Bible Commentaries

Genesis 33:3-7 — himself Esau's servant twice (Genesis 33:5; Genesis 33:14); (3) referred to Esau as his "lord" four times (Genesis 33:8; Genesis 33:13-14); (4) dispatched ahead of time a most impressive present; (5) insisted that Esau keep it (Genesis 33:8-11); and (6) declared that seeing Esau's face was like seeing the face of God (Genesis 33:10). ESAU: (1) came with a company to welcome Jacob; (2) ran to meet him; (3) embraced him; (4) fell on his neck; (5) kissed him; (6) invited Jacob to keep the present; (7)

Genesis 6:18 — covenant, he was required to believe and obey God's word, build the ark according to God's instructions, and then enter it with his family. In that way only would he be saved.G. Ch. Aalders, Genesis I (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), p. 165. Right here is the very first mention of covenant in the entire Bible; and inherent within it is the revelation of the way that God's New Covenant should be understood. Although the parties of such a covenant are by no means equal, yet there is a part

Genesis 9:8-13 — which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth." This is not the same covenant mentioned in Genesis 6:18. That covenant was conditional, requiring that Noah should build an ark according to God's directions, and then enter it with his family and all the other creatures as God directed. This covenant is absolutely unconditional. That covenant regarded

Psalms 136:1-26 — endureth forever." There is nothing in this psalm upon which we have not already written commentary; and there are very few things which we shall cite here. "The God of gods" "The word `gods' here is a secondary use of the term as is found in Psalms 82:6."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8-C, p. 286. (See our comment in chapter introduction for Psalms 82, above.) As Dr. George DeHoff stated it, "God is the God over priests, spiritual rulers, those in power, including kings and magistrates. He is the Ruler

Psalms 140:9-11 — Mordecai; or (2) the retribution in kind executed upon Adonibezek whose thumbs were cut off and who was compelled to grovel for his food beneath the table of his captors, exactly as he had mutilated and humiliated many kings whom he had conquered (Judges 1:6-7). Brutal and terrible as such a system appears to us, it was a vast improvement over the customary cruelties that preceded. Prior to God's restraining law, the rule was: (1) If you should kill my child, I will kill you and your whole generation. (2)

Psalms 33:6-7 — together as a heap: He layeth up the deeps in storehouses." In these verses, the praiseworthiness of God is based upon, "His being the Creator of the world in the kingdom of Nature."Ibid., p. 403. "The heavens… all the host of them" (Psalms 33:6). These were spoken into existence by God. His simple word was all that was required to bring them into existence. "By the breath of his mouth" (Psalms 33:6). This is merely another way of saying, "by God's Word." "He gathereth the waters of the sea

Psalms 62:1-4 — leaning wall, like a tottering fence? They only consult to thrust him down from his dignity; They delight in lies; They bless with their month, but they curse inwardly. (Selah)" The recurrence of the word "only" is of interest in this psalm (Psalms 62:1-2; Psalms 62:4; Psalms 5:6; Psalms 5:9). This word also distinguishes Psalms 39, where it occurs four times, stressing the similarity of these psalms, which Delitzsch designated "twins." Jones has this to say about the use of "only" here. "Only with

Song of Solomon 5:2-8 — the bride's sleep as the lethargy and indolence of the Church following the Great Persecutions."The Anchor Bible Commentary, Vol. 7c, p. 514. Pope also mentioned a scholar (Gordis) who took the whole passage from Song of Solomon 5:2 to Song of Solomon 6:3 as a dream song.Ibid., p. 515. That would classify the whole passage as a dream and also ease some of the difficulties of interpretation. "Any absurdity can happen in a dream"! Nevertheless, we go along with Cook on this. He said of verse 8, "The

Amos 2 overview — The prophecies against eight nations reach their climax in this chapter where the judgments are pronounced against Moab (Amos 2:1-3), against Judah (Amos 2:4-5), and against Israel (Amos 1:6-15), in which the principal thrust of Amos' great prophecy reaches its primary object. It will appear in this chapter that Amos' words were directed against the gross social sins of that era, but also against the sins of apostasy from the true religion

