Bible Commentaries

Ezra 9:3-4 — sacrifice." Ezra's reaction to the bad news was extreme. There is hardly anything more painful than pulling out the hairs of one's beard. Similar actions were customary among Oriental peoples as an expression of grief, dismay, or consternation (Job 1:20; Ezekiel 7:18). "Notice that Ezra's appeal was moral and religious… reformation can never be achieved by force."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 403. As the chief civil authority, Ezra could have ordered the needed reforms and enforced them even with

Psalms 58:6-9 — prayer against the hardened and unrepentant wicked men of this passage reveals a seven-fold curse upon them. 1. Break their teeth (Psalms 58:6). 2. Break out (pull) the teeth of lions (Psalms 58:6). 3. Let them melt away as water that runs off (Psalms 58:7). 4. His arrows… let them be cut off (Psalms 58:7). 5. Let them be as a snail that melteth (Psalms 58:8). 6. Let them be like an aborted fetus (Psalms 58:8) 7. Let their `pot' be carried away by a tornado (Psalms 58:9). We have paraphrased these,

Proverbs 17:13 — "Whoso rewardeth evil for good, Evil shall not depart from his house." "If a man repays evil for good, evil will never quit his house."Ibid. This warning frequently expressed in Proverbs simply means, "You reap what you sow,"Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), Vol. 5, p. 57. a principle strongly reiterated in the New Testament (Galatians 6:7-8).

Proverbs 21:13 — "Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, He also shall cry, and shall not be heard." Life indeed has a way of repaying a man after the quality of his deeds. It is another way of saying, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Galatians 6:7). Apparent exceptions may be cited; but the sacred rule stands eternally unchallenged.

Leviticus 23:4-8 — were past… came Mary Magdalene… etc." (Matthew 28:1, see the Greek Text). The recognition of this truth has a significant bearing upon determining what day it was when our Lord was crucified. "Ye shall do no servile work" (Leviticus 23:7). We have already noted that this was a less strict command than the "no manner of work" prohibited on the sabbath. Orlinsky gave the meaning of this phrase as, "You shall not work at your occupation."Harry M. Orlinsky, Notes on the New Translation

Ezekiel 29 overview — of her judgment, and her future place among the nations of the world."John Skinner in the Expositor's Bible Commentary, p. 266. Ezekiel has seven oracles against Egypt, the first two of which are in this chapter: (1) Ezekiel 29:1-16; (2) Ezekiel 29:17-21; (3) Ezekiel 30:1-19; (4) Ezekiel 30:20-26; (5) Ezekiel 31; (6) Ezekiel 32:1-16; and (7) Ezekiel 32:17-32. The date of this prophecy is specific. "It was a year and two days after Nebuchadnezzar began the siege of Jerusalem, and seven months before

Malachi 3:18 — examples. Gasque gave the meaning here as: "Therefore, it does make sense to serve God even in a day when it seems that the majority have forsaken him."W. Ward Gasque, The New Layman's Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979), p. 1056. "The parallelism here identifies the righteous as one who served God, and the wicked with one who does not serve him."Joyce G. Baldwin, op. cit., p. 249. The relationship of the soul to God is determinative; and that relationship is either

Matthew 12:15 — And Jesus perceiving it withdrew from thence: and many followed him; and he healed them all. Knowing of the evil plot to kill him, Christ withdrew, as Mark added, to the Sea of Galilee (Mark 3:7). This was in keeping with Jesus' own rule (See under Matthew 10:23). Significantly, he healed them all. There were no failures.

Matthew 21:42-43 — Publishing Company, 1961), p. 356. Christ as the Cornerstone suggests that: (1) law and grace; (2) God and man; (3) time and eternity; (4) B.C. and A.D.; (5) the Mosaic dispensation and the Christian dispensation; (6) the letter and the spirit; and (7) judgment and mercy, both begin and end, thus forming, in a metaphor, a true corner in him! Following a little further the analogy of a rejected stone, we note that David, the despised one of Jesse's sons, was raised to be the king of Israel; Zerubbabel

Mark 8:5 — And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. It would appear from Mark 8:7 that the apostles were even a little less than candid regarding what they did have, for they at first made no mention of the few small fishes which they also had; but, regardless of their evident reluctance, Jesus ordered the feast to proceed.

Luke 3 overview — In this chapter lies the record of the emergence of John the Baptist (Luke 3:1-6), the message he delivered (Luke 3:7-14), his announcement of the Christ (Luke 3:15-17), the conclusion of John's ministry and the baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:18-21), and the genealogy of Jesus as traced through Mary (Luke 3:23-38).

Luke 6:41-42 — not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. For extended comment on this see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 7:3 ff. This is truly an inspired comparison. Of course, it would be literally impossible for a man with a plank in his eye to probe for the mote in his brother's eye; but in the moral and spiritual realm such a thing is going on all the time. Big Guilt

Acts 23:7-9 — angel? Paul's identification of himself as a Pharisee is also offensive to some people; but it should be remembered that the "noble Pharisee" must never be identified with the Pharisees whom Jesus denounced. See my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 3:7, for classifications of Pharisees. Many priests became Christians (Acts 6:7), most of whom were doubtless Pharisees; and it is very likely that much of Luke's gospel (Luke 9:51—19:28) was researched through Luke's interviews with such Pharisees

Romans 8:8 — And they that are in the flesh cannot please God. The questions raised by this verse are discussed under Romans 8:7, above. "In the flesh" is here a reference to the condition that exists when the soul rejects its Creator, sacrifices all hopes of immortality and of the eternal world, and decides to make the present life of flesh its one and only concern.

1 Corinthians 7:13 — And the woman that hath an unbelieving husband, and he is content to dwell with her, let her not leave her husband. The teaching here is the same as in the previous verse, except it applies to the Christian woman, just as 1 Corinthians 7:12 applied to the Christian man, with an unbelieving marriage partner. See under above verse.

1 Corinthians 9:14 — Even so did the Lord ordain that they that proclaim the gospel should live of the gospel. THE SEVENTH ARGUMENT Most commentators believe that Paul here had reference to the Lord's statement that "The laborer is worthy of his hire" (Luke 10:7); but it might be true that "They that proclaim the gospel should live by the gospel" is a verbatim statement of the Lord himself, being another quotation from the Lord found exclusively in Paul's writings, another example of the same thing

Hebrews 1:5 — For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, This day have I begotten thee? and again, I will be to him a father, And he shall be to me a Son? Psalms 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14 are the two passages cited, both of which sustain the sonship of Christ. Now, all Christians are "Sons of God," and it is thought that even the angels bear this designation too (see Job 1:6; Job 38:7); but in the lofty sense

Hebrews 8:5 — evangelists, without exception: (1) heard the word of God; (2) believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; (3) confessed the Saviour's name before people; (4) repented of their sins; (5) were baptized into Christ; (6) became members of the body of Christ; and (7) received the Holy Spirit, continuing stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. If there is any other way to be saved from alien sins, the scriptures have no record of it. See more on this, including scripture

James 1:11 — the unbeliever; but the meaning is unsatisfactory, e.g., "let the rich man if he will glory in his degradation," the words being ironical. T. Carson, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 572. Before leaving this beautiful simile drawn from natural phenomena, it is appropriate to observe that James particularly appreciated such comparisons, using quite a number of them, as follows: "surge of the sea" (James 1:6); "flower

Revelation 14 overview — 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 that announcement (Revelation 14:7), there was foretold the fulfillment of that great event which must come before the final judgment; namely, the preaching of the truth to all