Bible Commentaries

Exodus 13:17-22 — some other route settles the matter for Christians. Even Davies admitted that, "The early settlement of Philistines before their main invasion may account for the reference."G. Henton Davies, 20th Century Commentary (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1932), p. 135. Any premise that includes the proposition that there is available today anything more than a mere smattering of knowledge of ancient history known by modern man, is a monstrous misassumption! Until men know a lot more about ancient history

Exodus 6:2 — shall inherit" (Genesis 15:8). The mother of all living in the gates of Paradise itself said, regarding the birth of Cain, "I have gotten a man with the help of Jehovah" (Genesis 4:1). It was under the name Jehovah that God visited Abraham (Genesis 18:13; Genesis 18:17). Under the name Jehovah, he appeared to Isaac (Genesis 26:2); and Jacob explained his early return to Isaac on the occasion of the blessing by saying, "Jehovah thy God (Isaac's God) sent me good speed" (Genesis 27:20). Noah invoked the

Leviticus 11 overview — oysters. "Pork, improperly cooked, is widely recognized as a carrier of trichinosis. The rock badger and the hare are known carriers of tularemia."Ronald E. Clements, Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, Leviticus (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972), p. 34. Such facts indeed might have influenced the beginning of taboos against eating those creatures, but there are other forbidden animals that do not follow that pattern, for example, the horse, or the dog. Also, cattle which were designated clean, are

Ezekiel 28:11-17 — in Genesis,"F. F. Bruce in the New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 886 or to some alleged `myth' concerning a divine garden, an abode of bliss. As Cooke pointed out, however, "Such a myth has not been discovered!"International Critical Commentary, p. 316. Thus there is no evidence whatever, except in the imaginations of wicked men, of any such mythological tale as the radical critics love to find here. We do not believe there is any such myth, or that there ever has been. Besides that, we shall show,

Amos 9:8 — was also their rejection of their own status as "God's chosen people," a term that henceforth would apply to the "righteous remnant" and not to Israel as a whole. McKeating interpreted this and the preceding verse 7 as "a formal contradiction of Amos 3:2, `For you alone have I cared among all the nations of the world.'"Henry McKeating, Cambridge Bible Commentary, Amos (Cambridge: University Press, 1971), p. 67. However, these verses are not speaking of the same thing. God's solicitous care for "you,"

Numbers 2:1-34 — in line of march… LAST. A diagrammatic presentation of this is also given in the latter part of Numbers 1. There are a number of things of very great interest in these verses, and one of these is the use of the word "standards" in Numbers 2:2-3; Numbers 2:10; Numbers 2:17-18; Numbers 2:25; Numbers 2:31; Numbers 2:34. The use of this word in close connection with the word "ensigns" would certainly appear to suggest a flag or banner of some kind, but, beginning with G. B. Gray (1903) in International

Jonah 1:17 — Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." The word "prepared" as used here actually means "commissioned" or appointed, or "ordered."Harold E. Monser, Cross-Reference Bible (New York: The Cross-Reference Bible Company, 1910), p. 1683. It may be assumed that the great fish was ready at the instant God needed it, just as the tree had been growing by the bitter waters of Marah for a long time prior to the moment when Moses was commanded to cast it into the waters for the purpose of

Zechariah 11:13 — consideration, it occurs to the critic that the text here should read differently: "It is pretty generally agreed that the text needs emendation! The command addressed to the Shepherd should read, `put it in the treasury'!Henckley G. Mitchell, op. cit., p. 310, How ridiculous! It was against the law of God to put blood money in the treasury (Matthew 27:6); and for men to emend the text to make God command the violation of his own law is going too far. Most commentators try to make out that "cast it unto

Malachi 1:11 — falsehood. a.    "At the time of Malachi the name of Jehovah was not great from the rising to the setting of the sun, nor were incense and sacrifice offered to him in every place… consequently we must understand the words prophetically."C. F. Keil, op cit., p. 432. "Incense shall be offered to my name" "This expression, 'my name' presupposes the knowledge of God, who to this point in history was known only to Jews."T. Miles Bennett, op. cit., p. 378. 2.    At the moment when Malachi was .written

