Bible Commentaries

Psalms 96:10-13 — the Messiah, indeed a `Personal Messiah' was none other than God Himself in the person of his only begotten Son, who in the New Testament is declared to be "God" in no less than a dozen passages (John 1:1; John 1:18; John 20:28; Acts 20:38; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; James 1:1; Revelation 5:13; Revelation 6:16). "Jehovah reigneth… he will judge the peoples with equity" The reign of Jehovah was announced by John the Baptist as, "The

Proverbs 3:11-20 — seeking."R. B. Sweet Publishing Company, No. 210 "Despise not the chastening of Jehovah" This understanding of the utility of sufferings and misfortunes borne by the righteous, "Is the same solution to that problem that was proposed by both Eliphaz (Job 5:17 f) and Elihu."Arthur S. Peake, A Commentary on the Bible (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 399. And, although their understanding of it as it regarded the miseries of Job was inaccurate, it is nevertheless one of the valid reasons why

Leviticus 1:1-2 — "There is nothing whatever in human nature" that could have invented or suggested sacrifice as the institution appears in the Holy Scriptures.Richard Collins, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 2, Leviticus (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. viii. It is our deep conviction of a lifetime that the institution of sacrifice was revealed by Almighty God in the gates of Paradise and that Cain and Abel were divinely instructed regarding the manner, material, and occasion of their offerings.

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 — than the day of his birth; because his Church celebrates his death, not his birth. Paul declared that, "It is better to depart and be with Christ (Philippians 1:21-23), Also; "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psalms 116:15). In spite of these scriptures, we find it very hard to believe that Solomon had anything like that in mind. His viewpoint here seems to be like that of a tribe in Thrace mentioned by Herodotus, "Who bewailed the birth of a child because of its entry

Isaiah 23:1-5 — all the houses of Tyre, using them to construct a mole all the way out to the island city itself, which was literally scraped into the sea. The critics, of course, would date this prophecy, not merely "after the exile"Peake's Commentary Series, p. 452. but after 332 if they dared; but Alexander himself indicated belief in these very prophecies. See the full discussion of this in my Commentary on Daniel (Vol. 1 of the Major Prophets), pp. 9-11. "Merchants of Sidon" Here Sidon stands for Tyre and

Isaiah 44:1-5 — obedient. Note what this little paragraph actually promises: "The outpouring of the Spirit (Isaiah 44:3) is a glimpse of the new covenant as in Jeremiah 31:31 ff; Ezekiel 36:26; Joel 2:28, and Acts 2.The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 614. Isaiah 44:5 is a foretaste of Gentile conversion.Ibid. These verses promise redemption and the reception of the Spirit through the success of the Gospel of Christ.Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (London: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), Vol. IV, p. 175. Here

Daniel 3:2-7 — Babylonian words. As Leupold stated, "These Persian names make it impossible to assume that this was written during the times of the Exile."Ibid. It is a characteristic of the Biblical style that the lists of the musical instruments are repeated in Daniel 3:5; Daniel 3:7; Daniel 3:15, and that the list of officers is repeated in Daniel 3:2-3; Daniel 3:27. In their diligent efforts to discover some evidence that Daniel was composed in the Greek period, some of the critics note that some of the musical instruments

Hosea 9:15 — from the very first. At Gibeath, they had rejected God's government and set up their own king; at Baal-peor, that had rejected the stern morality of the Decalogue and "consecrated" themselves to Baal "And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor" (Numbers 25:3). Gilgal was another place where their inherent apostasy had long been in evidence. "Hosea considered Israel's monarchy to be one of Israel's primary offences against Jehovah; and the only noteworthy incident at Gilgal preserved in...the Old Testament

Amos 5:25 — that: "The denial that they had offered sacrifices applied to the nation as a whole, or the great mass of the people, individual exceptions being passed by… During that forty years, not even the rite of circumcision was practiced (See Joshua 5:5-7); and the sacrificial worship prescribed by the law fell more and more into disuse, so that the generation that was sentenced to die in the wilderness for their rebellion offered no more sacrifices."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 290. Furthermore, it

Deuteronomy 2:8-13 — nation (Moab) to whom God had given land as a possession, noting also that God would not allow Israel to take any possession that God had not given to Israel. Here is another example of what was mentioned above relative to the statement in Deuteronomy 2:5. Moses also enhanced this reference to God as the sovereign of all the earth (Acts 17:26) by throwing in the statement in Deuteronomy 2:10-12. The mighty race of the Rephaim had preceded Moab in that territory, but when they proved themselves no longer

