Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 13:14-19 — and said, "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times: then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it; whereas thou shalt smite Syria but thrice." This was the last recorded prophecy of Elisha, and it was exactly fulfilled as recorded in 2 Kings 13:22-25 below. This was another of those enacted prophecies which are so characteristic of those by the great prophets of the O.T. The arrow shot from the window eastward was a prophecy of the defeat of Syria. "My father! my father! the chariots

2 Kings 16:1-4 — nations, whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree." Three charges against Ahaz are made here. (1) He did not walk in the way of David; (2) he offered his son as a burnt offering to Molech; and (3) he participated in the licentious worship in the high places. The prior kings had winked at the old Canaanite worship still going on in the high places, but Ahaz was the first king of Judah

Psalms 34:1-6 — continually" (Psalms 34:1). This indicates David's purpose of praising God under all circumstances. Such continual prayer and thanksgiving are also required of Christians. "Giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus" (Ephesians 5:20) and "Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God" (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18), are New Testament references to this obligation. Of course, what is required is a life of consistent prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, not

Psalms 59:10-13 — (Selah)" "Let me see my desire upon mine enemies" "The words 'my desire' are not in the original (as indicated by the italics); and Spurgeon tells us that the Hebrew here means that, "David expected to see his enemies without fear."Charles Haddon Spurgeon, p. 264. This is only another example of instances in which 'supplied words' by the translators sometimes unintentionally change the meaning of the text. "Lest my people forget" David's request here is that God would not slay his enemies at once, but subdue

Psalms 8:5-6 — works! "But a little lower than God" The Septuagint (LXX) mistranslated this passage, making it read, "But a little lower than the angels"; and, as the Septuagint (LXX) was the common Bible known by many in Jesus' ministry, it is thus quoted in Hebrews 2:6-8 f. However, "The Hebrew word which the Septuagint (LXX) renders as "angels" is actually "[~'Elohiym]," meaning "God"; and there can be no doubt of the correct rendition. This error, however, has not been a damaging one, because angels themselves

Isaiah 29:1-4 — "within one year"; but in fairness, it must be admitted that such a promise is simply not in the passage. "Adding year to year and letting the feasts come round" point to successive actions and not to the limitation of a single year. We learn in Isaiah 32:9 ff that the time was "slightly longer than a year"; and, in that passage, "Isaiah implies that his hearers did not well understand his language."T. K. Cheyne's Commentary, p. 169. Indeed, they did not; and commentators are still misunderstanding it,

Jeremiah 40:1-4 — disordered bedlam of the siege and destruction of a great city? See our more complete discussion of this under Jeremiah 39:14. It is high time that men stopped criticizing the Bible and started reading it! Another alleged "difficulty" concerns Jeremiah 40:2-3, in which the captain of the guard uses the very language of Jeremiah in describing what happened to Jerusalem. "Some believe that such a quotation is incongruous in the mouth of a Babylonian";Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press),

Jeremiah 7:12-15 — and dramatic. Go to Shiloh! My name was once there; but it did not protect Israel in their wickedness; and neither will the current temple protect you. God here prophesied both (1) the destruction of the temple, just like he had destroyed Shiloh, and (2) the carrying away of Judah just as he had already deported the whole seed of Ephraim. After the conquest of Canaan, the ancient tabernacle was set up at Shiloh, "some eighteen miles north of Jerusalem,"Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody

Jeremiah 8:1-3 — were buried under the earth so artfully, that they did not appear even to those entering their monuments.Flavius Josephus' Antiquities, The Life and Works of Flavius Josephus, translated by William Whiston (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston), p. 237. Dummelow expressed doubts as to the genuine motivation for such wholesale desecration of the Jewish graves, supposing that it might have been, "either from pure wantonness, or in the hope of finding treasures or ornaments of value."J. R. Dummelow's

