Bible Commentaries

2 Chronicles 19:1-3 — even sinful, mistakes, one of which was that marriage with the daughter of Ahab which he arranged for his heir and successor to the throne. Also, note that nothing is said here about the removal of the high places, despite the fact that 2 Chronicles 17:6 states that he took away the high places, indicating that the citizens had, in the meanwhile, rebuilt them. This was done many times in the history of Judah.

Psalms 10:1-2 — merely that it seems so; for otherwise, he would never have cried out to God for his judgment and destruction of the gross wickedness cited in these first eleven verses. Of all the things that God hates, pride stands very high on the list (Proverbs 6:17). It appears in this first verse that pride is the primary basis and cause of oppressing the poor. The psalmist is here sorely grieved and distressed at the rampant wickedness that was bringing so much wretchedness, misery and sorrow to the poor

Psalms 112:9-10 — disappointment and contemplation of the triumph of his adversary, and will melt away in impotent rage, melting, as it were, from his own heat. `The desire of the wicked will perish' is antithetical to verse lb. He will go away in utter ruin, as in Psalms 1:6."International Critical Commentary, Vol. II, p. 387.

Psalms 19 overview — GOD'S WORKS AND GOD'S WORD DECLARE HIS GLORY THE WORLD BOOK,AND THE WORD BOOK (FOR THE CHIEF MUSICIAN. A PSALM OF DAVID). This magnificent psalm naturally falls into two divisions. "Psalms 19:1-6 describe the glory of God as seen in the heavenly bodies, especially the sun… Psalms 19:7-14 deal with the excellence of the revelation of God in the Law."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 336. Spurgeon called this psalm, "The World Book and the

Psalms 28:6-7 — heard the voice of my supplications. Jehovah is my strength and my shield; My heart hath trusted in him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; And with my song will I praise him." "He hath heard the voice of my supplications" (Psalms 28:6). This man, when he stood praying, believed that he had what he asked, and, so, believing, had it. There was no change in circumstances, but he was changed. Now there was no fear of going down into the pit, and the dread of the evil-doers disappeared.Alexander

Psalms 43:3-4 — hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, Unto God my exceeding joy; And upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God." "Let them bring me to thy holy hill" We suppose this is the same as the hill Mizar mentioned in Psalms 42:6, the word `hill,' being the common designation of Jerusalem, Mount Zion, or the Temple mountain, the same being the place where Abraham offered Isaac. This is as good an explanation as any until someone is able to identify "Mizar"! "To thy tabernacles…

Psalms 9:17-18 — shall return to Sheol, not merely depart there. Death is their native element";Derek Kidner, op. cit., p. 70. and that surely corresponds with a statement of the Apostle Paul that, "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." (1 Timothy 5:6). "The nations that forget God." Four times the Word of God thunders the message, "Beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God," nevertheless, whole nations transgress against that commandment continually. (For an elaboration of the theme "Forgetting God"

Proverbs 23:4-5 — thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven." Paul warned against the desire to be rich; and here we have a warning in the Old Testament. The heart of Paul's warning (1 Timothy 6:9 f) centered upon moral and spiritual damage to the seeker; and here the warning stresses the nature of riches. They have the startling ability to leave their possessor `holding the bag.' Ask any man who has experienced great loss (1) by the death

Proverbs 28:28 — and authority. Delitzsch gave this rendition: "When the godless rise up, men hide themselves; and when they perish the righteous increase."C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), Vol. 6b, p. 241. When the wicked are removed from such eminence, we might also add that the people rejoice (Proverbs 29:2). They come out of their hiding places and have great glory (Proverbs 28:12). The inherent sorrow, distress, violence and oppression of

Proverbs 30:11-14 — teaching device among the Jews. The first two chapters of Amos are an example of this method. Harris noted that Jesus also utilized the same device, as for example, in the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount,Ibid. where one finds two tetrads (Matthew 5:3-6; and Matthew 5:7-10). The evil character of the generation described here strongly resembles that which is described in the prophecy of Amos.

