Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 23:15-20 — remembered it well, told him about it. "Josiah did not act as he did to fulfill the prophecy, but in thus acting he unconsciously fulfilled it."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 456. It is of very great significance that the prophecy of 1 Kings 13:2 f gives the very name of the king of Judah who would defile the altar of Bethel. The passage reads: "O altar, altar, thus saith Jehovah: Behold a man shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests

2 Kings 3:26-27 — perhaps that of Honeycutt. "The scene of the king sacrificing his oldest son on the wall, the one destined to succeed him as king, so moved and excited the Moabites that they fell upon the coalition and defeated it."Broadman Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 235. It is certainly ridiculous to suppose, as Mesha reported it on the Moabite Stone, that his pagan god Chemosh defeated Israel. "He took seven hundred men… to break through to the king of Edom" In this maneuver, Mesha, the king of Moab, evidently

2 Chronicles 28:8-15 — there… Obed" God never stopped his pleading with the northern tribes through his holy prophets, despite the fact that within a decade, or a little less time, the Northern Israel would be destroyed and many of them transported as captives by Assyria in 722 B.C. The reign of Ahaz (735-715 B.C.)The Anchor Bible, Chronicles, p. 258. would not close until after the fall of Samaria. "Thus this change of heart by some of the men of Ephraim came at a time when it was already too late."The New Bible Commentary,

Job 27:8-12 — teach you concerning the hand of God; That which is with the Almighty I will not conceal. Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; Why then are ye become altogether vain." "Will he delight himself in the Almighty, and call upon God at all times" (Job 27:10)? Job here points out the fundamental difference between himself and the wicked, that difference being simply that Job delights in the Almighty and calls upon God at all times. Such things the wicked do not. "Job's friends should have recognized

Job 5:1-7 — injures others besides the sinner. It is against God, against the sinner's family, against society, and against the sinner himself; "It is inevitable that when a man disgraces himself that his family share in it."New Century Bible Commentary, Job, p. 52. However. the tragedy of Eliphaz' observation here is that it had no application whatever to Job. "Eliphaz and the other friends of Job were like men who close their eyes to the real facts, rock back on their heels, and speak of general principles,

Psalms 114:1-8 — when the Jordan was at flood stage! No greater wonders ever occurred in the history of God's dealings with Israel. It is not necessary to comment upon those marvelous events here, because we devoted many pages to full discussions of both events in Vol. 2 of my Commentaries on the Pentateuch (exodus), pp. 190-198, and in the commentary on Joshua, pp. 31-34. "The mountains skipped like rams; the little hills like lambs" This is a metaphorical reference to the wonders that occurred at Sinai where God delivered

Psalms 149:7-9 — thou; and when Jehovah thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them: thou shalt make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them, neither make marriages with them, Etc." (Deuteronomy 7:1-2). This is the only passage in the Bible that envisions Israel punishing and destroying a number of nations; and therefore we conclude with a great deal of assurance that the event prophesied here in Deuteronomy has to be the event extolled in Psalms

Psalms 36:1-4 — not evil." This paragraph was understood by Delitzsch as, "The complaint of David regarding the moral corruption of his generation. These are reflections of the character of the times, and not of particular circumstances."F. Delitzsch, Vol. V-B, p. 2. The Hebrew text of these four verses is said by many scholars to be damaged and rather ambiguous. Many efforts have been made to solve the translation; but it is probably still doubtful, as indicated by the several marginal alternatives that are suggested

Psalms 62:9-12 — unto thee, O Lord, belongeth lovingkindness; For thou renderest to every man according to his work." "Men of low degree… high degree" "The two Hebrew words from which these two renditions come mean: "Adam," and "man."Derek Kidner, Vol. 1, p. 223. Adam is construed as indicating men of "low degree" as contrasted with the others. The point is that, "All men" are mortal, sinful, weak, vulnerable and absolutely temporary - "Here today and gone tomorrow." These words are not intended to derogate

Song of Solomon 1:2-4 — p. 101. "St. Gregory, seeking some meaning beyond the words, wrote that, `Every precept of Christ is as one of his kisses.'"Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1989 reprint of the 1878 edition), Song of Solomon, p. 122. "Draw me. We will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in thee" "The Shulamite speaks here."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 590. She longs for her shepherd lover; and although he is not present,

