Bible Commentaries

Genesis 2:4 — the Book of Genesis that follow. The word introduces ten sections of Genesis: The ten toledoths are the following: I.    Genesis 2:4—4:26, the [~toledowth] of the heavens and the earth; II.    Genesis 5:1—6:8, the [~toledowth] of Adam; III.    Genesis 6:9—9:29, the [~toledowth] of Noah; IV.    Genesis 10:1—11:9, the [~toledowth] of the sons of Noah; V.    Genesis 11:10-26,

Psalms 10:3-4 — thing cited here being the boastfulness of evil men. "He vaunts himself, or makes an ostentatious display of something upon which he prides himself, such as wealth, strength, beauty, talent, etc."Albert Barnes, On Psalms, Vol. 1 (Baker Book House, 1950), p. 88. The second line is more understandable if the marginal rendition is followed, as follows: "He (the wicked) blesses the covetous, and revileth Jehovah." His ideals are exactly the opposite of those found in the hearts of the righteous. An apostle

Psalms 26:1-8 — Jehovah, I love the habitation of thy house, And the place where thy glory dwelleth." As Maclaren said, such extravagant claims of integrity and innocence, "Grate upon the ears of one accustomed to the tone of the New Testament."Alexander Maclaren, p. 252. Such a view fails to take in consideration of the fact that David is not here speaking of "his sinless life," but of his innocence in a given situation, and as contrasted with the wickedness of his enemies. The absolute certainty of David's confidence

Psalms 56:5-11 — my steps" This means they convened counsels on how to destroy David; they concealed themselves in order to spy upon him, and they watched his every move. Yes, those wicked men watched David's every step; but God also was watching over his own (Psalms 56:8), "numbering all of his wanderings, and even counting his tears." Delitzsch paraphrased these words regarding the activity of David's enemies. "David affirmed his loyalty to Saul, but they forced upon his words false meanings; they banded themselves

Psalms 59:10-13 — did a thing like that, there would not be enough righteous people left on earth to keep the lions and tigers from eating up the human race." Kidner pointed out the following roles of wicked people on earth. "(1) God uses them as scourges (Isaiah 10:5 f); (2) as tests of loyalty (Judges 2:22); (3) as hardeners (Judges 3:22); and (4), in this passage as object-lessons."Derek Kidner, Vol. 1, p. 213. And to these we may add a fifth; (5) God uses one wicked nation to destroy another. "The king of Assyria,"

Psalms 65:1-5 — things wilt thou answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation, Thou that art the confidence of the ends of the earth, And of them that are afar off upon the sea." God is here praised: (a)    because He hears prayers (Psalms 65:2) (b)    because He forgives sins (Psalms 65:3) (c)    because He provides fellowship with Himself for His people "in His courts," that is, in His presence in heaven, (Psalms 65:4), and (d)    because

Proverbs 31:2-9 — body. It takes a man's soul into imprisonment more than any other vice, completely disarming a man of his reason and wisdom. More and more, those who thus indulge become less and less a man and more and more a fool!"The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 598. "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish" The proper use of alcohol appears here. In the Bible, "Alcohol is considered to have its proper use, not as an intoxicating drink, but for medicinal and restorative purposes (1 Timothy 5:23)."Broadman

Proverbs 5:3-6 — Teachers' Bible Commentary, p. 361. "Her very strangeness and looseness make her exciting and tempting. Such a person presents the young man, yes, any man, with a powerful sexual attraction."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), Vol. 5, p. 23. "Her mouth is smoother than oil" "David used the very same words of the metaphors found in this and in Proverbs 5:4 to describe the treachery of his friend Ahithophel in Psalms 55:21."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 107. The words of his mouth

Isaiah 42:5-9 — things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them." This paragraph, like all the rest of these final chapters of Isaiah is loaded with the earmarks of Isaianic authorship, Note the repetition in Isaiah 42:5-6; Isaiah 42:8, calling attention to the fact that it is Jehovah God who is promising these wonderful things; and, "This is one of Isaiah's favorite means of emphasizing the certainty of the fulfillment of the things prophesied."Homer Hailey, p. 353. Concerning