Zechariah 1:11 — represented as riding a red horse; but, on the other hand it perfectly fits him who traveled in the greatness of his strength with the garments dyed red, who came from treading the wine-press alone, and whose lifeblood was sprinkled upon his garments (Isaiah 63:1-3). We do not hesitate to identify him as "none other than the Angel of the Presence (Exodus 23:23), Jehovah himself, the Messiah in his pre-incarnate glory."Merrill F. Unger, op. cit., p. 27. We have walked to and fro through the earth" This is

Luke 17:3-4 — Christian's attitude upon the offender; and that Jesus would never do.Ray Summers, Commentary on Luke (Waco, Texas: Word Books, Publisher, 1974), p. 197. This subject is more extensively developed in this writer's my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 6:14-15. As a matter of fact, if one is going to forgive only those sinners against himself who repent and request it, he will not forgive anyone ten times in a lifetime! Besides that, what about those cases in which men sin against others WITHOUT EVER

John 1:7-8 — The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. This parenthesis, including John 1:6, presents the following facts with reference to John the Baptist: He came from God and was therefore a true prophet. He was not the light. His mission was to bear witness to the light. To bear witness to the light was to bear witness to Jesus Christ. It

John 17:8 — revelation. Jesus made an argument for immortality to rest on a single two-letter word, the verb "AM" in Exodus 3:14, and the mere tense of a verb at that! (Matthew 23:32). Paul likewise trusted the number of the noun "seed" (Galatians 3:16), as the definitive argument for the calling of all the saved in Christ. Jesus brought God's words to men. Therefore, let men heed the words, for they shall judge all creation at the last day (John 12:48-50). I have given unto them … This made

Acts 10:4 — religion; and, if the supernatural elements in it can be denied, the entire system is not merely worthless, but detestable. Incidentally, the popular idea of winged angels is probably derived from the cherubim (Exodus 25:20) and from the seraphim (Isaiah 6:2); but there are no New Testament descriptions of angels with any mention of wings. A memorial before God … What interest attaches to these words! Man's natural desire for a permanent memorial may truly be realized, but not in the types of monuments

Acts 20:4 — congregations were represented by Sopater, Aristarchus and Secundus; the Galatian congregations were represented by Gaius of Derbe and Timothy of Lystra; the ones in Asia were represented by Tychicus and Trophimus; and it may be inferred from 2 Corinthians 8:6 ff that the Corinthian contribution was entrusted to Titus and two other brethren sent by Paul to Corinth to receive it. Regarding the reason why Titus was not named here, or anywhere else in Acts, it is thought strange that one whose name appears in

Acts 28:26-27 — waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them. This is Isaiah 6:9-10; and although spoken "through" Isaiah, it is clearly presented here as the word of the Holy Spirit. This same passage was applied to Israel by Christ, as affirmed in all four gospels (Matthew 13:15; Matthew 13:15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10;

Romans 15:24 — probably deranged by occurrences in Jerusalem, which led to his long imprisonment in Caesarea, and his being sent in bonds to Rome. Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), p. 442. Brought on my way … refers to a custom among early Christians of accompanying visitors for a part of the journey when they were departing. The Christians of Ephesus, for example, when Paul was about to leave, fell on Paul's neck and

Romans 16:22 — writing. He customarily wrote a few lines at the end of his epistles with his own hand as a kind of signature. However, Galatians was written entirely by himself as he said: Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with my own hand (Galatians 6:11). We are indebted to Hodge for this: In order to authenticate his epistles, he generally wrote himself the salutation or benediction at the close; 1 Corinthians 16:21, "The salutation of me, Paul, with mine own hand"; 2 Thessalonians 3:17,

1 Corinthians 15:3 — magnificent prophecies of the Old Testament which so accurately foretold the death of the Son of God are so important that they deserved and received mention even ahead of the apostolic testimony about to be cited. As to what Scriptures were meant, Psalms 16:10; Isaiah 53:10; Hosea 6:2; Jonah 2:10 (see Matthew 12:40), Zechariah 12:10; Zechariah 13:7 are among them, besides all of the typical things such as the sin offering and the Passover sacrifices.

Revelation 15 overview — SECTION IV (Revelation 15—16) This, the shortest chapter in Revelation, together with Revelation 16, for which it is merely the introduction, again takes us through the whole cycle of time to the eternal judgment (Revelation 16:17-21). Several times already the final judgment has