Proverbs 5:1-2 — solemn plea for strict attention indicates the importance of the severe warning against adultery that is about to be given, a subject briefly mentioned in 2:15-19. "The writer, in addition, will return to this subject again in the latter part of Proverbs 6 and in all of Proverbs 7."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 106. The emphasis given this subject in Proverbs is significant. "If a young man would take to heart the warnings and prohibitions in Proverbs and add those qualities mentioned in the Sermon

Ecclesiastes 12:12 — to the buying of books, and to study books closely is a weariness of the flesh."From the Moffatt. This is almost the same warning as that given by Paul that the brethren, "Might learn not to go beyond the things which are written." (1 Corinthians 4:6). In many of the earlier passages of Ecclesiastes which suggest doubt, skepticism, uncertainty and perplexity, the commentators, in many instances, have pointed out that many of those passages reflect the mythological and pagan writings of antiquity;

Isaiah 13:9-11 — bigger than itself, since the ambiguous word "earth" (Isaiah 13:5; Isaiah 13:9) (`land' in KJV) gives place to `world' in Isaiah 13:11, in a setting of cosmic upheaval such as the New Testament uses to depict the last days (See Matthew 24:29; Revelation 6:12-13). Babylon here is the city of man, not of one nation."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 599.

Isaiah 45 overview — prophecy concerning Cyrus of the Medo-Persian Empire, and how God delivered into his hands many nations, the wealth he procured, and how all his enemies were subdued (Isaiah 45:1-3); to whom Cyrus was indebted for all those wonderful victories (Isaiah 45:4-6); God reveals himself as the one true and only Deity who made light and darkness, refuting the absurd theory of the Persians that there were two gods, one of the good, and the other of the evil (Isaiah 45:7-8); the foolishness of those who question

Isaiah 46:12-13 — "Hearken unto me ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory." Paul in Romans 10:6-9 uses expressions very similar to some of those in this passage, the idea being that the way to please God is not a difficult thing to know. "The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith which we preach." Henderson

Isaiah 7:1-2 — son of Remaliah" Both here and in Isaiah 7:4-5; Isaiah 7:9, below, this mention of Pekah's father suggests that he was thus designated "in contempt, Remaliah having been a man of no distinction (2 Kings 15:25)."G. Rawlinson, Pulpit Commentary, p. 126. "His heart trembled, and the heart of his people" Each of the hostile powers mentioned here had already defeated Ahaz (See 2 Chronicles 28:5-6); and now both together were attacking Israel with the consequence that both Ahaz and his people were terrified.

Zechariah 1 overview — This chapter has one of the most impressive calls to righteousness in the whole Bible (Zechariah 1:1-6), and the first two of eight remarkable visions: (1) that of the horsemen in the myrtle grove (Zechariah 1:7-11), with the divine interpretation of the vision (Zechariah 1:11-17), and (2) the vision of the four horns and the four smiths, including its

Joshua 6:8-11 — the trumpets throughout the full time of the march around the city every day. Also, notice that in Joshua's summary of what was done, only the ark is mentioned as having been caused by Joshua (that, is by Joshua's command) to compass Jericho (Joshua 6:11), indicating the priority and importance of the ark in this narrative.

Joshua 7 overview — of Ananias and Sapphira by the Lord. (4)    The punishment in each case was executed in the presence of all of God's congregation. (5)    The original success of God's people was at once resumed in both cases. (6)    Greed, or covetousness on the part of the offenders was the cause of the trouble in both cases.

Hebrews 12:26 — basis of the entire elaboration upon the subject of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:11 ff; Psalms 110:4), the very same thing is done in this place, where he refers to the earthquake at Sinai, and then to Haggai's prophecy of another such disturbance (Haggai 2:6), making the latter a prophecy of the end of the world. Such faith and perception on the part of the author of this epistle is a moving demonstration of the trust that may be reposed in every word that God has spoken. There are no unimportant scriptures. That