Bible Commentaries

Exodus 17:11-12 — are expressed as to whether or not Moses was praying with his hands uplifted, and, although no mention of it is made, it is difficult to suppose that he was not praying. "Lifting up hands" in prayer is mentioned in both the O.T. and the N.T. (Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; and 1 Timothy 2:8). It was not the prayers of Moses, however, that God commanded, but the lifting up of "the rod of God." The fact of God's requiring Moses to do something here (keep his hands up all day) that no man, no matter how

1 Kings 7:1-8 — married should have been singled out to receive a special building, or if, perhaps, her house was merely a section of the harem. Keil pointed out that there are a number of special projects included here: "(1) The house of the forest of Lebanon (1 Kings 7:2-5); (2) The pillar hall and porch (1 Kings 7:6); (3) The throne room and judgment hall (1 Kings 7:7); (4) Solomon's own dwelling; (5) The house for Pharaoh's daughter (1 Kings 7:8)."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 3a,

2 Chronicles 2:11-16 — Critics find fault here, as they do at every possible excuse, because of Huram's apparent belief in Jehovah; but anyone should be able to see that the king of Tyre said this in the same lack of sincerity with which he even called Solomon his `lord' in 2 Chronicles 2:15. "In a polytheistic society politeness to a neighbor's god cost nothing."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 384. "Of Huram my father's" The RSV should be followed here, "I have sent a skillful man… Huramabi." "The son of a

2 Chronicles 5:11-14 — and in consideration of the basic truth that God never commanded the building of the temple in the first place…. in spite of all this, God remained firm and immovable in his promise to Abraham that, "in him and in his seed (singular) "(Genesis 12:3), all the families of mankind would be blessed. To fulfill that glorious promise to the patriarchs, it was impossible for God to reject Messiah had been delivered, no matter what misunderstandings or outright sins and rebellions marked the behavior

Nehemiah 12:44-47 — Nehemiah, the civil governor, was naturally superceded as the man in charge by Ezra the priest; and therefore Nehemiah related the close of the proceedings objectively, using the third person, as he had done in describing the preparations (Nehemiah 12:27), only using the first person when speaking of what was appointed by himself or his position."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 282. Biblical authors (and other ancient historians) very often used the third

Nehemiah 13:23-31 — only had a son of the High Priest married a pagan; but Eliasbib the High Priest himself was "allied with Tobiah," probably by marriage; and the profaning of the priesthood was by no means restricted to these two violations. Again, we refer to Malachi 2:2 as the verdict of God Himself regarding Israel's priests. By the times of Christ, the party of the Sadducees (among the priests) were outright atheists, not believing in angels, spirits, the resurrection or anything else that the word of God teaches

Psalms 20:1-5 — burnt-sacrifice; (Selah) Grant thee thy heart's desire, And fulfill all thy counsel. We will triumph in thy salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners; Jehovah fulfill all thy petitions." The first person plural pronoun in Psalms 20:5 shows that it is the voice of the people who are vocalizing this petition in the sanctuary itself upon behalf of their king. "In the day of trouble" (Psalms 20:1). Alas, it is the destiny of every child of God to confront the day of trouble. It is

Psalms 25:8-15 — at ease; And his seed shall inherit the land. The friendship of Jehovah is with them that fear him; And he will show them his covenant. Mine eyes are ever toward Jehovah; For he will pluck my feet out of the net." "He will instruct sinners" (Psalms 25:8). "The sinners here are not the habitually wicked, but the humble, among whom the psalmist numbers himself."The Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 55. Nevertheless, David most certainly feels an estrangement from God in this passage, as evidenced by his

Psalms 30 overview — and re-dedication of David's house (palace) after Absalom left. Calmet believed the psalm was written by David on the occasion of the dedication of the Threshing Floor of Araunah, after the awful plague that followed David's numbering of the people (2 Samuel 24:25; 1 Chronicles 21:26). Adam Clarke discussed all of these opinions and then wrote, "All parts of this Psalm agree to Calmet's opinion so well, and to no other hypothesis, that I feel justified in basing my comment upon this understanding

Psalms 63:9-11 — here is simply that the enemies of the king shall die. "They shall be given over to the power of the sword" Twenty thousand of Absalom's forces were slain by the sword in the battle that ended the rebellion, which was fought in the forest of Ephraim (2 Samuel 18:7 f). But that was far from all of it. "The forest devoured more people that day than the sword." Thus, more than twenty-thousand more were numbered among the slain. "They shall be a portion for the foxes" "The word here should be translated

Psalms 71:9-12 — prayer was graciously answered by the Father. "Mine enemies speak concerning me… take counsel together, saying, God has forsaken him… Pursue him… take him… there is none to deliver" The proposal of Ahithophel to Absalom (2 Samuel 17:1-4) is hardly anything else except what is written here. "O God, be not far from me" This is another striking bit of evidence of Davidic authorship of this psalm. David often felt that God was far away from him and pleaded for Him to be near.

