Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 15:1-9 — to Israel; but not even one's closest of kin can intervene against the judgment of God. Incidentally, this line in which the first person singular is used indicates that Isaiah himself is the author of this prophecy given in "time past" (Isaiah 16:13). There are seventeen place-names in this brief little chapter referring to places literally all over Moab. Eerdmans New Bible Dictionary (1962) does not even mention six of these, but here is that source's information on most of the others:ArChief

Jeremiah 20:1-6 — die, and there shalt thou be buried, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied falsely." "Pashhur, the son of Immer... chief officer" Many scholars including Dummelow and Barnes believed that Pashhur was the father of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 38:1).J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 468. There was another Pashhur (Jeremiah 21:1), but he belonged to the fifth course (shift) of priests belonging to the sons of Melchiah; this Pashhur belonged to the sixteenth course and was the son of Immer. Both

Jeremiah 22:24-30 — (Coniah) and the queen mother shall go into Babylonian captivity and die in that land. This indeed came to pass; and Coniah lived thirty-seven years in captivity. "Coniah" This man was named Jeconiah (Jeremiah 24:1) and Coniah (here and in Jeremiah 37:1); and he came to the throne under the name of Jehoiachin. Keil cited two other variations of the name which correspond to two of the three names cited here.C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Jeremiah 44:15-19 — preference which they maintained down to the events of this chapter. "The Israelites turned to the worship of the Queen of Heaven as Ashteroth soon after their arrival in Canaan; it was depraved in the extreme; it was rife in the times of Samuel (1 Samuel 7:3-4); after Saul's death, his armour was placed in the temple of Ashteroth at Beth-shan (1 Samuel 21:10); and Solomon gave it royal sanction (2 Kings 23:13)."NBD, p. 96. "In the times of Jeremiah, prior to the exile, the Chosen People had given themselves

Ezekiel 3:16-21 — THE WATCHMAN'S RESPONSIBILITY (Ezekiel 3:16-21) "And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto

Ezekiel 44:1-31 — also give unto the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on thy house. The priests shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself, or is torn, whether it be bird or beast." The east gate is assigned to the priests (Ezekiel 44:1-3). The priesthood is reproved and condemned for their sins (Ezekiel 44:4-14). Next are given specific regulations for cleansing and purifying the priesthood (Ezekiel 44:15-31).

Zechariah 7:2-3 — to worship, and that God's will would be made known from that city. "Sharezer and Regemmelech" "Sharezer is regarded as a Babylonian name, meaning `protect the king.'"Merrill F. Unger, Zechariah (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1963), p. 121. "Regemmelech means `king's friend'";Ibid. and the significance of these names points to the period of the Babylonian captivity, and shows how the old Jewish custom of naming their children with names that honored God had given place to names

Matthew 27:50 — to the "seven utterances." The time of the Master's death was three o'clock in the afternoon on the day of preparation for the Passover, making it occur on the afternoon, before sunset, when the actual Passover legally began. Matthew 27:51-53 relate to the Six Wonders of Calvary which received considerable attention in Matthew's gospel and which are of such surpassing interest that a special study of them is here included. THE PHENOMENA ATTENDING THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION There are

Matthew 28:6 — important word spoken to men than that of the glorious angel who said, "He is not here; he is risen, even as he said"! Even as he said! Christ made at least three grand prophecies of his death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22-23; Matthew 20:17-19), besides many other detailed references to it. See notes on those passages. The true gospel is not merely that Christ arose, but that he did so "even as he said, and according to the Scriptures" (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Come

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 — clear away some of the rubbish that one encounters in the commentaries: T. Witton Davies: "There is no primary reference here to the Messiah, though the words naturally suggest to Christian readers the Great Prophet."T. Witton Davies, op. cit., p. 239. The approach here is simply that of Satan to Eve, "Ye shall not surely die." Criticism often resorts to this device. When a truth is so glaring as to be self-evident to all, the knee-jerk response is, "Well, it doesn't mean that!" Also, note the snide

