Bible Commentaries

Exodus 22:16-17 — refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins." The Hebrew language has two words for virgin, "[~`almah], an espoused virgin, and [~bªthuwlah], a virgin who is not espoused."Michael Esses, op. cit., p. 148. Isaiah 7:14 prophesied that, "A virgin ([~`almah]) shall conceive and bear a son, and will call his name Immanuel. By the choice of that word [~`almah], the prophet of God made it specific that The Son of God would be born to "an espoused virgin," which, of

1 Kings 11:9-13 — God would utterly dissolve and destroy the "sinful kingdom" (Amos 9:8). Neither the sinful monarchy nor the Temple was, in the ultimate sense, in harmony with God's will, in spite of the fact that God surely used both of them (1 Samuel 8 and 2 Samuel 7).

Psalms 2:6-7 — hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee." God Himself upon the occasion of Jesus' baptism made it clear enough who this Son is, thundering the message from heaven itself (Matthew 3:17). In the light of that testimony, who should dare to affirm otherwise? "My holy hill of Zion." Of course, this is a reference to Jerusalem, referred to here as holy, meaning not that Jerusalem's citizens were holy, but that God had recorded his name

Psalms 5:7-8 — 1:9; 1 Samuel 3:3).Alexander Maclaren, Psalms, Vol. 1 (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1892), p. 38. The word for "worship" in this passage is actually a reference to one's prostrating himself before God.Ibid., p. 44. The comment of Adam Clarke on Psalms 5:7 was that, "David considered it an inexpressible privilege to be permitted to attend public worship."Adam Clarke, On the Old Testament, Vol. 3 (New York: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), p. 230. Note that the psalmist attributed the privilege of such worship

Psalms 64 overview — legitimate objection to receiving the superscription as correct. It is an older opinion, by many centuries, than those hypothetical ascriptions which represent it as "reflecting the situation between Mordecai and Haman,"Charles Haddon Spurgeon, p. 278. or as concerning the conflict "Between Daniel and his enemies in Babylon which found its climax in the lion's den."F. Delitzsch, Vol. V-B, p. 220. Not only are the words of this psalm applicable to both Mordecai and Daniel, but to many other persons

Isaiah 66:1-4 — displeasure with the Jewish Temple. However that may be, there is no doubt that in Israel, the more discerning souls had long been familiar with the truth that "God dwelleth not in temples made with hands." The martyr Stephen quoted this passage (Acts 7:50-51); and Solomon, upon the dedication of the temple he built, said, "Will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, the heaven and heavens of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded" (1 Kings 8:27). Christ called it a "den

Jeremiah 5:1-3 — an honest man in Jerusalem; but as McGee said, "Today you would probably have the same difficulty in Los Angeles or your own town!"J. V. McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Vol. III (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982), p. 367. Henderson proposed a solution to this difficulty, pointing out that: "It is beyond dispute that there did live in Jerusalem at the time of the prophet such good men as Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah… therefore we may suppose (1) either that the

Daniel 1:17-21 — wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in his realm. And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." The statement in Daniel 1:17 regarding Daniel's understanding of visions and dreams is apparently introduced here as a foreshadowing of events about to be related. "And at the end of the days" This means at the end of the three-year period of training. "The king communed with them…

Amos 1:1 — the miracle of inspiration (Ezekiel 2:8 to Ezekiel 3:4), that man, without losing individuality or sacrificing personality, should yet speak words which originated not with himself but with his God."J.A. Motyer, The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 729. "Among the herdsmen of Tekoa" See introduction for discussion of Amos' occupation and economic status. We reject the notion that he was a wealthy owner of flocks and orchards for he later described himself as "a dresser of sycamore trees" (Amos 7:14),

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 — hear, and fear." In this passage the right of parents to put a rebellious son to death was restricted, "but at the same time parental authority was upheld."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 408. Christ himself approved of such basic parental authority in Mark 7:10. It must surely be evident to all people that humanity's basic disrespect of parental authority has borne a bitter harvest and continues to do so. "It is significant here that in case of such an execution, the primary witnesses (the son's parents)

