Bible Commentaries

Genesis 21:25-27 — death in the hands of the persons controlling it. And that famous well at Beersheba is reported to be still in use after the passing of millenniums. There are many descriptions of it: "The great well has an internal diameter at the mouth of 12 feet 6 inches, a circumference of 40 feet! The shaft is solid masonry of high quality to a great depth until it reaches rock, where a spring perpetually feeds it … A second well, about 600 feet further south is 5 feet in diameter, but of equally good

Genesis 3:24 — These strange creatures figured prominently in the writings of the O.T. In the tabernacle they are identified with the throne of God (Exodus 37:7); depictions of them adorned the veil separating between the Holy of Holies and the Sanctuary (Exodus 36:35); they are described as having six wings in Isaiah 6; and they appear again in Revelation 4. Note that the Cherubim do not wield the sword; it turns of its own accord. "To keep the way of the tree of life" This not only means that they prevent man's

Genesis 4:10 — cause (1 John 3:11-13). III.    The blood of Abel says that it DOES make a difference how men worship Almighty God. IV.    The blood of Abel says that faith is the only key to winning approval of God (Hebrews 11:6). V.    The blood of Abel says that the only righteousness is in obeying the Word of the Lord (Romans 1:16-17).

Exodus 15:21 — deliverance of his people. It should be recalled here that Miriam saved Moses' life in the events surrounding his birth. Other women in the Bible called prophetesses are: Deborah, Judges 4:4; Huldah, 2 Kings 22:14; Nodiah, a false prophetess, Nehemiah 6:16; Isaiah's wife, Isaiah 8:3; and Jezebel who called herself a prophetess, Revelation 2:20. These verses actually conclude the mighty event of the Red Sea Passage and Israel's immediate and magnificent celebration of it, and many commentators find

Psalms 106:16-18 — SIN NO. 3 This sin was the insurrection against Moses and Aaron by Korah and others, recorded in Numbers 16. "They envied Moses also in the camp, And Aaron the saint of Jehovah. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked." There were three leaders of

Psalms 41:1-3 — place this psalm in the times of the rebellion of Absalom, it fits exceptionally well. "The bosom friend" (Psalms 41:9) could well be Ahithophel; and David's illness would have led to David's omission of many duties as charged by Absalom (2 Samuel 15:2-6)."H. C. Leupold, p. 329.

Psalms 71:1-4 — of the hand… of the cruel man" Here is another undeniable earmark of David's writing. "It is characteristic of David to single out from his adversaries an individual enemy from whom he prays to be delivered."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8-B, p. 60. In fact, six of the psalms accredited to David show that he did that very thing: Psalms 13:2; Psalms 17:13; Psalms 18:17; Psalms 18:48; Psalms 35:8; Psalms 41:6; Psalms 41:9; Psalms 41:11; Psalms 55:13-14.

Psalms 75:7-9 — wrath of God is frequently represented in the Bible as a cup which wicked men will be compelled to drink; and even in the Book of Revelation God represented the judgment of the apostate church as a cup of the wine of the wrath of God (Revelation 18:6). That this wine is presumably red indicates bloodshed. That it is "mixed" indicates its potency and the diversity of judgments that God may bring upon the wicked. The "cup" is also sometimes used as a symbol of extreme agony and suffering, as when

Proverbs 1:8-9 — COMMAND TO HEED PARENTAL INSTRUCTIONS "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, And chains about thy neck." Ephesians 6:1-4 incorporates this proverb into the gospel of the Son of God; and any society that tolerates and encourages the disrespectful and disobedient behavior of children toward their parents will invariably reap bitter fruits of it. The sacred promise of

Proverbs 8:6-11 — understandeth, And right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver; And knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to her." "Proverbs 8:6-9 here form a group of aphorisms, all saying substantially the same thing, with variations of phraseology."International Critical Commentary, Vol. 17, p. 162. Men should heed the words of Wisdom because they are true, righteous, valuable, more desirable

