Bible Commentaries

Genesis 49:27 — devour the prey, And at even he shall divide the spoil." "A wolf that raveneth" Literally, this means, "A wolf, he shall tear in pieces."Thomas Whitelaw, op. cit., p. 529. The ferocious nature of this tribe is exemplified in such men as Ehud (Judges 3:15) and King Saul (1 Samuel 11:6-11 ff). Whatever the failures of this tribe might have been during the history of the old Israel, the glory of it was enhanced forever by one of their sons, Saul of Tarsus, who became the most gifted apostle of the Christian

Psalms 105:39-41 — He opened the rock, and waters gushed out; They ran in the dry places like a river." There were many wonders during the wilderness period, but only these are cited here: (1) The pillar of cloud and of fire by day and by night is recorded in Exodus 13:21-22. (2) The miraculous food of quails and the manna are featured in Exodus 16. (3) The water from the rock appears in Exodus 17.

Psalms 80:1-7 — drink in large measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors; And our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts; And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved." Barnes stated that there are two prayers here (Psalms 80:1-3 and Psalms 80:4-7), but there are similarities. God is petitioned for salvation in both; He is requested to "Turn us again" in both (Psalms 80:3; Psalms 80:7); and the reference to the Aaronic blessings of Numbers 6:25, "Cause thy face to shine," is

Proverbs 14:2 — Jehovah; But he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him." This reveals the true reason for all unbelief and anti-religious activity in the whole world. And why is this? "Men have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil!" (John 3:19). "Those who walk uprightly fear the Lord; but, one who is devious in conduct despises him."The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. This explodes the satanic lie that `intellectual ability,' or `higher education,' or any other desirable thing,

Proverbs 22:29 — it was accompanied by unusual skill, dexterity, ingenuity and creativeness."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 427. In ancient times persons with such abilities were called "tektons." The word was applied to Christ himself (as a carpenter) (Mark 6:3). Such skilled workers are the benefactors of all mankind. We dedicated our Book of Acts (In the New Testament Series) to a "[@tekton]." Bezalel (Exodus 35:30-35) was just such a person.

Proverbs 28:7 — of gluttons shameth his father." "Again, the Law here is the Torah (the Pentateuch) and seems also to include the directions and commandments of one's father. An obedient and prudent son brings joy and honor to his father (Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 29:3). The son who herds with debauchers, and wastes his substance in riotous living brings shame and insults upon his father."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 534. Deane recommended the Septuagint here: "A wise son keeps the law, but a son that keeps up

Isaiah 20 overview — attended by different circumstances. There are several things of particular interest in these brief verses: (1) there is the three-year witness of Isaiah's going naked and barefoot; (2) there is the only reference to Sargon in the Old Testament; and (3) the absolute promise of God to Judah of their deliverance from this particular threat of the Assyrians. Our title here mentions only Egypt, although it also includes Ethiopia. Both countries at the time of this prophecy were united under an Ethiopian

Ezekiel 1:1-3 — the dates cited. For example, the evangelist Luke dated the emergence of John the Baptist as occurring in the "fifteenth year of Tiberius," at the time when Pontius Pilate was Procurator of Judea, and when Herod was the tetrarch of Galilee, etc. (Luke 3:1). The obscurity of what is meant by this "thirtieth year" poses exactly the kind of problem that many commentators love to"solve" with all kinds of speculations, none of the "solutions" having any merit at all! Pearson has provided a list of alleged

Hosea 14 overview — This chapter elaborates the theme that appeared momentarily in Hosea 13:14, applies primarily to the godly and faithful remnant of the Northern kingdom which remained after the execution of the terminal penalties pronounced in the preceding chapters, and sets forth the glories of the New Israel to be achieved in the kingdom

Luke 6:46 — will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22-23). From this it is clear that the people reproached by Jesus in this text were: (1) believers; (2) confessing believers; and (3) working believers. What was their fatal sin? It was as simple as it was catastrophic: they did not do the will of the Lord. Of

