Bible Commentaries

Exodus 27:9-19 — produced in the study, was never actually implemented."J. Coert Rylaarsdam, The Interpreter's Bible, Vol., I (New York: Abingdon Press, 1953), p. 1036. The following diagram, known for centuries, shows exactly how these instructions were implemented:1234567891011121314151617181920112This arrangement of the 60 pillars235 cubits apart satisfies perfectly the34Biblical requirement that twenty should4== Entrance5be on each side and ten at each end.5== "6Notice that two of the four corners are6== "7counted

2 Kings 13:1-9 — Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead." "In the three and twentieth year of Joash" Cook wrote that this should be corrected to the "one and twentieth year on the basis of what is written in 2 Kings 13:10."Albert Barnes, Kings, p. 262. "He… followed the sins of Jeroboam" We cannot accept the allegations that the calf worship set up by Jeroboam I at Dan and Bethel was anything other than outright rebellion against God. It is disgusting

Job 1 overview — here. Apparently, none of the scholars whose writings we have consulted thus far on Job have been reading the same Bible that we read. They all say that the scene here is "laid in heaven." Ridiculous! Satan does not have access to heaven. Revelation 12:7-9 declares, regarding Satan and his angels, that, "Their place was found no more in heaven," and that, "Satan was cast down to earth," and this epoch event is revealed as taking place before the creation of Adam. That is why Satan had access to the

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 — not thy hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." These six verses are, "The first remedy proposed by the author for the perplexities of life,"The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 9b, p. 275. a life which he has repeatedly called "vanity of vanities." And what is this recommended remedy? "Cast thy bread upon the waters, etc." For more than eighteen centuries, there was never any doubt about what was meant here. Franz Delitzsch noted,

Isaiah 52:13-15 — had been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand." Here is the introduction to the several revelations in this Great Passional, as it was called by Rawlinson. (1) The superlative exaltation of The Servant; (2) the marred visage of the Servant brought on by his extensive suffering; (3) the sprinkling of all nations, a reference to the incredible success of his kingdom; and (4) the patronage of kings, and the adherence of the great men of the earth to his

Ezekiel 40 overview — exhibits no compatibility whatever with Christianity. (1)    The very idea of a physical temple is repugnant to Christianity. "God dwelleth not in temples made with hands" (Acts 7:48). There will not even be a Temple in heaven itself. (2)    Animal sacrifices and other material sacrifices for sins are a total contradiction of the Holy Truth that, "The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sins" (1 John 1:7). "It is impossible that `the blood of bulls

Daniel 7 overview — Practically all scholars, whether liberal or conservative, are convinced that the prophecy of this chapter follows the same pattern as that in Daniel 2, and that the "four beasts" appearing here are to be identified with the four parts of the great image with the head of gold which appeared in Daniel 2. This means also that the same critical errors alleged in their interpretations of Daniel 2 are repeated

Romans 1:28 — that "even as" they had refused to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a reprobate mind, making their reprobacy correspond to the reprobate act of forsaking the knowledge of God. The same thought is expressed in Romans 1:27 where the judgment was mentioned as one that "was due." WHEN GOD GIVES UP ON PEOPLE In the paragraph above, Paul affirmed that for just reasons God gave up on some people; but that was hardly a new concept. The psalmist noted that, My people

Romans 2:21-24 — the fact of its being so generally true of that particular generation. Christ himself supported Paul's charge of theft thus: And he saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers (Matthew 21:13). The persons charged in Jesus' indictment were none other than the social, religious, and political leaders of the nation. Paul's charge of adultery was supported by all the Old Testament prophets, especially Jeremiah, who wrote, (They) assembled

Romans 8:9 — the New Testament, the fact of the indwelling Spirit of God is emphasized. The first promise of the gospel is that believers in Christ who repent and are baptized for the remission of sins shall "receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38 f), and for this reason he is called "The Holy Spirit of Promise" (Ephesians 1:13). To the Corinthians, Paul spoke of "the Holy Spirit which is in you" and declared that "the Spirit of God dwelleth in you" (1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:4 — do; and as for the notion that Satan in any meaningful sense rules the world, Nebuchadnezzar had to eat grass for seven years in order to learn that "The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will" (Daniel 4:25). This means that Satan's promise to give Christ the rulership of the world in return for falling down and worshipping the devil (Matthew 4:4 ff) was an unqualified falsehood. Other New Testament passages that refer to Satan in a similar manner to