Leviticus 6:19-23 — anointed priest that shall be in his stead from among his sons shall offer it: by a statute forever it shall be wholly burnt unto Jehovah. And every meal-offering of the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten." "In broken pieces" (Leviticus 6:21) is of uncertain translation. Wenham suggested "you shall crumble it" as the possible meaning;Gordon J. Wenham, op. cit., p. 121. and Bamberger suggested "baked slices" as an alternative.Bernard J. Bamberger, op. cit., p. 50. The morning and evening

Leviticus 7:19-21 — ostracism from the community, or capital punishment, or some other penalty, but Bamberger may have the correct explanation thus: "Several related passages make it clear that it is God who cuts the offender off from his kin (Leviticus 17:10; Leviticus 20:3-6). The term then refers to divine rather than human punishment, most probably premature death."Bernard J. Bamberger, Torah, a Modern Commentary (New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1979), p. 57.

Isaiah 11 overview — upon precept, here a little and there a little" (See Introduction), Isaiah here gives additional information about: (1) the Messiah; (2) kingdom of God; (3) the character of Christians; (4) the punishment of Israel; (5) the destruction of Assyria; (6) the call of the Gentiles; and (7) the triumph of Christianity.

Isaiah 3:4-7 — weakness, and ignorance of the people that will be elevated to places of authority as the decline of Israel continues. Verse 5 speaks of the arrogant rejection of authority and the utter disregard of God's law concerning respect for the aged. Isaiah 3:6-7 speak of a state of wretchedness in the continued ruin of Israel in which men would be offered high authority for no better reason than their having possession of a coat; but the ruin of the kingdom was so complete that no one wanted to be charged

Jeremiah 3 overview — makes much difference. Jellie gave the date of the first paragraph here as the thirteenth year of Josiah, the next paragraph as the seventeenth year of Josiah, pointing out that some scholars favored the eighteenth year (E. Henderson), and some the year 620 B.C. (MH).W. Harvey Jellie, Jeremiah, in Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company), p. 55. Salient teachings of the chapter proclaim the final divorce of Israel as God's wife, and the impossibility of her return

Jeremiah 6:1-2 — off." "Ye children of Benjamin" "The reason that Benjamin is mentioned here is that Jerusalem geographically belonged to the territory of Benjamin."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 419. "Out of the midst of Jerusalem" In Jeremiah 4:6, the people were warned to flee "to Jerusalem"; but here, they are warned to get out of Jerusalem. The capital of Judah is doomed to destruction. "The capital being doomed, and the destruction coming from the north, the only safety would have been toward

Ezekiel 18 overview — with a passionate appeal for the wicked to repent (vv. 30-32)."Henry H. Halley's Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House), p. 301 This is not the only chapter in which Ezekiel deals with this same subject. "He also did so in Ezekiel 3:16-21; Ezekiel 14:12-20; Ezekiel 33:1-20."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Moody Press), p. 99. Of course it was not a new idea at all; see Deuteronomy 24:16, and 2 Kings 14:6. "Also, this chapter is an enlargement upon Jeremiah 31:29, and sets forth fully

Habakkuk 1:10 — mounds, or inclined planes, to facilitate the approach of the battering-ram."W. J. Deane, op. cit., p. 3. "He scoffeth at kings" Jehoikim and Jehoikin, both kings of Israel, suffered the greatest indignities at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chronicles 36:6; 2 Chronicles 2 King 24:14,15; and Jeremiah 22:19).

Zechariah 4:3 — Joshua and Zerubbabel should be rejected. They are not, "an unmistakable reference to Joshua and Zerubbabel,"J. E. McFadyen, Abingdon Bible Commentary (New York City: Abingdon Press, 1929), p. 822. an opinion that necessitates the removal of verses 6-10 from this passage and the rejection of verse 11 as an interpolation.Ibid. Neither can it be true that the offices of "the High Priest and the king are typified.";H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Zechariah (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing

Judges 5:5 — attributed to Him in the Five Books of Moses. "Deborah here, in her own distinctive way, conveys the truth that the God who is fighting for His people in this battle is the same God who showed Himself to Israel at Sinai."Layman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 6, p. 29. "God was not a god of Canaan, whose worship Israel, in settling in the land and learning to until the soil, had adopted from the natives, but the God of the invaders, by whose help they conquered Canaan."International Critical Commentary, Judges,