Bible Commentaries

Genesis 26:1-5 — Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976), p. 419. Leupold's comment with reference to the promise of Messiah here is as follows: "That One Great Descendant is here primarily under consideration, "the Seed," the Christ. We also hold that in the light of Genesis 3:15, men like Isaac would have interpreted this word as a specific reference to One, a fact almost universally denied in our day, but yet true."H. C. Leupold, Genesis (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1942), p. 719. "Because Abraham obeyed" Those who

2 Chronicles 14:1-8 — ASA'S WAR WITH ZERAH THE ETHIOPIAN III. ASA (913-873 B.C.) THE DEATH OF ABIJAH AND THE ACCESSION OF ASA "So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years. And Asa did that which was good and right

Job 2:7-10 — the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips." "Satan smote Job… with sore boils" "Modern medical opinion is not unanimous in the diagnosis of Job's disease."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 463. Driver and Gray, like many others, identified the disease as Elephantiasis,International Critical Commentary, Job, p. 23. basing their conclusion upon many symptoms of the disease mentioned subsequently in the Book of Job, such as, his fetid breath

Job 8:1-7 — first, was gentle and considerate, but Bildad was abrupt and harsh."Layman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 76. "Bildad's conviction that righteous living inevitably leads to prosperity is by no means obsolete."R. B. Sweet Publishing Company, No. 216, p. 23. This writer once attended the funeral of a well-known popular Sheriff in Burkburnet, Texas. He lost his life, trying to save the lives of others when, during a Red River flood, he crossed the threatened bridge to close the Oklahoma entrance. On the

Psalms 132:11-18 — already in the Bible (2 Samuel 7:11-16), supplementing it with inspired revelations of his own. "Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne" "If thy children shall keep my covenant… their children also shall sit upon thy throne" (Psalms 132:12). These are the inspired words of the psalmist; and they make a distinction between the Messiah, spoken of in Psalms 132:11, which is an unconditional promise; and the earthly Davidic dynasty mentioned in Psalms 132:12, whom God promised to perpetuate

Psalms 18:18-24 — Of course, all forgiveness during the dispensation of the Mosaic Covenant was dependent, in the final analysis, upon the ultimate sacrifice of the Christ upon Calvary. However, in the practical sense, "God passed over the sins done aforetime" (Romans 3:25), and that was the practical equivalent of divine forgiveness. The explanation we have offered here is the only way we are able to think of David as "clean," "perfect," "righteous," and the keeper of" all God's ordinances." Of course, if the words

Proverbs 1:1-7 — related to wisdom; and in its totality, "That wisdom is the Divine science by which men are enabled to discern their best end and to know how to pursue it by the most proper means."Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (London: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), Vol. III, p. 701. "Wisdom" "Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge aright."J. V. McGee, Vol. III, p. 4. The Christian has a great advantage over those who were guided by the Old Testament.; because, "For of him (God) are ye in Christ Jesus, who was

Leviticus 12:1-5 — maid-child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her impurity; and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days." The appearance here of the "forty" and "double forty" time periods is interesting. To each of the Numbers 33 days (Leviticus 12:4) and 66 days (Leviticus 12:5), one must add the seven days of Leviticus 12:2 and the fourteen days of Leviticus 12:5, making totals of 40 and 80. When a male child was circumcised on the "eighth day," that day was reckoned with

Leviticus 22:26-33 — to be your God: I am Jehovah." Note the reiteration of "I am Jehovah" in each of the last four verses. This paragraph gives further instructions regarding the sacrifices. An alleged `contradiction' is sometimes claimed with reference to Leviticus 22:30, where the sacrifice was commanded to be eaten "on the same day"; whereas, in Leviticus 19:6, two days were allowed for eating it.Ronald E. Clements, op. cit., p. 59. The explanation is simple enough. The rules for the priests were MORE STRICT than

Song of Solomon 7:10-13 — believe that the faithful Shulamite, after hearing Solomon's panegyric, shakes her head (negatively), saying, `I am my beloved's.'"C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), Vol. 6c, p. 134. Cook: His whole comment on this last paragraph was; "All his affection has me for its object. The bride proceeds to exercise her power over his loving will."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989 reprint of 1878 Edition),