Song of Solomon 5:2-8 — Robinson with several others agreed that the time indicated is subsequent to the marriage.Preacher's Homiletic Commentary, Vol. 14b, p. 80. Bunn pointed out that the situation indicated in the dream, "Is tragic."Broadman Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 142. THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF THE ALLEGORY The Church is indeed married to Christ; but the Bridegroom has been taken away (Matthew 9:15); this is beautifully symbolized here by the absence of the Shepherd. The mistreatment of the maiden stands for the persecutions,

Joshua 21:43-45 — through on their opportunities. Instead of driving out the Canaanite debauchees, Israel soon united with them, allowed themselves to be trapped and seduced by their gods, intermarried with them, and in time became, actually themselves Canaanites (Hosea 12:7; also see my discussion of this in Vol. 2 of the minor prophets Series, pp. 198,199). There is a type of critic who FINDS FAULT with God: "Well, he did not drive out all the enemies like He promised." All of God's promises are CONTINGENT upon the

Joshua 4:8-14 — Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life." From these words, it is clear enough: (1)    that the passage was not concluded until the priests bearing the ark of the covenant came up out of the Jordan; (2)    and that there were TWO memorials, one in the midst of the river where the priests had stood, and the other at the place of the first night's encampment. Also, the fact of Joshua's commandment to the twelve to go back to where

Judges 21:16-21 — THE PLAN FOR GETTING 200 MORE WIVES "Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? And there must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted

Judges 3:7-11 — departed from following the Lord to indulge in that sensual worship. "The children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years" "This reference is obscure, there being no other reference to this power anywhere in the Bible."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 2, p 707. The cyclical pattern that predominates in Judges is clearly visible here. First, there is ease and prosperity for Israel. Then they forget God and serve the pagan gods. God becomes angry with them and delivers them into hardship and oppression.

Judges 7:19-23 — beginning of the middle watch would have been about 10:00 p.m., shortly after the changing of the guard. By far the greater portion of the Midianite host would have been sound asleep. "This old Jewish method of `three watches' is alluded to in Exodus 14:24; 1 Samuel 11:11 and in Lamentations 2:19; after the Jews fell under the power of the Romans, they used the Roman method of `four watches' per night, having three hours each. This was the system mentioned in the gospels Matthew 14:25 and in Mark 13:35."Albert

1 Samuel 16:6-13 — Saul was anointed, not even the members of his family knew of it at first. In this anointing of David, "Even David's brothers knew nothing about the meaning and object of the anointing."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 2b, p. 170. "And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel" David, at this time had not appeared; and thus the number of Jesse's sons, as indicated here, was eight. However, in 1 Chronicles 2:13-15, only seven sons are named, David being listed

2 Samuel 1:17-27 — no reference to his faults and sins. As Matthew Henry said, "This was proper, because, although there was no preventing such things from appearing in Saul's history, yet they were very properly left out of his eulogy."Matthew Henry's Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 450. "The Book of Jasher" This book has not come down to us, but it once existed; and, "It was evidently one of the sources used by the author of the Books of Samuel"The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 302. "How are the mighty fallen!" This expression

2 Samuel 18:9-15 — tradition that Absalom's hair was a factor in this episode. He wrote that, "He entangled his hair greatly in the large boughs of a knotty oak tree, but the beast went swiftly on; and there he hung after a surprising manner."Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, p. 225. The sacred text does not support Josephus' account of what happened. Absalom was caught, not by his hair, but by his head. "Absalom, riding headlong on uneven ground, was carried with force into an oak tree, so that his head stuck in a fork between

2 Samuel 6:12-15 — brought up the ark from the house of Obed-edom" The use of the word `so' in this place prompted H. P. Smith to write that, "The blessing conferred upon Obed-edom is the reason why David renewed his effort."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 295. "When those who bore the ark had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling" This appears to have been a test by David to find out if the Lord would allow the ark to proceed. The parallel account mentions the sacrifice of `seven' of the animals,