Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 23:6-9 — Great, the Encyclopedia Britannica states that, "For the most part, Assyrian and Babylonian might spent itself in vain against Tyre's defenses… But after a siege of seven months Alexander took it, slaughtered 8,000 of its citizens, later executed 2,000 more, and sold 30,000 into slavery!"Encyclopedia Brittanica, Vol. 22, p. 653. Of course, such slaves were marched to their destination on foot; and right here one finds Tyre's own feet carrying her afar off to sojourn. Oh yes, this is indeed predictive

Isaiah 35:1-2 — return of the remnant; and therefore we must see in these words a prophecy of a spiritual transformation that would take place at some future occasion afterward from the times of Isaiah. What was it? As Barnes explained it: "The sense here (Isaiah 35:1-2) is that the desolate moral world would be filled with joy on account of the blessings which are here predicted… and that the change would be so great under the blessings of the Messiah's reign, as if there should be suddenly transferred to the

Isaiah 40:27-31 — fall: but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Kelley and others suppose that these words of reproach coming here in Isaiah 40:27 from the Jews and directed against Jehovah were due to the terrible anguish the people were suffering in their captivity. However, there is not even a hint of such things in the text. This attitude on the part of the chosen people was characteristic

Isaiah 47:12-15 — statements that could not have been the result of conjecture, nor of mere political sagacity; and it should be borne in remembrance that this prophecy was uttered one hundred fifty years before its fulfillment."Albert Barnes' Commentary, Vol. II, 172. The last two verses here are very similar to the flight and disappearance of all Nineveh's previous allies as soon as God's judgment fell upon her. The traffickers, whether applied to the merchants, or to the traffickers in the black arts, will not

Isaiah 66:1-4 — quoted this passage (Acts 7:50-51); and Solomon, upon the dedication of the temple he built, said, "Will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, the heaven and heavens of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded" (1 Kings 8:27). Christ called it a "den of thieves and robbers"; and it will be recalled from 2 Samuel 7 that the idea of building God a temple was never God's idea, at all, but was associated altogether with human origin in David. If it had been God's design, he

Jeremiah 48:11-17 — ruin. "Ashamed of Chemosh . .. as Israel was ashamed of Bethel" Israel was indeed ashamed of Bethel. That city was where Jeroboam established the sinful altar for Israel, setting up the calf worship there. This is where all Israel "kissed the calf" (Hosea 13:2); but kissing the calf did them no good whatever when Shalmanezer fell upon Samaria and mined the nation forever. Israel must indeed have been ashamed of all that calf-kissing when the blow fell! So would it be with Moab and their pagan, man-made Chemosh! "They

Jeremiah 5:1-3 — to find an honest man in Jerusalem; but as McGee said, "Today you would probably have the same difficulty in Los Angeles or your own town!"J. V. McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Vol. III (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982), p. 367. Henderson proposed a solution to this difficulty, pointing out that: "It is beyond dispute that there did live in Jerusalem at the time of the prophet such good men as Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah… therefore we may suppose (1) either

Jeremiah 51:27-33 — Moody Press, 1966)D, p. 98. "Minni" "This is the same as Mannai of the Assyrian inscriptions. They were located in the vicinity of the lakes Van and Urmia and seem to have been a very capable people in warfare. They aided the destruction of Nineveh (612 B.C.) and also participated in the capture of Babylon in 539 B.C.)."The New Bible Dictionary, p. 828. They were vassals of Babylon in the fall of Nineveh, and of the Medes in the fall of Babylon. "The rough canker-worm" This was the name of the locust

Lamentations 1:4-7 — Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. No one attended any more. The inaccurate critical canard that, "The word Zion here was not a sanctuary name till after the exile,"Peake's Bible Commentary by Arthur S. Peake (Edinburgh: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 496. is disproved by the 43 times that Isaiah so used the term, plus the seventeen times Jeremiah used it, as well as many, many other times the term is found in Psalms, Amos, Joel and other prophets. Those who try to date Lamentations far later

Lamentations 1:8-10 — type of humiliation.) "She sigheth, and turneth backward" "She turns her back upon her spectators in order to hide herself from their gaze."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989 reprint of 1878 Edition), op. cit., p. 284. We can understand why she would not face her tormenters. The gross and shameful humiliation of Jerusalem in the calamities which had befallen her were equivalent in every way to that ancient, shameless punishment of harlots. "The proud lady (Jerusalem)

