Bible Commentaries

Genesis 6:22 — old man and his building such a monster of a boat. How was he ever going to get 45,000 tons moved in one piece to the water! What a fool they thought him to be! They thought they were condemning him. Actually, it was HE who condemned them (Hebrews 11:7). See also, 1 Peter 3:19.

Genesis 7:5 — Noah did according unto all that God commanded him." This is a reference to Noah's fulfilling the terms of God's covenant with him regarding the preservation of him and his house through the disaster about to come upon the world. The fact of Genesis 7:4, mentioning only the forty days of rain with no reference to the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep is another alleged support of the multiple sources theories regarding Genesis. Regarding this, we are glad to note, as Hobbs said, that

1 Chronicles 22:1 — discussion of David's extensive preparations to build the temple. There is no parallel elsewhere for what is given in this chapter, aside from obvious references to the Law of Moses, to Joshua and to Nathan's prophecy delivered to David in 2 Samuel 7. This verse indicates David's decision to have the temple built in Jerusalem, on the site purchased from Ornan the Jebusite. This was that very place called, "one of the mountains of Moriah," upon which Abraham prepared to offer Isaac as a burnt-offering

Psalms 6:8 — "Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; For Jehovah hath heard the voice of my weeping." The first clause here was quoted verbatim by our Lord himself, as noted in two of the gospels (Matthew 7:23; Luke 13:27). The proximity of David's separating himself from evil doers to the statement that Jehovah had indeed heard his prayers, suggests the possibility of a relationship between the events. It is mentioned first that David put away the workers

Proverbs 30 overview — IV. THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS "These final two chapters are remarkably different from the rest of the book."International Critical Commentary, Vol. 17, Proverbs, p. 517. This chapter is composed of six paragraphs which in Proverbs 30:1 seem to be ascribed to Agur, about whom we have no information. The final chapter is ascribed to Lemuel king of Masa; but nothing is known either of Lemuel, or of any

Leviticus 19:31 — prophesied in the N.T. - "men shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables." What happens when people consult such characters? They are "defiled." Even a king of Israel (Saul) consulted the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:3-7), and it may be supposed that there were wholesale violations of God's law throughout the nation. Even with the enlightenment of our own times the superstition of people with reference to such things enables thousands to make their living catering to

Leviticus 9:18-21 — the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave-offering before Jehovah, as Moses commanded." All of the various sacrifices here recorded constituted somewhat of a summary of all the various oblations covered by the instructions in Leviticus 1-7. The significance seems to be that Aaron presided over the offering of each of them, the sole exception being, noted above, the trespass-offering. "As Moses commanded" indicates that Aaron followed all of the divine instructions carefully.

Isaiah 47 overview — and had foretold their worthlessness and impotence for providing any kind of assistance to the city in the time of her calamity; but here he detailed the doom and destruction of Babylon itself. The speaker throughout is God Himself except for Isaiah 47:4, which may be attributed to a heavenly chorus,T. K. Cheyne's Commentary, p. 306. after the manner of the proleptic passages in Revelation, to the prophet Isaiah, or to the faithful among the captives. The chapter consists of four strophes or stanzas,

John 12:48 — He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day. See under John 3:17-18 and under John 5:24-29. The last day … Again the doctrine of the last things comes into prominence in this Gospel. See under John 12:25. Here it is affirmed dogmatically that the basis of the eternal judgment will be the word of Jesus Christ.

John 14:22 — world … The belief that Christ would be some kind of overpowering earthly Messiah persisted even among the Twelve, and even after the resurrection (Acts 1:6). Thaddeus' question here was strongly flavored with the ideas of Jesus' brothers (John 7:3-4), regarding a "manifestation" in Jerusalem. He did not understand that the death on the cross would be a manifestation before the whole world.

John 18:39 — people to demand Barabbas instead of Jesus. The unmitigated duplicity of the priests was glaringly evident in this. Their choice of a known revolutionary instead of Jesus was impossible of reconciliation with their avowed loyalty to Caesar (Mark 15:7). For more on Barabbas. see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 27:17. The numbering of these efforts to release Jesus refers to their order of appearance in John, and not to their chronological sequence. For a discussion of seven efforts of Pilate to

Acts 17:24 — nothing of this concept in the Greek philosophies. Dwelleth not in temples made with hands … Paul who had learned from Stephen's dying words that God's true temple was not a physical house at all but a living community of believers in Christ (Acts 7:48) first applied the words to the ornate temple of the Jews, a far greater temple than any in Athens; but here he applied the principle to the idol temples of Athens; they, even more than the temple of the Jews, failed of being suitable as a residence

Romans 7:16 — But if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good. This is an appeal to the conscience as a witness that God's law is holy and good, as affirmed in Romans 7:12. When people violate God's law, the inevitable feelings of guilt are sufficient evidence that the law is spiritual and holy. Hodge made the consent mentioned in this verse, the consent that the law is good, to be the ground of supposing the person

1 Corinthians 14:10-11 — world, and no kind is without signification. If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh will be a barbarian unto me. These verses are a recapitulation of the argument in 1 Corinthians 14:7-9, the conclusion being that any kind of jargon or gobbledegook, such as tongues, which cannot be understood by the hearers, is condemned. Barbarian … in ancient times meant merely one who did not speak Greek. Paul encountered some of these "barbarians"

2 Corinthians 8:8 — I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love. The sincerity also of your love … A glance at 2 Corinthians 8:7 reveals that Paul had just said that they abounded "in their love." How can this be anything else except a gentle reminder that their "abounding love" needed proving by their deeds? It is thus evident that scholarly objections to

Galatians 4 overview — abolition of the Law of Moses and the replacement of the entire system by Christianity. First, he compared the Law to the conditions governing a person not yet come of age, as something sure to be replaced by another arrangement later on (Galatians 4:1-7). Secondly, he pointed out the restrictive and onerous nature of the Law itself, comparing it to slavery or bondage (Galatians 4:8-11). Next, he reminded them of the circumstances of their conversion, their love for him, and warned them against the

Colossians 1:14 — introduction, this is highly speculative. Findlay went on to point out that one of the most prolific writers of that age, Philo, "who speaks the language of the Jewish philosophic mysticism of the first century, has no such usage" Ibid., p. 7.. of the word redemption.

Hebrews 4:7 — day, Today, saying in David so long a time afterward (even as hath been said before) Today if ye shall hear his voice, Harden not your hearts. Interrupting his chain of thought, and repeating the scriptural basis of it, he appeals again to Psalms 95:7-11, ascribed to David. The thesis turns on the fact that it was "long afterward" (about 500 years) that David urged the people AT THAT TIME, "today," to hear God's voice, to refrain from hardening their hearts, and to enter the rest

James 4:16 — Christian pilgrimage. Hebrews 3:6 has the instruction that Christians should "hold fast our boldness and the glorying of our hope firm unto the end." Paul gloried in the churches (2 Thessalonians 1:4), in Christ, and in Christians (2 Corinthians 7:4). He commanded that "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (2 Corinthians 10:17). The type of glorying James had just outlined, in which men flaunted all kinds of ambitions and godless plans without any reference whatever to Almighty

2 Samuel 5:22-25 — the Philistines. The noise of marching in the tops of the balsam trees probably threw a great panic into the hearts of the Philistines, just as the sound of many trumpets had done for the enemies of Gideon in his victory over the Midianites (Judges 7:15-23).