Bible Commentaries

Ezra 5:6-17 — request of Darius by Tattenai. If indeed it was true that Cyrus had made such a decree, then according to the Medo-Persian tradition it was impossible to change it. Daniel twice referred to the "Law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not" (Daniel 6:8; Daniel 6:12). Daniel commented that, "It is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed" (Daniel 6:15). If the projected search proposed by Tatrenal revealed that Cyrus indeed had made

Psalms 143:1-6 — righteousness to keep his promises (Psalms 143:1); (3) the satanic behavior of the enemy (Psalms 143:3); (4) the extreme personal need of the petitioner (Psalms 143:4); (5) the petitioner's trust in the God who has so often delivered him (Psalms 143:5); and (6) the psalmist's hungering and thirsting after righteousness (after God) (Psalms 143:6). It is the very nature of God to "fill" and "satisfy" those who hunger and thirst for Him (Matthew 5:6). In these principles, one sees the transcending greatness

Ezekiel 3:4-9 — Ezekiel was told that Israel would not hear him, because they would not hear God (Ezekiel 3:7); and the exact duplicate of this was promised the apostles by Jesus Christ (John 15:20). Still another fundamental element of Jesus' teaching is in Ezekiel 3:6. "Surely, if I sent thee to them, they would hearken unto thee" "The thought here finds its analogue in our Lord's reference to Sodom and Gomorrah (Matthew 11:21-24)."Ibid, p. 47. This paragraph repeats much that was stated in Ezekiel 2 regarding the

Matthew 12:40 — English Revised Version (1885) margin will show; not that there is any essential difference, for the Bible states that "God prepared" a great fish (Jonah 1:17). In the book of Jonah is related also how God "prepared" a gourd (Jonah 4:6), a worm (Jonah 4:7), and a sultry east wind (Jonah 4:8)! Why it should be considered for God a more difficult matter to prepare a great fish than any of those other "preparations" is surely a mystery! Regarding the truth of the Jonah narrative,

Matthew 3:11 — sufferings (Mark 10:38-39). 3.    The baptism for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29). 4.    The baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11, see above). 5.    The baptism of fire (Matthew 3:11, see above). 6.    The baptism of John the Baptist (Acts 19:3). 7.    The baptism of the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-16; Matthew 28:18-20). In spite of the fact that all these baptisms find mention in the New Testament, there

John 1:50 — achiever of reconciliation between God and all humanity. (3) He had seen Jesus as King of Israel; but, in the future, he would come to know that Christ is not merely King of Israel, but King of all creation, King of kings, and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15).

John 15:16 — teach all nations did not derive from some voluntary assumption of such an office on their part but was imposed upon them from above by Christ's choice of them for that work. But I chose you … Concerning this, Westcott said: Here (and in John 6:70 and John 13:18) the eleven are regarded as representatives of the Lord in relation to his church, favoring the interpretation (that this is reference to a call of the apostleship). The power of the office of the apostles lay for them in the fact

Acts 4:11 — how true are the speeches of Peter recorded in Acts to the epistles credited to this apostle in the New Testament. Peter had been present when the Lord first used this figure of himself (Matthew 21:42), and he developed the idea further in 1 Peter 2:4-6. For a dissertation on "Christ the Living Stone," see my Commentary on Romans, under Romans 9:33. Psalms 118:22 has a prophecy of the rejected stone becoming the head of the corner; and it was founded upon an incident connected with the building

Romans 14:12 — the weak, and deal a mortal blow upon the human conceit in which such judgments are invariably formed. As Thomas said: Earthly Christians are not lords to pass judgment upon their fellows; and, although Christians are to judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3), that time has not yet come. Griffith Thomas, St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 370. With this verse, Paul ended one phase of teaching regarding weak brethren and strong brethren

1 Corinthians 6:13 — one indulges an appetite for food, that being the function of the stomach, so should the physical urge for sexual indulgence be gratified. Paul refutes the argument, stomach and food being temporal; but not so the body. Paul W. Marsh, op. cit., p. 386. But for the Lord … The purpose of the body is not the gratification of its appetites; but it is for the Lord, a reference to the indwelling of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:19. Sensuality is neither the highest nor the most satisfying

