Bible Commentaries

Exodus 11 overview — Plague prophesied here will not require the instrumentality of Aaron or Moses. Without human instrument, God will slay the first-born, and Moses will be busy with instructions concerning what Israel is to do as their deliverance approaches. Exodus 11:1-3 is parenthetical, resulting in ambiguity unless this is discerned, but, of course, any unusual or difficult arrangement of the text is always seized upon by critical scholars as an excuse for alleging interpolations, variable sources, or contradictions.

Exodus 23:25-27 — Word of God. "I will send my terror before thee" This dreadful fear of God was most effective in bringing Israel into Canaan. It is seen in the case of Balak and the Moabites. "Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many" (Numbers 22:3), and again in the instance of Rahab the harlot who confessed that, "The fear of you has fallen upon all of us" (Joshua 2:9; Joshua 2:11).

Exodus 29:31-34 — EATING OF THE SACRIFICES (Exodus 29:31-34): "And thou shalt take the ram of consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place. And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting. And they shall eat those things wherewith

2 Kings 1:17-18 — the chronicles of the kings of Israel?" "And Jehoram began to reign" Jehoram is the same as Joram.The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 4. This is an example of chronological inconsistencies in Kings. A glance at 1 Kings 22:51; 2 Kings 8:16, and 2 Kings 3:14 shows what the problem is. Rawlinson cleared it up by supposing that, "Jehoshaphat had associated his son Jehoram with him in the throne upon the occasion of his going to war at Ramoth-gilead."Ibid. It is strange that both Israel and Judah should

Job 31:5-8 — spot… etc." Nearly twenty times in this chapter we encounter these "if' clauses; and their significance was explained by Van Selms. "Job here appealed to the self-imprecatory oath: "God do so to me, and more also, if I… etc. (2 Samuel 3:35)."Van Selms, p. 112. "Then let me sow, and let another eat" This is the imprecation Job invoked upon himself in case he was found to be lying. In this chapter, we may understand all of the "if" clauses as an appeal to exactly this same kind of an

Job 8:20-22 — shame; And the tent of the wicked shall be no more." "God will not cast away a perfect man" Bildad's assertion here makes him the precursor of those who mocked Jesus on the Cross using this same logic: `He trusts in God; let God deliver him' (Matthew 27:43)."Tyndale Old Testament Commentary, op. cit., p. 142. "Neither will he uphold the evil-doers" The Anchor Bible translates this, "Nor grasp the hand of evil doers." However, that does not alter the meaning. "He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter"

Psalms 102 overview — Superscription here has this very interesting little paragraph: A PRAYER OF AN AFFLICTED ONE, WHEN HE IS OVERWHELMED, AND POURETH OUT HIS COMPLAINT BEFORE JEHOVAH. As Kidner noted, "This psalm has been miscalled a Penitential Psalm"Derek Kidner, Vol. II, p. 360. for ages, but there is no confession of sin anywhere in it. Kidner was also willing to label the whole psalm Messianic; and, without any doubt whatever, Psalms 102:23-28 certainly fall into that classification. Some have supposed that David might

Psalms 119:17-24 — STROPHE 3GOD'S LAW IS COUNSELOR AGAINST PLOTTING PRINCESGimel "Deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live; So will I observe thy word. Open mine eyes, that I may behold Wondrous things out of thy law. I am a sojourner in the earth: Hide not thy commandments

Psalms 128 overview — Jehovah, that walketh in his ways" (Psalms 128:1), the same thought being repeated in Psalms 128:4. The date, occasion and authorship are unknown. Delitzsch pointed out that, "Psalms 127 and Psalms 128 supplement each other."F. Delitzsch, Vol. V-C, p. 293. The happiness and prosperity that men desire is represented in Psalms 127 as "a gift of God," whereas in Psalms 128 they are seen as a reward. Psalms 127 stresses the gifts of God's grace, `while his beloved sleeps,' as contrasted with the fruitless

