Bible Commentaries

Genesis 27:1-4 — heading we have given this paragraph. It contrasts vividly with that found in many commentaries. Peake entitled it, "Jacob Cheats Esau of His Father's Blessing";Arthur S. Peake, Peake's Commentary on the Bible (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 157. and Robinson entitled it, "Jacob Steals Esau's Blessing!"Theodore H. Robinson, Abingdon Bible Commentary (New York: Abingdon Press, 1929), p. 236. Such views cannot be correct. What is in view here is a plot — initiated by Esau, concurred

Genesis 8:20-22 — duplicated. The language refers solely to the Deluge, and promises not that God may not sometimes visit particular localities with a flood, but that another such world-wide catastrophe should never overtake the human race."Thomas Whitelaw, op. cit., p. 132. "As I have done" This clause is a qualifier of the whole passage. The simple meaning of it is that the Great Deluge will never be duplicated in the subsequent history of the world. The beneficent curse upon the ground for the sake of man will not be

Exodus 18:11-12 — imperfectly) on earth during that long and rapid descent of the post-diluvian world into the debaucheries of paganism. Certainly Noah knew the one true and Almighty God, for the N.T. is witness that Jesus Christ was the Spirit that preached in Noah (1 Peter 3:20). Melchizedek (Genesis 14) was also a true priest of "the Most High God" and recognized in the N.T. as a vivid type of Christ, which no idolatrous priest could have been. Jethro appears to be just such another monotheist as were Noah and Melchizedek.

1 Kings 12:25-33 — the Judges. This writer rejects as absolutely untenable the dictum of some scholars to the effect that the calves which Jeroboam made, "Were not intended as substitutes for the Lord but as traditional symbols of him."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 220. There is absolutely nothing in all the Bible that supports any such notion. The comment that, "The bull images set up by Jeroboam were traditional symbols of Yahweh's strength,"The Layman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 7., p. 50. cannot possibly be correct. "W.

Nehemiah 5:6-13 — skillful handling to the situation, "He avoided personally alienating the rulers and nobles, who after all were the leaders of the community, and the men upon whom he relied for the support of his administration."Wycliffe Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 239. "Then I consulted with myself" This means that Nehemiah disciplined himself in the control of his anger. He carefully laid the plans by which he would put an end to their abuses. "Ye exact usury, every man of his brother" This was a heartless violation

Leviticus 16:6-10 — grammar that it must refer to a person, but as Meyrick pointed out, theirs "is a grammatical error." "When a noun expresses an office or a function, it does NOT require a definite article in Hebrew any more than it does in French."F. Meyrick, op. cit., p. 239. Meyrick cited half a dozen Biblical references confirming this. (2)    The second argument is somewhat more convincing, but still wrong. "There is, of course, a great likelihood that when two phrases, `for the Lord' and `for something

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 — remembrance of the latter generations that are to come, among those that shall come after." "Words of the Preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem" These words identify Solomon as the author of Ecclesiastes. This verse is supplemented by Ecclesiastes 1:12 in the words, "over Israel," a word which includes all of the Chosen People; and this limits the identification to Solomon, because he is the only "son of David" that ever ruled over the entire Israel in Jerusalem. If anything else had been intended

Numbers 33:50-56 — Israel refused to do it, and in that alone lay their own total failure at last. Why did they not do it? (1)    The custom of the times allowed captured peoples to be used as slaves. It is not hard to see how Israel reacted to that. (2)    The lust of Israel was aroused and captured by the allurement of vast numbers of women, many of whom no doubt were persons of great physical beauty and attractiveness. (3)    There were still remnants of the

Jonah 1:3 — act of delivering a message which he supposed would be most unwelcome to all of them. Yet, the great physical courage exhibited by the prophet in this very chapter is an effective refutation of the notion that this was what caused him to run away. (2)    National prejudice certainly entered into it, because no true Israelite could imagine such a thing as preaching to Gentiles, notwithstanding the fact that God, from the beginning, had intended for Israel to be a light to all

Matthew 13:55-56 — courage. nor logic, nor philosophy, nor honest doubt. What was it? (1) It was unworthiness. That town had justly earned an unsavory reputation. As Christ said, "Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). (2) It was egotism. Look at the self-glory of the words, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" What ridiculous snobbery of an inflated ego is implicit in such words as those! Ah, yes; who was speaking? The burgomaster's daughter, no less, or the

