Bible Commentaries

Psalms 10 overview — superscription for this psalm, and that is cited as a support for the theory that it should be joined with Psalms 9. We discussed this possibility at the beginning of Psalms 9; but the two psalms "are radically different."F. Delitzsch, The Old Testament, Vol. 5 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 175. Psalms 9 is a triumphant exultation and praise of God for the great victories he has awarded Israel, either actually, or prophetically promised, whereas Psalms 10 describes a situation of great social disorder.

Psalms 129 overview — of their foes, Israel had prevailed by God's grace and continued to live."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IV, p. 674. "The psalm is a lament of the community with overtones of confidence and trust."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, Old Testament, p. 543. Looking back over Israel's long past, the psalmist here, "Condenses hundreds of years of their history into four verses."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 532. As regards the organization of the psalm, Leupold divided it into two paragraphs:

Psalms 45:11 — thy lord." Certainly, Leupold was correct in his opinion that, "This profitable lesson the church of the Old Testament needed as much as the church of the New Testament needs it now. It is always the first requirement of the Church."H. C. Leupold, p. 358. "So will the king desire your beauty." Addis found what he thought to be a contradiction here. "The king is said to desire the beauty of the Bride, while on the contrary religion (Christianity) teaches that Israel must first be united with God and

Psalms 9:17-18 — wicked 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

Isaiah 13:9-11 — terrible." Some have failed to see the eschatological impact of this passage, but Kidner properly understood it: "While Babylon is the focal point of this chapter, it stands for something much 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

Jeremiah 13:25-26 — justified and appropriate, because, the uncovering of her most intimate parts during her adulterous worship of the Baalim in their orgiastic ceremonies closely paralleled the punishment. For a more complete description of this awful punishment, see Nahum 3:5, Isaiah 47:2, and Ezekiel 16:37.

Micah 1:6 — foundations of it were uncovered. Unbelievers of any such things as predictive prophecy are greatly troubled by such a glorious example of it, hence all of the efforts to change either the date or the wording of the book of Micah. See more on this under Micah 5:2.

Nahum 2:5 — "He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared." Like this whole passage, Nahum 2:5 is impressionistic: "remembereth his nobles" shows the king's hasty call for battle as the flood descended upon them and the attack was renewed; "stumble in their walk" appears to be a description of the drunken state of those who should have been able

Nahum 3:6-7 — pass that all they that shall look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?" These two verses merely draw out the description of the punishment indicated in Nahum 3:5. "Cast abominable filth upon thee" This was probably what witnesses of such punishment usually did to the victims of it. Why such terrible punishment? "Because, like a beautiful wanton, an image John repeats of Rome in Revelation, Nineveh had lured

Zephaniah 2:11 — that when all the false gods are made desolate, famished by God, every man will worship God in his own place, even the isles of the nations."Ibid. "The isles of the nations" "This means the most distant countries that lie across the seas (Genesis 10:5; Psalms 72:10; Isaiah 11:11, etc.)."W. J. Deane, op. cit., p. 28. (See further notes on Zephaniah 2:11 at the end of the chapter.)

2 Corinthians 12:11 — to boast of myself, whereas in truth you should have been recommending me yourselves, especially since I certainly rank as high as those super-super apostles of yours!" Chiefest apostles … For exegesis on this, see under 2 Corinthians 11:5. Hughes has a wonderful paragraph on this passage in which the unity of the epistle is demonstrated to be proved and strengthened by what is said here. For those interested in pursuing this further, see op. cit., p. 455. The allegations of critics on

Joshua 7 overview — capital punishment of the offenders was immediately enforced - that of Achan by Joshua, and that 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 10:34 — than upon the things on earth, "the better possession" being a reference to eternal rewards stored up for them that prevail through Christ. Jesus said, "Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:12).

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).

James 3 overview — degree, it must not be thought that James was requiring sinless perfection of Christians, his object being rather that of turning all men to Jesus Christ our Lord who alone is perfect, and in whom alone perfection is available for any mortal (see Matthew 5:48 and Colossians 1:28-29). In this chapter, as throughout the epistle, the remarkable consonance with the teachings of Christ should be noted. Had not Christ himself said, "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned?"

1 Peter 4:11 — glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Oracles … "This is a word used to refer to the laws given to Moses (Acts 7:38), to the Hebrew Scriptures (Romans 3:2), and to the word of God (Hebrews 5:12, RSV)." Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 91. Ministereth, ministering … God supplies … The whole duty of Christians is classified under the general heading of "speaking" and "doing"; but it is actually God who

2 Peter 2:13 — Paul's "wages of sin is death." Evil behavior is its own wages. Revel in the day-time … "Daytime revelry is a feature of extreme dissipation; for the Christian, the day is the time of work (John 9:4; Romans 13:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:7 f)." David H. Wheaton, op. cit., p. 1255. Spots and blemishes … These are a reference to apostate Christians whose wicked and immoral behavior was a disgrace to the body of Christ. Reveling in their deceivings … The Greek text here

Revelation 19:4 — elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. The four and twenty elders and the four living creatures … These come from the early chapters (Revelation 4 and Revelation 5) of the prophecy. Hendriksen understood the 24 elders as symbolizing "the entire church, and the living creatures as representing the cherubim"; William Hendriksen, More than Conquerors (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1956), p.

Revelation 5 overview — same Person upon the throne are present here that were seen in Revelation 4. The great new element that comes to light in this portion of the vision is that of the Lamb of God "in the midst of the throne" with the Father. "Chapters 4 and 5 are one passage." William R. Newell, The Book of Revelation (Chicago: Moody Press, 1935), p. 94. Nothing in these two chapters should be interpreted as "things that shall come to pass hereafter," for quite obviously they describe present

Revelation 9:16 — p. 147. Some have taken "myriads of myriads" as the 200,000,000 are enumerated here to symbolize the Turkish cavalry, which were numbered by "myriads." However, the heavenly angels were numbered with the same words in Revelation 5:11. Are God's angels numbered like Turkish cavalry? Furthermore, this is an army of cavalry; and Constantinople fell to artillery. All specific applications of this prophecy encounter similar difficulties.