Psalms 77:1-3 — leading up to the captivity. It was indeed a time of darkness and doubt for all of them. "I sought the Lord" "My soul refused to be comforted" (Psalms 77:2)… "I remember God… am disquieted… and my spirit is overwhelmed" (Psalms 77:3). The trouble was due to the cessation of God's blessings upon national Israel in the manner that he had once so gloriously done. The impossibility was not with God; it was with Israel; their sins and rebellion against the Lord had finally reached a

Ecclesiastes 7:19-22 — Solomon wrote in Proverbs 21:22. The story of Job's capture of the ancient stronghold of Salem (Jerusalem) is an illustration of this truth. "There is not a righteous man… that sinneth not" New Testament writers echo this same conviction (Romans 3:10-12; 1 John 1:10). This is also exactly the same thing that Solomon said in 1 Kings 8:46. Eaton pointed out that this charge of man's sinfulness, "Includes both sins of commission (doeth good), and sins of omission (sinneth not)."The Tyndale Commentaries,

Isaiah 3:8 — Isaiah. No! "The verb tenses which express completed action (as in this verse) are perfects of certainty."George L. Robinson, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Chicago, Illinois: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), p. 1501. Therefore, Isaiah 3:8 is a predictive prophecy of what was appointed by God to be executed upon Judah and Jerusalem about a century after Isaiah died. Another significant revelation of this verse is the reason or cause for all of the wretchedness and incompetence just

Isaiah 31:7-8 — celebrating their victory, by means of a sudden and untimely flood of the rivers that destroyed the defenses of the city. The destruction in both instances was by, "The direct interposition of God."Ibid. See the prophecy of Nahum and my comments in Vol. 3 of our series on the minor prophets.

Jeremiah 17 overview — that this chapter was written prior to the Babylonian conquest. "Attempts have been made to date the chapter, but they are generally unsatisfactory, because of the lack of chronological data."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 483. No pattern of any kind appears in the chapter; and it seems to be a collection of various important declarations of this great prophet. Kuist noted that, "It contains a variety of examples of prophetic preaching, namely, an indictment of Judah's guilt

John 2 overview — "sign," used seventeen times in this Gospel, is the term John used for "miracle." The seven signs are: 1.    Changing the water into wine (John 2). 2.    Healing the officer's son (John 4). 3.    Healing the cripple (John 5). 4.    Feeding the 5,000 (John 6). 5.    Walking on Lake Galilee (John 6). 6.    Healing the man who was born blind (John 9). 7.    Raising

1 Peter 1:20 — redemptive visitation of our world by the Son of God was known in purpose from the beginning, but "was kept in silence through times eternal" (Romans 16:25); it "in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men" (Ephesians 3:5); it was "hidden for ages and generations" (Colossians 1:26). Before the foundation of the world … "This means `before Creation.'" Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 103. God chose us in Christ "before the foundation

Jude 1:21 — as extensively taught in the Johannine literature, above. Summarizing the admonitions of these verses, what Jude commanded, or rather pleaded that the faithful should do, we have this: (1) work at your faith; (2) give constant attention to prayer; (3) receive, cultivate and cherish the indwelling Spirit; (4) keep yourselves in God's love through strict obedience to his will; and (5) wherein one is frustrated or discouraged by failures (and there will be failures); (6) look unto the mercy of the

Revelation 20:11 — and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw a great white throne … Is this God, or Christ? We should probably read it as Christ, to correspond with Matthew 25:31-46, and also with the truth that God has committed judgment unto the Son of man (John 5:22). From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away … Note that very similar things were written in Revelation 6:14; Revelation 16:20; Revelation 18:21;

Revelation 4:8 — Little Entrance …. In the Roman liturgy, it is sung on only one day of the year, Good Friday, in the special office called the Reproaches. A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 147. Who was and who is and who is to come … On this reference to Exodus 3:14, see comment on similar words in Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:8.

1 Samuel 25:1 — some later hand, but there is no solid evidence whatever to back up such opinions. Keil remarked that, "The death of Samuel is inserted here, because it occurred at that time."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 2b, p. 238. Also, present-day scholars of the highest rank confirm that understanding. "Chronologically, Samuel died while David and his men were at Engedi,"John T. Willis, p. 242. and this accounts for the fact that, immediately, "David thought that he needed