Bible Commentaries

Exodus 20:12 — Commandment V is bound upon mankind by apostolic authority. Paul said, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise), that thou mayest live long on the earth" (Ephesians 6:1-3). Disobedience of people regarding this has been widespread in all ages. Even in the times of Christ, the keepers of the temple had concocted a device for enabling wealthy Hebrews to avoid giving the care and support to their parents which the Law

Exodus 27:9-19 — carefully to note what it says. It is a measure of how desperate the cause of destructive criticism actually is that the enemies of the Bible should have attempted to use this paragraph at all. There is allegedly a problem relative to the placement of the 60 pillars enclosing the 50 cubits X 100 cubits of the court. Even Philo thought these instructions were incorrect and proposed to solve the "problem" by reducing God's number of 60 pillars to 56, and then counting all four of the corners twice!C. F.

Psalms 32 overview — any form of instruction on "how to be saved." "This meaning of the psalm cannot be maintained." F. Delitzsch, Old Testament, Vol. V., p. 393. Those who might be interested in a further discussion of these questions are referred to Chapter 4 in Vol. 6 of my New Testament series of commentaries (Romans), especially pp. 145-158. It is sufficient here to point out that David, who is usually received as the author of this psalm, was already in covenant relationship with God at the time of his great sin;

Psalms 42 overview — same time that, of course, we might be wrong. Many are sure that this is a psalm written by David, as usually explained, during his exile to some land beyond the Jordan river, during which time the tabernacle services were being conducted. Psalms 42:6 is understood to teach that David's place of exile was somewhere east of the Jordan headwaters in the vicinity of Mount Hermon. All of this is alleged to point to a time during the rebellion of Absalom when David was an `exile.' The big objection that

Leviticus 8:31-36 — Just as there was something the ancient priests of Israel were commanded to eat, so it is with Christians. They ate of the flesh of the sacrifice, and Christians must eat of the "flesh and the blood" of the Great Sacrifice, even that of Christ (John 6:53 ff). It is significant that the sons of Aaron (typical of Christians), and not Aaron (typical of Christ) were commanded in this particular what to eat. Aaron doubtless ate as did the priests, just as Christ also partook of the Lord's Supper the night

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 — what was meant here. Franz Delitzsch noted, during the 19th century, that, "Most interpreters regard this as an exhortation to charity";C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), Vol. 6b, p. 391 and this writer is absolutely certain that the passage could not possibly mean anything else. Nothing could be any more stupid than the New English Bible rendition: "Send your grain across the seas, and in time you will get a return; divide

Isaiah 56 overview — pre-exilic Israel, and is not primarily directed either to post-exilic or Christian times: (a) The picture here of the infatuated and self-indulgent leaders of Israel fits the pre-exilic Israel much better than it does the times of the exile (Isaiah 56:10-12). (b) The idolatrous rites alluded to (Isaiah 57:5-9) are those practiced in the later days of the Jewish monarchy (Manasseh's reign). (c) The persecution of true followers of Jehovah (Isaiah 57:1) suggests the reign of Manasseh. (d) The natural

Numbers 20:22-29 — Testament (New York: Abingdon Press, 1929), p. 308. Smick mentioned: Kadesh-barnea, Kadesh-naphtali, and Kadesh on the Orontes."Elmer Smick, op. cit., p. 138. "And Aaron died there" (Numbers 20:28). The difficulty cited by many is that Deuteronomy 10:6 states that "Aaron died in Moserah" (Deuteronomy 10:6). The only difficulty here is that nobody knows where either Hor or Moserah was located; so the natural conclusion is that both sites are only different designations of one place. Another possibility

Matthew 11:27 — delivered unto me of my Father; and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him. There is positively no other way to know God except through Christ (John 14:6). Man's only hope of eternal life lies in a knowledge of God, and this is possible only through Jesus Christ. In a practical sense, this means that the New Testament is the only source of accurate knowledge of God in matters pertaining to salvation;

