Bible Commentaries

Exodus 10:1-6 — servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned and went out from Pharaoh." "I have hardened his heart" See under Exodus 4:21, above. "What things I have wrought upon Egypt" The RSV has rendered Exodus 10:2 thus: "And that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son how I have made sport of the Egyptians and what things I have done among them; that you may

Exodus 14 overview — what happened here is: "The waters of the Red Sea miraculously parted for them, and then returned in time to drown the pursuing Egyptians."Isaac Asimov, Asimov's Guide to the Bible, Exodus, Vol. 1 (Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday and Company, 1968), p. 142. The place where this great wonder occurred cannot now be accurately determined. It is evident that it took place opposite the place called Pi-hahiroth, but that tells us nothing, since nobody knows where that place was. Again, with Asimov, we may eliminate

2 Chronicles 29:1-11 — forth the filthiness out of the holy place" "This was the accumulated dirt from years of neglect."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 391. "They have not burned incense nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel" But does not 2 Kings 16:14-16 state that Ahaz himself made offerings on that special altar? Yes, indeed; but there is no contradiction here. The Chronicler is merely telling us (and those Levites) that those sacrifices that Ahaz offered on an Assyrian altar, were,

Ezra 1:1-4 — Old Testament Commentaries, Jeremiah, p. 374. is a more accurate discernment, as that was Cyrus' first year of sole sovereignty over Babylon. "That the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished" This is a reference to Jeremiah 15:12-14 which records that prophet's announcement of the seventy-year duration of the exile. (See our extensive comments on that in the Commentary on Jeremiah, pp. 279-290.) Oesterley asserts that, "The seventy years is a designation for a long period of

Nehemiah 2:1-8 — give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle that pertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me." (Nehemiah 1:11 b-2:8) In all of the wonderful things that God did for the children of Israel, there are few things any more astounding than this. That a Persian king should have reversed a former decision stopping the work of the Jews on the walls of their city, and then

Psalms 49:13-15 — of the dead in this one psalm. He followed the marginal alternative in Psalms 49:9, reading `Pit' instead of `corruption,' commenting that, "This is one of the five poetic names for Sheol in this Psalm."Mitchell Dahood in The Anchor Bible, Vol. 1, p. 298. He even translated the words `in honor' as `Mansion,' a sarcastic word for the realm of the dead in Psalms 49:12; Psalms 49:20. Our version does not corroborate this. The figure here is that the wicked shall descend like a great flock of sheep into

Leviticus 8:31-36 — symbolism of this passage thus: "The eating of the sacrifices and the bread illustrates the necessity of believer-priests feeding upon Christ (John 6:50-55) and remembering the benefits of His death through partaking of the Lord's table (1 Corinthians 11:25-27). The seven-day span of the feast may envision this present age, when a heavenly priesthood (the church) is spiritually feasting on Christ."Merrill F. Unger, op. cit., p. 157. The necessity for the priests to remain at the door of the tent of meeting

Song of Solomon 3:6-11 — meeting with Solomon and her subsequent removal to the harem are related here."Broadman Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 138. Question: How can this be reconciled with the clear statements in Song of Solomon 1 that the maiden is already in the harem? (2)    "It is not clear whether this journey of Solomon depicted here is 'to Jerusalem,' or "to the residence of the Shulamite in northern Israel.' If it is Jerusalem, the girl is being taken to Solomon's residence; if it is northern

Jeremiah 20:14-18 — total loss to understand how they should be interpreted. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS: (1)    The boldest and most radical solution was proposed a long while ago by Ewald. "He simply moved this bottom paragraph and placed it between Jeremiah 20:6 and Jeremiah 20:7."E. Henderson, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (London: Hamilton, Adams, and Company, 1851), p. 119. That, of course, would solve the problem completely. Opposed to this is the fact that the arrangement of the verses as in this

Numbers 16:1-3 — his name's appearance here at the head of the narrative, but, as in every rebellion in all ages, there must of necessity have been others besides the leader who associated with it. Despite the plural "they" in Numbers 16:3, it was Korah who took the 250 princes (Numbers 16:2); and Dathan and Abiram, the dissident Reubenites, are mentioned as satellites and subordinates. True, Moses, in Deuteronomy 11:6, mentioned what God "did to Dathan and Abiram," with no mention of Korah, but the rebellion was