Ezekiel 11:5-12 — is correct in his understanding that Ezekiel, "While still in his trance received the inspiration to prophesy the words of this paragraph in the very presence of the elders who were present in Ezekiel's house."International Critical Commentary, p. 122. In view of the attitude of the Jerusalemites toward their brothers in captivity, the words must have provided great comfort and encouragement to the elders who had sought counsel from Ezekiel. "Your slain… they are the flesh, and this city

Ezekiel 16:15-18 — licentiousness which marked the worship of the various fertility gods and goddesses was extremely immoral and depraved. "God had warned Israel not to forget him when she came into all the benefits that he would give her in the Promised land (Deuteronomy 6:10-12);"RHA, p. 813. But no sooner had God given them a magnificent and glorious kingdom under Solomon, than the nation, led by the scandalous Solomon, did exactly what is outlined here. "They committed spiritual adultery with every nation on earth"Ibid.

Ezekiel 29:1-7 — time. Of course, some of our radical commentators automatically find all kinds of mythological connections with a reference of this kind; but as Cooke stated, "Mythological associations are foreign to this context."International Critical Commentary, p. 326. Furthermore, Pearson, writing in 1962, makes the same affirmation.Anton T. Pearson in Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 747. Despite this, May, quoting some various readings, thought he found here some reflections of Sumerian

Ezekiel 9:1-3 — powerful and formidable than all of the greatest armies on earth combined into a single force. "And stood beside the brazen altar" "This was the Solomonic altar (1 Kings 8:64), which Ahab had removed and placed north of his new-style Damascus altar (2 Kings 16:14)."Moshe Greenberg, p. 176. Significantly, these heavenly beings, by their actions, snubbed Ahab's copy of the pagan altar by choosing to stand by the true altar. "And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon

Amos 1:8 — Damascus and carried its people captive into Kir.Robert Jamieson, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1961), p. 790. This fulfillment occurred fifty years after the prophecy of Amos and is recorded in 2 Kings 16:9.W. J. Deane, op. cit., p. 3. Regarding Philistia. Sennacherib fulfilled Amos' prophecy regarding Philistia; and his exploits against the very cities mentioned in these verses is recorded in cuneiform inscriptions of how he humbled the kings

Amos 5:18 — THE DAY OF THE LORD "Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah! It is darkness and not light." This, and through Amos 5:20, presents a remarkable view of the Day of the Lord, that is, the Day of Judgment, first as it would be in the case of Israel when God judged and destroyed her for her sins, and secondly, as it will be at the end of time for the great majority of the

Micah 1:5 — Jerusalem."Homer Hailey, op. cit., p. 193. Ahaz (1 Kings 16:4 ff) had led the way in the total corruption of the worship of God in Jerusalem. "Hezekiah's partial reformation had not taken place when Micah uttered the prophecy here."W. J. Deane, op. cit., p. 2. The great disaster being prophesied will be brought on "by Israel's moral degeneracy; for both the capital cities, Samaria and Jerusalem, have become centers of idol-worship."Gleason L, Archer, The New Layman's Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.

Micah 4:10 — slavery of the people is indicated by their "dwelling" in the field, the usual habitation of slaves. The rescue and redemption of the people are also prophesied at the same time. See the discussion of The Bible's Predictive Prophecies under Micah 5:2. Students should keep continually in mind the summary of this study on Micah 4:10 by W. J. Deane, a scholar ranking very much higher than some of those claiming to be "the best." He wrote: "There is no reason to consider that the reference to Babylon

Micah 6:6 — and abused. Contrary to what is frequently alleged, the passage does not say: "The true worship of God is the service of man. The Old Testament has no greater word than this.J. E. MacFayden, Abingdon Bible Commentary, (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1929), p. 796. This passage is one of the greatest in the Bible on the futility of ritualistic worship."Rolland E. Wolfe, The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. VI (New York: Abingdon, 1957), p. 938. There are many such comments regarding these verses, but they

Nahum 2:2 — their vine-branches." Dalglish thought this referred to "the restoration of both Judah and the Ten Northern tribes, and to their restoration under a Davidic monarch."Edward R. Dalglish, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 7 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972), p. 240. However, nothing like that is in the passage. "Jacob" is used here, not Judah; and Jacob necessarily included all of Israel, northern and southern; and, besides that, it is the spiritual Israel which comes into view here, and not the fortunes