Bible Commentaries

Exodus 20:14 — Nevertheless, the highest intelligence and reason approve and endorse the commandment. The sin of adultery is against a number of vitally important entities: (1) It is against God (Genesis 39:9); (2) It is against the very body of the sinner (1 Corinthians 6:18); (3) It is even against the soul of the violator (Proverbs 6:32); (4) It is against the family. No marriage can withstand the destructive force of this sin (Matthew 19:9); (5) It is a sin against personality. Adultery produces the fallen countenance,

Psalms 52:5-7 — "The word `likewise' introduces the corresponding behavior of another. Destroyers shall be destroyed. `With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again'" (Matthew 7:2).Wilson Jones, p. 264. "Pluck thee out of thy tent" This is another sarcastic word in the psalm. Saul's mighty deputy, in all probability, was not living in a tent, but in a palace; but it was as vulnerable to the judgment of God as the flimsiest kind of a tent could have

Psalms 78:1-8 — his commandments" This is proof enough that the "law" of God mentioned in verse 1 is indeed the Torah, containing the commandments of God. "They should make them known to their children" This admonition is based upon the classic passage in Deuteronomy 6:6-9. God absolutely requires of believing parents that they should, indeed must, teach their children the way of truth and use every possible influence to persuade them to walk in it. The silliest and most satanic attitude we have ever encountered in

Proverbs 26:3-12 — them! This subject was apparently one of Solomon's favorites, We have already discussed this subject under the following verses: Proverbs 10:8; Proverbs 10:13-14; Proverbs 10:23; Proverbs 12:1; Proverbs 12:8; Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 12:23; Proverbs 13:15-16; Proverbs 14:6-8; Proverbs 14:15-16; Proverbs 14:18; Proverbs 14:24; Proverbs 14:33; Proverbs 15:7; Proverbs 15:14; Proverbs 15:21; Proverbs 17:10; Proverbs 17:12; Proverbs 17:24.This list taken from The Anchor Bible (Garden City, New York: Doubleday

Proverbs 8 overview — presents, as we shall see, a faint and wavering image of Him who of God was to be made the Wisdom of God unto men and who would exhibit the perfect life embodying in their fullness all of the attributes of Wisdom."The Expositor's Bible, Vol. 18, p. 106. "The Christological interpretation of this chapter has existed from the earliest Christian centuries. Such New Testament passages as 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:15-18; Hebrews 1:3; and Revelation 3:14, written by the apostles Paul and John, clearly

Ecclesiastes 8:6-8 — the future that causes him misery, unless he gives himself over to anxiety and worry because of it. It is the glory of the New Testament revelation that men are relieved of all considerations that should result in their worrying and anxiety. (Matthew 6:25-34; 1 Peter 5:7). "But Solomon did not know God and did not know the hope that Christians have about the future."Don Blazer, Life Is Worth Living, p. 75. The Christian may face the future with confidence and hope. Oh, to be sure, we do not know what

Ezekiel 34:20-24 — for those who must find multiple shepherds (kings) in these ancient prophecies, they like every things else prophesied are to be found in the Church of Jesus Christ alone, and nowhere else. All Christians are "kings and priests unto God" (Revelation 1:6, KJV). The twelve apostles are upon twelve thrones reigning with Christ throughout the dispensation (Matthew 19:28); and the elders of God's church actually have received that glorious designation, "Shepherds." The word `shepherd,' pastor in the Greek,

Amos 6:5 — their own interpretations, almost verbatim, as, for example, Butler: "As David invented instruments of music to worship his God, you invent musical instruments to worship your god, your belly."Paul T. Butler, The Minor Prophets (Joplin: College Press, 1968), p. 335. Clever as this interpretation appears, however, it cannot be correct; the key element being overlooked in it is that the passage makes it quite clear that what David did was wrong. If, as this interpretation suggests, the action of the nobles

Numbers 5:5-10 — children of Israel, which they present unto the priest, shall be his. And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his." As pointed out above: This regulation supplements the law contained in Leviticus 6:1-7, which, dealing with the restitution of property wrongfully appropriated, omits to explain how it is to be disposed of, if the owner has died without leaving any kinsman to whom restitution may be made.George Woosung Wade, Peake's Commentary on

