Bible Commentaries

Exodus 27:9-19 — produced in the study, was never actually implemented."J. Coert Rylaarsdam, The Interpreter's Bible, Vol., I (New York: Abingdon Press, 1953), p. 1036. The following diagram, known for centuries, shows exactly how these instructions were implemented:1234567891011121314151617181920112This arrangement of the 60 pillars235 cubits apart satisfies perfectly the34Biblical requirement that twenty should4== Entrance5be on each side and ten at each end.5== "6Notice that two of the four corners are6== "7counted

1 Kings 8:12-21 — Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 180. "I have surely built thee a house" By this action, "Solomon asserted that he was establishing the Lord as supreme God of all… that the Lord alone is Lord of heaven and earth."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 3, p. 72. (See more on this under 1 Kings 8:20, below.) "Jehovah said to David… Whereas it was in thy heart to built a house for my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart" Cook noted that, "The exact words of 2 Samuel 7 are not given here; only

Psalms 32 overview — IS FORGIVEN This psalm was immortalized by the Apostle Paul who quoted the opening verses here as follows: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered.Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin" (Romans 4:7-8). A warning should be sounded here to the effect that many of the things written by commentators regarding this psalm are incorrect. This psalm is not "The Old Testament outcropping of the Pauline doctrine of salvation by `faith alone.'" As a matter

Isaiah 26 overview — FURTHER PROPHECIES ON THE JUDGMENT "In several respects Isaiah 26 parallels Isaiah 25, and so reinforces its message."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 788. No other scripture in the Old Testament surpasses this in providing comfort for God's people in time of distress by a contemplation of future blessings; and no other passage in the Old Testament surpasses the definite promise of a bodily resurrection

Isaiah 7:3-9 — within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people: And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established." Isaiah 7:3 gave God's instructions for Isaiah to take his son Shear-Jashub with him when he went to meet Ahaz; and the very presence of this son was a stern warning to Ahaz that troubled times lay ahead for Judah. The name Shear-Jashub was in all probability

Isaiah 8:5-8 — waters that fed the pool of Siloam at which pool Jesus gave eyesight to the man born blind (John 9). (See our discussion of this in Vol. 4 of the New Testament Series of Commentaries, p. 252.) A careful study of Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 8:6, and John 9:7 reveals that Shiloh, Shiloah, and Siloam are actually the same word gradually changed through the ages. Shiloh in Genesis is a poetic name for Messiah, but the Septuagint (LXX) in Isaiah 8:6 rendered the word Siloam, and Christ revealed through John

Jeremiah 20 overview — verses, giving six in all; but, to this writer, it appears that the two actually constitute only one lament, there being no valid reason for dividing them. Keil and many of the older commentators also see the passage as a single paragraph (Jeremiah 20:7-18).

Micah 3:10 — Micah was saying here. "Their whole society was built on blood and wrong. Zion and Jerusalem in this verse are synonymous and stand not only for the great and revered capital city but for all of Judea."D. Elmo Scoggin, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 7 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972), p. 205.

Micah 7:2 — deplorable conditions continues. "Brutal egotism everywhere prevails; justice is perverted; bribery is rampant; the best are like briars, rough and ugly to deal with."J. E. McFayden, Abingdon Bible Commentary (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1929), p. 796. This verse explains the metaphor of Micah 7:1. "The grape and the early fig represent the righteous man."W. J. Deane, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 14, Micah (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 106. The prophet was "like Diogenes

Zechariah 8:6 — it also be marvelous in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts." There are ten of these brief statements in this chapter, each one introduced by an affirmation that the promise is of God and not of Zechariah. They begin in Zechariah 8:2-4; Zechariah 8:6-7; Zechariah 8:9; Zechariah 8:14; Zechariah 8:19-20; Zechariah 8:23. The subject here is the marvelous fact that a remnant of the people of God have been brought back home, an event unique in human history up to that time. "The message means that the

Matthew 26:58 — led to Peter's fall are seen in that he: (1) contradicted Jesus' word, (2) relied on his own strength, (3) turned to carnal weapons, (4) sustained the Lord's rebuke, (5) followed afar off, (6) accepted a place in the company of Christ's enemies, and (7) warmed himself at their fire.

