Bible Commentaries

Ezra 10:5-6 — the captivity." "By making the people to swear to follow the suggested course of action while feelings were still running high, Ezra ensured that there could be no turning back at a later stage."Wycliffe Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 151. In Ezra 10:6, "The reference to Johanan the son of Eliashib has featured prominently in discussions of the date of Ezra."Ibid. However, Williamson in his award-winning commentary, after several pages of discussions regarding the bearing this passage is alleged to

Ezra 7:1 — chapter which features Ezra's journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, but the problem centers in the question of just which one of the two kings of Persia named Artaxerxes is the one spoken of here. Those kings were Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) who reigned 465-425 B.C., and Artaxerxes II (Mnemon) who ruled in 405(4) to 358 B.C. Depending upon which one of these monarchs was meant, there is a gap between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7 here of either 58 years or 117 years. There is a sharp disagreement among scholars on

Job 10:1-7 — heart; and no one can wonder that even God was especially well pleased with it, and that God, in effect, challenged Satan to destroy it if he could. "Thou knowest that I am not wicked" This is not a contradiction of what Job had just said in Job 10:6. Some sin, unknown to himself, Job freely admitted; but wicked, he was not!

Job 37:1-5 — this chapter at the very time that he and the others were watching the approach of a storm. And from thoughts of the storm, he then proceeded to mention snow, rain, and other natural phenomena. "Job 37:1-5 elaborate the picture of the storm; and Job 37:6-13 deal with new evidences, the ice, snow and cold of winter, etc."Ibid.

Psalms 103:19-22 — years in order to teach that vainglorious ruler that, "The Most High rules in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will" (Daniel 4:25). "Bless Jehovah, ye his angels" The angels of heaven are represented as worshipping God; and in Hebrews 1:6 this verse is quoted and applied to Jesus Christ, indicating the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. "All ye his hosts… ye ministers of his" The psalmist is here still speaking of angels, as Briggs observed. "In the expression `hosts,' the angels

Psalms 22:1-2 — much in the sacred Scriptures to commend this view. Christ is spoken of in Hebrews 2:9 as the One, who by the grace of God did indeed, "Taste of death for every man." Isaiah tells us that, "God laid upon him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). Paul mentioned that God Himself "Set forth the Christ to be a propitiation" (Romans 3:25), or an atonement, for the sins of all men. "Christ died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:3); and "Him (Christ) who knew no sin, God made to be sin on our behalf;

Psalms 42:6-8 — All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the daytime; And in the night his song shall be with me Even a prayer unto the God of my life." (See the chapter introduction for a discussion of Psalms 42:6.) "All thy waves and thy billows have gone over me" The psalmist here remembers the experience of Jonah, making the same determination that God will yet bless him, just as he blessed Jonah. The passage recalled here is: "All thy waves and thy billows

Psalms 5:4-6 — John 8:14 ff, where Satan himself is designated as the father of these very sins. Regarding murderers, modern society is reaping the very violence and bloodshed that would have been prevented if human society had heeded God's commandment in Genesis 9:6, in which there stands the Divine Commandment to put murderers to death. That is not permission to do so, or a suggestion to that effect, it is a heavenly order! Let people see in our own nation this very day the result of society's failure to obey

Psalms 6:1-10 — PRAYER FOR MERCY IN SICKNESS (FOR THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, ON STRINGED INSTRUMENTS, SET TO THE SHEMINITH. A PSALM OF DAVID) For ages, Christian scholars have considered this Psalm to be one of the seven Penitential Psalms, namely, Psalms 6; Psalms 32; Psalms 38; Psalms 51; Psalms 102; Psalms 130; and Psalms 143. However, no sin whatever is mentioned in the Psalm; and it is not exactly clear why David felt that he was under the wrath of God. Based upon the fact that David's enemies are

Psalms 75:10 — purpose. God's servants are his instruments in carrying out his judgments; and there is a very real sense in which all of them should seek to fight against dominant evil and to cripple the power of tyrannous godlessness."Alexander Maclaren, Vol. II, p. 365. Maclaren's words appeal to some, but we cannot agree that these words are appropriate in the mouth of any ordinary man, no matter how devoted to God he may be. McCaw proposes a way out of the difficulty by supposing that it is The King of Israel who

