Bible Commentaries

Psalms 2:2-3 — the purpose of Jehovah and his Anointed to establish a dominion over men, and that it was equally the purpose of the kings and rulers here referred to that it should not be done."Albert Barnes, in Notes on the Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1950), p. 15. It is ridiculous that some scholars actually apply this Psalm to David; but no one in his right mind can understand that the references here to his reigning to the uttermost parts of the earth could have any application whatever to the Jewish

Proverbs 29:24 — "Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul; He heareth the adjuration and uttereth nothing." "The background of this appears to be the situation described in Leviticus 5:1. A curse is pronounced upon an unknown thief, which is heard by one of the thief's associates. However, the associate does not reveal what he knows; and so he bears the full brunt of the curse, as well as the thief. Such a man, `hates his own soul.'

Leviticus 18 overview — There are four divisions in this chapter: (1)    a warning for Israel not to fall into the customs of the Egyptians and the Canaanites (Leviticus 18:1-5); (2)    marriages between persons of close kinship forbidden (Leviticus 18:6-18); (3)    the prohibition of sexual deviations like those of the Canaanites (Leviticus 18:19-23); (4)    and

Jeremiah 18 overview — GOD'S PROMISES ALWAYS CONDITIONAL Henderson's chapter divisions are: (1) the analogy of the potter and the clay (Jeremiah 18:1-4), (2) deductions drawn from the analogy (Jeremiah 18:5-10), (3) Judah's place in the analogy revealed and the warning to repent given (Jeremiah 18:11), (4) Judah's obstinate rejection of God's call to repentance (Jeremiah 18:12), (5) the folly of Judah's choice (Jeremiah 18:13-14), (6) the consequences

Ezekiel 29 overview — nations of the world."John Skinner in the Expositor's Bible Commentary, p. 266. Ezekiel has seven oracles against Egypt, the first two of which are in this chapter: (1) Ezekiel 29:1-16; (2) Ezekiel 29:17-21; (3) Ezekiel 30:1-19; (4) Ezekiel 30:20-26; (5) Ezekiel 31; (6) Ezekiel 32:1-16; and (7) Ezekiel 32:17-32. The date of this prophecy is specific. "It was a year and two days after Nebuchadnezzar began the siege of Jerusalem, and seven months before its destruction."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel

Amos 5:4 — religious system. To deny that God was also gravely concerned about that is to miss the principal relevance of this prophecy for modern man. Thorogood accurately observed the intention of this section of Amos when he declared that: "The chief theme in Amos 5 and Amos 6 is the contrast between true religion and false religion."Bernard Thorogood, op. cit., p. 55. This is a good place to mention the scholarly superstition to the effect that, "The editors who put together the Book of Amos, divided his sayings

Amos 6:1 — the way of peace; to ignore or defy them is the way to destruction."John Edgar McFadden, A Cry for Justice (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912), p. 71. "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion" This is the second great woe, the first being in Amos 5:18, where it is written. "Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah!" Zion here is the poetic name of Jerusalem, and some of the commentators would like to get it out of the text on the basis that, "It would seem out of keeping with his habit of concentration

Habakkuk 2:5 — by an insatiable desire like that of the drunkard for drink. "The drunkard can never drink enough wine… the Chaldeans can never conquer enough land."D. David Garland, Broadman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 7 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972), p. 258. The reason for the choice of such a metaphor probably derived from the fact of, "drunkenness being a besetting sin of Babylon. It was, in the case of Belshazzar, the immediate cause of the fall of Babylon (Daniel 5:2-5; Daniel 5:30)."Robert Jamieson,

John 12:45 — And he that beholdeth me beholdeth him that sent me. See under John 5:23.