Malachi 1:2-3 — does this mean? Does it carry the affirmation mentioned by Lewis? "The prophet writes to encourage the people by affirming that GOD STILL LOVES ISRAEL (caps added)."Jack Lewis, The Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1968), p. 83. In these verses, "The prophet shows that Jehovah still loves Israel."George I. Robinson, The Twelve Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1926), p. 163. "The tense of the verb indicates not only a love that has operated in the past,

Luke 15:22-24 — ears! III.    The cure of the tragedy. A.    The cure began when the prodigal told himself the truth. The unique utility of the Bible is that it reveals what men say to themselves (see more on this under Luke 16:3). Instead of lying to himself about how he would surely make a good recovery, or how something would surely "turn up," he simply faced up to the shame and disgrace of his life, and to the fact that he was "perishing." Countless thousands

Luke 15:8-10 — men have been accounted as cheap in the eyes of their fellows. Earth's warlords have ever looked upon men as mere pawns in the struggle for power; and historically, the rich and the powerful have often held human life as cheap indeed (Matthew 10:29-30). (3)    Both may be exchanged for something else. Man may exchange himself for eternal life (Luke 16:9). On the other hand, he may sell himself to do evil in God's sight (1 Kings 21:20). Esau sold his birthright for one mess of

John 1:18 — parallel between Christ and the Bible even extends to this, that as there were a few Gentiles conspicuously among the Lord's fleshly ancestors, such as Ruth and Tamar, there are also some Gentile writers of the Bible, notably Job and the evangelist Luke, 3.    Both Christ and the Bible have been disbelieved, mocked, tried with false trials, and crucified. The passion and crucifixion of the Lord are well known; but some may not know that during the French Revolution the Bible was publicly

Romans 6:23 — proper here to add that immersion is not the only means of transition into him. We believe into Christ, as well as are immersed into him, and the former just as certainly as the latter. "He that believes into the Son has everlasting life" (John 3:36). To be immersed and to believe are similar verb forms, with identical significations. Neither excludes the other, and both are alike essential to the end. We do not pass into Christ by immersion alone, nor by belief alone. We pass into him by the

Joshua 18:21-28 — (the same is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families." As Cook said, "nothing is known of a number of these places."F. C. Cook, op. cit., p. 396. Yet there are included in this list a number of the best known and most important places in all of Palestine: Jericho, Jerusalem, Bethel, Gibeon, Ramah, Beth-horon, Mizpeh, and Gibeah. Boling's assertion that these boundaries of Benjamin set up "contradictory

Hebrews 1:3 — substance" is somewhat ambiguous in the common versions; and the scholars give its meaning variously as: "He is the counterpart or facsimile of the Father." J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Whole Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 1016. "Very God of very God." Thomas Hewitt, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), p. 52. "The exact representation of the very being of God." Clarence S. Roddy, The

Hebrews 11:17-20 — marveled at it; and, in the words of Albert Barnes, "It is the strongest illustration of faith, undoubtedly, which has ever been evinced in our world." Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1963), Vol. Hebrews, p. 272. Abraham, being tried is a reference to the remarkable test of his faith recorded in Genesis 22:1 ff. It is said there that God did "tempt" Abraham, but the word "tried" is the true meaning. Although the word

Hebrews 2:5-7 — habitable world. Thus the Son is better than angels, not only as the revealer of God (Hebrews 1) but also, as will now be shown, as the representative of man. W. H. Griffith Thomas, Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 32. The difficulty of this passage is seen in the author's argument for the superiority of Christ, while at the same time quoting a passage from the Old Testament that seems to contradict it, "Thou madest him a little lower than the angels."

Judges 12:1-6 — array. "Northward" Hervey suggested that, "The alternative reading for this word, i.e., `Zaphon, a city of the Gileadites,' should be used, because a movement of Ephraim to Gilead would have been eastward, not northward."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 3-C, p. 130 It is evident that the providence of God is visible in this humiliating defeat of Ephraim. Their conceited arrogance was a problem that threatened all of Israel, and, if their demand to be recognized as head of the tribes of Israel had not

Revelation 8:1 — last day, "the day of the Lord." Even the marvelous two chapters which conclude this prophecy reveal nothing of the events that are to take place afterwards. John himself said, "It is not yet made manifest what we shall be" (1 John 3:2), a statement which is parallel with the thought here. A moment later, we shall note some of the important corollaries that derive from this interpretation; but first, we shall give the interpretation of this verse as found in the writings of others: It