Mark 14:49 — fulfilling Scripture, but they knew it not. It is of singular importance that many of the prophecies fulfilled during that eventful week were fulfilled by the Lord's enemies. As to what Scriptures are meant here, there were many, among them Zechariah 13:7; and the next verse shows that Jesus had that one in mind.

Luke 10:8 — restrictions were shortly to disappear altogether in the approaching kingdom, there could have been nothing gained by Jesus' messengers making any big point of their observance. Other New Testament passages bearing on this question are 1 Corinthians 9:7; 1 Timothy 4:8; 1 Corinthians 10:27; and Matthew 15:10-20. The seventy were thus instructed "to eat what they were served without causing inconvenience to their host by requiring `kosher' food."Ibid., p. 128.

Romans 2:7-8 — God's judging people according to their works. Together, these verses declare dogmatically that well-doers shall inherit eternal life and that the disobedient shall receive wrath and tribulation. Whiteside saw a definition of eternal life in Romans 2:7. So far as this text shows, eternal life consists of glory, honor, and incorruption — a happy existence in the heavenly kingdom. … Eternal life is conditional, for eternal life must be sought by patience and well-doing. In the 8th and 9th

Romans 3:9-10 — sin; and as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. Are we better then they … is a reference to any supposed Jewish superiority over the Gentiles. Paul had already identified himself, for the purpose of those arguments (Romans 3:7), with the Jews; and that identification is continued here in the words, answer is taken from the Old Testament, from which Paul quotes the sense, but not always the exact words, of a number of passages, the first being Psalms 14:1 f and Psalms 53:1

1 Corinthians 6:3-4 — Thus, Johnson explained such judging metaphorically: "The saints shall judge the world, because of their union with the Messiah, to whom all judgment is committed." S. Lewis Johnson, Jr., Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 604. Shore likewise took the judging to be figurative, "arising out of the apostle's intense realization of the unity of Christ and his Church Triumphant." T. Teignmouth Shore, Ellicott's Commentary on the Holy Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan:

2 Corinthians 9:10 — such be done in a manner approved of God. Note the following on how not to give: NOT FOR VAIN-GLORY. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned that giving should not be done "to be seen of men" (Matthew 6:1-4). NOT GRUDGINGLY (2 Corinthians 9:7). It is a positive violation of God's law for any man to permit himself to be high-pressured into giving to the church, or anything else. Giving should mark a Christian's character, because of what he is, not because of a good sales talk. As Paul suggested

1 Thessalonians 1:4 — "elected" any individual either to eternal life or eternal death, apart from the individual's choice of the kind of election he desired. The scholarly editor of the Firm Foundation, in a splendid editorial, "Hope for Calvinism," June 7, 1977, has given timely and concise comment regarding the fact of many Calvinists moving away from the straitjacket conception regarding election. The chancellor of Temple College, Chattanooga, wrote: "Nobody is predestined to be saved, except

Hebrews 13:9 — restrictions had been removed (1 Timothy 4:1-5). The proclivity of the whole human race to save themselves by some kind of diet is an amazing characteristic of "homo sapiens". Long after Christ himself made "all meats clean" (Mark 7:19), even the apostle Peter protested a vision from heaven, saying, "Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean" (Acts 10:14). There were possibly large numbers of the original readers of Hebrews who could have

2 Samuel 9:11 — reluctance; and he rebelled at the first opportunity. Before leaving this study, we should note that two of Saul's sons were named Mephibosheth (Meribbaal): (1) the son of Jonathan whom David befriended here, and (2) another Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 21:7-9) who, along with six other sons of Saul, was executed by King David to avenge King Saul's heartless slaughter of the Gibeonites.