Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 11:9-12 — live the king!" "The spears and shields that had been king David's" "The priests would not normally have had weapons; and thus the explanation is here given that these weapons had been stored in the tabernacle by David,"George DeHoff's Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 322. and later deposited in the temple by Solomon. Anointed by the High Priest as king, formally proclaimed in the sacred area of the temple itself, and hailed with the traditional cry, "Long live the king!" Joash was elevated at the age of seven

2 Kings 19:1-4 — Archer). "The children are come to birth, and there is not strength to bring forth" "This was a common proverb that meant a dangerous crisis was approaching, and that the nation has no strength to carry it through the peril."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 5b, p. 382. "Lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left" There are two things that Hezekiah might have meant here: (1) Sennacherib had already captured and destroyed 46 cities of Judah; and in one sense, Jerusalem itself was a remnant (though hardly a righteous

2 Kings 23:31-35 — at once sent a detachment of soldiers to Jerusalem and deposed him and placed Eliakim on the throne as his puppet."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 499. This would appear to be verified by the declaration in 2 Chronicles 36:3 that "Pharaoh deposed him at Jerusalem."

1 Chronicles 12:1-7 — unbelievers in the ultimate sense of the word. Foolish indeed are those who trust such writers to interpret the Holy Scriptures for them. The occasions for these desertions to the cause of David was the period of David's residence at Ziklag, as related in 2 Sam. 27-30. (See my commentary under those references.) The Chronicler stressed the skill, training, competence and high social standing of several of the persons mentioned. Some writers have attempted to downgrade David's `six hundred men' as "Debtors,

1 Chronicles 6:77-81 — suburbs, and Jazer with its suburbs." By far the greater space was devoted to the genealogies of the Levites. "The reason for this, of course, was the importance of the priestly tribe in the religious life of Israel."The Teachers' Bible Commentary, p. 221. An amazing feature of these is the use of the same names over and over from generation to generation. The time covered by these genealogies reaches all the way back to Israel (Jacob); and many of the names encountered here remind us of historical

Ezra 8:31-34 — 7:9 the departure date was the first day of the month; here the actual date is, given as the twelfth day of the month (so stated as to leave the impression that these dates are in some manner contradictory)."Wycliffe Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 120. Once more we find that a careful reading of the Bible completely clears up what some critics view as a contradiction. Read the text: On the first day of the first month began (Ezra) to go up from Babylon (Ezra 7:9). "Then we departed from the river

Job 2:1-6 — The bitter hatred of all men by Satan is starkly revealed. "Put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh" This was Satan's request; and God had already stated that in the previous trial Satan had "Moved God against Job without cause" (Job 2:3), thus establishing the truth that whatever God allows, God does, in the Biblical sense. "And again it is Satan who is the agent; and God gave him authority to do as he pleased with Job, short of taking his life."Ibid., p. 91. "Only spare his life"

Job 24:18-25 — exceptions which are obviously quite numerous. Job is pointing out that in the course of things crime brings misery to the criminal, but that God has not ordered that each crime shall bring immediate retribution."R. B. Sweet Publishing Company, No. 216, p. 50. We are not to suppose that Job here has changed his basic thesis. Both Job and his friends believed that God punishes the wicked; but Job vehemently rejected the notion (1) either that God always punished the wicked immediately upon their

Job 24:2-12 — thirst. From out of the populous city, men groan, And the soul of the wounded crieth out: Yet God regardeth not the folly." The picture that emerges here is that of the heartless oppressors of the poor. These wicked men steal land by moving landmarks (Job 24:2), they steal whole flocks of animals and keep them (Job 24:3), they steal an orphan's ass, exact an unjust pledge from widows (Job 24:4) and force their poor laborers who work for them to scavenge for food in the mountains, where they have no residences,

Job 41:26-34 — used in an effort to destroy a crocodile. What is meant is that no ordinary weapon of any kind was effective against the crocodile."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), op. cit., p. 264 "His underparts are sharp like potsherds" See quotation from Driver under Job 41:23, above. "He maketh the deep to boil like a pot… a path to shine after him (in the deep); one would think the deep to be hoary" Barnes and other scholars remind

Psalms 106:6-12 — verse are to emphasis its abhorrence in God's sight. "Rebellious even at the Red Sea" Delitzsch thought "Red Sea" here to be a reference, "To the sea of reed or sedge."F. Delitzsch, Vol. V-C, p. 153. This was a popular error during the first half of the 20th century; and James Moffatt, contrary to all reason, translated "Red Sea" in the Exodus Crossing as "Reed Sea." However, when he found the same words over in the passage where it is related that "Solomon launched his navy," he went back to an honest