Micah 4:1 — times of the Messiah."Gleason L. Archer, The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 756. The apostle Peter declared on the day of Pentecost that the expression refers to this present dispensation (Acts 2:16). Of course, this requires the interpretation of this passage as a description of the glory and success of the kingdom of Christ. The whole passage "points to the end of the Jewish age and the introduction of a new era under the spiritual ruler."Homer

John 11:3 — occurred nearly four months after those mentioned in the previous chapter; those occurred in December, and these at the approach of the Passover in April.Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1954), p. 295. These sisters did not say to Jesus: "Do something; heal our brother; come quickly," or any such thing. Their conduct was like that of Hezekiah who spread Sennacherib's insulting letter before the Lord in the temple (2 Kings 19:14). Like

John 11:37 — that any miracle had occurred in the healing of the blind man appear here as perfectly willing to admit it if it can be made a tool of slander in the present case. There were two classes of witnesses: (1) Some said, "Look how he loved him!" (2) Others said, "Well, here is certainly a man he could not heal, no matter about the man born blind!"

John 17:13 — the dramatic change about to occur added drama and tension to this remarkable prayer. That they may have my joy, etc. … Two factors involved in the projected joy of the apostles were: (1) Christ's necessary departure to be with the Father, and (2) this prayer upon their behalf. My joy … Barnes referred this to "The joy of the apostles respecting the Saviour which would result from his resurrection." Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 356.

John 3:11 — seen; and ye receive not our witness. In this verse, Jesus changed to the plural "we," a change that may be viewed (1) as inclusive of the disciples there gathered with him and also sharing in the witness of the power of the new birth, or (2) as an employment of the editorial "we" instead of the first person singular. If the former is correct, it would have the force of saying, "Nicodemus, I am not merely speaking the truth to you, but the demonstration of it is also before

Acts 5:6 — doubt that "severe examples had also occurred" B. W. Johnson, The New Testament with Explanatory Notes (Delight, Arkansas: Gospel Light Publishing Company, n.d.), p. 434. in the days of Moses, as in the cases of Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-2) and of Achan (Joshua 7:16-25).

Acts 6:4 — they had already been doing, namely, devoting their total resources to the propagation of the truth. This verse denies the supposition that, until this time, the apostles had been doing all of the distributing of food to the needy. See under Acts 6:2. The ministry of the word … Nothing is any plainer in the New Testament than the priority of the word and doctrine of Christ over every other consideration, even that of taking care of the poor. Neither area of responsibility is to be neglected;

Acts 9:43 — double purpose of showing (1) that a tanner was not considered beyond redemption, thus nullifying a Jewish concept which stressed the perpetual defilement of tanners because of their working continually with dead bodies, or portions of dead bodies; and (2) also for the sake of its bearing upon the event next to be related in Acts 10.

1 Corinthians 6:16 — flesh. Or know ye not … carries the thought of "With all of your conceited knowledge, has it never occurred to you that participation with a harlot makes the participant and the harlot one flesh?" Paul proved it by the reference to Genesis 2:24. As Dummelow said, however, The words spoken by God (in the reference cited) were first spoken of marriage, and are here applied to an unholy union. Paul does not place the two on the same plane but only points out that in this one respect they are

1 Corinthians 8:3 — correct in the observation that: Paul did not wish to use any terms which would foster the already overgrown conceit of knowledge which was inflating the minds of his Corinthian converts. Furthermore he felt that "God knoweth them that are his" (2 Tim. 3:19). F. W. Farrar, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 264. Also, as Morris said, "The really important thing is not that we know God, but that he knows us!" Leon Morris, op.

2 Samuel 17:15-20 — Absalom, he was not a part of the final session in which the decision was made. He did not know which plan would be followed, so he warned David on the assumption that Ahithophel's counsel might actually be followed."George DeHoff's Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 215. "These verses reveal how the underground worked to keep David informed of events in Jerusalem."The Teachers' Bible Commentary, p. 189. "A maidservant used to go and tell them… they would go and tell King David" "The verbs here are frequentative,