Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 7:23-26 — thick; and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths." Here again, we find Solomon's utter disregard of God's commandment that, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" (Exodus 2:4-5). Even the Jewish historian Josephus agreed that in the images mentioned here, "Solomon sinned, and fell into an error about the observation of the laws, when he made the images of the brazen oxen that supported the brazen sea, and the images of

1 Kings 8:27-30 — place: yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place; and when thou hearest, forgive." "Heaven of heavens cannot contain thee" "These words are actually a reminiscence of Deuteronomy 10:14, and are found elsewhere only five times including the parallel in 2 Chronicles 6:18."The Interpreter's Bible, op. cit., p. 78. "My name shall be there" In these words, as they are compared with 1 Kings 8:27, Solomon makes it clear that, "It is not God Himself in his fullness who will dwell in the Temple, but only his

1 Kings 9:26-28 — Sea" This is one of the most important passages in the O.T., because of its use of the Hebrew term [~Yam] [~Cuwp], an expression which James Moffatt and many other critical scholars erroneously translated as Reed Sea in the Book of Exodus (Exodus 15:22), enabling them to postulate upon the basis of that false translation the proposition that Israel merely crossed over marshy ground and not any sea at all. James Moffatt's translation renders [~Yam] [~Cuwp] in Exodus 15:22 as "Reed Sea"; but here in

2 Kings 19:25-28 — unwillingness to preach to Nineveh. What a fool, therefore, was Sennacherib who imagined that all of his exploits were due simply to his personal power and ability. "I will put my hook in his nose" "This is a further detail of what God prophesied in 2 Kings 19:7, above."George C. M. Douglas, p. 289. This is a characteristic of the inspired writings which we have frequently noted. In every mention of a given event, prophecy, or instruction, some significant detail, not previously mentioned, is added. "One

2 Kings 25:22-26 — Chaldeans." "Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan" "Gedaliah means `Yahweh is great'; he was a grandson of Shaphan, head of a prominent family in Judah. They had supported the reforms of Josiah and were friendly and helpful to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:24)."Broadman Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 294. We might even suppose that Jeremiah could have mentioned Gedaliah favorably to Nebuchadnezzar which would help explain Nebuchadnezzar's appointment of him. The full story of the shameful treachery of

2 Kings 3:13-17 — to obtain water by digging for it!"The Interpreter's Bible, op. cit., p. 199. The water that filled that valley did not come from the army's digging wells all that night! No indeed, the text flatly declares that, "There came water by the way of Edom (2 Kings 3:20)" That can mean only that there was a cloudburst in the highlands of Edom where that wady originated, and that by the following morning the whole area was flooded! "Ye shall not see wind, neither… rain, yet this valley shall be filled

1 Chronicles 28:12-19 — very names, descriptions and instructions regarding all of these things were derived by David from the Mosaic Law as given in the Pentateuch. Any good reference Bible lists the following references in this single paragraph to the Law of Moses: Exo. 20:16; 25:9,18-22,37; 26:31-39; 28:16; 30:1-19,34; and 36:9; Leviticus 16:2; Leviticus 16:14-15; and Numbers 1:47. Thus, what we have here is David's relay of the instructions Moses received from God for the building of the tabernacle accommodated to

2 Chronicles 15:8-15 — fifteen year of Asa" "This was June (Sivan), on the sixth day of which the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) was observed. The great sacrifices on this occasion included some of the booty they had taken in the war with Zerah";Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 6b, p. 182. and if the conjecture that Zerah came against Asa in his eleventh year is correct, this would indicate that the war lasted four years. However, a great deal of the chronology of all of these Hebrew kings is very uncertain. "And they entered into the

Nehemiah 3:6-12 — is not upon the clergy at all, but upon the fact that EVERYBODY engaged in the work. "All classes participated in the project, including priests (Nehemiah 3:1), goldsmiths and perfumers (Nehemiah 3:8), rulers of the city and even women (Nehemiah 3:12), also Levites (Nehemiah 3:17) and merchants (Nehemiah 3:32)."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 405. Where is there any emphasis on the clergy in all that? Not merely the population of Jerusalem engaged in this project, but their fellow-countrymen

Job 1:13-19 — harmonious with all that is written elsewhere in the Holy Scriptures concerning the evil one. (1) His deception of Eve was designed to accomplish her utter destruction, and to drown all of her posterity for ages to come in oceans of blood and tears. (2) Look what happened to the herd of swine (Matthew 8:32). (3) Look what happened to Judas Iscariot. John 13:27 states that, "After the sop, Satan entered into Judas"; and before the night ended Judas was dead by his own hand. This passage in Job probably

