Bible Commentaries

Genesis 22:11-12 — do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." "The angel of Jehovah" "The angel of the Lord is the Lord himself, as the context shows (Genesis 22:11-12; Genesis 22:15-18; Genesis 18:2; Genesis 18:22; Genesis 19:1)."John T. Willis, op. cit., p. 293. Again and again, this glorious person appears throughout the Scriptures, as notably also in the visions of Zechariah. "Abraham, Abraham" marks great urgency, or is an

Exodus 5:10-14 — made responsible for the failure. Very well, they would go to Pharaoh themselves and handle their grievances without regard to Moses and Aaron! The obsequious manner in which they attempted this is revealed in the next three verses. See under Exodus 5:18. "To gather stubble for straw" "Stubble here is not what we know by that word, but includes all kinds of field rubbish … To make this fit for making brick, it had to be gathered, chopped up, and sorted."J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 54. Also,

Job 41 overview — natural wonder, the leviathan (crocodile), with an elaboration to which there is no parallel in the rest of the Scriptures, forming a fitting climax to the gradually more and more elaborate descriptions in Job 39-41."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 7b, p. 654. Yes, "Leviathan is the name of a seven-headed sea-dragon in the old Canaanite myths current prior to the Israelite occupation; but that does not prove that Leviathan in the Book of Job is a mythological creature."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries,

Psalms 101 overview — THE RESOLUTIONS OF DAVID ASCENDING THE THRONE "The Hebrew and all the versions attribute this psalm to David";Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (London: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), Vol. III, p. 537. and there being nothing in the psalm which is in any manner inconsistent with Davidic authorship, we shall accept this as authentic. Only this and Psalms 103 are by David in all of Book IV. "This psalm gives us the resolutions David formed when he

Psalms 27:1 — available to all men, provided only that they shall consent to seek it upon the terms God himself has commanded. The apostle John summed up the whole business of salvation in a few words, "God gave unto us eternal life; and this life is in his Son" (1 John 5:11).

Isaiah 19 overview — THE BURDEN OF EGYPT This well organized chapter naturally divides into two sections. The first (Isaiah 19:1-15) falls into three stanzas or strophes: (a) strophe 1 (Isaiah 19:1-4) prophesies the overthrow of Egypt through civil strife and their suffering under a cruel ruler; (b) strophe 2 (Isaiah 19:5-10) prophesies the drying up of the Nile and the total collapse

Isaiah 50:11 — all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow." Wardle summarized the meaning of Isaiah 50:10-11 thus: "Let the pious Jew hear the Servant's voice, and despite his pitiful plight trust in Jehovah. Those who kindle the flames of persecution and strife shall become the victims of their own fire, and by his doom shall lie in a place of flame

Isaiah 55 overview — Kidner stated that, in Christian terms, "The Calvary of Isaiah 53 is followed by the growing church of Isaiah 54, and the gospel call of Isaiah 55."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 619. We can find no agreement whatever with commentators who try to restrict the application of this chapter to the return of the

Isaiah 65:8-10 — in, for my people that have sought me." The terse message of these verses is: Yes, Israel shall indeed be destroyed, but not all of them. Those who shall inherit God's holy mountain shall be those, and only those, who have "sought" the Lord (Isaiah 65:10). "Destroy it not" "The vintagers when they see a cluster with only a few sound grapes in it say, `Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it,' so for the sake of those who are faithful to God,"Peake's Commentary Series, p. 472. he will not destroy

Jeremiah 17:12-13 — written in the earth" "Unlike those graven in the rock forever (Job 19:24), the names written in the earth shall quickly disappear."Barnes' Notes, p. 193. This interpretation was given earlier by Payne Smith; but John Bright, quoting Dahood's work in 1959, suggests that, "Based upon Ugaritic evidence, `earth' indicates the underworld, with the meaning that, `those written in the earth are those listed for death.' "Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of

Lamentations 5:19-22 — Jehovah, and we shall be turned. Renew our days as of old. But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us." "Thy throne is from generation to generation" "Although the crown has fallen from the head of David's dynasty (Lamentations 5:16), which has been sent crashing to the earth, the throne of God still abides."The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman's Publishing Company, 1970), p. 663. "A noble faith is awakened here, finding its expression in the wonderful

Hosea 11:12 — the prelude to a remarriage of the prophet with her. There is another wedding, to be sure, but it was to be with the New Israel, not with the old one. That is why Gomer was not mentioned in connection with the nuptial scenes of Hosea 2:14 to Hosea 3:5. She represented the old Israel, not the new.