Matthew 12:42 — world then known."Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 135. Christ as "greater than Solomon" was expounded by James H. Childress as follows: (1) Christ was greater in his birth, (2) his wisdom, (3) his temple, (4) his throne, (5) his prayers, (6) in his mansions, and (7) in the sacrifice Christ offered. As one example, Solomon offered at the dedication of the temple "twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred twenty thousand sheep" (2 Chronicles 7:5). Christ offered his own blood within

Matthew 13:14-15 — waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them. — Isaiah 6:9-10; Acts 28:26-27 Thus, as in everything else, Christ was acting in full accordance with the ancient prophecies which foretold his coming into the world. Significantly, Paul also quoted this passage (Acts 28:26-27), making the same application to

Matthew 26:20 — fact that the Jews no longer honored that commandment did not change God's law. We may be certain that Christ never concurred in "making the word of God of none effect" by accepting human tradition in the place of it (see notes, Matthew 15:6 ff). Why should Matthew have mentioned that Jesus was "reclining" at the table, unless this had pertinence and significance? Must we conclude that Christ had thereby consented with the Jews of his generation to eat the Passover lying down,

Mark 11:19 — slopes of the Mount of Olives, which was cited under the above verse, there was also the evident purpose of our Lord to avoid identification, as much as possible, with any of the places previously accounted sacred. His sitting by Jacob's well (John 4:6) dignified a place not mentioned in the Old Testament, it being nowhere stated therein that Jacob ever dug a well. Nazareth, Cana, Bethany, Bethsaida-Julius, and the majority of the places made memorable by Jesus were simply not identified among the

Mark 4:23-24 — parable is true in any context. Thus the Lord applied it to the kind of judgments men give of others, resulting always in their being judged in the same fashion (Matthew 7:2). Again, the Saviour extended it in an application to the grace of giving (Luke 6:38).

Romans 12:1 — bodies … The body here is from the Greek word [soma], meaning the physical body; and, despite that Batey and others refer it to "the whole man," Richard A. Batey, The Letter of Paul to the Romans (Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet Company, 1969), p. 151. the contrast with "mind" in the next verse focuses the thought on the physical body here. Vincent, as quoted by Wuest, stated that: The body here is the physical body; and the word for "present" is the technical term for

Hebrews 9:27-28 — inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him unto salvation. See under Hebrews 6:2 for notes concerning the "judgment." It needs only to be added here, in the words of Milligan, that The true character of every individual is determined on his exit from this world; and that his destiny is then virtually determined. And

2 Peter 3:15 — you; The longsuffering of our Lord … Indeed Paul did write of longsuffering, not only as an attribute of God, but as a grace to be cultivated by Christians, and even as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Romans 2:4; Romans 9:22; 2 Corinthians 6:6, Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 1:11; Colossians 3:1; 2 Timothy 1:16; and Titus 3:10; 4:11). Which of such references had Peter read? There is actually no good reason to suppose that he had not read most of them! Our beloved brother Paul

Revelation 1:8 — ("Izzard" was an early American name for the letter Z). Plummer pointed out that the use of this figure is progressively expanded in Revelation. Note: Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8). The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (Revelation 21:6) The Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13). Since the usage of this expression in subsequent passages of Revelation undoubtedly refers to Christ, there is no good reason why it should not be applied

Revelation 22:6 — whole book is represented by John as the Revelation of Jesus Christ, through the angel." G. R. Beasley-Murray, op. cit., p. 334. The divine authority of the entire Revelation is affirmed. "The primary purpose of this epilogue (Revelation 22:6-21) is to affirm the authority of John's book. George Eldon Ladd, op. cit., p. 289. The meaning of this whole verse is: "The words of the Christian prophets do not speak their own minds, but God's." J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible

1 Samuel 6:4-9 — due solely to the abbreviated nature of the narrative. Whether or not the Philistines associated the rats with the tumors or not, the rats (mice) were a devastating plague in themselves, as indicated by the remark of the priests and diviners (1 Samuel 6:5) that they "ravage the land." "Aristotle relates that in harvest entire crops were sometimes destroyed by the ravages of field-mice in a single night."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 186. According to the number of the lords of the Philistines (1