2 Corinthians 6:1 — being again lost … the dangerous error of predestination, which asserts that grace cannot be lost, is unknown to Scripture. Philip E. Hughes, Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), p. 217. In fairness to Hughes, it should be noted that he rejected this, declaring that Olshausen's opinion "can only have been dictated by prejudice … the doctrine of predestination is certainly not unknown in Scripture." Ibid. Such

Galatians 6:2 — CHRIST at the end of this chapter. In the verse before us, two essential elements of that Law have already been mentioned in this chapter, and others will be enumerated in a moment. No. 1 is: "Restore the Backsliders" (Galatians 6:1). No. 2 is "Bear Ye One Another's Burdens" (Galatians 6:2). Of course, in Galatians 6:5, Paul said, "Each man shall bear his own burden"; but it is still surprising that even a Christian scholar should read this as a "contradiction,"

Ephesians 2:14 — For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition. Our peace … The mind of the great apostle still lingered upon the glorious prophecies of Isaiah (see under Ephesians 2:13); and in such a frame of mind Paul would most certainly have included in his thoughts the prophecy of the Son of God who had assured his apostles that the Jewish temple itself would be utterly devastated and destroyed within the time-span of a single

2 Timothy 2:11-13 — apostle Paul. Faithful is the saying … Lenski wrote: We see that Paul is not quoting some ancient hymn as some think … Although we have symmetry in the sentences, this is not poetry, but Paul's own prose. R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 792. Furthermore, there is no evidence that "faithful is the saying" constitutes any kind of popular formula for introducing a proverb. Where or when in the history of the world have popular proverbs needed to be "introduced" by any

Hebrews 8:6-7 — second. Particularly interesting in these two verses is the mention of two, and only two, covenants, designated "the first" and "the second." Now God made a covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18; Genesis 9:9), and two covenants with Abraham (Genesis 17:2; Genesis 17:10; Genesis 15:18 ff), and a covenant of salt (Numbers 18:19; Leviticus 2:13), and a covenant of the everlasting priesthood (Numbers 25:13); but the "first covenant" of these verses is none of these covenants. It is the covenant

2 Peter 2:1 — outstanding teachings in the Petrine writings is the correspondence between the Old and the New Israel, an analogy that he had surely learned from the Lord himself. Jesus himself had flatly predicted the same thing Peter prophesied here (Matthew 7:15-23). A number of Old Testament references to the false prophets of the Old Israel were cited by Barclay, thus: William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 314. The false prophets said, Peace, Peace,

2 Peter 3:2 — minds of his readers. Wheaton observed that this verse "taken in general terms could describe the contents of 1 Peter." David H. Wheaton, The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1256. However, Wheaton voiced the usual reservation that, "If this verse is taken as having to do with the second coming, it hardly describes Peter's first letter." Ibid. It is an unqualified mystery to this writer why some scholars are so up

Ruth 1:1-5 — birthplace of both King David and of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and is located only six or seven miles south of Jerusalem. Some believe that Elimelech was NOT justified in making this move. Matthew Henry labeled it as "unjustified."Matthew Henry Commentaries, p. 253. And the Targum suggests that the death of all three of these men was due to their leaving the land of Israel in the case of Elimelech and because of their marrying strange women in that of the two sons. Regarding the wives of the two sons, Josephus

1 Samuel 23:6-14 — not give him into his hand." "Abiathar the son of Ahimelech… came (to David) with an ephod in his hand" Scholars disagree as to the point in time when Abiathar came to David. Willis placed their coming together here at Keilah.John T. Willis, p. 232. Matthew Henry's commentary supports Willis in this understanding of the passage;Matthew Henry's Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 403. however, Keil wrote that, "The words `to David to Keilah' are not to be understood as signifying that Abiathar did not come