Bible Commentaries

Ecclesiastes 2 overview — this once before. See comment on Proverbs 14:13: "Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of mirth is heaviness." "The pleasure addict cannot escape `the morning after,' nor the revulsion of satiety."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 572. "The rhetorical question at the end of this verse has negative intent."J. A. Loader, Ecclesiastes, p. 27. It simply means that mirth and laughter accomplish absolutely nothing. "My heart yet guiding me with wisdom" This is one of many statements in

Isaiah 42:1-4 — translates the first line here: `Behold, my servant, Messiah.' The apostle Matthew applied it directly to Jesus Christ; nor can the passage with any justice or propriety be applied to any other person or character whatsoever."Robert Lowth's Commentary, p. 323. In the New Testament, Matthew quoted this whole passage verbatim in Matthew 12:18-21, stating that the prophet Isaiah had written this, and applying every word of it to Jesus Christ. It is the unwavering conviction of this writer that the Gospel of

Isaiah 62:1-2 — like salvation, and righteousness, identify the period envisioned as that of the New Covenant in Christ. Some very significant additional information about that `name' which God promised his people appears in this passage: (1) it shall be a new name; (2) it will be given at a time when the Gentiles have been accepted into the family of God, and when kings have become aware of God's salvation, and (3) there is a repetition here of the fact that God Himself will give the name. These statements, added

Jeremiah 3:1-5 — Will he retain his anger forever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and hast done evil things, and hast had thy way." "They say, if a man put away his wife" Many scholars are quick to point out that this corresponds to Deuteronomy 24:1-4, with the implication that this information had only recently come to Jeremiah through the discovery of that Book of the Law in the temple. This is by all odds an improper deduction, "This does not necessarily presuppose the discovery of the Book

Jeremiah 3:14-18 — throughout both Isaiah and Jeremiah. "Out of God's purifying judgment upon his apostate people shall come a few refined souls. They will be gathered and shall constitute the New Israel, blessed of God (Romans 11:5).Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 662. "They shall say no more, The ark of the covenant" "This shows that the old economy was to be dissolved. The old covenant, of which the ark was a central feature, was to give way to another - a preview of 31:31-35."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago:

Numbers 24:15-25 — God doeth this? But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber; And he also shall come to destruction. And Balaam rose up and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way." Numbers 24:15-16 are an introduction to the fourth oracle almost the same as that which is given for the third (Numbers 24:3-4). (See under those verses for comment.) The fourth oracle, of course, is the outstanding prophecy of the whole Balaam narrative. The

Zechariah 3:8 — cit., p. 1070. "O Joshua" This name is actually the equivalent of "Jesus"; and, in fact, it appears in the Apocrypha a number of times simply as "Jesus."J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York City: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 602. Therefore we must add to the extensive witness, present throughout the vision, of the coming Christ the significant fact that the principal figure in it actually bore the name of the blessed Messiah. The entry into Canaan also came under another Joshua.

Zechariah 7:11-12 — Babylon, God said, "As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead"… It is thought that Jehovah referred to the diamond, harder than flint."Homer Hailey, Commentary on the Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1972), p. 358, There is no sin greater than that of inordinate stubbornness manifested in an adamant refusal to hear God's holy word, through which men have the right to live, if only they will. The ancient Israel indeed had exceeded all permissible levels

Zechariah 9:9-10 — the River to the ends of the earth." This magnificent prophecy of the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem and the establishment of his universal dominion is one of the greatest in the Old Testament. New Testament references to it are in Matthew 21:1-5; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-38 and John 12:12-19. Since it is impossible for the critics to date this "after the event," they attempt to explain it as a reference to something other than the entry of Christ. "The author, apparently, as soon as Alexander

Malachi 3:6 — import of the passage: "Because of this ancient covenant, ye Jews are not totally consumed; but ye are now, and shall be still, preserved as a distinct people."Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, Vol. IV (London: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), p. 802. The continuity of fleshly Israel upon the earth, despite their perpetual and persistent rebellion against the will of God is one of the great mysteries of all time. Paul revealed in Romans 11:25-26 that this continuity of the fleshly Jews will go on