Mark 12:29-30 — to love him without measure; for the immense goodness of God deserves all the love that we can give him."St. Bernard, as quoted by E. Bickersteth, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), Vol. 16, p. 137. See an entire chapter on this commandment in "The Ten Commandments," pp. 19-29. Monotheism is dogmatically affirmed in this commandment; and the need for man to love God with his entire being is firmly declared. … mind … soul

Mark 15:42 — begged the dead body of Jesus from Pilate on "the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath" (Mark 15:42). (c) Likewise Luke stated that the burial took place on "the day of Preparation, and the sabbath drew on" (Luke 23:53). (d) The apostle John records that the trial of Jesus before Pilate took place "on the Preparation of the Passover: it was about the sixth hour" (John 19:14). This makes it absolutely certain that Christ was crucified on the 14th of Nisan. But,

Luke 11:2-4 — that is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation. And when ye pray, say … According to Geldenhuys, this means that prayer should be used "as nearly as possible in the form in which he taught it";Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 319. but the more accurate exegesis is that "Christ did not design that we should be tied up to these very words, for then there would have been no variation"Matthew Henry, op. cit., p. 692. from the account given in Matthew. Father …

Luke 4:1-2 — incorrect. As Lamar said: The punctuation recommended by many of the learned, and adopted by the Bible Union is as follows: And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him (Mark 1:13). And he was led in the Spirit in the wilderness forty days, tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-2). As Lachman said, "In this way even the appearance of a discrepancy between Matthew and Luke, in regard to the actual point when the temptations began,

Romans 3:3-4 — condition in the renewal of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). Besides, on that occasion, God expressly threatened to expel the natural seed from Canaan, and scatter them among the heathens, if they became unbelieving and disobedient (Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:64). The rejection, therefore, and expulsion of the Jews from Canaan, for their unbelief, being a fulfilling of the threatenings of the covenant, established the faithfulness of God instead of destroying it. James Macknight, Apostolical

Philippians 2:6 — God a thing to be grasped. THE SO-CALLED HYMN Many scholars insist that "Paul here quotes a previously composed hymn"; Frances Foulkes, New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1132. but outside the attractiveness of plausible imagination, there is no hard evidence of any kind to commend such a view. It is true, of course, that the passage is composed of balanced phrases having a kind of rhythm and that they could have been sung;

1 Timothy 3:2 — Christians, nor of elders; and those are profoundly in error who make the high standard in evidence here the excuse for appointing none at all. The very fact of Paul's appointing elders in every church immediately after the first missionary journey (Acts 14:23) proves that such officers are absolutely necessary in every congregation; and the fact that one or more of a given group of elders might be declared deficient in given qualifications is not a valid reason for countermanding God's order to ordain elders

Hebrews 8:1-2 — has "The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven." Micah saw the Lord's "holy temple" as far above the earth from which the Lord would come down and tread "upon the high places of the earth" (Micah 1:2-3). Habakkuk has the renowned call to worship, "But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him" (Habakkuk 2:20). From all these and many other references, should it be concluded that there is literally a temple

Revelation 3:7 — interest, as one of the great modern cities of the United States bears the same title. "Here is the seventh and last occurrence of this word in the New Testament, the other passages where it is found being: Romans 12:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:9; Hebrews 13:1; 1 Peter 1:22; and 2 Peter 1:7 (twice). William R. Newell, The Book of Revelation (Chicago: Moody Press, 1935), p. 67. Philadelphia is supposed to have been founded between 189 B.C. and 138 B.C., either by Eumenes, king of Pergamum, or his younger

Revelation 6:7-8 — freedom of their will. God will not procure obedience through coercion. (2) The progression of disastrous human calamities is not permitted to ravage without limitation, but each of them is limited, a fact that will often recur in subsequent visions. (3) Nor are these terrible riders permitted to go alone. At the head of the van is the white horse with its crowned rider; and all of the others "following" him means that they are not permitted to destroy except under the rules of divine restraint.