Bible Commentaries

Genesis 22:13-14 — So, God indeed saw a lamb for the sacrifice, but Abraham could only see his son, until the angel of Jehovah stopped his hand. "Jehovah-jireh" means "The Lord will provide," and has a double meaning: (1) that of providing a substitute for Isaac, and (2) that of providing a substitute for all people, upon Calvary.

Exodus 24:17-18 — cannot leave this without noting the astounding declaration of Davies that, "Jeremiah corrected Moses by omitting any reference to blood in the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), our Lord corrects Jeremiah by reintroducing the blood."G. Henton Davies, 20th Century Commentary (New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1955), p. 139. Such "mixed up" comments by critical scholars is common, and, for that reason, we shall include a section here on The Two Covenants. Before doing so, we should note that

Psalms 13:1 — PSALM 13 YEARNING FOR HELP FROM GOD (FOR THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF DAVID). The social situation reflected in this psalm is apparently the same as it was in Psalms 12. In fact, Delitzsch suggested that fact as the reason why the two psalms appear side by side in the Psalter.F. Delitzsch, The Old Testament, Vol. 5 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 199. The title we have selected is taken from Leupold.H. C.

Psalms 4:5-6 — righteousness." This is a reference to keeping the Lord's commandments as diligently, faithfully, and continually as is humanly possible. Of course; Christian "sacrifices" are utterly unlike the bloody offerings of the Old Testament, as indicated in 1 Peter 2:5. "Light of thy countenance upon us." The literal Hebrew word here for "countenance" is "face." James Moffatt's Translation of the Bible, 1929, rendered the passage "Smile upon us," and the Good News Bible rendered it, "Look on us with kindness."

Proverbs 10:15 — Riches and poverty are viewed as the opposite poles of successful and unsuccessful lives. Practical and usable in the every-day affairs of life, these proverbs surely are; but they fall far short of the ideals of Him "Who for our sakes became poor" (2 Corinthians 8:9). Here and there in Proverbs there are fleeting glimpses of truth that points to the higher ideals of the New Testament. For example, Proverbs 18:11 has this, "The rich man's wealth is his strong city… IN HIS OWN IMAGINATIONS"!

Proverbs 18:4 — waters; The wellspring of wisdom is as a flowing brook." The two clauses contrast man's teachings (the words of a man's mouth) with the true wisdom. "Deep waters in the Old Testament are associated with the thought of darkness and mystery (Psalms 59:2; Ecclesiastes 7:24; Proverbs 20:3)."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 Edition), Proverbs, p. 52. On the other hand, the true wisdom (God's Words) are like the happy sparkling waters of a flowing

Proverbs 19:15 — soul shall suffer hunger." "Laziness is the undoing of the worthless; idlers must starve."The New English Bible. No Biblical ethic stands any higher than "the work ethic." "If a man will not work," the New Testament declares, "neither shall he eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:10). The same commandment of the Decalogue that says, "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy," also says, "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work." "Shout it, ye lords of creation;And ring it, ye bells of the kirk;The gospel

Proverbs 22:8 — fail." "If you plant the seeds of injustice, disaster will spring up, and your oppression of others will end."The Good News Bible. "A man who sows evil has a harvest of trouble; his labor goes for nothing."James Moffatt's Translation of the Bible, 1929. Any person who is sinning is "sowing iniquity." The Septuagint (LXX) has a variant reading for the second line, "God loves a cheerful and liberal man,"The Greek Septuagint (LXX). and Scott called this the source of Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 9:7.The

Proverbs 23:17-18 — encouragement they can find; and here the sacred text thunders the message, "Surely there is a reward." The hope of heaven is a reality. Christ said, "In my Father's house, there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you." (John 14:2). This being true, why then, should any Christian envy the ephemeral joys of sinners, purchased by them at the price of eternal death?

Proverbs 27:14 — morning, It shall be counted a curse to him." Some uncertainty as to the exact meaning of this gives us alternative interpretations. (1) It is a rebuke of loud-mouth adulation, to which the public will ascribe evil intent on the part of the flatterer. (2) A loud-mouth blessing will call down the wrath of God, who shall consider it a curse. (Alternate interpretations by Toy).Ibid. Our own view of the passage is that any inconsiderate, loud-mouthed communication from a neighbor before daylight in the

Isaiah 65:17-25 — shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith Jehovah." What is the meaning of this remarkable paragraph? We know that it cannot refer to that New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God (Revelation 21-22), because sinners here are represented as living to be a hundred years old! There shall be no sinners in heaven. Moreover, "It is not eternal life which is envisaged here, but longevity."T. K. Cheyne's Commentary, Vol. II, p. 120. Furthermore, the

Haggai 2:6-7 — reference to the final Judgment that shall close the age of probation for the human race. Some have interpreted the passage to mean that God would topple powers, governments, institutions, and social systems; but that is what he promised to do in Haggai 2:7 (the very next verse), where he declared, "And I will shake all nations!" Two very different events are in view. The first is the final advent of Christ in the final judgment. The second, "the shaking of all nations" is the kind of upheaval among

Matthew 15:14 — harm by damaging their faith. The child of God today should heed the same admonition with reference to the same kind of persons. Spiritual darkness and sin are set forth in this place under the figure of blindness, a symbol often so used in the Bible (2 Peter 1:9, etc.).

Matthew 24:31 — judgment. The parables of the tares and of the fishnet mention the angels that shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just. The sound of the trumpet is also invariably associated with the judgment and the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16). Also, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 stresses the appearance of angels with Christ in his coming for judgment.

Matthew 25:22-23 — which the Lord will set his faithful ones at the second coming? We cannot know. Paul said: Things which eye saw not, and ear heard notAnd which entered not into the heart of man,Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him.— 1 Corinthians 2:9.

Mark 13:27 — angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. The angels … are always associated with the final judgment in the New Testament (Matthew 13:41; Matthew 13:49; 2 Thessalonians 1:7, etc.). Elect from the four winds … This is an idiom meaning "from everywhere." Uttermost part of earth … heaven … That both earth and heaven are mentioned here as places from which God will gather the

Mark 2:1 — And when he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was noised that he was in the house. (Mark 2:1) After some days … This means an indefinite period, one long enough to allow the frenzy which developed following the healed leper's sensational report to spend itself and be followed by a period of more normalcy. In the house … An alternative

Mark 5:3-4 — it; but Matthew supplied the significant fact that his ferocity had closed the area to human traffic, and Luke the equally significant fact that he was naked. Such a human monster had no doubt cast a terror over the entire village. See Zechariah 13:1-2.

Luke 12:39-40 — preaching a warning against unreadiness; and he here dramatically shifted to another metaphor in which he compares his Second Coming to the unexpected arrival of a thief. "Paul applied the same figure of speech to the Second Coming in 1 Thessalonians 5:2"Everett F. Harrison, op. cit., p. 236. At this point, Jesus' sermon was again interrupted, this time by the apostle Peter.

2 Samuel 7:12-17 — Solomon with his seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines! The inspired author of Hebrews makes that fact absolutely indisputable. "To what angel did God ever say, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son."? (Hebrews 1:5-7). Psalms 2:7; Psalms 89:26-27; Acts 13:33 and other passages in the Bible make it clear that only of Jesus Christ was it ever said that God was his father and that He was God's son. Any notion that this refers to Solomon is ridiculous. "There is neither proof