John 8:12 — am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. JESUS, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD I am the light of the world … is the second of the seven great "I am's" of John. See: John 6:35; 8:12; 10:9; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6; and 15:5. Several suggestions of what might have prompted such a metaphor by Jesus are: (1) the great lamps kindled in the temple court during the feast of tabernacles, (2) the glorious sun rising at that very moment

Acts 1:13 — persistent tradition to the effect that it was the place where the Last Supper was held, and that it was in the home of Mary, sister of Barnabas and mother of John Mark. The list of the Twelve is given four times in the New Testament, in Matthew 10, Mark 3, Luke 6, and here. This list is like the others in that Peter, Philip, and James are recorded first in three groups of four each, of course, the name of Judas being deleted here. The mention of the apostles by name stresses that the Twelve (Luke would

Acts 19:6 — about twelve men. It is a mistake to make another Pentecost out of this. Walker said that "This was the same phenomenon witnessed on Pentecost and at the house of Cornelius"; W. R. Walker, Studies in Acts (Joplin, Missouri: College Press), p. 53. but in neither case was the phenomenon due to the imposition of apostolic hands. This is therefore clearly something else. As Lange declared: "The true baptism … and not the imposition of hands … (is among) the conditions upon which

Romans 3:28 — reference to the works of the law of faith. And are there certainly any such works? Indeed, for Paul wrote of the "work of faith" as follows: Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3). "Works of law" in the RSV would have the effect of including other laws than that of Moses in Paul's statement here; but, in any case, the law of Moses is the one primarily in view, the inclusion of any such similar laws being immaterial,

Galatians 5:22-23 — of any other doctrine of the New Testament. As frequently pointed out in this series, there are no less than eight designations in the New Testament of a single condition (see summary below). Note: Ye are the temple of the living God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:16). For it is God that worketh in you (Philippians 2:13). God abideth in us … we abide in him and he in us … God abideth in him and he in God … he that abideth in love abideth in God and God abideth in him (1

Ephesians 6 overview — Of this whole chapter it may be said, as Dummelow said of the last verse, "It is a worthy conclusion to this immortal Epistle!" J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 966. Paul here continued his discussion of reciprocal relationships: (2) between children and parents (Ephesians 6:1-4), and (3) between slaves and masters (Ephesians 6:5-9). His final great admonition to strength in the Lord through putting on

Hebrews 10:19 — ancient priest entered it. Such boldness must not be thought of as brashness or arrogance, for it specifically honors the command of the Lord for his disciples to exhibit boldness, the means of acquiring which are given earlier by our author (Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 3:13), and which include a constant glorying in our hope through repeated affirmations of our faith, not merely for the personal benefit of ourselves in so doing, but also for the benefit of others, also included is a constant and energetic

Hebrews 6:1-2 — the things mentioned being inherent in the fact of their being called "first principles" and "a foundation." Through use of a pronoun "us," the writer identifies himself with his readers, as more emphatically in Hebrews 6:3 following; and from this it should not be presumed that the inspired author of this epistle was himself deficient in the manner of his readers, nor that he, like them, was guilty of serious fault of omission. Just why a similar identification of the

1 Peter 3:18 — epistle "three stands of Peter's thought about the atonement." Stephen W. Paine, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 977. It is compared to the paschal lamb (1 Peter 1:19), the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 (1 Peter 1:24), and to the scapegoat (1 Peter 1:24). Suffered for sins once … "Once" is the great New Testament word from the Greek [@hapax], meaning "once for all." W. E. Vine, op. cit., p. 137 (vol. iii). It is used of:

Ruth 4:12 — inappropriate, but the significance of it lies, perhaps, in the fact of Tamar's having been a foreigner (a Canaanite), a non-Israelite, just like Ruth the Moabitess. Tamar and Ruth are both mentioned in the genealogy of Christ in the N.T. (Matthew 1:3; Matthew 1:5), thus the blessing of the elders that day was fully realized in time.