Psalms 77:4-9 — to remembrance my song in the night" "Many have been the songs that he either composed or sang; and he had once derived much spiritual comfort from them; but they gave him no help now, and aroused no feelings of confident faith."H. C. Leupold, p. 556. The six plaintive questions of Psalms 77:7-9 are eloquent expressions indeed of the doubts and fears of the psalmist. He strongly desired to find negative answers to all these questions, but the harsh conditions confronting the nation of Israel seemed

Ecclesiastes 9:16-18 — part she played in all that. With these verses, we enter the final phase of Ecclesiastes which contains a large number of proverbs, which may be construed as the author's answer to the question of "What is good for man"? (Ecclesiastes 2:3; Ecclesiastes 6:12). "A great part of these seem to have a special reference to servants of a king,"Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1989 reprint of the 1878 edition), Ecclesiastes, p. 108. as would be natural enough in the writings

Isaiah 26:21 — blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias (Matthew 23:35). Bloodshed cries to God for vengeance (Genesis 4:10); and bloodshed will be one of the main causes of the world's final destruction at the last day (Revelation 16:6; Revelation 18:20).The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 10, p. 416. "The earth shall no more cover her slain" "In the last day, there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and nothing hidden that shall not be known" (Matthew 10:26). "Every murder,

Isaiah 33:13-16 — known to distant nations."Ibid. Isaiah 33:15 reveals six elements of righteousness, namely, (1) righteous conduct; (2) upright and honorable speech; (3) hatred of oppression; (4) refusal to take bribes; (5) rejection of all thoughts of murder; and (6) refusal to look upon shameful and evil things. Isaiah 33:16 records God's love for the righteous and his provision for their needs. Such promises as these do not apply solely to the righteous people of Isaiah's times, but to the saved of all generations.

Isaiah 38:1 — Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 294. to fix the date, but thought it might be around 705 B.C. Hailey gave the date as "701 B.C."Homer Hailey, p. 217. Rawlinson noted that, "The illness of Hezekiah is fixed by Isaiah 38:5 here and 2 Kings 20:6 to the fourteenth year of his reign, or B.C. 714."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 10b, p. 36. Adam Clarke listed 713 B.C. in the margin of his commentary on this verse;Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (London: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), Vol. IV,

Isaiah 39:7 — throne was indeed an evil son of the devil until near the very end of his life. In the Book of Daniel, we read that, "Among the princes of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azaraiah; and the prince of the eunuchs gave names unto them (Daniel 1:6-7). It was usually true in that era that "eunuchs" were men who had been emasculated; and although it was also true that sometimes "eunuchs" were "officers of the king." This was by no means true of the princes of Judah in Babylon. They were not officers

Isaiah 42:14-17 — attitude toward evil. On the other hand, "This paragraph shows God's fury against evil (Isaiah 42:13-14) and his pent-up zeal to redress it… salvation will only come through judgment, and will not be for the impenitent (Isaiah 42:17). Compare Isaiah 63:1-6."Ibid. There are certainly overtones of the final judgment in this paragraph, another instance where temporal judgment to be executed upon some earthly situation is to be understood typically of the Great Judgment at the second advent of Christ.

Jeremiah 34:12-16 — action which they had no intention of honoring. (4) It was an inhuman, unfeeling crime against innocent and defenseless people. (5) It was a violation and repudiation of the promises they themselves had made under oath; it was a perfidious perjury. (6) It was a crime against both God and mankind. (7) It was a crime against their wicked state which suffered the punishment their conduct so richly deserved.

Jeremiah 9:4-6 — but `advice,' equivalent to saying, "Such is the state of public morals that if you trust any man you shall be deceived and betrayed."John W. Haley, Examination of Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible (Nashville, Tennessee: B. C. Goodpasture, 1951), p. 262. The explanation of this advice is given in Jeremiah 9:6, where the whole society is referred to as "a habitation in the midst of deceit." "Every brother will utterly supplant" "The Hebrew here is a punning reference to Jacob (Genesis 27:36). God had

Jeremiah 9:7-9 — Chosen People. Without that conception, God's severe punishment of Israel amounted to no more than a capricious punishment of an unfortunate nation that was no worse than a dozen other peoples living in all directions from Israel! Back in Jeremiah 9:6, the prophet had revealed that "through deceit, the people refused to know the Lord"; and as Matthew Henry stated it, "Those who would not know the Lord as their lawgiver, would be compelled to know him as their judge!"Matthew Henry's Commentary, p.