Bible Commentaries

Exodus 15:20 — Bible as a "prophetess," and this was because she was endowed with the gift of prophecy. What a preposterous statement on this is the affirmation that "she was endowed with the gift of ecstatic utterance!"David F. Payne, op. cit., p. 188. Numbers 12:6-8 reveals that her inspiration was of a degree less than that of Moses, which also may account for her being introduced here, not as Moses' sister, which presumably she was, but as the sister of Aaron. The mention of dances here is in keeping with the

2 Kings 4 overview — are miracles of mercy. The first and the last consist of multiplying food, thus belonging to the same class as our Lord's feeding of the four and the five thousands and Elijah's increasing the meal and the oil of the widow of Sarepta (1 Kings 17:10-16)."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 5, p. 63. Nobody knows how these miracles were performed. The sacred author has not informed us, and the speculative guesses of scholars are of no value whatever. "Rationalistic attempts to explain these wonders exhibit

Ezra 4:24 — Cyrus king of Persia." In fact, this lobbying against the rebuilding of the temple went on throughout the remainder of the reign of Cyrus, through all the days of Cambyses, and until the second year of Darius I (520 B.C.). A little later in Ezra (Ezra 6) we shall have a detailed report of how the opposition of the Samaritans was successfully checkmated and how Darius I ordered the temple to be rebuilt. One of the significant revelations of the chapter is the racial makeup of what we have loosely called

Ezra 7:27-28 — Ezra, over and beyond what was needed to carry out the specific instructions of the king. "Jehovah… extended lovingkindness to me before the king" This could be interpreted as a reference to the favor God gave Ezra when he made request (Ezra 7:6) before the king for what he received; but the inclusion of the words, before the king's counselors, and before all his mighty princes, makes it more likely that Ezra held some kind of office under Artaxerxes which had placed him under the observation

Psalms 10:5-6 — Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 333. "He puffeth at them." This conveys the thought of scorn and contempt. "Nothing more clearly shows the pride and atheism of the human heart,"Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 91. than does the attitude described in Psalms 10:6. Such conceited sons of the devil are convinced that they themselves are in charge of everything: no illness shall overtake them, no war, no pestilence, no revolution, no earthquake, no flood, no volcano, no stroke of lightning, no depression, no drought,

Psalms 10:9-11 — there shall not be left a single infidel in all the world. Evil men at that time shall cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them and to hide them from the wrath of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb (Revelation 6:14).

Psalms 21:11-12 — will strike unspeakable terror into the hearts of the wicked. The mightiest sinners on earth will scream for the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them and hide them from the wrath of Him that sitteth upon the throne and from the Lamb (Revelation 6:14 ff). The Bible teaches that God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that One whom he raised from the dead; and there is absolutely nothing in the Holy Scriptures that should enable anyone to view that cataclysmic

Jeremiah 17 overview — an indictment of Judah's guilt (Jeremiah 17:1-4), a psalm (Jeremiah 17:5-8), two proverbs (Jeremiah 17:9-10 and Jeremiah 17:11), an invocation (Jeremiah 17:12-13), a prayer (Jeremiah 17:14-18), and a sabbath proclamation (Jeremiah 17:19-27)."JKP, p. 56. The prayer (Jeremiah 17:14-18) is also identified by many writers as "Jeremiah's Third Personal Lament." This distinction is not noted in the chapter headings of the KJV; but, aside from that, the following chapter divisions are noted: (1) Judah's

Hosea 9:9 — modern commentators on this place, Hailey thought the reference here to Gibeah recalled, "the conduct of their fathers as recorded in Judges 19-20, when one of the tribes was all but exterminated because of its wickedness."Homer Hailey, op. cit., p. 166. However, as Ward has pointed out, there were two important events in Israel's history associated with Gibeah: (1) the intertribal war over Benjamin's rape of the Levite's concubine (Judges 19-20), and (2) the establishment of King Saul's capital in

Joel 2:10 — description of Jehovah's judgments by the prophets that followed Joel,"Homer Hailey, op. cit., p. 49. and was also adopted by the sacred writers of the N.T. as a description of the final judgment day, as seen repeatedly in Revelation (cf. Revelation 6:12-14). This verse is a picture of the dreadful consequences of the present and temporary locust plague; but it is also a picture of the future judgment of God upon Israel, being also, even a type of the final judgment of all humanity on the Last Day.

