Bible Commentaries

Exodus 31 overview — The two things stressed in Exodus 31 are: (1)    God's appointment of the men who would have charge of the construction of the tabernacle and all of its furniture (Exodus 31:1-11); and (2)    a reiteration of the sabbath commandment, making it a "sign" of God's covenant with Israel, including also the assignment of the death penalty for violators (Exodus 31:12-17). The final Exodus 31:18 announces the return from

2 Chronicles 23:16-21 — set the king upon t he throne of the kingdom. So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. And Athaliah they had slain with the sword." This whole chapter, along with the last three verses of the previous chapter, is parallel with 2 Kings 11. In my commentary on 2 Kings, I have written 10 pages of comments about these events, and I do not wish to add anything else here. See pp. 139-148 of my commentary in that volume. There are a few unimportant variations, but the narratives are

2 Chronicles 4:7-10 — seven branches, and made it into ten. Instead of putting it on the south side of the holy place, he put five on one side, and five on the other. The table of the showbread was changed into ten tables with five on the north side and five on the south (2 Chronicles 4:19). He made the candlesticks of gold according to the ordinance concerning them (2 Chronicles 4:7). This should not mislead us. God had indeed required the candlesticks to be of gold; and, in that alone did Solomon heed the divine ordinance.

Nehemiah 11:22-24 — matters concerning the people." Artaxerxes was indeed a friend of Israel; and here we find that he had allotted a regular payment for the Levites and singers. He had already exempted them from all tolls, tribute, custom and taxes of every kind (Ezra 7:24); and his cooperation with both Ezra and Nehemiah in all of the things done for the Chosen People is the sine qua non of everything in both of these Biblical books. "Now he had even gone further and assigned an allotment from the royal revenue for

Psalms 124:6-8 — fowlers: The snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of Jehovah, Who made heaven and earth." The terrible danger of the situation Israel survived was concentrated in that hostile Philistine army. They had come up "to seek David" (2 Sam. 5:117), for the purpose of killing him, exactly as they had destroyed Saul. Moreover they possessed at that time the `bridle' of the city of Jerusalem. This meant they held the strategic advantage over the city. This is evident in the passage from

Psalms 30:1-3 — my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O Jehovah, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit." There are five things for which David here thanks God: (1) God has raised him up, (2) has not allowed his foes to rejoice over him, (3) healed him, (4) brought up his soul from Sheol, (5) and kept him alive. "Thou hast raised me up" (Psalms 30:1). The marginal reading here is "drawn me up"; and, "This is the word for pulling up a bucket

Psalms 93:1-2 — Thy throne is established of old. Thou art from everlasting." These verses present three consecutive affirmations: (1)    There is the statement that God reigns majestically in the security of unlimited strength (Psalms 93:1 a). (2)    Then there is the unmovable stability of the planet earth; and although the conclusion is not stated here, it is surely implied that the established world with its security and stability derives such qualities from the Creator-God

Jeremiah 30:4-7 — Jerusalem, nor the day of the destruction of Babylon. "It is the Day of the Lord, a significant eschatological theme."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 560. Keil agreed with this, pointing out that the passage is an imitation of Joel 2:2. where that prophet, for the first time presents the idea of the great day of Judgment to come on all nations."C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 6.

Ezekiel 10:20-22 — two visions, an importance which we have already stressed. CHERUBIM "And I knew that they were cherubim" We are indebted to Anton T. Pearson for most of the information cited here.Anton T. Pearson in Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 721. Cherubim are emblematic, composite figures representing glorified human life, or angelic life, spiritualized and exalted to have a part in the service of God Himself. In the sacred Scriptures, they are seen as performing a number of functions:

Hosea 2:16 — "And it shall be at that day, saith Jehovah, that thou shalt call me Ish-i, and shalt no more call me Baal-i." "At that day" These words, repeated again in Hosea 2:18; Hosea 2:21, positively indicate that it is the present dispensation of the "last days" of which God was speaking here through his prophet. The literal significance of the verse is that idolatry shall be eradicated from among the people of God; and