Luke 9:51-56 — paragraph, and continuing through the next ten chapters of this Gospel, Luke recorded a wealth of material, nearly all of which is found nowhere else; but the allegation that here is "a great interpolation"Anthony Lee Ash, op. cit., II, p. 7. is emphatically rejected. It is also untrue that in these chapters, "Jesus is always on the way but is no closer to Jerusalem at the last than at the first."Ibid. Only three times (here, in Luke 13:22, and Luke 17:11) is our Lord's purpose

John 2:17 — instance of it, he reminded the selfish concessionaires that the house of God's holy religion had never been intended as their private privilege and personal domain, but that "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations" (Mark 11:17; Isaiah 56:7), indicating that "all nations," including the Gentiles, were intended to be benefited through the coming Messiah. Thus, the sin of the money-changers was not merely against Israel, but against all mankind also. The strong Messianic

Acts 13:19 — about four hundred and fifty years. Seven nations … These were: the Hittites, the Gergashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, "seven nations greater and mightier" than Israel (Deuteronomy 7:1). Four hundred and fifty years … It is not exactly clear what space of Israel's history is covered by this period mentioned by Paul. It is evidently not the same as that mentioned in 1 Kings 6 which gives 480 years as the time between the Exodus

Acts 20 overview — The first six verses give a summary of many months of Paul's travels; a special account of Paul and company taking the Lord's supper at Troas is given (Acts 20:7-12); Paul continued his trip to Jerusalem (Acts 20:13-16); he called for a meeting with the Ephesian elders, bidding them farewell (Acts 20:17-35); and a special account of the tearful farewell is given (Acts 20:36-38). Like all of the sacred writings,

Romans 7:5 — For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. Under Romans 7:4 Paul's teaching is viewed as applicable to both Jewish and Gentile Christians, the same being essentially one "in Christ"; but this should not obscure the fact that the Jewish element in the church was primarily in the focus of Paul's words

1 Corinthians 4 overview — Corinthians 4:1-5). We agree with Adam Clarke that a more logical division of the chapters would have been to extend chapter 3 through the fifth verse here. Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: Carlton and Porter, 1831), Vol. VI. p. 207. In 1 Corinthians 4:6, Paul pointed out that his use of his own name and that of Apollos was not to be construed as an admission that he and Apollos had actually headed any divisive parties in Corinth, but that he had used these names figuratively for

1 Corinthians 7:16 — husband, whether thou shalt save thy wife? Bruce believed that "A mixed marriage of the kind Paul had in mind is fraught with missionary possibility," F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1972), p. 92. indicating that Paul's meaning here is that perhaps the faithful partner might be able to convert the unbeliever. There is another possible meaning of this somewhat ambiguous verse. It could mean, "God's aim for us is peace, which will

2 Corinthians 6:2 — inspired comment of his own making the application personal and immediate. Now is the acceptable time … now is the day of salvation … The urgency of immediate acceptance of the gospel was also stressed by the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 3:7-8; Hebrews 3:13), and for discussion of this subject, see my Commentary on Hebrews, pp. 74-75. Now … It should be noted that this tightens the urgency even beyond the passage of Hebrews. There, the message is "TODAY … harden not your

Ephesians 6:23-24 — given away to any one who sincerely requests them of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 286. The significant thing here, of course is the reverse order in which Paul's favorite words are enumerated. In Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, and Colossians 1:2 — in all these, the order of the words is invariably "grace," then "peace." Here it is the other way; and, as Dummelow said, "An imitator would have

Revelation 16:13 — Their purpose in crossing the boundary will quickly appear. Three unclean spirits, as it were frogs … "Their evil influence is shown under the figure of frogs, because it was by producing frogs that the magicians deceived Pharaoh (Exodus 8:7). J. R. Dummelow. Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 1086. The next verse tells us more about these frogs. "To say that they come out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet is to say that