Bible Commentaries

Genesis 1:26-28 — man in our image, after our likeness" It is the kinship of humanity to God Himself that shines in this, a conception that is launched here and is never diminished until the God-Man Himself, "The Lamb standing as though it had been slain" (Revelation 5:6), is seen in the very midst of the throne of God! The great Christian doctrines of the Incarnation and the Virgin Birth are part and parcel of this. As to the manner in which God made man in His image, it is significant that man himself is a trinity

Exodus 16:21-30 — legal institution."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 68. Therefore, we must finally reject the allegations that, "The sabbath was an ancient institution observed by pre-Mosaic Hebrews." Such an allegation was made by RylaarsdamJ. Coert Rylaarsdam, op. cit., p. 854. and others, but the facts regarding the sabbath are as follows: 1.    There is no sabbath commandment in Genesis. Some cite Genesis 29:7 as such, but "sabbath" is not in the passage. 2.    The very first occurrence

Exodus 20:17 — who feels the force of the law that prohibits all inordinate desire for anything that is the property of another, can never make a breach in the peace of society."Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Whole Bible (New York: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), p. 405. It can be seen how nearly to the root of all man's difficulties this Tenth Commandment is directed. It is the most comprehensive of the commandments, forbidding ALL unlawful desire of every kind. Happy indeed is that individual who has learned to control

Job 40:6-14 — God's judgment, especially his boast that he will overcome the Lord's imagined opposition to his justification was, in principle, a usurpation of the divine prerogative of world government, a lusting after God-like knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:5)."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 488. See under Job 40:8, below. "Gird up thy loins… declare thou unto me" Some critics have resented what they interpret as God's efforts to "browbeat Job into a more abject submission." Has he not admitted

Ecclesiastes 12:2-8 — beautiful metaphors here. Barton cited no less than seven systems of interpreting all these;International Critical Commentary, Vol. 18, p. 286 but one of the most beautiful of the renditions we have seen is this:From the Good News Bible. Ecclesiastes 12:2-5 a "That is when the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars shall grow dim for you, and the rain clouds will never pass away. Then your arms, that have protected you, will tremble, and your legs, now strong, will grow weak. Your teeth will be too

Isaiah 1:3-9 — Israel. They are called rebellion (Isaiah 1:2), ignorance, lack of consideration (Isaiah 1:3), sin, iniquity, evil-doing, corruption, forsaking God, estrangement from God, backsliding (Isaiah 1:4), revolt, transgression, disobedience, sickness, (Isaiah 1:5) and unsoundness (Isaiah 1:6). The wounds and bruises of Israel mentioned here should not be viewed as resulting from the hostile attacks of her enemies but as the result of the stripes of punishment laid upon the sinful nation by the hand of her God. The

Jonah 4:1 — communication, in accordance with the saying in Amos 3:7, "Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret to his servants the prophets."W. J. Deane, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 14, Jonah (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 79. Both of these viewpoints, of course, are plausible; but we believe there is a clue in the text itself, in the very next verse (Jonah 4:2). Jonah had observed the wholesale conversion of the people; and his knowledge of God's true nature, mentioned

Micah 4 overview — years has come out of their schools. Their knee-jerk response is as predictable as grass turning green in summer. Satan's first maneuver is to declare that none of the "in" people accept this chapter. "According to the best scholarly opinion, Micah 4-5 contain no material by the prophet Micah."Rolland E. Wolfe, The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. III (New York: Abingdon Press, 1950), p. 921. The assertion of this is that none of it is true prophecy; all of it was inserted by an imposter long after Micah

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 — 219. "It would have been a mockery of Divine justice, if Canaanite cities had been destroyed for their idolatry, and then the idolatrous cities of the Israelites were allowed to stand."Footnote is not available "So shalt thou put away" (Deuteronomy 13:5). "Thou" here is plural, showing that the whole community "must clear itself of all complicity with the specified evil."D. R. Scott, Abingdon Bible Commentary, Deuteronomy (New York: Abingdon Press, 1929), p. 330. The stern demand for the death penalty

Deuteronomy 16:9-12 — Leviticus 23:16, where the exact day of beginning was tied to the Passover celebration. There have been many disputes about the exact manner of calculating the Pentecost. (For those who would like to explore the matter thoroughly, reference is made to Vol. 5 in our N.T. series of commentaries, pp. 31-34.) We agree with Kline that the reason for the very indefinite indication here as to when the counting should begin was due to there being "no necessity for specific instructions, because the exact day had