Deuteronomy 17:14-17 — horses, "to the end that he should multiply horses," - precludes the times of Solomon. In the days of Solomon, the time had long gone by when any thought could have been entertained of leading the people back to the land of Egypt."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 385. Harrison also pointed out that there is no necessity whatever to suppose that this passage was written retrospectively with reference to the kingdom of Solomon. The kind of debaucheries that marked Solomon's reign "were familiar to any intelligent

Deuteronomy 19:1-3 — Malachi, and, if that priesthood had possessed a single ounce of the pure devotion indicated here, such a thing would never have occurred! Oberst, quoting J. W. McGarvey, pointed out that: "The first command on this subject (cities of refuge) is in Numbers 35, where the order to appoint cities of refuge is given. There the number of cities was placed at six, and the general laws for their use were announced, but the names of the cities were not given. Next, in Deuteronomy 4:42-45, following the conquest

Deuteronomy 9:6-10 — countless times afterward. In this single chapter, Oberst pointed out the following references to their rebellions, etc:Bruce Oberst, Deuteronomy (Joplin: College Press, 1968), p. 146. (a)    Stiff-necked, Deuteronomy 9:6; Deuteronomy 9:13 (b)    Rebellious, Deuteronomy 9:7; Deuteronomy 9:23-24 (c)    Corrupted themselves, Deuteronomy 9:12 (d)    Provoked Jehovah to wrath, Deuteronomy 9:7-8; Deuteronomy 9:22 (e)    Believed

Joshua 15:13-19 — "Negeb" here instead of "South," but the true meaning of what Caleb's daughter here said was that, "You have given me a dry or an arid estate."Ibid. It was for that reason that she requested springs, which her father willingly gave her. From Judges 3:9, it is apparent that Othniel was an able and successful commander. He was, as here stated, a brother of Caleb, and his being called the "son of Kenaz" means that Kenaz was the father of both Caleb and Othniel, hence, his being called Kenezite (Joshua

Joshua 9:9-15 — other peoples, was true. Gibeon was the leader of a league of cities. The three elements of their deception: (1) the truth, that they had indeed heard of Jehovah and of his works; (2) hypocrisy by pretending that they intended to worship Jehovah; and (3) outright falsehood, that they came from a very far off, that the worn state of their clothes was due to the length of their journey, etc. Their clothing, their shoes, the wineskins, and the hot bread, all of which they said were fresh and new when

Ruth 1:1-5 — of both King David and of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and is located only six or seven miles south of Jerusalem. Some believe that Elimelech was NOT justified in making this move. Matthew Henry labeled it as "unjustified."Matthew Henry Commentaries, p. 253. And the Targum suggests that the death of all three of these men was due to their leaving the land of Israel in the case of Elimelech and because of their marrying strange women in that of the two sons. Regarding the wives of the two sons, Josephus

1 Samuel 24:1-7 — cliffs of Engedi where the wild goats (the ibex) still climb the rocky fastness."Ibid. "There was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself" literally, "… to cover his feet." The last clause here should be understood in the same sense as Judges 3:24. The expression is a euphemism for "using the bathroom," or "going to a restroom." There was a cave! Indeed there was. Literally hundreds of caves are in that area. However, there was a special cave at Engedi, so large that the Franks called it a

1 Samuel 4:12-18 — ("the ears… shall tingle") in his prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah equated the loss of the ark and the destruction of Shiloh with the fall of Jerusalem and the deportation of the Chosen People to Babylon (Jeremiah 19:3). Keil described the significance of the ark's loss thus: "With the surrender of the earthly throne of His glory, the Lord appeared to have abolished His covenant of grace with Israel; for the ark, with the tables of the law and the [~kaporeth], was

2 Samuel 11:6-13 — of his lord, but he did not go down to his house." In view of Uriah's determination not to visit his wife, some scholars suppose that, "It is not impossible that a rumor of his wife's adultery had reached Uriah."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 307. Of course, there seems to have been a stern prohibition against sexual relations on the part of soldiers who were consecrated to warfare (1 Samuel 21:5), but that does not appear to this writer as a sufficient explanation of Uriah's behavior in this

2 Samuel 20:4-9 — with it in the body, and shed his bowels to the ground, without striking a second blow; and he died." "Then the king said to Amasa" "This man was a nephew of David, the son of David's sister Abigail, and his father was an Ishmaelite (1 Chronicles 2:13-17).Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 1., p. 56. "Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself" This assignment should have been easy enough for Amasa, as he was specifically recognized as the leader of Absalom's army