Bible Commentaries

1 Chronicles 22:6-11 — shalt sleep with thy fathers (2 Samuel 7:12). Furthermore, the kingdom of that son would be established after David (2 Samuel 7:12); but Solomon's kingdom was established during David's lifetime. "Solomon was made king before David's death (1 Kings 1:32-40; 1 Chronicles 23:1)… there was a co-regency of four years."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 489. "His name shall be called Solomon" We believe this to be a mistranslation, because all scholars agree that the Hebrew word here rendered

Esther 1:1-8 — apparent in our text, the very first words in the the Hebrew text of the O.T. (the Hebrew) are "and it came to pass," which is made the occasion by Duff to declare that, "The book of Esther is a truncated narrative,"Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 336. but Keil pointed out that no such conclusion is justified.C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 3, p. 319. Many of the Biblical books begin with the word and, indicating their connection with the rest of the canonical

Psalms 16:5-8 — done by David, or any other king of Israel; and as Kidner pointed out, "Of the Messiah alone can such words as these be perfectly and literally true. for example, the always of this verse."Derek Kidner, Psalms 1--72 (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), p. 86. The apostle Peter himself confirmed the accuracy of that opinion in Acts 2:25, where he quoted Psalms 16:8 and through the rest of this Psalm, stating specifically that David said these things concerning Jesus Christ the Messiah. Many of the

Psalms 19:7-11 — of major significance."W. R. Taylor in The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 4, p. 105. "The law of Jehovah is perfect, converting the soul." This statement that God's Word is "perfect" does not correspond with what critics generally think. In 1 Corinthians 13:10, "That which is perfect" is undoubtedly a reference to the completed Canon of the New Testament; but a critic of that view stated that, "Such an interpretation fails to find any support in the Biblical usage of `perfect.'"Vol. 8, NTS, p. 215. The

Psalms 80:8-19 — thou madest strong for thyself" We have capitalized "Branch," here because that title belongs to no other in heaven or earth except the Son of God. (See a full discussion of this in Vol. IV of my minor prophets Commentaries, pp. 56-58, under Zechariah 3:8.) The alternative reading for "Branch" in this passage is "Son," another word which we capitalize, because it appears to this writer that there are definitely Messianic overtones in this fervent plea of God's people for "salvation." From what other

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 — [~Qoheleth], pronounced `Koheleth' or `Kohelet.' Many attempts to translate this have given us: `Ecclesiastes,' `The Preacher,' `The Speaker,' `The President,' `The Spokesman,' `The Philosopher,'; and we might add, `The Professor.'"The Bible Speaks Today, p. 13. Along with Ecclesiastes 1:1, this virtually names Solomon as the author of Ecclesiastes. Some scholars think that the words, all that were before me in Jerusalem, denies that Solomon was the author, but there is no such denial in it. All that were

Isaiah 33:17-24 — am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." "The king in his beauty" Who is this? Some three different opinions are sustained by scholars. On account of the mention of Jehovah as the judge, lawgiver, and king in Isaiah 33:22, some believe the "king in his beauty" is a reference to Jehovah. Others suppose that the reference is to Hezekiah; and still others believe the reference is to the Messiah. We prefer the third interpretation; because (1) the Jerusalem of this passage

Ezekiel 9:8-11 — gods, or their defiling the temple, or of their neglect of sacrifices, despite the fact of such sins being the source of all their wickedness. The wickedness mentioned here was, (1) the land was filled with blood; (2) the city is full of injustice, and (3) they do not believe in an omniscient, personal God to whom every man must give an account. "These terrible conditions were the end result of the peoples' false religion."John T. Bunn in the Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1871),

Daniel 12:1 — events (first, and last, and in between) were in the same line of vision, they are often mentioned in the same passage. "The Lord himself coordinated the destruction of Jerusalem with the end of the world."J. E. Thomson, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 13, Daniel (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 335. "It was no uncommon thing in the prophets to allow the eye to glance from one object to another lying in the same range of vision."Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 255. Even in astronomy