Job 33:13-22 — have been able to find in Elihu's words is the viewpoint expressed in this paragraph that God's purpose in punishing Job was designed for Job's benefit, a divine chastening, to prevent his utter ruin. The New Testament doctrine of chastening (Hebrews 12:5-13) is indeed the explanation of some sufferings of God's people; but in the light of the prologue, Elihu was not correct in this explanation of Job's sorrows. Job had challenged God to "show me" (Job 10:2) or "Give me an answer." Elihu is here saying

1 Samuel 15:1-3 — Amalekites were the first pagan nation to attack the Jews following their deliverance from Egypt; "And God at that time threatened them with extermination as a consequence (Exodus 17:8-16)."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 2b, p. 150. Centuries had elapsed since then. "God often bears long with those who are marked for ruin, but he will not bear always."Matthew Henry's Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 358. So it proved to be in the case of the Amalekites. "God had sworn that in the

1 Samuel 23:1-5 — Qila, located eight miles northwest of Hebron overlooking the Elah Valley road to Hebron. In the times of Nehemiah, the city was reoccupied by the Israelites returning from the captivity in Babylon (Nehemiah 3:17-18)."Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 985. At the time of this episode, the citizens of Keilah were harvesting their grain crops, which afforded the principal means of their livelihood. It seldom rained in the summer; and the threshing floors were loaded with the grain being threshed

1 Samuel 24:16-22 — Saul. Then Saul went home; but David and his men went up to the stronghold." "You are more righteous than I" These are the very words that Judah spoke to his daughter-in-law Tamar, whom he was in the act of burning to death for adultery (Genesis 38:26). What could either Judah or Saul have meant by words like these? What `righteousness' could either one of them have claimed that was worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as that of the persons addressed? "Saul should have said, `Thou art righteous;

1 Samuel 30:11-15 — lasted several days. "My master left me… because I fell sick three days ago" Here is the Biblical picture of the Amalekites. "To them, a sick slave was of no more importance than a crippled horse."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, op. cit., p. 292. His master left him to die in the desert without even a flask of water to sustain him; it must be that God Himself kept that Egyptian young man alive to be the key instrument in the vengeance of God upon those heartless Amalekites. Here, then, is

1 Samuel 6:1-3 — such deceivers were widely trusted; and even today one cannot fail to be aware that palm readers, phrenologists, fortune-tellers, etc. are still operating in every great city on earth. The methods employed by diviners included: (1) shaking the arrows; (2) consulting the teraphim; and (3) looking at the liver (Ezekiel 21:21). For further comment on `shaking the arrows,' see our commentary on Ezekiel, pp. 215, 216. In this third method, the entrails of some animal were poured out, and the arrangements

1 Samuel 8:4-9 — shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them." The critical complaint that the reason for Israel's request for a king, "Here (in this passage), is motivated by maladministration of justice, whereas in 1 Samuel 8:20 it is due to a desire for a leader in war,"International Critical Commentary, Samuel, p. 56. is a strange complaint indeed. Apparently, the critic had never heard of multiple motivations! A more discerning scholar listed a number of motivations for

2 Samuel 20:14-22 — the modern Tel Abil, twelve miles north of Lake Huleh and four miles west of Dan."John T. Willis, p. 394. DeHoff also tells us that, "It is supposed to have been the capital of the district called Abilene in Luke 3:1."George DeHoff's Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 222. "Then a wise woman called from the city" "This woman was probably someone on the border line between a prophetess and a witch, two classes which were not always clearly distinguished."Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 291. She must be credited

2 Samuel 5:17-21 — plain El Baqa which runs southwest of Jerusalem, but if the valley is placed to the south of Jerusalem, the boundary would fall well within the territory of Judah. In the present passage, it is said that David pursued the Philistines from Geba to Gezer (2 Samuel 5:25), which could have been done only if the battle were fought to the north of Jerusalem."The Interpreter's Bible, op. cit., p. 1074. This is another of those questions which can hardly be settled satisfactorily within the limits of the abbreviated

2 Samuel 6:20-23 — to speak with David except this one. "And Michal, Saul's daughter, had no child to the day of her death" This may not mean that Michal died childless, but merely that she had no child after her return to David. Her five sons are mentioned in 1 Samuel 21:10. The RSV identifies them as sons of "Merab," Saul's oldest daughter, but certain old manuscripts, the Hebrew text, and the Greek (LXX) identify them as the sons of Michal, as indicated in the footnote of the RSV. Josephus declares that, "She bare