Amos 3:11 — sayings,"Henry McKeating, op. cit., p. 29. should be rejected as unfounded and unproved. The repetition of such expressions is merely characteristic of Amos' style, a fact that cannot be denied. Look at the repeated questions that are propounded in Amos 3:3-6. Repetition was also a characteristic of the teachings of Jesus our Lord. "There shall be" It will be noted that these words are italicized in the ASV and in the KJV, but they should nevertheless be retained. "The KJV here makes sense of the awkward

Numbers 31:32-41 — Moses gave the tribute, which was Jehovah's heave-offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah commanded Moses." The enormous quantities of live-stock mentioned here were "in accordance with the habits of the Midianites in the days of Gideon (Judges 6:5) and of their modern representatives today."Thomas Whitelaw, op. cit., p. 402. It is also noticeable that the numbers given here are "round numbers," apparently being calculated in round thousands. Whitelaw also stated that, "The Israelites seem always

Micah 5:3 — Messiah and the kingdom that began on Pentecost. The "great sign" seen by John on Patmos, a woman arrayed with the sun, having the moon under her feet and a crown of stars upon her brow, who gave birth to the man-child, is this same woman (Revelation 12:1-6)."Homer Hailey, Commentary on the Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1972), p. 210. (For a full discussion of this, see in my commentary on Revelation, pp. 264-272.)

Zephaniah 1:10-11 — quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. Wail, ye inhabitants of Maktesh; for all the people of Canaan are undone; all they that are laden 'with silver are cut off." "The fish gate" This was one of the north entrances to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:1-6). The second quarter was where Huldah the prophetess lived (2 Kings 22:14). Maktesh is not elsewhere mentioned in the Bible. Perhaps all of these places were in the north sector of the city, indicating that the invasion would come from the north. "The

Zechariah 11:9 — let it die. This brings to mind two key passages. One in which Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem because of her historic failure to heed the prophets (Luke 13:33-35), and the other one in which he predicted the destruction of the city (Luke 21:5-6)."Clinton R. Gill, Commentary on the Minor Prophets, Zechariah (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1971), p. 349. Horrible as this prophecy for Israel appears, it was literally fulfilled. "Even the cannibalism described here was fulfilled literally during

2 Corinthians 9 overview — and no solid logic of any kind supports it. "These verses are not a misplaced fragment, for the connection in thought is close with the preceding verses." Frank G. Carver, Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1968), Vol. 8, p. 584. These verses are an intensification of Paul's appeal to the Corinthians to make good on their promises of a year ago and to make up a bountiful contribution for the poor saints in Jerusalem. As the careful student of the New Testament

2 Peter 2:19 — sin is the bondservant of sin" (John 8:34); and Paul declared that, "To whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness" (Romans 6:16). Thus, what Peter said here is exactly an echo of the teachings both of the Saviour and of Paul. A glimpse of the allurement in the teaching of the apostates appears in this; because they were promising the people the free and easy indulgence of

Jude 1:21 — constant attention to prayer; (3) receive, cultivate and cherish the indwelling Spirit; (4) keep yourselves in God's love through strict obedience to his will; and (5) wherein one is frustrated or discouraged by failures (and there will be failures); (6) look unto the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ who will save the last unworthy one of us if we give him half a chance to do so! Eternal life … Notice that this is preceded by "unto," indicating that in some vital aspects of it, we do

Revelation 4:8 — them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. Six wings … The use of these, as indicated in Isaiah 6, was: two covered the face (reverence), two covered the feet (humility), and "with twain did he fly." No such employment of the wings is mentioned here. It would appear that the big point of this was properly ascertained by Barnes: All these

1 Samuel 22:20-23 — Lord. As it turned out, all those murders were directly due to David's lies. In the words here, David regretfully admitted it. The conversation here recorded (1 Samuel 22:21-23) between David and Abiathar, "Belongs chronologically after 1 Samuel 23:6."John T. Willis, p. 230. David and Abiathar were not together until they met in Keilah.