Mark 7:14-16 — derivatives and corollaries of such regulations. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ abolished the commandment which says, "Thou shalt not kill," substituting another in its place; and making anger in the heart to be the equivalent of murder (Matthew 5:21-22). In this exceedingly significant passage, Jesus abolished the laws of diet and ceremonial uncleanness, for the simple reason that these were only external to begin with, designed for teaching spiritual realities, and having been made even more

Mark 8:31 — again. THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE PASSION, THE RESURRECTION, AND THE SECOND COMING This paragraph beginning with Mark 8:31 and continuing through Mark 9:1 is characteristic of Mark in that several unrelated things are gathered together in it, as in Mark 5:21-25. Scholars have a custom of formalizing three definite announcements of Jesus' approaching death, resurrection, and second coming; and despite the fact of Matthew's detailing three distinct occasions when such prophecies were given (Matthew 16:21;

John 19:21 — while, that is; because the day was not over; and before it ended, the sun would stop shining; the veil of the temple would fall asunder; an explosive earthquake would occur; and a dreadful apprehension would fall upon the city of the great King (Matthew 5:35). Pilate's words, if spoken in Latin, were "Quod scripsi scripsi!"

Acts 11:27-28 — in Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 4:11. Agabus … is again mentioned in Acts 21:10. The event of his prophesying the famine in the reign of Claudius is helpful in fixing the chronology of the events here narrated. "Claudius reigned from A.D. 41-54." Jack P. Lewis, Historical Backgrounds of Bible History (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1971), p. 144. He is the only emperor to have been named twice in the New Testament, here and in Acts 18:2; the latter instance referring to his

Acts 24:11 — endlessly, counting up the twelve days Paul mentioned; and Ramsay's calculation of them is one of the most readable. It is as follows: 1. Reception by James and the elders; first day of purification. 2-4. Second, third, and fourth days of purification. 5. Fifth day of purification; riot; Paul's speech on the steps of Antonio. 6. Meeting of the council (Paul's dream that night). 7. Plot to slay Paul is arranged. 8. He starts to Caesarea before midnight, reaches Antipatris before dawn: Ananias learns

Acts 4:15-16 — here overlook two things, (1) the Holy Spirit's guidance of the inspired evangelist, and (2) the fact that many of the Pharisees obeyed the gospel and had long been faithful Christians at the time of Luke's probable interview of them (Acts 6:1; Acts 15:5, etc.). We may be certain that what is here related occurred exactly as it is written. Therefore, it is not necessary, as did Bruce, to suggest that "The decision by the Sanhedrin in the absence of Peter and John would be readily inferred from

Romans 8:10 — of righteousness. If Christ is in you … is exactly synonymous with several other Pauline expressions, such as: being "in Christ," the Spirit "dwelling in" Christians, and "having the mind of Christ" (Philippians 2:5), etc. These expressions may not be precisely differentiated, for they all refer to the saved condition. The body is dead because of sin … emphasizes the truth that the redemption in Christ does not remit the sentence of physical death upon all

Romans 8:5 — Wuest, may be translated literally thus: For those who are habitually dominated by the flesh put their mind on the things of the flesh. Kenneth S. Wuest, Romans in the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1955), p. 130. Wuest also noted that the word "mind" carries with it the thought of "deliberately setting the mind upon a certain thing." From this, it is clear that "walking after the flesh" means deliberately shutting out

Joshua 1:1 — saying." "Now it came to pass" "The form of the Hebrew word here rendered `now' shows that Joshua is intended to be a CONTINUATION of the Book of Deuteronomy";Alfred Plummer, The Pulpit Commentary, Joshua (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 1. but, "Joshua is distinct from the Pentateuch. There is no ancient Jewish tradition or manuscript evidence that the book ever formed a unit with the five books of the Law,"Merrill F. Unger, Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 1 (Chicago:

Revelation 14 overview — There is relatively very little difficulty in the interpretation of this chapter. First (Revelation 14:1-5), there is a consolatory vision of the redeemed rejoicing in heaven (anticipatory, of course), followed by a solemn angelic announcement of the final judgment (Revelation 14:6-7), "The hour of his judgment is come!" However, even preceding