Bible Commentaries

Jeremiah 22:1-9 — Then they shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God and worshipped other gods, and served them." "If ye will do this thing indeed" Thompson translated this clause, "If you scrupulously carry out this commission."Ibid., p. 472. "They shall cut down thy choice cedars" "In keeping with the figure of a forest, the destruction of Jerusalem is represented as the hewing down of the choice cedars. The destroyed city will become a monument to God's wrath against the transgressors

Jeremiah 30:8-11 — racial Israel shall ever adore Christ is a gross mistake. "Jacob my servant" Theme of Jacob, or Israel, as God's servant is more fully developed in Isaiah in the series of passages called "The Servant Songs." (Isaiah 41:8-14; Isaiah 43:1-7; Isaiah 44:1-2; Isaiah 51:1 f; Isaiah 53, etc.). "Full end of all the nations… not a full end of thee" Ammon, Moab, Edom, Assyria, etc. no longer exist; but the nation of Israel is still on earth. How do critics explain this without designating it a "predictive

Jeremiah 50:1-5 — indicating that Nebuchadnezzar was especially devoted to that god. Merodach was actually identical with Bel. He was identified with Jupiter among the planets, and he was styled, `King of heaven and earth.'"Barnes' Notes (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House), p. 267. "Her idols are dismayed" The word for idols in the Hebrew literally means "dung balls."Anthony L. Ash, Psalms (Abilene, Texas: A.C.U. Press, 1987), p. 310. This word was a favorite of Ezekiel who used it 38 times in speaking of pagan idols. The word

Ezekiel 21:18-23 — ways" These lines seem to be God's explanation to Ezekiel of the meaning of that divination sought by Nebuchadnezzar, at the head of the two ways. "Damascus was the point at which the ancient trade routes separated."International Critical Commentary, p. 231. "Mark out a place at the head of the way to the city" Since nothing is said of Ezekiel's going all the way to Damascus, it could be that some crucial place on the road from Damascus to Jerusalem would be the place that Ezekiel was commanded to mark.

Ezekiel 26:19-21 — be sought for, yet shall thou never be found again, saith the Lord Jehovah." In a passage like this, we can understand why the New Testament declares that, "Christ Jesus abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (2 Timothy 1:10) Certainly, the glorious hope of eternal life and the restored fellowship of lost Mankind with the Creator is nowhere visible in a passage such as this. "This passage gives the impression that the pit is identical with Sheol, the realm

Daniel 8:15-19 — of the Great Judgment upon all mankind. Still another factor that almost certainly must be taken into consideration is the fact of Christ's making the end of the Israelite nation (in the destruction of Jerusalem) a type of the final judgment (Matthew 24). In view of this, "the time of the end" might well have a dual application, being prophetic of the "end of the indignation" against Israel, which issued in the destruction of the nation, and also prophetic of the final judgment itself. "Certainly,

Hosea 5:15 — good introduction to the little psalm in Hosea 6:1-3."Henry McKeating, op. cit., p. 108. Harper also failed to see the lion returning to his den here, stating that, "This is not the figure of the lion returning to his den";W. R. Harper, op. cit., p. 282. significantly, however, he supported the assertion with no proof. The failure to see the metaphor of the lion going back to his den in this passage leads to all kinds of erroneous and bizarre notions about alleged beliefs of the Hebrew prophets who

Nahum 3:8 — the name of their false god) was the greatest and most influential city of the pre-Assyrian world. "Here are the mightiest ruins of ancient civilization to be found anywhere on earth.J. M. Powis Smith, op. cit., p. 343. It came into prominence about 2,100 years B.C.; "From that time it held a leading place in Egypt."Ibid. It was long the capital of Egypt and was nicknamed, "The city of a hundred gates; it was the cult center of the triad of Amon, Mut and Khonsu. 'Amon' indicated the relationship

Malachi 1:8 — have received the threshing floor of Ornan as a gift upon which to build the temple, chose rather to pay for it, saying, "Nay, but I will verily buy it of thee at a price; neither will I offer burnt offerings unto Jehovah my God which cost me nothing" (2 Samuel 24:24). Also, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, king of Salem, it is recorded that, "He gave a tenth of all." That means, of course, a tithe of the best and most valuable spoils procured in the victory. The law of Moses defined the character

