Bible Commentaries

Genesis 1:29-31 — sixth day." The dominion of mankind over the animate creation was summarized in Genesis 1:28 f; and here that dominion was extended to the vegetable world also. The lesser dominion of the animals over the vegetable world was also noted in Genesis 1:30. "And, behold, it was very good" The goodness and wisdom of God are thus attested by the goodness of his creation. Finding fault with some of God's created things is wrong and fails to take into account the curse later imposed upon creation "for Adam's

Genesis 31:1-3 — hostile words of Laban's sons, a development rising out of Jacob's prosperity; and (2)    the fact that trouble was brewing was confirmed by the attitude of Laban, which toward Jacob had changed to hostility from friendliness; and (3)    Jehovah commanded him to leave. All this together signaled to Jacob that the hour for leaving Paddan-aram had struck. He moved at once to procure the aid of his wives and to inform them of the basis for his decision. Jacob's

Genesis 4:19 — wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah." The purpose of the writer of Genesis is clear, namely, that of recounting the beginnings of various things concerning mankind. The origin of sin in the Fall was given in Genesis 3. Here is the beginning of sacrifice, of the sinful changing of it, of the first murder, of the building of cities, of polygomy and especially the origin of that depraved section of mankind that precipitated the Flood by their wickedness. Lamech was

Nehemiah 1:4 — several commentators; but there is no way that they can be considered true. Jonah mentioned "The God of heaven" in the eighth century B.C. (Nehemiah 1:9); and we find it also in the works of Moses about one millennium before Nehemiah's time (Genesis 24:3; Genesis 24:7).

Job 22:1-3 — Surely he that is wise is profitable unto himself. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous? Or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect?" Rawlinson referred to these lines as "irrelevant";The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 7d, p. 369. but actually, there was a terribly wicked thrust in these words. "Eliphaz here thinks that it is for man's sake alone that God created him,"The Expositor's Bible, op. cit., p. 372. and that God laid out the rules, which if a man follows them, he

Psalms 122:8-9 — business of a king, not that of an ordinary citizen. The reasons here assigned for the concern and solicitation for the peace, prosperity and "good" of Jerusalem are: (1) for the sake of the psalmist's brethren; (2) for that of his companions; and (3) for the sake of the "house of Jehovah." How, then did this psalm come to be among the psalms of the Little Psalter mentioned in the introduction to these fifteen psalms? There could have been nothing whatever in the way of adopting this "Psalm of David"

Psalms 125:1-2 — this is that even racial Jews who choose to be within the ranks of God's only Israel today are not merely welcome, they are admitted upon the same terms as any other races, there being "no distinction" whatever between racial Jews and Gentiles (Romans 3:22; Romans 10:12; Acts 11:12; Acts 15:9). For a complete discussion of God's breaking his covenant with racial Israel (but not with the true Israel), see Vol. 4 of my series on the minor prophets, pp. 164-167.

Proverbs 30:11-14 — teaching device among the Jews. The first two chapters of Amos are an example of this method. Harris noted that Jesus also utilized the same device, as for example, in the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount,Ibid. where one finds two tetrads (Matthew 5:3-6; and Matthew 5:7-10). The evil character of the generation described here strongly resembles that which is described in the prophecy of Amos.

Isaiah 38:15-17 — versions and the scrolls have no unanimity."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 610. The mention of God's putting Hezekiah's sins behind his back, does not mean that God forgave them, but that for the time present he was "passing over" them as in Romans 3:25.

Isaiah 45 overview — is a continuation of the revelation in the previous chapter. This is a prophecy concerning Cyrus of the Medo-Persian Empire, and how God delivered into his hands many nations, the wealth he procured, and how all his enemies were subdued (Isaiah 45:1-3); to whom Cyrus was indebted for all those wonderful victories (Isaiah 45:4-6); God reveals himself as the one true and only Deity who made light and darkness, refuting the absurd theory of the Persians that there were two gods, one of the good, and

Jeremiah 13:25-26 — The shameful punishment of an adulterous woman in antiquity included lifting her skirts above her head, exposing her nakedness, smearing her with filth, and driving her through the city. The expression, "your heels shall suffer violence" (Jeremiah 13:23) could refer to "your body, or genitals."J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 374. This drastic kind of punishment prescribed for Israel was justified and appropriate, because,

Jeremiah 31:33 — people." Notice that God does not here state that he will cancel or no longer require his law to be observed, but that he will achieve the observance of his holy law by an utterly new method. That new method would be by the means of "the new birth" (John 1:3-7). A new heart would be created in obedient believers, and this would enable a more acceptable obedience to Divine Law. God never envisioned a time when his followers (even Christians) would be able to achieve perfect obedience; and therefore in the

Jeremiah 42:18 — 145. The summary of God's whole message was (1) remain in Judaea, and God will bless you, build you up, etc. (2) Go to Egypt, and you will incur the wrath of God; and the last one of you that go shall die there by the sword, the famine, or the pestilence. (3) Furthermore, the very things that make you afraid to remain in Judah shall befall you in Egypt.

Numbers 10:17-20 — evidently a typographical error, unless we resort to the supposition that Reuel (Numbers 2:14) was also called Deuel, which is not an impossible supposition at all. It may be news to some that there is even a typographical error in the ASV (2 Timothy 3:17) where "throughly" was written instead of "thoroughly" in all early copies of that version.

Jonah 3:1 — vows and thank God there; perhaps he also thought that his punishment had been sufficient, and that he would not again be commanded to go to Nineveh.Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament, Minor Prophets, Vol. I (Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1953), p. 413. At any rate, it was certain that Jonah had settled down "somewhere"; for the Word of God that came the second time, said, "Arise and go (Jonah 3:2)"; and that is inconsistent with the idea that Jonah was already on the way.

Nahum 1:13 — his people had led him to conclude that Assyria's downfall meant Judah's happiness."William C. Graham, op. cit., p. 799. Apparently Graham failed to appreciate the fierce denunciation of specific acts of wickedness which were enumerated under Nahum 1:3, above, and which recur continually throughout the prophecy, nor is there any indication whatever that Nahum did not apply those denunciations to similar sins of Israel and Judah. That he did not specifically state that fact in Nahum is no proof of

Nahum 3:6-7 — to pass that all they that shall look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?" These two verses merely draw out the description of the punishment indicated in Nahum 3:5. "Cast abominable filth upon thee" This was probably what witnesses of such punishment usually did to the victims of it. Why such terrible punishment? "Because, like a beautiful wanton, an image John repeats of Rome in Revelation, Nineveh had lured

Zechariah 10:4 — "From him shall come forth the corner stone, from him the nail, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together." This is a dramatic reference to Jesus Christ the Messiah. He is the chief cornerstone (1 Peter 2:3-8); he is the nail, or the tent peg, upon which all depends; he is the battle bow, and from him comes every ruler together. "Every ruler" All earthly authority derives from Christ who told Pilate that he would have no power at all except it had been

2 Corinthians 1 overview — After the salutation (2 Corinthians 1:1-2), this chapter is wholly given to Paul's affirmation of his absolute sincerity and integrity. As Hughes said, "The import of 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 seems to have been missed by many commentators." Philip E. Hughes, Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), p. 9. In the very forefront of Paul's defense regarding his coming

Joshua 21:34-40 — was twelve cities." It is specifically pointed out that each of these four divisions of the cities of the Levites received either one or two of the cities of refuge: (1) The priests received Hebron; (2) the rest of the Kohathites received Shechem; (3) The Gershonites received Golan and Kedesh; (4) The Merarites received Bezer and Ramoth-Gilead.