Zechariah 8:3 — Jerusalem. Note that "Zion" was used a second time in order to emphasize what part of Israel is the subject here. The ultimate fulfillment of this glorious promise occurred when the gospel was sent forth to all nations, "beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47). Furthermore, there is absolutely no unlimited guarantee on God's part that he would never leave Jerusalem. Therefore, we must reject an opinion such as this: "He begins by saying that he will now… return to Zion... moreover, this is to

Deuteronomy 28:58-68 — "Israel," in the days of President Truman, is in some manner a sign that God has received Israel back as "his wife," and restored her to her ancient place as "the chosen nation," but an apostle declared that Christians are now "the people of God" (1 Peter 2:10). Christ himself declared that only those "who believe in Christ" are in any sense whatever "sons of Abraham" (John 8). Therefore, the pretension of modern Israel to any Divine sanctions for their usurpation of the ancient land of Canaan, even though

Deuteronomy 4:1-8 — and said what He has said, Israel must bring its attitudes and life into harmony with the will of God if the people are to live and prosper in the world."Edward P. Blair, The Layman's Bible Commentary, Deuteronomy (Richmond: John Knox Press, 1963), p. 25. "Ye shall not add unto the word… neither shall ye diminish from it" (Deuteronomy 4:2.). Craigie pointed out that this passage, along with Revelation 22:18-19, has been considered by the historical Christian Church, "as a commandment of God

Luke 20:19-26 — said unto them, Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. And they were not able to take hold of the saying before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace. Parallels: Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17. The purpose of the leaders was clearly stated by Luke in this paragraph. They planned to trip Jesus up with a dilemma. If Jesus said it was unlawful to give tribute to Caesar, he might have lost much of his popular following;

John 16:8 — world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Convict the world … The means of the Spirit's convicting the world was explained thus by Lipscomb: He will convict the world, not by direct work upon their hearts, but as the event shows (Acts 2:37), through the life of the apostles, declaring the wonderful works of God. The Holy Spirit came not "unto the world" but "unto the apostles." The world could not receive the Spirit directly (John 14:17), and never can, AS THE WORLD.

Acts 1:1 — "all" Luke wrote concerned those things. A basic truth evident in all the sacred gospels is that the things written concerning Jesus have recorded only a small fraction of his mighty works and teachings, this having been powerfully stated by John (John 21:25). Began both to do and to teach … When Jesus bowed his head upon the cross and said, "It is finished," the reference was primarily to the personal ministry of our Lord. The great redemptive act was indeed finished; the law of Moses

Acts 14:23 — taking the utmost precautions and providing firm guidance for them. Strong agreement is felt with Boles, who said, "Any method (of appointing elders) which promotes unity and does not violate a principal may be used." H. Leo Boles, op. cit., p. 229. ELDERS Trenchard wrote that: It is widely agreed that during the apostolic age, elder = bishop (overseer) = pastor, and that there was a plurality of these in each local church, forming the presbytery. E. H. Trenchard, op. cit., p. 317. As a matter

Acts 6:1 — that time but were natives of the provinces. "In the Jewish world as a whole there was some tension, and this survived between the two groups," F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1954), p. 128. even after they became Christians. Murmuring … Most scholars assume that there was justification for this action, basing their opinion upon the assumption that the Grecian widows were actually "neglected." However, it is not clear

Acts 9:10-12 — when Saul would receive that information. Saul evidently felt that his sin was so great that he could only fast and pray … this state continued for three days and nights. Don DeWelt, Acts Made Actual (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1958), p. 124. Boles supposed that "There had been two simultaneous visions; Saul had received one and Ananias the other." H. Leo Boles, Commentary on Acts (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1953), p. 145. A number of significant things appear in this

2 Samuel 17:5-14 — the main purpose of Ahithophel was David's death."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 4c, p. 417. This cannot be correct, because Hushai's advice also was designed to kill not only King David, but also "all of the men who were with him; not one will be left" (2 Samuel 17:12). "This time the counsel which Ahithophel has given is not good" The appearance of the words this time at the head of the sentence means that, "Hushai concurred with Ahithophel's counsel regarding the concubines, that it was good."Ibid. All