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 — God, Jehovah is one. Jehovah is our God, Jehovah is one. Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone. "Whichever one is correct, the idea of one God (monotheism) is obviously in this phrase. There is, was, and always will be only one true God. See Deuteronomy 4:35; Deuteronomy 4:39; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:5; and 1 Corinthians 8:4."Bruce Oberst, Deuteronomy (Joplin College Press, 1968), p. 108. Keil also stated dogmatically that, "This clause not merely precludes polytheism, but also syncretism which reduces

John 11 overview — inspired to record what God saw to be best and most suitable. No one, I suppose, imagines that the evangelists recorded a tenth part of our Lord's miracles, or that there were not other dead persons raised to life, of whom we know nothing at all (John 21:25).J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House), II, p. 54. The inspired writers were not governed by ordinary rules and were unaffected by considerations which uninspired men would have honored;

Romans 1:1 — Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), p. 14. It was common among the Jews to mark some outstanding event in a person's life with a change of his name, as in the case of Abraham (Genesis 17:5), Jacob (Gen. 32:38), and Peter (John 1:42); and thus it appears that even in such a detail as this, Paul was "not a whit behind the chiefest apostles" (2 Corinthians 11:5). The first use of the name PAUL for this apostle is recorded in Acts

Romans 6:3 — identification of the believing sinner with Christ in his death, brought about the separation of that person from the sinful nature. Kenneth S. Wuest, Romans in the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1955), p. 96. Wuest's view of baptism as an act of God is correct, as a comparison with John 4:1-2 proves, thus making it impossible ever to classify baptism as a work of human righteousness. It is a work of God because God commanded it and because it is

Joshua 22:21-29 — the charge of rebelling against God. (3)    They patiently explained why they had built this great altar. (4)    Incidentally, we learn here that it was a giant replica of the one actually in the tabernacle. (5)    Notice that even the accused tribes accepted fully the Word of God that there could be but one altar (one at a time, that is). (6)    Also, notice that the location of that sacred altar was given in Joshua

Joshua 6:2-7 — of rams' horns before the ark of Jehovah. And they said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of Jehovah." "Jehovah" in Joshua 6:2 is identical with "The Prince of the Hosts of Jehovah" in Joshua 5:14; and these are the instructions for which Joshua made request. This description of the manner in which Joshua is to proceed against Jericho must have shocked Joshua. If there had ever been anything in the history of the world more calculated to invite

2 Peter 1:9 — their only opportunity for service and salvation lies ignored and forgotten at their feet. It is this class which Jesus warned with his words, "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me" (Matthew 25:45). What far-sighted souls we are! We go in a trance dreaming of worlds to conquer while at our very doors and within our very homes the Master is hungry and sick and in prison! Illustration. At a religious convention in Pittsburg a few years ago,

Revelation 2:7 — dictated these seven letters to John in the literal sense of the word. Therefore, the ancient prophets received verbatim messages: Thus saith the Lord." R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 92. Our Lord himself often used this expression, as in Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:9; Matthew 13:43, etc. What the Spirit saith to the churches … This is of great value in the interpretation of these passages, since it is clear here that the messages written by John were not: (1) to a supernatural being such as

1 Samuel 21:1-6 — Ahijah are probably equivalent names of the same person."Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 282. Matthew Henry commented on the reason why David elected to go to Nob. "He went there to inquire of the Lord (1 Samuel 22:10), as he had done formerly (1 Sam. 5:15)."Matthew Henry's Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 394. The great prophet of the Lord Samuel as well as the prince had proved powerless to protect David. To whom else could he have gone, except to the Lord? "The king has charged me with a matter" Much of what

2 Samuel 23:1-7 — Christians should be slow indeed to accept the RSV in these seven verses. Willis also warned that, "The text and precise interpretations of this paragraph are complicated … and (some of them) must be regarded as tentative."John T. Willis, p. 405. This writer's problem with the passage lies principally in 2 Samuel 23:5, where the RSV puts into David's mouth the declaration (in the form of an interrogative) that his house "stands so with God," that is, "in perfection righteousness before God!"