keil, Keil-Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 373. However, to us, it appears that the several toll-stations on all the roads passing through Palestine is a more logical understanding of the plural. All such seats of custom were under the control of Jerusalem until its fall. The rejoicing of Tyre

Daniel 10:10-17 — appeared to Daniel earlier. Habakkuk also used words similar to these to mark his weakness when he heard "the voice": "I heard, and my body trembled, My lips trembled at the voice;Rottenness entered into my bones, and I tremble in my place"(Habakkuk 3:16). "And stand upright; for unto thee am I sent" Thomson has this comment: "In the Assyrian marbles, however lowly the obeisance made to the monarch by anyone admitted to his presence, he stands when he receives the monarch's commands. Standing implies

Numbers 14:20-25 — and refrained from destroying them; however, he at once swore with an oath that the punishment of their "ten rebellions" would not be withheld. Smick pointed out that the words, "As I live," introduced a formal oath that reaches through Numbers 14:23. He gave this paraphrase of it: "Surely as I live and as the earth shall be full of the glory of the Lord, none of the men who saw my glory and my signs which I did in Egypt, and in the wilderness, but who have tried me now tenfold, and have not hearkened

Joshua 20:1-6 — "revealed in the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 21:14)."Samuel Holmes, op. cit., p. 254. A careful reading of that place shows that God's altar was not a place of protection for the guilty. (See my comment on this in Vol. 2 of the Pentateuchal series, pp. 307-309.) The habit of fleeing to some altar on the part of the guilty persisted, and Joab himself was dragged from between the horns of the altar in Jerusalem and executed for his murder of Abner (1 Kings 2:28-31). The great typical meaning of the cities

Joshua 5:2-5 — had not been circumcised." "The reason why circumcision was omitted in the wilderness was that a sentence of death was upon that generation of murmurers (Numbers 14:28 ff)."F. C. Cook, Barnes' Notes, Vol. 2, Joshua (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House), p. 360. The rebellion of Israel which led to God's rejection of that entire generation also resulted in a number of other conditions: (1)    Very little is recorded in the Books of Moses concerning what that whole generation did. Critics

Joshua 6:2-7 — are, even today, to BELIEVE that God said this. "The story does not read convincingly to men whose thoughts move NATURALLY in the world as it is known today."Lindsay B. Longacre, Abingdon Bible Commentary, Joshua (New York: Abingdon Press, 1929), p. 349. The ASV and many other recent versions have mistranslated the words here given as "rams' horns." "There is no mention of rams' horns in the original Hebrew."Alfred Plummer, op. cit., p. 98. The horns used were the jubilee trumpets, long metal devices

Judges 17:4-6 — the two hundred pieces were the wages of the founder and that the rest of the silver was made into the image. Lyra and others think the rest of the money was used for furnishing and adorning the shrine."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 376. The simple truth of the matter seems to be that, "The woman through avarice broke her vow and gave to God only a small part of the consecrated treasure."Ibid. "An ephod" This was a part of the ceremonial dress of Israel's high priest, "A sacramental

2 Samuel 7:18-29 — 1:16). (2)    The other way consisted in the continuity of David's personal descendants through his son Nathan, until Jesus Christ was born miraculously of the Virgin Mary (whose husband Joseph was the son-in-law of Heli, Mary's father. See Luke 3:23) the daughter of Heli, directly descended from David through Nathan. Thus in this manner, David's house was continued "forever" before the Lord, especially in consequence of the fact that Christ himself and the total of that Israel (of all races