Bible Commentaries

Ezra 6:19-22 — strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel." "With Ezra 6:19, the writer resumes the Hebrew language, which he had discarded for the Chaldee, beginning at Ezra 4:8. With the exception of the letter of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:12-26), the remainder of the book is in Hebrew."F. C. Cook, Barnes' Commentary Series, op., cit., p. 447. "All of them were pure" It is not exactly clear, as the translation reads, but Cook assures us that a contrast is drawn between the universal purity

Job 22:12-16 — evidently missed it here. Foundations cannot be `poured out' because they are not liquids. The KJV has, "Whose foundation was overflown with a flood"; and the RSV has, "Their foundation was washed away." Kline,Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 478. DeHoffGeorge DeHoff's Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 51. and DriverInternational Critical Commentary, Job, p. 196. interpreted this as a reference to the flood; and Driver gave the literal meaning as, "The foundations of whose houses were carried away by

Psalms 49:16-20 — well to thyself), He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see the light. Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, Is like the beasts that perish." The futility of trusting in riches continues to be the theme here. Psalms 49:17 reminds us of what the apostle Paul said, "We brought nothing into this world, and neither can we carry anything out" (1 Timothy 6:7). The proverb, "You can't take it with you," is not nullified by Bob Hope's wisecrack, that, "If I can't take it with

Isaiah 45:4-7 — be benefited and continued as a separate nation by the termination of their captivity; and (3) that the attention of all the world might be attracted, and that the unity of God might be manifested to all the earth.The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 1Ob, p. 173. These objectives were fully realized. Cyrus did indeed acknowledge God. "The hand of Jehovah was so manifest in his conquests that Cyrus himself acknowledged that they were of Jehovah."Albert Barnes' Commentary, Vol. II, p. 148. The last two verses

Isaiah 62:1-2 — Paul the mighty evangelist of the New Testament, the reason for that choice evidently being the truth that the Twelve Apostles seemed unlikely, at that time ever to meet the conditions under which the New Name would require to be given (see under No. 7, below). (a) Thus Paul was converted in Acts 9; and in that very chapter God revealed that the apostle Paul was that "chosen vessel unto me (God), to bear my (God's) name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15). The use

Jeremiah 10:6-10 — "essentially nothing," unable either to harm or to benefit their worshippers. Although he missed the truth about Jeremiah 10:11, calling it "a gloss,"J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 324. Thompson nevertheless made a significant contribution to the proper understanding of this passage. He wrote: "In view of many attempts to rearrange Jeremiah 10:1-25, we might ask if such is really the right procedure. It may be far better

Jeremiah 17:14-18 — me be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed; bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction." Scholars have been unable to date this lament;Anthony L. Ash, Psalms (Abilene, Texas: A.C.U. Press, 1987), p. 152. but, as we have frequently noted, the exact date of various chapters in this prophecy, or in any other, is of little or no importance. The only clue to a date in the whole passage is in Jeremiah 17:15, where, the people taunted Jeremiah because

Jeremiah 26:8-9 — court to try Jeremiah. If it had been allowed to proceed as the crooked prosecutors of these charges had planned, it would probably have resulted in the same kind of trial and stoning to death that later marked the trial and death of Stephen in Acts 7 th chapter. Fortunately, someone evidently summoned the elders and princes of the nation to come and take part in the trial, which they at once did.

Jeremiah 31:27-30 — captives would be skeptical; and therefore the announcement of it gets a heavy stamp of divine authority: `this is revelation!' "Ibid., p. 152. "I have watched over them to pluck up, etc." This is a reference to what Jeremiah had written in Jeremiah 18:7-10; and if Israel would now truly believe and serve God, all of the great blessings would be poured out upon them. "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, etc." This seems to have been a popular proverb among the Israelites, because Ezekiel also mentioned

Jeremiah 37:6-10 — come to pass, even if Judah were to kill their whole army except a few wounded men. This shows how certain was the fulfillment of what God had prophesied, and it was even a more unfavorable answer than the one Zedekiah had received in Jeremiah 21:4-7. "Deceive not yourselves" "Satan himself, though he is the great deceiver, could not deceive us if we did not deceive ourselves. Sinners are their own destroyers, being their own deceivers, despite the fact of their being so frequently warned against