Leviticus 17 overview — It therefore exhibits a most intimate connection with all the preceding chapters of Leviticus. Therefore, "It is altogether a mistake to make a Second Book begin with Leviticus 17, as is done by Lang and Keil."F. Meyrick, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 2, Leviticus (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 261. The designation of this and subsequent chapters as the Holiness Code, "destroys the close connection between Leviticus 16 and Leviticus 17, with the manual of sacrifices in

Isaiah 28:16-19 — PRECIOUS CORNER STONE Isaiah had already revealed in Isaiah 8:14 that this stone would also be "a sanctuary, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." Added to the three designations here, we have six adjectives for this Rock. They are (1) elect; (2) cornerstone; (3) tried; (4) sanctuary; (5) stone of stumbling; and (6) rock of offense. It might also be added that Christ is the stone "from another world," and he is "the living stone" (Zechariah 3:9), and the "growing stone" (Daniel 2:34-35). For

Isaiah 33:1 — that, out of pride and vanity, he displayed his wealth before the ambassadors from Babylon. This cannot be otherwise accounted for, than by the prodigious spoil that was taken upon the destruction of Sennacherib's army."Footnote is not available See 2 Chronicles 32:27. And we may ask, who was it that "dealt treacherously" with Sennacherib? It was his own sons. "And it came to pass when he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the sword:

Isaiah 56:3-5 — reference to their keeping the whole law of Moses. Why this special reference to "foreigners" and to "eunuchs"? Isaiah had already prophesied, "That a certain number of the seed of Hezekiah would serve as eunuchs in the royal palace of the king of Babylon" (2 Kings 20:18); and Daniel and his three faithful companions were among those who thus served.Pulpit Commentary, Vol. II, p. 344. There were doubtless many others of the captives who suffered the same cruel treatment. The words given here were for the

Jeremiah 40 overview — chapters, "The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah" (Jeremiah 40:1) Thompson stated that. "These words normally precede an oracle, but none follows."J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 652. He labeled the formula as a parenthesis. Cheyne expressed his disapproval of the words here thus: "The formula seems to announce a prophecy, but no prophecy follows!"T. K. Cheyne, Jeremiah in the Pulpit Commentary, p. 156. Such comments spring

Hosea 11 overview — over the world. This prophetic announcement should have been expected from the inspired designation by the apostle Matthew of Hosea 11:1 as a prophecy pertaining to Jesus Christ himself. As Meyers pointed out, "Hosea 11 is very closely related to Hosea 2, and cannot be understood without constant reference thereto."Jacob M. Myers, Layman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 14 (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1959), p. 58. It will be recalled that our interpretation of the return of Gomer to Hosea, not as his wife, but

Hosea 5:10 — God, by participating in the guilt of Ephraim, by idolatry, by removing the boundary between Jehovah and Baal, that is to say, between the one true God and idols! `If one who removes his neighbor's boundary is cursed (Deuteronomy 19:14; Deuteronomy 27:17), how much more he who removes the border of his God (Hengstenberg)." Upon such men the wrath of God would fall in its fullest measure."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 91. Ward and other scholars have questioned the appearance of Judah in this passage;

1 Samuel 9:1-2 — him. The narrative here is very skillfully presented. Three valid reasons why the heavenly choice fell upon Saul are discernible, as pointed out by Philbeck.The Teachers' Bible Commentary, p. 168. (1) Saul came from a very wealthy and powerful family; (2) the tribe of Benjamin was centrally located between the rival tribes of Judah and Benjamin and thus strategically located to achieve the unity of the northern and southern tribes. (3) Furthermore, Saul certainly looked like a king. His being head and

2 Samuel 7:8-11 — too much in the direction of those accouterments of worldly success such as palatial buildings, etc. "I… have cut off all your enemies from before you… I will give you rest from all your enemies" Is this a contradiction? Certainly not! 2 Samuel 7:9 refers to the enemies God had already cut off; and 2 Samuel 7:11 refers to the future enemies of David from whom God would also give him rest. "And I will appoint a place for my people Israel… they may dwell in their own place…