Bible Commentaries

Genesis 22:11-12 — upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." "The angel of Jehovah" "The angel of the Lord is the Lord himself, as the context shows (Genesis 22:11-12; Genesis 22:15-18; Genesis 18:2; Genesis 18:22; Genesis 19:1)."John T. Willis, op. cit., p. 293. Again and again, this glorious person appears throughout the Scriptures, as notably also in the visions of Zechariah. "Abraham, Abraham" marks great

2 Chronicles 7:1-3 — the pavement, and worshipped, and gave thanks unto Jehovah, saying, For he is good; for his lovingkindness endureth forever." Other Biblical accounts of fire coming down from heaven to consume sacrifices are: (1) at the Mosaic tabernacle (Leviticus 9:24), (2) before Manoah (Judges 13:20), and (3) at the Davidic altar on Mount Moriah (1 Chronicles 21:26). Curtis (Madsen) believed that the Chronicler "invented" this;International Critical Commentary, Chronicles, p. 347. but the mystery to this writer

2 Chronicles 7:8-10 — attended this celebration; and they had to be fed for almost a month (twenty-three days). "On the three and twentieth day of the seventh month" "The seventh month was September/October. The dedication did not take place till after the work was completed (2 Chronicles 7:1) in the eighth month (Oct./Nov.) of Solomon's eleventh year (960 B.C.). So the temple was not dedicated till eleven months had passed, that is, in 959 B.C., at the time of the annual feast of the tabernacles (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:8-10)."Wycliffe

Job 38:1-7 — foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof? When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy." The most perplexing problem in the whole book of Job is in these two verses. Of whom is God speaking in Job 38:2? The question is not, "To whom does God speak"? That is clear enough. He spoke to Job. But the question is, "Of whom does he speak"? Scholars are sharply divided on the question. "Some commentators have applied Job 38:2 to Job, others to Elihu."The

Psalms 101 overview — not spring from pharisaic pride, but from a king's concern for a clean administration, honest from the top down."Derek Kidner, Vol. II, p. 357. The psalm naturally falls into two divisions: (1) "The king lays down the rules of his own conduct; and (2) he declares war on the vermin that especially infested Eastern courts."Alexander Maclaren, Vol. III, p. 82. These divisions are Psalms 101:1-4 and Psalms 101:5-8. The horde of evil traffickers usually found in Oriental capitals seeking access to the

Psalms 37:23-28 — the wicked shall be cut off." "Though he fall… not utterly cast down" Several of the lines here are echoed in the words of the apostle Paul who wrote: "Perplexed, yet not unto despair, pursued yet nor forsaken, smitten down, yet not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:9). Also, "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing, yet possessing all things" (2 Corinthians 6:10). "I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" The appearance of this personal

Isaiah 39:8 — "Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days." In 2 Chronicles 32:26, we learn that, "Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah." This information was also, in all probability,

Jeremiah 28 overview — regarding this man except what is written here. The very fact of his being a Gibeonite should have suggested caution to the people. The citizens of this place deceived Joshua and earned for themselves favored status in the conquest of Canaan (Joshua 9:23); King Saul massacred large numbers of them (2 Samuel 21:1 ff); and there Joab treacherously slew Amasa (2 Samuel 20:4 ff).International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Chicago, Illinois: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), p. 1226.

Hosea 11:12 — same sentence. Uncertainties in the text are evidently responsible for the difficulty. Mauchline translated the last sentence of this verse thus: Judah is still wayward with God, And is faithful with sacred prostitutes.John Mauchline, op. cit., p. 692. The New English Bible renders the passage thus: And Judah is still restive under God, Still loyal to the idols he counts holy. It is beyond the scope of our purpose to attempt any resolutions of questions deriving from damaged manuscripts, and we shall

Hosea 13:15 — dried-up fountain were eloquent indeed of that awful invasion and conquest by Assyria. Jamieson has given an account of the historical fulfilment of the event prophesied in this verse: "The Assyrian invader, Shalmaneser began the siege of Samaria in 723 B.C. Its close was in 721 B.C., the first year of Sargon, who seems to have usurped the throne of Assyria while Shalmaneser was at the siege of Samaria. Hence, while 2 Kings 17:6 states, `the king of Assyria took Samaria,' 2 Kings 18:10 says, `at the