Romans 5:13 — For until the law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. The subject Paul introduced in Romans 5:12 is left hanging until Romans 5:18; and the ensuing verses (Romans 5:13-17) are parenthetical. At first glance, this verse appears to be stating a paradox. In the pre-Mosaic period, sin was not imputed; how then can it be said that "sin was in

1 Corinthians 11:30 — speaking of those who had become spiritually weak and sickly, some no doubt having perished spiritually. If that was meant, then the condition of those asleep was terminal and irrevocable, being the same as that evident in Mark 3:29; Hebrews 6:6; 1 Timothy 5:6; 2 Peter 2:20; 1 John 5:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:19. For a dissertation on the unpardonable sin, see my Commentary on Mark, pp. 65-67. The condition of those asleep was no different from that of Ananias and Sapphira; and therefore Paul's gentle word

Ephesians 3:17 — That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love. Christ dwelling in Christian hearts is one and the same thing as the Spirit's dwelling in them. The first fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:23); and here the great result of the "indwelling Christ" is that of the Christian's being "rooted and grounded in love." Again reference is made to the comment on this under Galatians 5:23. Significantly, in Ephesians 3:14-17 there

Ephesians 5:3-4 — jesting, which are not befitting; but rather giving of thanks. This is another of Paul's catalogues of vice, none of them, not even all of them together being any complete list of sins, but merely typical. Other lists are in Romans 1:29 ff, 1 Corinthians 5:11 ff; 1 Corinthians 6:9 ff, Galatians 5:19 ff and Colossians 3:5 ff. Fornication is prominently mentioned in practically all of these, due to its prominence in the pagan culture from which Gentile converts to Christianity had been recruited. As Bruce

Ephesians 5:7-9 — with them, for ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of the light (for the fruit of the light is all goodness and righteous and truth). These verses prove the coherence of the whole paragraph beginning with Ephesians 5:3. Up to this point, Paul was describing the "unfruitful works of darkness" (Ephesians 5:11); and the argument of this passage is, "Do not take up the old ways again; you once practiced all that; you know how useless and unfruitful such

1 Peter 1:19 — describing the glorious redemption of the Christians. As Polkinghorne said: The Passover lamb (Exodus), as the sacrifice whereby Israel was delivered from bondage and separated to the Lord, is richly significant in context, as is also the lamb of Isaiah 53, the passage so largely quoted in 1 Peter 2:22-25. G. J. Polkinghorne, op. cit., p. 588. But with precious blood … This passage, with the preceding verse, sets forth Christ as the paschal lamb for Christians and describes the nature of the ransom

1 Peter 2:13 — governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well. Be subject … This means "submit, or obey"; and "It is the key word in this epistle, occurring here and in 1 Peter 2:18; 1 Peter 3:1; 1 Peter 3:5; 1 Peter 3:22, and in 1 Peter 5:5, six times in all." C. J. Polkinghorne, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 590. To every ordinance of man … Macknight translated this "to every

1 John 4:4 — Ye are of God, my little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Ye … Stott pointed out that 1 John 4:4; 1 John 4:5; and 1 John 4:6 all begin with an emphatic personal pronoun: "(1 John 4:4) ye ([@humeis]), (1 John 4:5) they ([@autoi]), and (1 John 4:6) we ([@hemeis])."John R. W. Stott, op. cit., p. 157. These refer respectively to (1 John 4:4) John's

1 John 5:1 — Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God: and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. (1 John 5:1) Whosoever believeth … also implies obedience or fidelity, there being no intimation whatever in a statement like this that mere faith, or faith only, is equivalent to the new birth. "Believeth" in this place, as frequently in the

Revelation 16:18 — falls as the last extremity of God's wrath" A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 397. namely, the final judgment. Tenney pointed out that the phenomena cited in this verse, lightnings, voices, thunders, earthquake, etc., are "also present in Revelation 4:5; Revelation 8:5; Revelation 11:19." Merrill C. Tenney, Interpreting Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1957), p. 34.

Revelation 21:9 — the rest of the prophecy. However, Wilcock demonstrated that the balance of this prophecy is a close-up elaboration of exactly what is included in Revelation 1-8 : Michael Wilcock, I Saw Heaven Opened (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1975), p. 199. Revelation 21:2 = Revelation 21:10-12, the revelation of God's city. Revelation 21:3 = Revelation 21:22-27, the revelation of God's dwelling. Revelation 21:4-5 a = Revelation 21:1-5, the revelation of God's world renewed. Revelation 21:5 b