Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 33:10-12 — up myself; now will I be exalted. Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath is a fire that shall devour you. And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns that are cut down, that are burned in the fire." Isaiah 33:5; Isaiah 33:10 both stand in contrast with what is said of Sennacherib in Isaiah 33:3. The meaning is simply that God has at last had enough of this evil ruler's depredations and will now rise up and put an end to them. "God has now determined that

Jeremiah 19:8-9 — daughters; and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them." This terrible warning is an almost verbatim quotation from Deuteronomy 28:53, in which the Great Lawgiver Moses had warned Israel of their fate IF they should give up serving their true God. Israel had indeed defaulted in that very act of disobedience; and now Jeremiah warned that the Mosaic penalty would be enforced. Did such

Jeremiah 3:11-13 — Commentaries, p. 65. It is a fact, however, that no racial Jew was ever excluded from God's favor, nor for that matter entitled to it, upon the sole basis of his racial descent through the patriarchs. The mercy and forgiveness of God suggested in Jeremiah 3:12 is revealed in subsequent verses to have been contingent upon the inauguration of the New Covenant.

Jeremiah 33:19-22 — As the host of heaven cannot be numbered neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me." "The promise of an innumerable posterity once given to the patriarchs, as in Gen. 13:16; 55:5; 22:17, etc., is here applied to the descendants of David and to the number of God's ministers."J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 603. This means that the numbers of

Jeremiah 38:14-16 — definitely known about this entry into the temple. "It was probably an entry from the palace into the temple; and it must have been a private place, else it would not have been chosen for this interview."T. K. Cheyne, Jeremiah in the Pulpit Commentary, p. 131. "As Jehovah liveth, that made us this soul" "This very unusual addition to the formula of a oath was no doubt intended to strengthen it… For the usual formula, see 1 Samuel 20:3; 1 Samuel 25:16."Scribner's Bible Commentary (New York: Charles

Habakkuk 1:17 — deferring the well-deserved destruction of humanity throughout the historical period while the redeemed from all the earth were being gathered. But that mercy could not change the nature of the rebellious sons of Adam "born in Adam's image" (Genesis 5:3) who without restraint (except that of other rebellious states raised up against them) would continue to devastate the earth as long as God's mercy for all men (in the purpose of redeeming some of them) would prevail. The answer to this question by

Habakkuk 3:16 — body trembled, My lips quivered at thy voice; Rottenness entereth into my bones, and I tremble in my place; Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, For the coming up of the people that invadeth us." The great thrust of this verse (Habakkuk 3:16 a) is that God answered Habakkuk and revealed to him that his plea for the deliverance of Israel could not be granted. Habakkuk's trembling body, quivering lips, and debilitated bones show what a shocking and terrible impact the answer had upon Habakkuk. "I

Habakkuk 3:17 — lament without any further comment, Habakkuk went on to declare his joyful trust in the Lord no matter what would happen. The conclusion of this magnificent prayer-psalm reminds one of the words of Job, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him" (Job 13:15). As Nute said, "Habakkuk's words here are worthy to stand alongside the 'if not' of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3:18)."A. G. Nute, op. cit., p. 1011. Such a spirit is surpassed only by the words of Jesus in Gethsemane, "Nevertheless,

Zephaniah 1:10-11 — second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. Wail, ye inhabitants of Maktesh; for all the people of Canaan are undone; all they that are laden 'with silver are cut off." "The fish gate" This was one of the north entrances to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:1-6). The second quarter was where Huldah the prophetess lived (2 Kings 22:14). Maktesh is not elsewhere mentioned in the Bible. Perhaps all of these places were in the north sector of the city, indicating that the invasion would come from the north.