Matthew 19:20 — All these things have I observed, what lack I yet? No wonder Jesus loved him (Mark 10:21). He was a model of moral excellence and integrity. If human righteousness could have saved anyone, this young man was already saved. Like Cornelius (Acts 10:1-6), he manifested virtue in a dissolute age, faith in an age of infidelity, and deep spirituality in an age of materialism. Most important of all, he recognized the void in his soul, that he was yet unsaved, saying, "What lack I yet?" Many in

Matthew 26:58 — without denying his Lord (John 18:13). Other preconditions that 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 1:35 — Galilee. A desert place … Deserts were the wandering place of demons, but Jesus feared them not. And there prayed … The prayer life of Christ was entensively stressed by the sacred writers. Once, he continued all night in prayer (Luke 6:12).

Mark 6:31 — desert place, and rest awhile. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. One of the reasons for Jesus' actions was the need of rest and recuperation; but there were other pertinent reasons also. See under Mark 6:29. "Mark alone notes no less than eleven occasions on which Jesus retired from his work."Marvin Vincent, Word Studies of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1946), Vol. I, p. 175. That our Lord was diligent

Mark 9:36-37 — them, Whosoever shall receive one of such little children in my name receiveth me, and whosoever receiveth me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. This was an acted parable teaching the same lesson which the Lord stated verbally in Matthew 18:4-6. True greatness is not a matter of position and power but in the child-like qualities of innocence, trustfulness, humility, lack of prejudice, lovableness, faith and teachableness. Receiving a little child in Jesus' name includes the unselfish care

Luke 4:35 — him, having done him no hurt. Again from Ash: The threat of the brow of the hill (Luke 4:29) corresponds to the pinnacle of the temple; the expulsion of the demon (Luke 4:35 f) to the desire of Satan for Jesus' worship; and the catch of fishes (Luke 5:6) to the bread temptation.Anthony Lee Ash, op. cit., p. 83. This correspondence of these wonders to the sequence of temptations endured by Jesus is most beautiful and impressive. Far from being a mere hit-or-miss collection of sayings and events, the

Romans 6 overview — for example, when that same author declared that: We shall now think less directly of the foundations than of the superstructure, for which the foundation was laid. H. C. G. Moule, The Epistle to the Romans (London: Pickering and Inglis, Ltd.), p. 156. From all of the explaining, and readjusting, and hesitation that marks the works of people as they are about to engage upon an interpretation of this chapter, and from all of their efforts to disengage it from the preceding chapters, one is truly led

Romans 8:1 — There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Seven times already in this letter, Paul had stressed the significance of being "in Christ." Faith (Romans 3:26), redemption (Romans 3:24), peace (Romans 5:1), rejoicing in God (Romans 5:11), abundance of grace and of the gifts of righteousness (Romans 5:17), being alive unto God (Romans 6:11), and eternal life (Romans 6:22), were all mentioned by Paul as blessings

1 Corinthians 11:34 — THE LORD'S SUPPER The central ordinance of Christianity is the Lord's Supper, standing in a metaphor as a summary of the whole Christian religion: "Except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man ye have no life in you" (John 6:53). See my Commentary on John, pp. 186-188. The nature of this precious rite is discerned in seven words, as follows: 1.    Retrospective. It looks back to Calvary, bringing to the worshiper's mind the night of betrayal, agony,

Colossians 1:3-4 — prayers in Galatians and 2 Corinthians indicates that they were included only when the progress of the converts was a real cause for thanksgiving." Ernest G. Ashby, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 483. Faith … hope … love … make up Paul's famed triad, found in these two verses and the verse following, and reminding one of 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Corinthians 13:3, etc. Hendriksen observed that Paul's letter to Titus also

Hebrews 8:5 — shadows made by Moses, God was jealous of the strict adherence to the divine pattern; and a part of the wickedness of Ahaz, king of Israel, was his rejection of the divine pattern of the altar and fashioning one like the pagan altar in Damascus (2 Kings 16:10-11). And if God cared about that, does he not care if the prayers of which that altar was only a type shall be offered through the one Mediator God established, and not through the saints of all ages? Applying the principle of a divine pattern to