Matthew 23:7-9 — authorities for the settlement of religious truth. In apostolic times, the living teachers were called "rabbis" and the ones who formerly lived were called "fathers." (The latter term even crept into the speech of Stephen, Acts 7:2). But Christ taught there is just one authority in religion, namely, God, and that which God has revealed in Christ through the apostles. Plummer expressed it: "They were to abandon the practice of appealing to `the fathers,' which had done so

Matthew 27:50 — attention to the "seven utterances." The time of the Master's death was three o'clock in the afternoon on the day of preparation for the Passover, making it occur on the afternoon, before sunset, when the actual Passover legally began. Matthew 27:51-53 relate to the Six Wonders of Calvary which received considerable attention in Matthew's gospel and which are of such surpassing interest that a special study of them is here included. THE PHENOMENA ATTENDING THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION There

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 — indulged in by the people, that countless thousands of people are making a living by such shameful "arts," that they are altogether useless, powerless, deceitful and entirely evil in every sense of the word. The astrology nonsense, for example, is a 2 billion-dollar-a-year business in the U.S.A. at this very time, yet all Christian values are contradictory in every particular to the whole system of astrology. Leon Morals affirmed that "In the order of the listing of the precious stones making up

Deuteronomy 30:6-10 — `turning again of the captivity' will be when Israel is converted to Him in whom the Law was fulfilled, who died `not for that nation only,' but also, that He might `gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad' (John 11:51-52)."F. C. Cook, Barnes' Notes, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House), p. 329. "In this book of the law" By no stretch of imagination could this be limited to the Book of Deuteronomy, or to anything less than all five of the Books of Moses. Sir

Mark 15:42 — Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath. THE BURIAL OF JESUS The day before the sabbath … This is generally understood to mean that it was Friday, but the scriptures do not teach any such thing. See in my Commentary on Luke under Luke 22:7. WHAT DAY WAS JESUS CRUCIFIED? This question, admittedly difficult, actually relates to the promise Jesus made in Matthew 12:40 that he would be "in the heart of the earth three days and three nights"; and the importance of it is such that

Romans 9:10-13 — preference to Esau. And the Lord said unto her (Rebekah), Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger (Genesis 25:23). There is no problem whatever regarding what God did. The problem lies in the reasons people suppose God had for doing it. God's sovereign act of choice between Rebekah's twins took place before their birth; but God's decision was absolutely not

1 Corinthians 11:34 — world. Christ died for our sins; and it is that historical event which anchors and perpetuates the Lord's Supper; and thus the historicity of Christ's death and resurrection is demonstrated and proved throughout all times and places by this sacred rite. 2.    Prospective. The ancient pagan god of war was the two-faced Janus (from whence the name of the month January), facing in both directions, forward and backward. In a far more wonderful manner, the Lord's Supper faces toward Calvary

Judges 11:34-40 — dedication of her to the service of God in the tabernacle located in those days at Shiloh. (1)    Jephthah was a man who had the Spirit of God, and that alone would never have allowed him to offer his daughter as a burnt-offering. (2)    Jephthah was thoroughly familiar with the Book of the Law of Moses and the laws governing sacrifices. In that Law, the first-born, who were required to be "offered" to Jehovah, were never offered as a burnt-offering, but they

Judges 4:4-10 — Ephraim" It is astounding that Soggin would affirm `that, "Ephraim was Deborah's tribe,"J. A. Soggin, op. cit., p. 74. despite the clear indication in Judges 5:15 that, "Deborah's own tribe seems to have been Issachar."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 162. Soggin apparently assumed that because Deborah's prophetic office was exercised in "the hill-country of Ephraim," that she necessarily belonged to that tribe. The same kind of deduction would have made Jonah a citizen of Nineveh! "The palm of Deborah"

Revelation 6:7-8 — "We may be pardoned for asking whether the Lamb who lets such horrors loose on the world is really the same person as the Jesus of the gospel story." G. B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p. 82. A comment like that is grounded in blindness to the great mercy of God evident even in these four judgments; and also, there is a blindness to the truth that it was not the Lamb who let loose the horrors — that epic mistake belongs to Adam and