Bible Commentaries

Genesis 34:25-29 — doing so even after the Shechemites had kept their part of it to the letter. (4)    Their robbery of all the property and wealth of the city itself, as well as of all that was in the field, was a horrible example of greedy avarice. (5)    They made a "prey" of women and helpless children, whom they either kept for their own profit and lust, or sold into slavery. Never was there a darker day to cast its shadow over the people of God. "They took Dinah out of Shechem's

Exodus 12:29-30 — the next morning. Several quibbles concerning these verses are: (1)    "The captive that was in the dungeon" is used in Exodus 12:29, whereas, "the maid-servant that is behind the mill" is used in the parallel place in Exodus 11:5; but those with knowledge of those times tell us that many of the maid-servants who ground the corn and performed other menial tasks in Egypt were also captives in their dungeons. (2)    There was not a house where there was not

Exodus 14:10-14 — might make His mighty power to be known." "Better to serve the Egyptians… than… die in the wilderness" The people of Israel had been too long in slavery to have much of the attitude that has always characterized free men. Today (as of June 5, 1984) the license plates for automobiles issued by the State of New Hampshire carry the motto, "Live free or die." What the Israelites were saying to Moses was an ancient equivalent of "Better Red than Dead!" Moses' response to the situation actually

Exodus 20:7 — psychologists who deplore "negative commandments." Some Christian teachers, even, have fallen into the error of supposing that all of Jesus' commandments were positive. However, look at these from a single sermon by the Master: "Swear not at all" (Matthew 5:34). "Resist not him that is evil" (Matthew 5:39). Do not your righteousness before men (Matthew 6:1). "In praying, use not vain repetitions" (Matthew 6:7). "Be not therefore anxious" (Matthew 6:24). "Neither cast your pearls before swine" (Matthew

Exodus 25 overview — typified by a literal entity like the tabernacle constituted a problem that no mortal could solve. Therefore, God gave Moses the "pattern" to be followed in this construction, requiring absolutely that he "make all things according to the pattern" (Exodus 25:9). The significance of all this for persons living in our times is found in the inspired declaration that, "These are the copy and shadow of the heavenly things" (Hebrews 8:5). "They were a figure for the time then present" (Hebrews 9:9), and "copies

Exodus 30:17-21 — washing (or, immersing) of the whole body on the occasion of the priest's ordination is without doubt the forerunner and type of Christian baptism. There are three N.T. passages that mention "the laver" as a means of the Christian's cleansing (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 5:26; and Hebrews 10:22). This proves that Christian baptism is a literal washing (immersing) in actual water. The assertion by some that Christian baptism "is a spiritual thing" is denied by the emphatic truth that "the laver" is an actual,

2 Chronicles 30:1-9 — attributed to their forsaking the true worship of God in Jerusalem. This is proof that long before the times of Josiah God had commanded the centralization of his worship in Jerusalem. Note also the significant words as it is written (2 Chronicles 30:5). The Book of the Law (the Pentateuch) was appealed to by Hezekiah in these words. It is also significant that Hezekiah admits here that the passover had indeed been kept previously but by small numbers of people (2 Chronicles 30:5). "The king had taken

Job 5:17-27 — 426. In the last few verses of this chapter, Eliphaz enumerates all of the blessings that may come to Job, if only he will confess his wickedness and ask God to help. Perhaps the most tasteless and tactless blunder of all is that which he stated in Job 5:25. "Thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth" Imagine saying that to a man whose children have all been killed in a tragic accident! To say to a man in the clutches of a mortal illness that he shall attain to a ripe old

Psalms 67 overview — this. Just note what is here stated: God will cause his way to be known upon earth, his salvation among all nations (Psalms 67:2).Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee (Psalms 67:3). (peoples = Gentiles) (also Psalms 67:5).Oh let the nations (Gentiles) be glad and sing for joy (Psalms 67:4).Thou wilt judge the peoples (Gentiles) with equity (Psalms 67:4).Thou wilt govern (or lead) the nations (Gentiles) upon earth (Psalms 67:4).Let all the peoples (Gentiles) praise thee

Proverbs 5:9-14 — Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! I was well-nigh in all evil In the midst of the assembly and congregation." "The evil results of relations with the strange woman fall into three divisions. (1) Loss of wealth and position (Proverbs 5:9 f), (2) physical deterioration (Proverbs 5:11), and (3) certain legal penalties."Arthur S. Peake, A Commentary on the Bible (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 400. The thrust of the whole passage is that unlawful and promiscuous sex destroys