2 Corinthians 10:4 — (For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds). What were Paul's weapons? "We learn from 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Ephesians 6:11-16, that they were the energies of spiritual powers given by the Eternal Spirit." E. H. Plumptre, Ellicott's Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), Vol. III, p. 397. Casting down of strongholds … "This

2 Corinthians 6:7 — divine body of truth which Paul customarily preached. In the power of God … God had worked with Paul, as in the case of all the other apostles, enabling him to perform signs and wonders and mighty deeds, thus "confirming the word" (Mark 16:20). This, of course, was one of the secret springs of his power and endurance. By the armor of righteousness … Paul loved this figure and developed it fully in Ephesians 6:13-17. Every item in the whole panoply answers finally for identification

Galatians 3:3 — the constant manipulation of every text in the New Testament to fit the "faith only" notion must be maintained: "They received the Spirit by faith," R. E. Howard, Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1965), Vol. IX, p. 55. as one declared, despite the fact that faith is not mentioned in this verse, and despite the further fact that nobody ever received the Spirit except in consequence of his believing, repenting and being baptized into Christ (Acts

Philippians 1:11 — have fruit of that righteousness, the believer must be "in Christ," identified with him. See under Philippians 3:9. This expression also carries with it the idea of the end of the world being a harvest (Matthew 13:39) and a reaping (Galatians 6:4-9). Here Paul prayed upon behalf of the Philippians that "At that day they might appear filled with all the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ. What an incentive to holiness to keep that before us. Arthur W. Pink, op. cit., p.

Philippians 3:15 — to all "having a sincere desire to know and to do God's will, and without any wish or preference except to do the will of God." David Lipscomb, A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles, Volume IV (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1964), p. 210. He cited John 7:17 and Hosea 6:3 as confirming his conclusion. Mounce arrived at a similar conclusion, thus: "The condition for future enlightenment is to walk according to present light." Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 772. Indeed,

1 Timothy 4:14 — thus: God gave (it) not by a miraculous gift from heaven, but "by means of prophecy," by a communication of the word to him, and did that under the tutelage of one of the most capable prophets this word ever had, namely, Paul himself. Ibid., p. 645. The gift may also be identified with Timothy's ability, as Paul's assistant, to found and establish churches in the truth. From 2 Timothy 1:6, it is clear that Paul himself was present and participated in the laying on of the hands of the presbytery,

Philemon 1:9 — it is given as an alternative reading in the ASV margin. However, we believe Lenski is right in saying: We prefer the reading "old man" to the inferior reading "ambassador," which some commentators prefer by appealing to Ephesians 6:20. The whole idea of ambassadorships is, however, incongruous to the present connection; no commentator has been able to work it into Paul's thought in a convincing way. R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 961. Some have objected to the fact that at the

Hebrews 10:24 — provoke unto love and good works. In a sense, the sentiment of this verse is a recurring theme in Hebrews. Again and again, the author stresses the maintenance of an enthusiastic morale in the hearts of the faithful, a subject he introduced in Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 3:16, and to which repeated reference is made. The apostles taught that if one member of the body suffers, or is honored, all the others are likewise affected (1 Corinthians 12:26 ff). Christian living is here directly related to the appreciation

Hebrews 11:14 — with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were" (Psalms 39:12). Needless to say, this is the only proper attitude of Christians, for Paul declared that "While we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord" (1 Corinthians 5:6 KJV); and Peter admonished Christians to "pass the time of your sojourning in fear" (1 Peter 1:17).

Hebrews 11:32-33 — deeds of each of those mentioned will be given, with special regard of how each fits into the list of the exemplars of faith. Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal, and with only a handful of men, delivered Israel from the ravages of the Midianites (Judges 6—7). Gideon was visited and encouraged by an angel, and followed closely the instructions leading to his great victory. Barak (Judges 5) is a surprise in the list, since he refused to take the field of battle against Sisera unless the prophetess