Micah 4:5 — end of their walk with the Master. "We walk..." "By saying `we,' the prophet identified himself with the faithful people. The Church shall never fail. Heathen powers last for a time, but the kingdom of heaven is everlasting."W. J. Deane, op. cit., p. 50. "The fact that this promise is now fulfilled in Christ, and is not to be fulfilled in some future time is abundantly clear from the New Testament."Homer Hailey, op. cit., p. 106. The great implication of this verse is that: "Even at the time when

Habakkuk 2 overview — better, in any sense, than was Assyria; and God's answer consisted of five terrible woes pronounced against the great wicked state that would destroy Judea: Woe 1 (Habakkuk 2:6-8), Woe 2 (Habakkuk 2:9-11), Woe 3 (Habakkuk 2:12-14), Woe 4 (Habakkuk 2:15-17), and Woe 5 (Habakkuk 2:18-19). These woes had the effect of describing, not merely Babylon, but all of the successive heads of the great Scarlet Beast of Revelation 13. Things on earth where rebellious humanity had broken their fellowship with God

1 Peter 2:21 — an example, that ye should follow his steps: This and the following four verses are some of the noblest Scripture in all the Bible. In these five verses, there are no less than six references to Christ as the Suffering Servant, as depicted in Isaiah 53. It is just what should have been expected from the apostle who so boldly identified Jesus as "God's Servant Jesus" (Acts 3:13). Hereunto were ye called … Christ suffered vicariously for all people; and it is incumbent upon his followers

1 Peter 3:16 — Christ" is not Pauline, going back to our Lord himself who said, "Ye are in me and I in you" (John 14:20). Also, "I am the vine and ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit" (John 15:5). What is meant by being "in Christ"? The clue … is in the Hebrew conception of corporate personality." Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 130. The church is Christ, and is called Christ's spiritual body. See the extensive comment

Judges 3:31 — six hundred Philistines appears to be certain. "The son of Anath" "Anath was the Canaanite goddess of sex and war. She was the sister of Baal. Therefore, `son of Anath' may be interpreted to mean, `the Warrior.'"The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 3-C, p. 35. "With an ox-goad" This was an unusual weapon indeed. An ox-goad was a slender rod (a pole) some six or eight feet in length with a spike on one end and a flat knife on the other end. The knife was used to clean the plowshares, and the spike was for

2 Peter 2:3 — New Testament in Modern English (London: Geoffrey Bles, 1960), in loco. and by Williams as "messages manufactured by themselves." Charles B. Williams, The New Testament, a Translation in the Language of the People (Chicago: Moody Press, 1950), in loco. See more on the nature and quality of their words under 2 Peter 2:18. Whose sentence now from of old, etc …. As Zerr said: This means that the judgment or condemnation of such characters is of long standing, but that God has not changed

Revelation 13:7 — there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. And there was given to him … The importance of this is seen in its repetition, this or a similar clause being used twice in this verse, once in Revelation 13:5, and in Revelation 13:14 and Revelation 13:15. The truth behind this is that God is still the sovereign in his universe. People, in the stubborn and willful pursuit of their own selfish desires, and in following their own free will to do whatever comes

Revelation 2:16 — therefore; or else I come to thee quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. The admonition here is that, "The church as a whole must repent of its too tolerant attitude to the errorists." James Moffatt, op. cit., p. 357. As Graham noted, "They had taken no corrective action and had applied no discipline." Billy Graham, op. cit., p. 21. Such a "broadminded" indifferent attitude toward gross sins would have to be repented of. I will come unto thee