Isaiah 57:5-8 — sensuous and degrading as any conduct ever known. "Ye that inflame yourselves" "This describes the excitement that attended the orgies which accompanied the celebration of heathen rites."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 448. "The `memorial' of Isaiah 57:8 was probably a phallic symbol."Peake's Commentary Series, p. 469. "Shall I be appeased for these things?" This is a positive statement made in the form of a question which is common in Hebrew; and it has the meaning of, "I will certainly not be appeased

Jeremiah 11:14-17 — Baal." "Pray not for this people" "There is a climax of guilt which admits of no further intercessory prayer. Our minds should be at one with God in all that he is doing, even in the rejection of the reprobate."Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary, p. 518. That this is really true appears in God's command to Moses (Exodus 32:10), also in God's forbidding Samuel to grieve any longer for Saul (1 Samuel 16:1). This is now the second time that God has forbidden Jeremiah to pray any more for the apostate

Jeremiah 16 overview — FAMILY, FUNERALS, AND FESTIVITIES - FORBIDDEN TO JEREMIAH The following chapter divisions were suggested by Henderson:E. Henderson, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (London: Hamilton, Adams, and Company, 1851), p. 99. (1) Jeremiah forbidden to marry and have a family (Jeremiah 16:1-2); (2) God's explanation for this prohibition (Jeremiah 16:2-4); (3) funeral celebrations also forbidden (Jeremiah 16:5-7); (4) festival celebrations likewise prohibited (Jeremiah

Matthew 3:7 — which tend to be obscured by the fact that they opposed the work of Christ. Ledlow lists seven distinct classes of Pharisees, as follows: (1) The Shoulder Pharisee who wore all his good deeds on his shoulder and did his alms to be seen of men (Matthew 6:5); (2) The Wait-a-Little Pharisee who always suggested something else to do first. Of this type was the man who when asked to follow Christ said, "Suffer me first to go and bury my father" (Luke 9:59-60); (3) The Bruised Pharisee who was too

Matthew 4:18 — op. cit., p. 634. It is wrong to think that these men were of an ordinary or degraded social position. True they were not members of the aristocracy; but Luke shows these four men, including James and John, to have been partners in a business (Luke 5:7); Mark mentions two hired servants in the boat (Mark 1:20); and it is evident from John 18:16 that John was favorably known to the high priest. Such considerations make it imperative to think of these men as far above ordinary persons. Socially, they

Mark 1:40 — of Mark's having, in any sense, a fuller account; and, even here, it was Matthew and Luke who gave the most vivid details of the leper's "worshipping" Christ (Matthew 8:2) and of his falling "on his face" in order to do so (Luke 5:12), thus associating worship with a humble posture of the body. If one counts the words, or measures the text, of the three synoptic accounts of this miracle, he might fall in with the view that "Mark's account is fuller"; but this apparent

Mark 10:45 — or of a slave. The Old Testament use of the word in the Septuagint (LXX) meant the money a man paid to redeem his life which was forfeit because his ox had killed someone (Exodus 21:30), the price paid for the redemption of the firstborn (Numbers 18:15), or the money by which the next of kin ransomed an enslaved relative (Leviticus 25:51)Ibid., p. 342. Thus, the vicarious nature of our Lord's death is eloquently proclaimed by the use of "ransom" by the Saviour in this verse. (3)    "For

John 11:11 — thus in the resurrection this mortal shall put on immortality and this corruptible shall put on incorruption. (3) From sleep, men awaken; and the promise is secure in the Master's words that all that are in the tombs "shall come forth" (John 5:29). (4) Sleep is a time of rest; and the dead also "shall rest from their labors" (Revelation 14:13). The respect of the human race for this word of Jesus Christ is revealed in the fact of their inscribing these words, "Asleep in Jesus,"

John 7:50-51 — no evidence whatever that the final meeting of the Sanhedrin that condemned the Saviour had a full representation of its members or even a legal quorum. The men who controlled that body had already decided eighteen months earlier to kill Jesus (John 5:18); and, at the point of Nicodemus' objection, Satan was already in charge of the hierarchy. It was far too late to reverse the purpose of murder in their hearts. Nicodemus apparently knew that his question would be shouted down, and that probably

John 9:39 — see, and shall in no wise perceive" (Isaiah 6:9-10). See more on judicial hardening in my Commentary on Romans, p. 376. For judgment … In one sense Christ did not come for judgment, but in another sense he did. See under John 3:17, John 5:22 f, and John 12:47. In this reference, his actions were producing the hardening of Israel which had been prophesied, that hardening being indeed an act of divine judgment against Israel. Evidently, the Pharisees heard the conversation and witnessed