Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 17:1-6 — away unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes." "And (he) reigned 9 years" Hoshea reigned until Samaria was taken, and therefore we must understand that the imprisonment of Hoshea (2 Kings 17:4) is a summary of what eventually happened, detailed by the following verses. Either that, or the statement of his imprisonment may be understood as a metaphorical reference to the siege that lasted three years. "Yet not as the kings of Israel

2 Kings 23:26-27 — destruction, defeat, deportation and removal from the land that God had given to their fathers. The snide critical comment that, "The Deuteronomic compiler blamed Manasseh for the disaster (that overcame Judah),"The Interpreter's Bible, op. cit., p. 326. is incorrect. Although Manasseh alone is mentioned in this passage, it was merely because he was the most recent and most flagrant violator of the sacred covenant. Hosea spelled out the wickedness of the Chosen People extensively in Hosea 9, a wickedness

1 Chronicles 14:1-17 — David did as God commanded him: and they smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer. And the fame of David went out into all lands; and Jehovah brought the fear of him upon all nations." Here also we have a chapter exactly parallel with 2 Samuel 5:11-25, where my commentary on these events is found on pp. 59-65, and where the slight and unimportant variations are also noted. "For his people Israel's sake" David's life, like that of all mortals, was marred by many sins and mistakes; and

1 Chronicles 9:35-44 — Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son. And Azel had six sons, whose names are these: Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheriah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel." 1 Chronicles 9:35-44 is a duplicate of 1 Chronicles 8:29-38. Twelve generations of King Saul are listed here; and the reason for their being repeated would appear to be that they are an appropriate background for the record of the death of Saul, related in the very next chapter. This brings us to the end

Esther 3:7-11 — information on how this happened. "Haman's method for fixing the date for the destruction of the Jews has been revealed by excavations at Susa (Shushan) by M. Dieulafoy, who actually recovered one of those quadrangular prisms engraved with the Numbers 1, 2, 5, 6. The word `pur' is derived from the Persian puru, that is, `lot'; and it is now known that `they cast Pur' (Esther 3:7) means that they cast lots."Archeology and the Old Testament, p. 309. This fully explains why almost a year elapsed between

Job 24:1 — life patterns both of the wicked and of the righteous, making it an impossibility to lay down set laws that it must always be either this way or that way for either class of men. These reasons are: (1) God has given all men the freedom of their will. (2) By reason of the Fall, Satan enjoys many powers as `the god of this world." (3) God has cursed the ground (the earth) for Adam's sake, and from this all kinds of natural disasters fall continually upon mankind. (4) "Time and chance happeneth unto them

Psalms 104:24-30 — are satisfied with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; Thou takest away their breath, they die, And return to the dust. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; And thou renewest the face of the ground." This is based upon Genesis 1:2-23; but here again, the psalmist speaks not so much of the actual creation, but of the existence of it in the myriad forms and manifestations of it at the present time. "How manifold are thy works" The uncounted millions of species in the animate creation

Psalms 41:10-12 — opinions of people who really do not think any criminal should suffer the appropriate punishment for his deeds. Did not our Lord say: "But these mine enemies, that would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me." - Luke 19:27" "David not only prayed for health here so that he might carry out his duty of just requital as the royal Judge of Israel; but he included a three-fold testimony of the Lord, who (1) shows his good pleasure in vindicating his own (Psalms 41:11); (2)

Psalms 84:1-4 — Son of Man hath not where to lay his head" (Luke 9:58). "Blessed are they that dwell in thy house" This blessing of God's worshippers occurs in all three divisions of the psalm, in the last verse of Division No. 1, in the first verse of Division No. 2, and in the last verse of Division No. 3. The intense longing of the psalmist for his presence in God's temple has been used by some as evidence that the psalmist was at the time of this hymn compelled to be absent from the temple, either by exile,

Isaiah 17:1-6 — the uppermost bough, four or five in the utmost branches of a fruitful tree, saith Jehovah the God of Israel." The first three verses here announce "the imminent ruin of Damascus, in which Israel also will be involved."J. R. Dummelow Commentary,. p. 428. Ephraim, the leading tribe of the Ten Northern Tribes loved to refer to his part of the nation as "Israel"; but it was never so. Those tribes were called "Ephraim" some three dozen times in the prophecy of Hosea. "The cities of Aroer are forsaken"

