Bible Commentaries

2 Chronicles 22:1-3 — duplicate names gave the same meanings in Hebrew."A. L. Breslich in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, p. 416. "Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign" Ahaziah's father was only forty-two years old when he died (2 Chronicles 21:5), so we should follow later renditions which read, "Twenty and two years" instead of "Forty and two." "Athaliah the daughter of Omri" She was actually the daughter of Ahab and a granddaughter of Omri; but such a loose usage of the terms son or daughter

2 Chronicles 25:14-16 — Edomites of any support they might have been supposed to give Edom. Amaziah's worshipping them and burning incense to them was a cardinal violation of the Law of Moses and the Decalogue, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them (images)" (Exodus 20:5). Amaziah's victory over Edom had apparently completely turned his head. His subsequent behavior was that of a fool.

Psalms 106:24-27 — SIN NO. 5 This sin was the rebellion of Israel following the shameful report of the ten unfaithful spies (Numbers 13-14). "Yea, they despised the pleasant land, They believed not his word. But murmured in their tents, And hearkened not unto the voice of Jehovah.

Psalms 106:36-39 — harlot in their doings." To rehearse the full record of what is so briefly stated here would require a detailed study of a major portion of the Old Testament. The child-sacrifice was practiced even by Israel's kings (2 Kings 16:3; Ezekiel 16:20; Isaiah 57:5). "They played the harlot in their doings" This is an accurate description of the idol worship in Canaan. Their pagan sex and fertility gods were "worshipped" with the most unbelievably vulgar and licentious ceremonies involving the patronage of

Psalms 111:4-6 — mighty works in Egypt (etc.), this verse stresses the "bread of that remembrance," the feast of unleavened bread and the Passover. "Even from the times of Theodoret and Augustine, the thought of the Eucharist has been connected with this Psalms 111:5; consequently, this psalm has become the psalm of the church at the celebration of the Lord's Supper."Ibid., p. 198. The "church" referred to here by Delitzsch is the historical church. "In giving them the heritage of the nations" "Probably the writer

Psalms 27:5-6 — me up upon a rock. And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me; And I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto Jehovah." "He will keep me secretly in his pavilion" (Psalms 27:5). "This should not be understood literally, as some Jewish commentators suppose, claiming that David even hid himself in the tabernacle; but David means that his spirit shall find a refuge with God in the times of trouble."Ibid. "Now shall my head be

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

Isaiah 31:5-6 — Cheyne's Commentary, p. 183. Jerusalem would indeed be severely punished, but God had reserved Babylon as the rod he would use for that punishment, not Assyria, which would also be destroyed by Babylon. Note the use of the words `pass over' in Isaiah 31:5. Gleason assures us that this expression comes from the same Hebrew root as Passover,Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 631. which memorialized another spectacular deliverance of God's people upon the occasion of the Exodus (Exodus 12:13 ff). Speaking

Jeremiah 48:40-44 — 24:17-18; but if this expression was a popular proverb of that day, which it most probably was, there could be nothing surprising about its being found in Jeremiah as well as in Isaiah. In fact we have the same proverb with different elements in Amos 5:19, "As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him!"

Hosea 4:4 — an emphatic declaration that Israel deserved the judgment of death that God pronounced upon them. It may be viewed as a mitigating circumstance for the people generally that their priesthood was illegitimate from its inception. Beginning with Hosea 4:5, below, Hosea directed God's judgment against the priesthood.

Amos 4:12 — to meet thy God, O Israel." "Thus will I do unto thee" Nothing specific is mentioned in this verse, for it was unnecessary. The carrying away of the people from Samaria, the Northern capital, had been factually and dramatically prophesied in Amos 4:1-5, above; and this is a terse reference to what was already prohesied. This arrangement proves the unity of the whole passage, in fact, the whole prophecy; because all that the prophet says in any portion of this book is evidently in the mind of the author

Haggai 1:7-8 — "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Consider your house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith Jehovah." Haggai 1:7, except for the words "now, therefore" is identical with Haggai 1:5. The order which the prophet here gave the people was to go at once to the mountains and cut timber that would be needed in rebuilding the Temple, and to get on with the job! Nothing is indicated by this regarding the stone which was also required,

Zechariah 1:10 — identifying clause "stood among the myrtle trees" here and in Zechariah 1:11. Keil has stated the reasons for the two identities thus: "The `angel that talked with me' appears in company with other angels and receives instructions from them (Zechariah 2:5-8). His whole activity is restricted to the duty of conveying higher instructions to the prophet, and giving him an insight into the higher meaning of the visions; whereas the angel of Jehovah stands on an equality with God, being sometimes identified

Matthew 21:42-43 — completeness of the structure depended, that on which, as the chief cornerstone, the two walls met, and were bonded together.Dean Plumptre, as quoted by R. Tuck, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1961), p. 356. Christ as the Cornerstone suggests that: (1) law and grace; (2) God and man; (3) time and eternity; (4) B.C. and A.D.; (5) the Mosaic dispensation and the Christian dispensation; (6) the letter and the spirit; and (7) judgment and mercy, both begin

Matthew 22:24-28 — shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. First, note the question on its merits, or DEMERITS! As Matthew Henry said, "The seventh who ventured last to marry the widow (many a one would say) was a bold man!"Matthew Henry, op. cit., Vol. 5, p. 321. The possibility of such a thing happening must be set down as remote. Like all fancy arguments trumped up as an objection to God's word, the whole proposition, on its face, is a lie, designed to support a lie, namely that there is no resurrection. Yet

Matthew 5:17 — THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE DISCIPLESTO THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS (Matthew 5:17-48) In this subdivision of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ spelled out his own authority as being superior in every way to the edicts of the Decalogue, noting at the same time that he was not destroying but fulfilling them. Think not that I came

Matthew 5:33 — Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. THE NINTH COMMANDMENT, REVISED (Matthew 5:33-37) In this passage, Christ does not quote verbatim from the Ninth Commandment, but rather deals with Pharisaical deductions, extensions, and exceptions on the Great Word which said, "THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS," It was far more

Matthew 6:27-29 — the material and workaday needs of life, there is no repudiation of such prosaic virtues as work, thrift, responsibility, and diligence. These verses are not license to leave the care and feeding of one's family to others or to the state (1 Timothy 5:8). Edgar appropriately gathers the import of these words as follows: Consider how poor the life is which makes eating and dressing the chief thought. A man's life is intended to be much more assuredly than this; and, yet, are there not some who have

Matthew 6:4 — indispensable to his recovery and rehabilitation. (3) It protects the benefactor from a proliferation of calls upon his generosity. (4) It provides a noble basis for the development of true love and friendship between the helper and the person helped. (5) It honors this specific commandment of Christ; and, to the Christian, this is the most important of all. The tragic consequences of failure to observe this principle of secrecy are today clearly visible on a national scale where the state's ostentatious

Mark 2:22 — could not be subordinated to and synchronized with such things as Jewish fasts. To understand this to mean that Jesus would not put his new teaching into John's disciples violates the fact that some of John's disciples became apostles of Christ (John 1:35). However, the majority seem not to have done so; and the reluctance of many of John's disciples to follow Jesus would appear to be the primary meaning of the third phase of this triple reply. "No man having drunk old wine desireth new; for he