Hosea 5:11 — American Standard Version text shows, there is no Hebrew word for "man's" in the last phrase of this verse; but the translators are undoubtedly correct in this rendition, because, as Keil observed: "The word for `command' or `statute' here (see Jeremiah 2:5, and 2 Kings 18:15) is [~tsaw] and it means a human statute as an antithesis to the word or commandment of God. It is thus used both here and in Isaiah 28:10; Isaiah 28:13."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 92. In the light of these, there is no way to translate

Hosea 6:7 — "Adam" of the first clause be viewed as a place-name; and accordingly the Revised Standard Version rendered it, "At Adam they transgressed the covenant." Note the three different renditions: (1)    King James Version..."Like men" (2)    American Standard Version..."Like Adam" (3)    Revised Standard Version..."At Adam" The meaning is very similar, no matter how the passage is read. In (1), the meaning is that Israel had broken God's covenant,

Matthew 11:23 — And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades: for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day. See notes on Matthew 11:22, above. This indicates that if Christ, instead of an angel, had visited Sodom, the people would have repented, and the city would have been spared. How favored, then, must be considered those men who have the privilege of knowing Christ and his saving

Matthew 2:11 — down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures, they offered unto him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Came into the house … indicates the passage of some little time after the birth of Christ which took place in a stable (Luke 2:7). Since the departure of the holy family was so soon to follow, it may also be that the presentation in the temple had already taken place. If so, Jesus was about six weeks old at that time. Fell down and worshipped him … indicates that Christ

Matthew 4:13 — And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. Between the last words of Matthew 4:12 and the first words of Matthew 4:13 there was an interval of at least one year's time. LEAVING NAZARETH is a reference to the rejection at Nazareth by the townspeople of that village who despised him because of what they supposed to be his humble origin

Mark 9:43-44 — "hell" or "hell-fire") refers to the Valley of Hinnon near Jerusalem, a place where the city's garbage was burned, and a valley tarnished by many unsavory memories for the Jews. Here a king made his son pass through the fire to Molech (2 Kings 23:10; see also 2 Chronicles 28:3). It was a place of defilement and horror. Perhaps it is in this place's character as a garbage dump that the most appropriate likeness to HELL is found; because hell is God's cosmic disposal device for that which

Luke 12:49 — I came to cast fire upon the earth; and what do I desire, if it is already kindled? VI. Warning against divisions due to the word of God. In the chapter introduction, Luke 12:41-48 were listed as a separate warning against unfaithfulness; but the emphasis on lack of preparedness (Luke 12:47) shows a very close connection, making both warnings, in fact, an exhortation against unpreparedness; for this reason, they were discussed

Acts 1:17 — For he was numbered among us, and received his portion in this ministry. This verse makes two statements, (1) that Judas was numbered with the Twelve, and (2) that he "received" his portion of the apostolic ministry. This means that Judas, at first, was a genuine apostle, he, not less than the others, being commissioned to cast out demons and to heal all manner of diseases (Matthew 10:1). This refutes the allegation that Judas was a devil from the beginning.

Colossians 4 overview — The epistle moves quickly to its conclusion in these 18 verses. First, there is the conclusion of the instruction on reciprocal relationships (Colossians 4:1), followed by a brief paragraph on prayer and Christian conduct (Colossians 4:2-6); next, Paul mentions affairs pertaining to himself and his imprisonment (Colossians 4:7-9); then comes the paragraph regarding greetings from and greetings to various persons (Colossians 4:10-17); and finally there stands the apostolic autograph,

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 — noted that: These verbs (comfort your hearts and establish them) are in the singular number, but their nominative is our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, thus implying the unity between these divine Persons. P. J. Gloag, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 21, 2 Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 59. Note: Relying so heavily in the interpretations advocated in this chapter upon ancient and traditional opinion, the writer is aware of the sense of shock that