Bible Commentaries

1 Chronicles 11:4-9 — in the stronghold; therefore they called it the city of David. And he built the city round about, from Millo even round about; and Joab repaired the rest of the city. And David waxed greater and greater, for Jehovah of hosts was with him." 2 Samuel 5:4-10 is parallel with this paragraph; and our comments there are sufficient for what is written here.

Job 18 overview — Job's contemptuous words regarding his `comforters' (Job 16:2; Job 16:11 and Job 17:10); and Bildad's aim here is simply that of venting his anger and terrifying Job with threats and denunciations. Job has become for Bildad `the wicked man' (Job 18:5; Job 18:21), and one that `knoweth not God.'"The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 7d, p. 307. In fact, Bildad consigned Job to hell with the bitterest language that he could command, suggesting that no punishment could be any worse than Job deserved. Behind

Job 42:9 — intercessory prayer that constituted the principal element in the procurement of their forgiveness. The value of a truly righteous man's prayers upon behalf of others appears here as a glorious achievement. "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). "Job is thus a type of Christ, not merely in his undeserved sufferings, but also in his mediatorial intercession for his friends."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 663. Kelly also noted that, "Job here stands as a prefiguration of the Christian

Isaiah 20:5 — chapter is God's reference to Isaiah as "my servant" in Isaiah 20:3. "Isaiah shares this honorable title with a select few of God's saints: (1) Abraham (Genesis 26:24); (2) Moses (Numbers 12:7); (3) Caleb (Numbers 14:24); (4) Job (Job 1:8; Job 42:7-8; (5) Eliakim (Isaiah 22:20); and (6) Zerrubbabel (Haggai 2:23)."The Pulpit Commentary, p. 220. What an honor it is for any mortal to be recognized as one who is actually serving God!

Isaiah 21:8-9 — Babylon; and all the graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground." Here is the same language employed by the Lord through the apostle John in describing the fall of the Great Harlot of the times of the Apostasy (Revelation 14:8; Revelation 17:5). It is this fact, more than any other, which supports the view that there could be a great deal more in this passage than a prophecy of one of the several falls of ancient Babylon. Babylon became, in time, a symbol of all wickedness and unrighteousness,

Isaiah 44 overview — An analysis of this chapter is as follows: 1.    (Isaiah 44:1-5) Despite the fact of Israel's sin and their condemnation to seventy years of captivity, God was by no means through with Israel. He would restore Israel to his favor and to their homeland. Their posterity would turn to God and actually receive the Spirit

Numbers 34:6 — a very large part of Israel east of Jordan must have proved to be a key factor in that failure. "Not a single spot on the coast was ever in Hebrew occupation, until in the second half of the second century B.C., Simon captured Joppa. (1 Maccabees 14:5)."George Buchanan Gray, International Critical Commentary, Numbers (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1903), p. 453.

Matthew 12:2 — it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath. This charge was false. God's law did not prohibit the preparation and eating of food on the sabbath day. At the conclusion of the interview, Jesus referred to his disciples as "guiltless" (Matthew 12:5). It is true, however, that the disciples had violated a Pharisaical "interpretation" of the law; and such interpretations were held even more sacred by the Pharisees than the law itself. In the Pharisees' view, the disciples were guilty of

Matthew 13:1-2 — house and sat by the seaside. And there were gathered unto him great multitudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach. (Matthew 13:1-2) On sitting down to teach with the audience standing, see under Matthew 5:1. Dummelow and others believe "the house" in this case was that of Peter and Andrew in Capernaum. For the Sermon on the Mount, Christ went to the hills; but on this occasion, he went to the seashore. The use of the boat, anchored in a quiet

Acts 18 overview — is recorded in this chapter (Acts 18:23 a) and the beginning of the third (Acts 18:23 b). Paul left Athens for Corinth where he met Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:1-4); great success attended his efforts during eighteen months work at Corinth (Acts 18:5-11); Jewish opposition came to a climax soon after Gallio became proconsul, but it was frustrated (Acts 18:12-17); Paul concluded the second journey via Cenchraea and Ephesus to Antioch in Syria (Acts 18:18-23 a); and after some time there, he started