Matthew 1:18 — than for any other baby to he born. Wonderful benefits accrue to mankind as a result of the virgin birth. His birth accomplished the following: (1) It honored and elevated womanhood to a place of dignity, honor, and respect, hitherto unknown on earth. (2) It virtually destroyed infanticide by revealing the sanctity of embryonic life. (3) It has emphasized absolute chastity as one of the highest virtues in both men and women. (4) It has glorified motherhood as a state of purity and honor every whit as

Matthew 25:1-13 — to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour. This is plainly a parable of the second coming and of the judgment, thus emphasizing the presence of that theme in Matthew 24. ANALOGIES IN THE PARABLE The kingdom of heaven = the church The bridegroom = Christ The midnight arrival = the second advent The virgins = church members The wise virgins = the prepared The foolish virgins = the unprepared The lamps = (a) faith or

Matthew 27:23 — to die, because he made himself the Son of God" (John 19:7). The Fifth Effort of Pilate to Release Jesus This answer of the Jews (John 19:7) frightened Pilate, and, moved with fear, Pilate "sought the more to release him" (John 19:11-12). It was no regard to the moral issue of saving an innocent man's life, but out of fear, that the procurator acted; and in the end that same fear would cause him to yield. We are not told exactly what Pilate's efforts were at this point, but his return

Mark 12:1 — being dependent upon each other; but they are historical, independent accounts of the great truth revealed from God in the person and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. There were three of these great denunciatory parables: (1) that of the two sons, (2) this one, and (3) that of the marriage of the king's son; and Matthew has all three of them. Mark's use of the plural "parables" in Mark 12:1 shows that he knew all three. Cranfield's statement that the plural "does not necessarily imply

Mark 13:14 — desolation standing where he ought not (let him that readeth understand), then let them that are in Judea flee unto the mountains. Then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains. The abomination of desolation … This paragraph through Mark 13:23 has a double application to the approaching destruction of the Holy City and to the second coming of Christ. As Cranfield expressed it: Neither an exclusively historical nor an exclusively eschatological interpretation is satisfactory; … we

Luke 12:57-59 — reason and of conscience?"J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 755. The analogies in this teaching are: (1) Just as the human system of courts decides human affairs, in the larger sphere of time and eternity it is God the judge of all who makes decisions. (2) All men are represented here as "on the way" to court, that is, moving inexorably to that moment when all shall stand before the Judge. (3) The man in the parable had an opportunity to settle before he got to court; and so do men have a chance

Luke 13:20 — measures of meal … are usually understood by interpreters as an inert factor in the parable (and well they may be), Boles, for example, affirming that three measures of meal was "the amount used for one meal";H. Leo Boles, op. cit., p. 274. however, Summers calculated the amount of meal in the three measures as "four and one-half pecks,"Ray Summers, op. cit., p. 169. which goes beyond any ordinary meal. Likewise, Tinsley made the three measures to be "half a hundredweight

2 Corinthians 9:11 — meaning, not merely in their financial ability, but in countless other ways also. This heavenly promise is the pledge of God himself that giving pays rich dividends to the giver. We have seen how some decry the motive of this promise in people's hearts (2 Corinthians 9:6); but the inspired apostle did not hesitate to place it in his appeal here; and this is far more than enough authority for respecting it. As Plumptre said, "The context points primarily to temporal abundance"; E. H. Plumptre,

Joshua 10:12-15 — (stopped shining) at Gibeon, and the moon likewise ceased to shine in the Valley of Aijalon, their light being blotted out by the thick, black clouds of the miraculous hailstorm that the Lord sent to discomfit Israel's foe."Merrill F. Unger, op. cit., p. 297. The reliance of many commentators today on that translation which makes these verses declare that Joshua asked God to stop the sun from shining is pitiful. Such a rendition is clearly a corrupt translation as admitted by Sizoo: "The interpretation

Hebrews 9:13-14 — 3:18. Barmby's note on this reads: In all these passages, THE SPIRIT is that divine element of the life of Christ, distinct from the human nature which he assumed of the seed of David, in virtue of which he rose from the dead. J. Barmby, op. cit., p. 231. Thus the blood of animals was chosen and offered upon the volition and choice of men, whereas the offering of Christ was by the fiat of the eternal Spirit that was in Christ. Now it is admitted by the author of Hebrews that those animal sacrifices