Daniel 12:3 — parable who took no oil for their lamps, Jesus said, "Five were foolish" (Matthew 25:2). Concerning the man who heard the sayings of Jesus and did them not, our Lord said, "He shall be likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand" (Matthew 7:27). What an incredible folly characterizes every person who does not strive to live in a manner well pleasing to God! "They that turn many to righteousness" "This is a reference to those who are instrumental in converting men to the worship of the

Daniel 7:19-22 — horns and the little horn that uprooted three of the ten, persecuted God's people, and became a perpetual factor on earth even until the time of the judgment, - it is precisely here that the fourth beast was "diverse" from the others. See under Daniel 7:25, below, for interpretation of "how long" this little horn continued, namely, for "time and times and half a time." "Until… the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom" The possession of the kingdom here is not a reference to the establishment

Zephaniah 1:3 — divine judgement of the great flood would be included in the final destruction. By such an emphasis as this, Zephaniah shows that, "The approaching judgment will be general over all the earth, and as terrible as the judgment of the flood (Genesis 6:7)."C. F. Keil, Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 10, Zephaniah (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 127. "I will cut off man from the face of the ground, saith Jehovah" (See Eakin's comment on this sentence given under Zephaniah

Matthew 28:16 — in Galilee. Christ made an appointment to meet his disciples in Galilee, and that appointment HE KEPT. He kept it in spite of: (1) his sleeping disciples, (2) his betrayal, (3) their forsaking him, (4) his death, (5)his burial, (6) Peter's denial, (7) the big lie, and (8) the unbelief of many. The only persons who did not meet Christ on that mount in Galilee are those who did not go there to keep their appointment. In like manner, now Christ keeps his appointments with his disciples, in spite of

Deuteronomy 17:14-17 — This prophecy was most circumstantially fulfilled in the days of Samuel. "The monarchy must be viewed as permitted only, not ordained, by God."Peter E. Cousins, The New Layman's Bible Commentary, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979), p. 299. We reject as absolutely irresponsible, the assertion, "That these verses were written in criticism of a known monarch. He would multiply horses, wives, or money (Deuteronomy 17:16-17). This is a reference to Solomon's activity."G. Ernest

Mark 1:4-5 — unto remission of sins … John's baptism was a heavenly device for gathering together out of the nation of Israel a prepared people to receive and adore the Messiah. This baptism was of God, and those who rejected it rejected God's message (Luke 7:30). In God's plan of redemption, a new birth was the essential prerequisite, a birth of water and of the Spirit (John 3:5). The birth of water (John's baptism) was available to men in the preaching of the herald; and, for those who accepted it, the

Mark 12:38-40 — strongly stated in John 5:44 and John 12:43. Long robes … were worn by scholars and greatly coveted as marks of distinction. Salutations in the marketplaces … Such greetings had become with them the food of vanity and conceit (Matthew 23:7-8). Chief seats in the synagogues … were occupied by the scribes while the congregation stood! Chief places at feasts … Such dignitaries as the scribes were held to be, always occupied the dais or sat at the speaker's table. Thus, as Sanner

Mark 14:34 — presented!"Ibid., p. 432. In Gethsemane, the prospect of seeing Satan victorious (from the worldly point of view) was utterly repugnant to the Son of God. Strong cryings with tears marked our Saviour's human response to such a repulsive situation (Hebrews 5:7).

John 14:16 — and y, there are no vowels in the alphabet!" or "If we take out all references to it, the thing is nowhere visible!" Windisch is inaccurate in his allegation that these passages alone teach the coming of the Holy Spirit. See under John 7:37-39. 3.    "The sending of the Holy Spirit is an entirely new idea which is not prepared for in what comes before it and is not referred to in what follows." Ibid. Only a person shutting his eyes against one of the most

Joshua 10:1-5 — 14:18, making it absolutely certain that Melchizedek was a monotheist and a worshipper of the One True and Almighty God. Otherwise, Abraham's paying tithes to him, and his being singled out in the N.T. as a Great Type of the Son of God Himself (Hebrews 7:1 ff) would make no sense at all. The expression "God Most High" receives further light in the N.T., where the expression is found five times: (1) in Mark 5:7, where a demon protested an order from Christ, addressing Jesus Christ as, "Jesus, thou Son