Isaiah 63:1-6 — in this passage does not stand for any literal place on earth; but Edom and its peoples are a symbol of the whole earth and its sinful enemies of God's people. "They are a type of the last and bitterest foes of God's people, as revealed in Isaiah 34:5 f."Ibid. See my introduction to Isaiah 34, where the propriety of choosing the Edomites as typical of all of God's enemies is discussed. Rawlinson was doubtless correct when he wrote that, "The Edomites represent the world-power; and the `day of vengeance'

Jeremiah 2:20-25 — more explicit is the rendition of Thompson who rendered the last two lines here as: "And under every green treeYou sprawled in sexual vice."J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972), p. 175. All are familiar with the usual scholarly emphasis that harlotry and adultery in the Bible are actually metaphors for turning from the worship of God to any form of false worship; but the raw facts of human lust and depravity were basic factors involved

Jeremiah 46:5-12 — Carchemish. What brought about the defeat of such a large and impressive force? "It was panic, supernaturally induced, that did it."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 649. In this long paragraph, note the words "terror" (Jeremiah 46:5), "they have fled… look not back" (Jeremiah 46:5), "the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty" (Jeremiah 46:12), etc. These verses (Jeremiah 46:3-12) do not contain a triumphal song over a defeat that has already taken place, but a prophecy

Daniel 12:2 — undeniable that in Scripture the word "many" is often used as a reference to all. Note this passage: "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous" (Romans 5:19). A comparison with verse 18 in that same passage indicates positively that "many" in both of the references here actually means "all." Therefore, it is a gross error to fasten a limited denotation upon the use of "many" in Daniel's reference to

Amos 5:18 — THE DAY OF THE LORD "Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah! It is darkness and not light." This, and through Amos 5:20, presents a remarkable view of the Day of the Lord, that is, the Day of Judgment, first as it would be in the case of Israel when God judged and destroyed her for her sins, and secondly, as it will be at the end of time for the great majority of

Matthew 1:18 — needing to be carried on a mother's arm! King of Angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph! Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter's despised son! Wonderful art thou, O Jesus! And that shall be thy name forever?Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Sermons, Volume 5 (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company), p. 20. Betrothed … before they came together. In those times, betrothal was legally equivalent to marriage, and adultery during the period of waiting was punishable by death by stoning (Deuteronomy 22:23-24).

Luke 1:17 — hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him. And he shall go before his face … This is obviously an error in the English Revised Version (1885), this being a clause in which the KJV, the NEB, and the RSV concur in the reading, "And he shall go before him … etc." A good deal of importance attaches to this, because, as Summers noted, "The immediate antecedent of the pronoun

Joshua 18:2-7 — tribe would have to work for its own supplies and protection. Too long, we might say, they had been letting God look after them, and now, that the time had come for them to take care of themselves, they were very slow and reluctant to do so. Joshua 18:5, which mentions Judah on the south and the house of Joseph on the north shows the wisdom of God in placing these two powerful groups in such a way as to protect all of Canaan. "Three men from each tribe" (Joshua 18:5). This is supposed to mean that

James 5:14-15 — should be retained. E. G. Punchard, op. cit., p. 380. Another objection to this view has been based upon the "absence from this passage of `laying on of hands' usually mentioned in connection with the miraculous gift"; T. Carson, op. cit., p. 591. but since the anointing with oil would necessarily involve "laying on of hands," the objection refutes itself. Carson recognized the interpretation adopted here in saying that "Some believe that we have here the exercise of the miraculous

2 Peter 3:10 — specific sense, destroyed by water; it is the literal earth which Peter here prophesied would be destroyed by fire. Macknight said, "There are things in the apostle's prophecy which show that it was intended to be taken literally." Ibid., p. 566. What will it all be like? We do not know. Faith in God and in his holy word is the only true enlightenment that is available on such a passage as this. As a thief … Paul used this figure of the thief's sudden coming (1 Thessalonians 5:2);

1 Samuel 31:8-13 — customary in ancient times. Even David did a number of these things with the body and the armor of Goliath. "1 Chronicles 10:10 says that the Philistines fastened Saul's head to the temple of Dagon; but this was probably the one in Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:1-5), because Samson wrecked the one at Gaza (Judges 16:27; Judges 16:30)."Ibid. "They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth" "This was doubtless the famous temple of Venus in Askelon mentioned by Herodotus as the most ancient of all her temples,