Bible Commentaries

Nehemiah 4:1-6 — burned wooden gates would have been affected. "If a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall" "Foxes were mentioned, perhaps, from their having been known in large numbers to infest the ruined walls of Jerusalem, as recorded in Lamentations 5:18)."Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary, p. 296. This insult was that of Tobiah. "Hear, O our God, for we are despised" This writer agrees with Jamieson that, "This prayer is not marked by hatred, vengeance, nor any other sinful passion, and

Psalms 143:1-6 — did not dare to press that, because of the consciousness of his own guilt. "He therefore deprecates a strictly retributive treatment, knowing that his life and conduct cannot endure the severity of God's judgment,"The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 351. freely acknowledging that, "No man living is righteous in God's sight," including himself, of course, in that confession. One may well ask, just what was eating David's heart out here? The answer is found in the Word of God. "Thus saith Jehovah the

Hosea 5:2 — that while this surely applies in a very limited way to passages here and there, the great message that thunders from the pages of this great prophecy is un- mistakably clear, there being no uncertainty whatever concerning it. Again, regarding Hosea 5:2, the rendition suggested by W. R. Harper and others at the turn of this century, was finally adopted as the best and incorporated into the Revised Standard Version (RSV), as given above. This rendition appears to be quite logical and has the advantage

Zechariah 13:6 — friends." (1)    There are two ways of interpreting this verse, and we simply do not know which is correct. We shall note the interpretation first which is popular with current expositors. These understand the verse as a further extension of the thought of Zechariah 13:5, which is supported by the use of the first clause with its pronoun referring to the false prophet. The picture is that of a former pagan priest who is questioned by those seeking to expose him by calling attention to the "wounds" between his arms,

Zechariah 5:4 — community, where lived some who seemed not to know God, are today gone; and the oldest citizens of the area dispute even the locations of some of them. "Him that sweareth falsely by my name" This suggests the Ninth Commandment, not the Third, as in Zechariah 5:3; and, for this reason, the "swearing" in both verses is understood by some as "bearing false witness against a neighbor," or as taking an oath to support a falsehood. We believe this viewpoint is wrong; for it turns out that "falsely" is one of those

Malachi 1:10 — rebuilt. For awhile, `their house' would remain in their abusive hands; but God had an appointment with them in that bitter August of A.D. 70! There is an amazing correspondence between this passage and the passage in Hosea already cited (Hosea 3:4-5). In both passages, the long desert of "no sacrifice" is followed in the very next breath by the promise of the Davidic King, the Messiah, to whom the children of the New Israel will return. Thus, Malachi 1:10-11 fits Hosea 3:4-5 as snugly as the bone

Matthew 26:15 — ye willing to give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they weighed unto him thirty pieces of silver. Give me! Ah, there was the fatal cleft in the heart of Judas. That was what the prodigal son said, "Father, gave me …" (Luke 15:11). Such an attitude says, "I'll take the cash; let the credit go; A bird in the hand's worth two in the bush! Get yours while the getting's good! You've got to look out for number one!" Such an attitude betrayed the Son of God, and it is

Luke 23:53 — Arimathea), and "Concerning the Cloths" in which the body was wrapped. See in my Commentary on John, under John 19:40 and John 19:41. Also, regarding the "Undisturbed Grave Clothes of Jesus," see in my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 27:52, and in my Commentary on John under John 20:5. Where never man had yet lain … The Old Testament miracle of a man's having been raised from the dead by his body's being thrust into contact with the bones of a prophet (2 Kings 13:21) might have

John 15:11 — have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. Jesus had spoken of the Holy Spirit repeatedly during that evening; and since the fruit of the Holy Spirit is "love, joy, peace … etc." (Galatians 5:22), it is rather significant that this triad of love, joy, and peace finds such tremendous emphasis throughout this discourse. (See also John 14:27.) This rather extended discussion of the FRUITS of the Holy Spirit must therefore be viewed as preparatory

John 4:22 — … God took hold "of the seed of Abraham" (Hebrews 2:16); the Jews were custodians of the Scripture (Romans 3:2); Christ was born "under the law." The Old Testament Scriptures are they which "testify" of Christ (John 5:39). Even the church today is the Israel of God, and all Christians are "the seed of Abraham" (Galatians 3:29). In the sense of origins and the typical nature of the Jewish religion, it is still true that "salvation is of the Jews."

Acts 10:17 — stood before the gate. The timing of all events is ordered by the infinite God; and it is obvious in Acts that the inspired prophets and evangelists of the apostolic age regarded the timing of events with the utmost attention. Thus, it appeared in Acts 5:9 that the return of the young men who had buried Ananias, their feet being that very moment "at the door," was one of the circumstances that enabled Peter to know that Sapphira would also die. Here also, the appearance of the three messengers

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

Acts 3:11 — the wonder is apparent in the gathering of a mighty throng of people who would hear the gospel. There was always a design in everything that God did. Porch that is called Solomon's … This porch is named twice in Acts, the other place being Acts 5:12, and once in John 10:23. It was located in the court of the heathen on the eastern side of the temple. The opinion has long been, and still is, that it was placed on the spot where Solomon had made the entrance to the old temple, but still retained

Romans 5:6-8 — purpose of the ages. Even before the foundation of the world, the plan of redeeming men through the death of Christ was clearly formed in God's eternal purpose, which purpose he, in fact, declared in the great protoevangelium of the Bible (Genesis 3:15). When even an earthly king visits a place, he announces his purpose in advance, displays his royal credentials to prevent misunderstanding, and, in due course, arrives "as planned"; thus it was with the coming of the Son of God into our poor

1 Corinthians 15 overview — Barnes giving the following outline of it: Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1949), p. 280. Numerous changes were made in this outline. I.    The dead will be raised (1 Corinthians 15:1-34). A.    The resurrection of Christ proves it (1 Corinthians 15:1-11). 1.    The Scriptures foretold it (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). 2.    Eyewitnesses attested it (1 Corinthians 15:5-11). B.    To

1 Corinthians 3:22 — For all things are yours; whether Paul, Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours. This precious doxology reminds one of the famous passage in Rom. 5:31-37; but this has a positive implication not in evidence there. "Things present, things to come, etc.," are there viewed as opposing the Christian but failing to thwart him; here the Christian is viewed as the possessor of everything in

2 Corinthians 1:3 — word COMFORT, either as a verb or a substantive, occurs ten times in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7." F. W. Farrar, op. cit., p. 2. As a matter of truth, God is the God of everything beautiful and desirable. He is the God of patience and of comfort (Romans 15:5), the God of glory (Acts 7:2), the God of hope (Romans 15:33), the God of peace (Romans 15:33), and the God of love and peace (2 Corinthians 13:11).

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

2 Corinthians 2:3 — lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice, having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. I wrote this very thing … This is most suitably understood as a direct reference to 1 Corinthians 16:5 ff where he told the Corinthians of his revised itinerary." Philip E. Hughes, op. cit., p. 56. Some have referred these words to the "lost letter"; but such a reference is arbitrary. Besides, the understanding of these words as a reference

2 Corinthians 6:7 — the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. The word of truth … Although some have seen this as a mere affirmation of Paul that he always spoke the truth, it is more likely that it means "the gospel" (Colossians 1:5), the 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"