Luke 1:26 — despised Gentiles. "GALILEE is a contraction of the region's full name, [~geliyl] [~ha-gowyim], which means "district of the pagans."Roland de Vaux, Everyday Life in Bible Times (Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society, 1967), p. 302. Many reasons have been suggested for God's choice of such a place for the residence of the divine Messiah, including the following: (1) Its Gentile character pointed to God's purpose of saving Gentiles. (2) Its insignificance suggested that no place

John 8:49 — Jesus answered, I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and ye dishonor me. Jesus refuted their insinuation that his judging them to be sons of the devil was demoniacally inspired, pointing out that their dishonoring of himself was proving them to be just what he had called them. They were dishonoring Jesus: (1) by failure to love and obey him, and (2) by the groundless slanders just perpetrated against him.

1 Corinthians 14:34 — this verse. Upon the occasion of the creation and fall, God said to Eve, "Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee" (Genesis 3:16). Even prior to that, Eve was designated as a "help" suitable for man (Genesis 2:18). Thus, from the very beginning the authority of the family was vested in the man. The Corinthian women had violated that intention and Paul immediately assigned two reasons for forbidding the action (speaking in tongues publicly) which frustrated

Galatians 3:29 — corporate totality the seed singular which is Christ, in the sense of his spiritual body. This enabled the Gentiles to be accounted the true seed of Abraham, bypassing the Law of Moses altogether, thus inheriting through the promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18). Huxtable has this pertinent observation on this final verse of the chapter: Those who believe in Christ and are baptized in him are to be understood as here being affirmed to be "Abraham's seed," because,

1 Thessalonians 3:10 — night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face, and may perfect that which is lacking in your faith? As noted in the chapter introduction, this prayer was answered years afterward (Acts 20:1-2), indicating that, even in the case of such a holy one as Paul, prayers were sometimes not answered at once, but after long delay. The great admonition is always to pray and not to faint.

1 Timothy 1 overview — White considered this chapter, aside from the salutation (1 Timothy 1:1-2), as regarding a crisis in the Christian faith (1 Timothy 1:3-20). Newport J. D. White, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. IV (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 83. Historically, Paul was writing at some time subsequent

Titus 2:6 — the younger men likewise exhort to be sober-minded: Paul did not here skimp the advice to young men. As Spain noted, the word "likewise" may be construed as pertaining to "all the injunctions given in verses 1-10." Carl Spain, Commentary on 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus (Austin, Texas: The R. B. Sweet Company, 1970), p. 179. "Sober-minded" is therefore a synecdoche for the entire list of applicable injunctions.

Hebrews 11:7 — God would do in the flood, no precedent for such a thing ever having been heard of; because, up to that time, no rain at all, much less a flood, had ever fallen upon the earth, all vegetable life being watered by a mist rising from the ground (Genesis 2:5-6). Moved with godly fear indicates that part of Noah's motivation was fear; and because it is called here "godly fear," the validity of that type of response to God's word is indicated. All human motivation classifies, generally, under

1 Peter 1:17 — "Who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man's work." According to each man's work … This teaching is not peculiar to Peter; Paul declared that "God will render to every man according to his works" (Romans 2:6). The notion that being under the grace of God, and being saved by grace through faith, nullifies Scriptures such as these is extremely erroneous. Pass the time of your sojourning in fear … Another strand of the epistle's thought surfaces again

Revelation 2:16 — "The church as a whole must repent of its too tolerant attitude to the errorists." James Moffatt, op. cit., p. 357. As Graham noted, "They had taken no corrective action and had applied no discipline." Billy Graham, op. cit., p. 21. Such a "broadminded" indifferent attitude toward gross sins would have to be repented of. I will come unto thee quickly … "The one thing clear is that, when John speaks of an imminent coming of Christ, he is not necessarily thinking