Zephaniah 3:16 — Jerusalem, Fear thou not; O Zion let not thy hands be slack." According to Ironside, these words, "will be their joy and blessing throughout the Millennium."H. A. Ironside, Notes on the Minor Prophets (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1909), p. 318. This is profoundly true, of course, provided that the Millennium is understood to be the present period of the Church's sojourn in the wilderness of her probation. The current theories of some kind of a Golden Age called the Millennium to take place

Zechariah 11:10 — the fleshly Israel. This ended forever their status as having any claim to be "God chosen people." "From this time forward, the fulfillment of the covenant and the fate of the Jew per se are two entirely separate matters."Clinton R. Gill, op. cit., p. 350. Unger's reference of "all the peoples" as an inclusion of all the people on earth does not seem to be correct. The covenant to be broken was not God's promise to bless "all the families of the earth" in the Seed (singular) of Abraham, for that covenant

Mark 1:33-34 — sick with divers diseases, and cast out many demons; and he suffered not the demons to speak, because they knew him. Here it was Matthew who provided the sparkling details that: (1) all the sick were healed; (2) the demons were cast out by a word; and (3) there was here a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 53:4). This is contrary to the view that Mark more fully reported material common with the other synoptics. Luke more fully reported the incident of the healing of Peter's mother-in-law, and

Mark 10:35 — request itself, stated immediately afterward, had all kinds of things wrong with it: (1) It showed a lack of faith in what Jesus had just said regarding his being raised "after three days." (2) It was founded in human vanity and conceit. (3) It represented an effort on their part to gain ascendancy over the other apostles. (4) It showed a fundamental misconception of what God's kingdom would be. (5) It was a selfish maneuver prompted by the Lord's repeated announcement of his forthcoming

Mark 14:3 — at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of pure nard very costly: and she brake the cruse and poured it over his head. JESUS WAS ANOINTED FOR HIS BURIAL This is a second anointing of Jesus, the other being recorded in Luke 7:37-50; but "it is absurd to represent the two anointings as the same."A. T. Robertson, A Harmony of the Gospels (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1922), p. 187, footnote. Simon, a leper had been healed by Jesus; but he retained the name to distinguish

Mark 6:14 — powers work in him. THE BEHEADING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST King Herod … Of this despot, Sanner said: Herod Antipas (popularly called king) was tetrarch (literally, one who rules the fourth part of a domain) of Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39. His reign thus spanned the life and public ministry of Jesus: From a family characterized by intrigue and violence, "he appears as a sensual, cunning, capricious, cruel, weak, unscrupulous, superstitious, despotic prince (Matthew 14:9; Luke 3:19;

Mark 6:29 — the Baptist, and after the return of the Twelve, Jesus withdrew to the eastern side of Galilee, outside of Herod's jurisdiction. Matthew clearly indicated that the murder of John entered into Jesus' decision to withdraw east of Galilee (Matthew 14:13); and we cannot agree with Cranfield who thought "Matthew misunderstood Mark,"C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 213. as if there had to be only one reason why Jesus withdrew. The reasons for Christ's withdrawal were complex: (1) He and his

Luke 1:70-71 — (As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been of old), Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us. His holy prophets … Beginning with Genesis 3:15 and through the last words of the Old Testament, there are 333 prophecies regarding Jesus the Saviour; and fittingly enough this received emphasis by Zacharias. This holy priest had probably spent the previous months studying those very prophecies

Luke 10:39 — it also has a figurative meaning of listening as a disciple would listen to a teacher."Charles L. Childers, op. cit., p. 506. There is thus implied here a teacher-pupil relationship. Thus Paul is said to have sat at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3).

Luke 12:14-15 — mankind; and the Lord in his teaching here moved to lead men away from it. Human wants are insatiable; and getting only adds to the appetite for more. Paul associated it with moral uncleanness (Ephesians 4:19), calling it "idolatry" (Colossians 3:5). THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL This parable was spoken to illustrate Jesus' teaching, just spoken, on covetousness.

Luke 7:22-24 — lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good tidings preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me. One passage which Jesus clearly had in mind was Isaiah 35:5, in which the prophet foretold the messianic age. Thus Jesus answered John plainly, but not too plainly, that he was indeed the Christ. The reason for Jesus' avoidance of a more dogmatic declaration concerning himself at that time was to deny on