Daniel 9:24-27 — TRUE INTERPRETATION As Keil said, "Most of the church fathers and the older orthodox interpreters find prophesied here the appearance of Christ m the flesh, His Death, and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 336. That this is indeed the true interpretation is plainly indicated by the words of Jesus Christ who definitely applied "the abomination" spoken of by Daniel as an event that would occur in the siege of Jerusalem, as prophesied by Christ repeatedly

Zechariah 12:11-14 — the application. The solution for this difficult passage lies in the understanding of "every family" and "all the families" Note this: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (Ephesians 3:14-15)." In this passage, Paul was speaking of the totality of the Christian family of God, not only in heaven, but upon earth as well. Thus "every family," "all the families" are expressions emphasizing the universality of the mourning of "all mankind"

Luke 19:8 — American Commentary on the New Testament (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: The Judson Press, n.d.), Vol. II, Luke, p. 278. Since the Lord Jesus himself made a momentous argument for the immortality of the soul to turn on the tense of a single verb (Matthew 22:32 f), they must be rash indeed who set aside the present tense in this passage in favor of future tense. Nevertheless, it has been quite popular to do this. As Clarke said, "(The passage means that) probably he had already done so for some time

Luke 21:24 — clearly a part of the period indicated, that much time having already elapsed. (2)    The fact that these words "are to be understood as the antithesis of the season of Jerusalem" (Luke 19:44).George R. Bliss, op. cit., p. 304. The Times of the Gentiles will be comparable to the times during which Jerusalem held the favored position. (3)    The fact that the apostle Paul used a very similar term, "the fullness of the Gentiles," and prophesied

Romans 4:2 — libraries of teaching to this effect, here is presented a concise statement by Greathouse, for the purpose of showing the logic (?) of such writings. He said: We have already seen that a "man is justified without the deeds of the law" (Romans 3:28). It is by faith alone ("sola fide") because it is by grace alone ("sola gratia"). William M. Greathouse, Beacon's Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1968), p. 100. It apparently never entered that author's

Romans 6:5 — We die to sin through the absolute denial of ourselves and renunciation of our evil nature with its pride by being baptized into Christ, that action constituting the death of our old identity, because by that action we have put on Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). It is in that legal sense of being dead to sin through the body of Christ (since we are in him, we died with him) that Paul was speaking earlier; but at this point he spoke more of the demise of the old man, which is death to sin in a different

Hebrews 7:11 — through the Levitical priesthood (for under it hath the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? DIVISION IV (Hebrews 7:11—8:13) CHRIST IS THE SURETY OF A BETTER COVENANT The introduction of Aaron's name at this point, connecting it with the Levitical priesthood, is for the purpose of showing that, as far as this argument is concerned, there is no difference between them. It

Hebrews 7:8 — God and that the custom was honored by no less a person than the patriarchal head of the whole Hebrew nation; but more than this, Abraham is typically the patriarch of Christians as well. Are not all Christian's "Abraham's seed"? (Galatians 3:29). Then what king of children of Abraham are those who vow they have no duty to pay tithes? The well-known story of Jacob and his pledge of a tenth of all that he had to God should be understood as a promise on Jacob's part to honor a duty already

James 5:6 — Ye have condemned, ye have killed the righteous one; he doth not resist you. The righteous one … is an expression used of Christ in a number of New Testament references (Acts 3:14; Acts 7:52; Acts 22:14), and this is clearly the meaning of it here. That James did not specify Christ by name is no problem, because New Testament writers generally were most reluctant to mention by name their own family; and James adhered to this

1 John 2:18 — questions, Jesus gave a composite answer (Matthew 24), but not distinguishing for them the fact that these events would not all occur simultaneously; however, Jesus did deny them altogether any answer as to the time of his Second Coming (Matthew 24:36; Matthew 24:42). It is therefore the height of presumption to construe John's words here as meaning that Christ was coming soon. "The last hour" here has no reference whatever to the Second Coming and must be referred either to the destruction

2 Samuel 22:1-51 — tense of a word. Jesus said, "And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (Matthew 22:31-32). The significance of this is that our Savior made an argument proving the resurrection of the dead to turn upon a single two-letter word, the word "am", and the tense of the little verb, at that! The inspired writers often "quoted" Scriptures with