Isaiah 26:1-6 — mortar, quite a different wall from that of the city in view here, where God appointed "salvation" for walls and bulwarks. Also, can any person even imagine that God ever referred to the literal Jewish nation as "a righteous nation"? Look at Isaiah 26:2: "Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which keepeth faith may come in"! This was never true of ancient Israel. Therefore, we must agree with Archer who wrote: The redeemed saints will come to the gates of the (New) Jerusalem at the end of

Isaiah 52:11-12 — of the midst of her; cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah. For ye shall not go out in haste, neither shall ye go by flight; for Jehovah will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward." Compare this with Isaiah 48:20, where the instructions for Israel contained the word "flee." Thus we have again that oft-repeated Biblical characteristic of repeating sacred records, or instructions, with additional and supplementary material, conforming to Isaiah 28:10; Isaiah

Jeremiah 1:13-15 — that direction. "Strictly speaking, the Babylonians were an eastern people from the point of view in Palestine; but the caravan-roads which the Chaldean armies had to take entered Palestine at Dan and then proceeded southward."The Pulpit Commentary, p. 2 "Evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land" A better word than `evil' in this place would be `calamity.' "The Hebrew word often means `misery,' `distress,' or `trouble,' as well as `evil.' "Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 660.

Judges 20:1-3 — frustrates the critics, who declare that such unity in Israel is utterly unlike the disunity exhibited in the other episodes of Judges. "This unity of Israel and the greatly exaggerated figures indicate later expansion."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 2, p. 814. "The word `congregation' is a post-exilic term."Arthur S. Peake Commentary, p. 27O. Such remarks are irresponsible. The word congregation was frequently used throughout the Pentateuch and in the Book of Joshua. What such critics fail to see

Ruth 3:14-18 — day." "And he said, Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing-floor." This sounds like a command given by Boaz to someone, but that is not the case. "`And he said' in this passage has the meaning of, `he thought,'"Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 475. or "he said to himself." The reason for this caution is clear enough. "Nothing sinful had been done, but Boaz was concerned that the presence of a woman on the threshing-floor might have been misunderstood. "He measured six measures of barley"

1 Samuel 11:5-6 — territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, "Whosoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen." The words of these three verses confirm in the most vigorous manner the prior existence of both phase (1) and phase (2) of Saul's being made king of Israel. "Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen" He had obeyed Samuel's command for everyone to go home, and he was coming in from the field where he had been plowing. "And the Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul"

1 Samuel 22:11-19 — Jericho, "Saul so completely identified his revenge with the cause of Jehovah that he avenged an imaginary conspiracy against himself, identifying it as treason against Jehovah,"C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 227. and ordered Doeg to destroy Nob. In this bloody and unscrupulous murder of so many, one must recall the judgment that the "man of God" pronounced against the house of Eli (1 Samuel 2:27-36). Of course, in this destruction, Abiathar escaped; but in

2 Samuel 18:6-8 — forest of Ephraim" "This place is not otherwise known to us."International Critical Commentary, Samuel, p. 357. Keil was certain that `the forest of Ephraim' was west of the Jordan river;C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 26, p. 437. Willis located it east of Jordan,John T. Willis, p. 383. and there are excellent arguments that may be advanced supporting either view. My own opinion favors an east of Jordan site, because Absalom had crossed the Jordan with all those men

2 Samuel 2:12-17 — precipitate a full-scale encounter. "Joab and the servants of David met them at the pool of Gibeon" "Gibeon is now known as El Jib; and in the excavations there since 1956 by Pritchard have uncovered and measured this ancient pool which existed as early as 1200 B.C. It measured 11.3 meters in diameter and was 10.8 meters deep."The Bible and Archaeology, p. 100 Judged by the size of this pool and the fact of Abner and Joab's conversation with each other, and also by the number of casualties on each side,

2 Samuel 6:6-11 — broken forth upon Uzzah" It was Keil's opinion that David's burning anger here was not directed against God… but against the cause of the calamity, which he attributed to himself."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 2b, p. 33. We admit such a view could be correct, but to us it appears to be overly apologetic for David. Matthew Henry stated that, "David was angry and out of humor… David did not now act like himself, like a man after God's own heart."Matthew