Malachi 3:2 — hide in the caves and rocks of the mountains for terror, giving as the reason, "For the great day of their wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:17). In this connection, one should read again the startling prophecy of Amos 5:18-20. The notion that Malachi here refined and reduced the severity of Amos' prophecy is wrong. The passages are supplementary, not contradictory. "Refiner's fire" The smelter must be applied to all men and all the institutions of men; only the pure shall

Matthew 18:12-14 — defenseless, having no weapon of any kind, no gift of speed in flight, no cunning, no means of deception, its very cries being only a signal for the enemy to close in for the kill. Let every backslider behold here his helplessness apart from Christ. (2) The sheep has no sense of direction. A carrier pigeon would surely be able to return to its nest; a dog might find its way home, but a sheep? Never! (3) A lost sheep is surrounded by enemies, even the elemental forces of nature being hostile and often

Luke 1:5 — country dates from 37 B.C.Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 11, p. 510. The event narrated here occurred in either 7 B.C. or 5 B.C., depending upon the exact date assigned to the birth of our Lord. Dummelow favored 6 B.C.,J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 627. and Boles 4 B.C.H. Leo Boles, Commentary on Matthew (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1936), p. 36. The reckoning of time from the birth of Christ began a long time after the event of his birth, the error remaining long undetected; and this accounts

Luke 10:13-14 — Sidon in the judgment, than for you. Chorazin … Bethsaida … The New Testament does not record the mighty works done in these cities, making no mention of them at all, with the exception of a single miracle of healing a blind man (Mark 8:22). Again, here is the most conclusive evidence that only a small fraction of the miracles of Jesus are recorded in the New Testament. Chorazin is mentioned only one other place in the New Testament (Matthew 11:21); and while Bethsaida is mentioned several

Luke 20:9-18 — this that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner? Every one that falleth on that stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust. Parallels: Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12. THE PARABLE OF THE WICKED FARMERS II. This great parable is the central member of a trilogy of magnificent parables, all three of which were spoken by Jesus to set forth the rebellious behavior of official Israel. The full trilogy

Romans 1:8 — great labors were directed to establishing the faith of Christ in great world-centers like Corinth, Ephesus, and Antioch. My God … Paul's use of the possessive pronoun here was not unusual, the same construction appearing in 1 Corinthians 1:4; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Philippians 1:3; Philippians 4:19; and Philemon 1:4. Old Testament precedent is "The Lord is my shepherd" (Psalms 23:1). And yet none of the apostles ever wrote, "My Father," an expression which our Saviour evidently

Romans 5:2 — God is through Christ; and here it was declared to be Christ "through whom" there is access by faith into this grace. The state of grace, or favor, into which Christians have access through faith, is that of the kingdom of God (Philippians 3:20). As Lard noted: That this state of favor is identical with the church or the kingdom of God, hardly admits of doubt. Moses E. Lard, Commentary on Paul's Letter to Romans (Des Moines, Iowa: Eugene S. Smith), p. 155. Through Christ … as used

Romans 6:4 — immersion. Bloomfield: There is a plain allusion to the ancient mode of baptism by immersion. This and the five preceding quotations are from Moses E. Lard, Commentary on Paul's Letter to Romans (Cincinnati, Ohio: Christian Board of Publication, 1914), p. 200. Wuest: The word "baptized" is not the translation of the Greek word here, but its transliteration, its spelling in English letters. The word is used in the classics of a smith who dips a piece of hot iron in the water. Kenneth S. Wuest,

Galatians 6:18 — history which reveals to us the immediate effect of Paul's epistle; but the fact that it was preserved argues well that it was favorably received. Due to its vigor and power, it could not have been otherwise than effective. J. W. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 288. This epistle, along with the Corinthians and Romans, staggered Judaism and restrained it until, smitten by the hand of the Almighty at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, it ceased to trouble the church any more until the times of the apostasy,

Colossians 1:15 — even went further and said that "'firstborn' is equivalent to `only begotten,' and is a Jewish technical term meaning `uncreated' Ibid. Why, then did Paul use these particular words here? Image … God created Adam in his own image (Genesis 1:27); but Adam promptly sinned and fell from that image; but, by these words here, Paul compels us to see in Jesus a second Adam who was indeed God's image. Christ was man as God created him to be in the person of Adam. Christ was (and IS) also God, but

Titus 3:5 — of this, it is profitable to glance at other Scriptures which are admitted by scholars to be parallel to the teaching here. Scripture is always the best comment on Scripture. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). Of this verse, Spence said, "The apostle has grandly paraphrased his words here in Titus 3:5." H. D. M. Spence, op. cit., p. 261. And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of