Psalms 107:17-22 — an apt figure indeed of the weak, captive, humiliated, suffering Israel as contrasted with the 600,000 fighting men that came out of Egypt. "The propriety of this comparison can scarcely be questioned."H. C. Leupold, p. 758. Psalms 107:19; Psalms 107:21 are another recurrence of the double refrain as in Psalms 107:6 and Psalms 107:8, Psalms 107:13 and Psalms 107:15, and in Psalms 107:28 and Psalms 107:31. Also, there is the declaration that stands between them. "He sendeth his word and healeth them,

Psalms 21:5-6 — Honor and majesty dost thou lay upon him. For thou makest him most blessed forever: Thou makest him glad with joy in thy presence." These verses abundantly confirm the interpretation of "eternal life" which we understand to be the meaning of Psalms 21:4, above. "Honor and majesty dost thou lay upon him" (Psalms 21:5). What is indicated here according to Dahood (in The Anchor Bible) is, "A characteristic attribute of the (pagan) gods, consisting of a dazzling aureole or nimbus which surrounds divinity."Ibid.,

Psalms 31:19-22 — voice of my supplications, When I cried unto thee." "Great is thy goodness… laid up" (Psalms 31:19). This is a theme often reiterated in the words of the apostles and of Christ himself. Jesus said, "Great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:12); and Paul, quoting from Isaiah 64:4, or perhaps inspired by such lines, elaborated them as follows: "Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man.Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him"(1 Corinthians

Psalms 35:11-18 — in feasts, They gnashed upon me with their teeth. Lord, how long wilt thou look on? Rescue my soul from their destructions, My darling from the lions. I will give thee thanks in the great assembly: I will praise thee among much people." "In this Part 2 of the psalm, persons whom the psalmist had befriended in their sickness, turn against him bearing false witness against him."The Layman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 67. "They ask me of things that I know not" These former friends, now false witnesses

Psalms 58:6-9 — pots can feel the thorns, He will take them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike." This prayer against the hardened and unrepentant wicked men of this passage reveals a seven-fold curse upon them. 1. Break their teeth (Psalms 58:6). 2. Break out (pull) the teeth of lions (Psalms 58:6). 3. Let them melt away as water that runs off (Psalms 58:7). 4. His arrows… let them be cut off (Psalms 58:7). 5. Let them be as a snail that melteth (Psalms 58:8). 6. Let them be like an aborted

Psalms 71:17-19 — grounds upon which he pleads for God's help. (1)    Serving God is no new thing to David. God had instructed him from his youth; and he had heeded that instruction and had walked uprightly before God all of his life, "hitherto." (2)    "I am old and grayheaded" This argument is that the infirmities of age are encroaching upon him and that there is therefore "a special need" of God's help; hence the appeal, "Forsake me not." "Among sensitive men and women of

Psalms 85:4-7 — explanation is easily provided by the prophets Haggai and Malachi. What had gone wrong? (1) First, the vast majority of Israel, having accommodated to their situation in Babylon, many of them amassing wealth, simply refused to return to Jerusalem. (2) Those who did return had no enthusiasm whatever for rebuilding the temple, their chief concern being the building of their own houses. (3) They grossly neglected the requirements of God's worship. (4) Even after the second temple had finally been constructed,

Psalms 94:12-15 — mentioned earlier, no doubt, were allowed to pass through such difficult experiences by the Lord. "The affliction was for their betterment. This is one of the most beneficial forms of experience that the Lord lets men live through."H. C. Leupold, p. 672. In the New Testament, Hebrews 12 stresses the benefit and the necessity of such chastening. (For a fuller discussion of this see Vol. 10 of our New Testament Series of Commentaries (Hebrews), pp. 293-296.) "Rest from adversity… until the pit

Proverbs 30:1-4 — those areas which most deeply concern humanity is a beautiful contrast indeed with the colossal conceit and arrogance which are the twin badges of our mortality. "In his own way, he affirms that reverence is the beginning of knowledge (1 Corinthians 8:2)."Ibid., p. 179. This whole paragraph is in the same line of thought with Job 38:1-10; and the answer that thunders in our ears at the end of each of these six questions is, "No man"! The writer is speaking of the Holy One (and he used the plural [~'Elohiym]