Romans 6:8 — This does not imply that faith is not required, but shows that faith consummated by baptism into the death of Christ is the determinator. Again, Paul's tremendous "if" is hurled into the consideration of man's salvation, as also in Romans 6:5, thus stressing the conditional nature of human redemption, one of the conditions being stressed in this verse, that of dying with Christ, in the sense of being baptized "into Christ," etc. We shall also live with him … is a pledge

1 Corinthians 16:20 — It was liable to abuse, and (2) it was liable to misinterpretation by heathen slanders, and (3) the church itself became less and less of a fellowship." Ibid., p. 188. This custom is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 13:12; Romans 16:16, and in 1 Peter 5:14; and the feeling persists that the third reason cited by Barclay, above, is the principal cause of its disappearance. Christians do not always love one another as they should. Yet it must also be allowed that the apostolic order of such a thing was

Hebrews 9:6 — A.D. Here is a partial list of services performed by the priests: (1) They lighted the lamps each evening and trimmed them every morning. (Exodus 27:21; Exodus 30:8). (2) Each sabbath day they renewed the loaves on the table of showbread (Leviticus 24:5). (3) They burned twice daily the incense on the golden altar, this coinciding with the morning and evening sacrifices, and with the trimming and lighting of the lamps (Exodus 30:7-8; Luke 1:10). All of these actions took place in the holy place.

James 4:3 — pleasures. "God answers prayer, but not all prayer, especially not in giving the ungodly the ingredients for selfish gratification." Ibid. The Bible reveals exactly whose prayers are answered. He hears the cry of the righteous (Psalms 34:15); he hears those who call upon him in truth (Psalms 145:18); and he hears the penitent (Luke 18:14): those who ask "in his name" (John 14:13), those who ask "believing" (Mark 11:24), and those who ask according to God's will (1 John

1 Peter 1:14 — according to your former lusts … A noble principle is in view here. Through the practice of wickedness, people fashion themselves in the likeness of the sins they commit; and thus they become "sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:6), the very opposite of what Peter required for Christians here. In the time of your ignorance … The very nature of the Christless life is that it is controlled by lust, grounded in ignorance, and destined to end in futility.

1 Peter 1:15 — but like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; Hunter properly discerned that the requirement here is about the same as that of Matthew 5:48, namely, perfection. Ibid., p. 101. Isaiah referred to the Father as "the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 30:15); and the great premise here is that children of such a God must themselves be holy "in all manner of living." The writer

1 Peter 5:4 — Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away. The chief Shepherd … is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ who called himself the "Good Shepherd" (John 10:11). See more on this under 1 Peter 2:25. Crown of glory that fadeth not away … "The Greek words here mean literally an amaranthine wreath." B. C. Caffin, op. cit., p. 207. Amaranth is the name of a flower which, like our "immortelles", does not lose its color or

1 John 3:5 — tense and bearing the meaning noted above, this is also true in the past tense of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus committed no sin (1 Peter 2:22); he was holy, guileless, undefiled, and separated from sinners (Hebrews 7:26); he knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21); he was without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1:19), etc.

Revelation 5:12 — mentioned in this doxology are ascribed to Jesus elsewhere in the New Testament. Saying with a great voice … This passage being introduced with "saying" and a very similar passage being introduced as "singing" (Revelation 5:9) suggest that the angels' "saying," "Glory to God in the highest, etc.," (Luke 2:13-14) may also be understood as a song.

2 Samuel 9:4 — of Machir the son of Ammiel at Lo-debar." "Lo-debar" is thought to have been located in northeastern Palestine east of the Jordan River and not far from Mahanaim, Ishbosheth's capital. "Machir the son of Ammiel." Ammiel is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3:5 as the father of Bathshua (Bathsheba) the mother of Solomon; thus Machir was Bathsheba's brother, making him a brother-in-law of King David. Machir was a very wealthy person who out of his love for Saul's family had taken Saul's grandson, the son of