Bible Commentaries

Psalms 105:26-36 — of Israel from bondage. There were ten of these visitations, but only eight are mentioned in this psalm. "The sequence followed in the psalm is 9, 1, 2, 4, 3, -, -, 7, 8, and 10."H. C. Leupold, p. 740. Note that 9 (the darkness) is mentioned first, 5 and 6 are omitted; and 4 and 3 change places. The Genesis sequence is as follows: Changing water into blood (Exodus 7:20) The plague of frogs (Exodus 8:6) The plague of lice (Exodus 8:17) The plague of flies (Exodus 8:24) The murrain of cattle (Exodus

Psalms 107:4-9 — a city of habitation" This is the declaration that stands between the two refrains, being essentially a statement that God answered their prayers. "Oh that men would praise Jehovah, etc." This is the second refrain which occurs again in Psalms 107:15; Psalms 107:21; Psalms 107:31. It is a repeated call for men to honor the lovingkindness of God and his wonderful works on behalf of the children of men by praising him. "For he satisfieth the longing soul, and the hungry soul he filleth with good"

Psalms 12:6 — words of Jehovah are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, purified seven times." Delitzsch recognized these words also as the direct message of God to David.F. Delitzsch, Old Testament, Psalms (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 195. He also interpreted David's words in Psalms 12:7 as the equivalent of the psalmist's solemn "Amen" to God's promise in Psalms 12:5-6. THE SEVEN-FOLD PURIFICATION OF GOD'S WORD Satan himself tried God's Word in Eden, saying "Thou shalt not surely die,"

Psalms 129:1-4 — they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back; They made long their furrows. Jehovah is righteous: He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked." "From my youth up" "Israel's youth was theft sojourn in Egypt (Jeremiah 2:2; Hosea 2:15)."Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary, p. 386. "Let Israel now say" "Israel is speaking in this psalm, not the individual."H. C. Leupold, p. 898. It must therefore be considered the cry of the whole nation and not that of a mere individual. "Many

Psalms 29:4-5 — "The voice of Jehovah is powerful; The voice of Jehovah is full of majesty. The voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars; Yea, Jehovah breaketh in pieces the cedars of Lebanon." "Yea, Jehovah breaketh in pieces the cedars" (Psalms 29:5). Thunder in this psalm is metaphorically referred to as "The voice of Jehovah." But in this clause and the very similar one in Psalms 29:3, it is God Himself who is "upon the waters" and who "breaketh the cedars." It is really frightening to see first

Psalms 84:5-8 — strongly suspect. The words "to Zion" is in italics, indicating that they are not in the Bible at all but have been added by translators. The current popular opinion that makes this psalm a pilgrimage song is founded upon a single word in Psalms 84:5 ("ways") which never means pilgrimage but is constantly treated as if it did. "Highways" These are not roads, in the ordinary sense; they are "in the hearts" of those who love God; "These `ways' are being pondered (in men's hearts); and they refer to

Ecclesiastes 10:12-15 — which he is ignorant."James Waddey, p. 60. "The labor of fools wearieth every one of them; for he knoweth not how to go to the city" Rankin rendered this: "Fool's labor wears him out, for he does not know how to go to town."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 5, p. 79. Another bit of wisdom in connection with speech is that silence is better that ill-considered talk. "President Abraham Lincoln gave us his own proverb on this: `It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak up and remove

Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 — him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind." Some have tried to find the Biblical story of Joseph in this, but without success. "It is probably a parable, of a poor youth who through wisdom rose to be king."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 5, p. 55 "They that come after" "This refers to those of a later generation who were not present when the youth became king."Ibid., p. 56. We find it difficult to understand what is meant here. Kidner's interpretation appears to be the best available.

Isaiah 25:9-12 — Commentary, p. 727 All of the figures that God uses in the Bible to describe the final punishment of the wicked are all repulsive: (1) the lake of fire; (2) the perpetual silence; (3) the outer darkness;, (4) where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth; (5) where the fire is not quenched and the worm dieth not; (6) a pool of blood up to the horses bridles for 200 miles! etc. This description is the seventh;, (7) a man trying to swim out of a watered dung hole! Rather than being offended by such descriptions,

Isaiah 27:12-13 — Note that no "nation" whatever is mentioned as being gathered in, that no "race" is included; but that the saved shall be gathered "one by one," that is, individually. "Every man shall receive the reward of the deeds done in "his body" (2 Corinthians 5:10). Note also that the return from Assyria and the outcasts of Egypt refer to different generations, pointing to a simultaneous judgment of all peoples and nations at one time, as indicated clearly by Christ in Matthew 25. "Beat off his fruit" (Isaiah

Isaiah 63:7-9 — lie or deal falsely!" (Isaiah 63:8). "There was a condition, however, that if God was to abide among them, Israel would be required to hearken unto God's voice (Deuteronomy 6:3; Jeremiah 7:23; Ezekiel 11:20)); but God was disappointed in them."HI], p. 503. The near-universal extent of wickedness is emphasized by the statement that "There was none to help" (Isaiah 63:5). However, it is probably best to view such statements as hyperbole for the sake of emphasis. The use of this figure of speech is frequent

Isaiah 66:7-9 — history."Ibid. This is prophesied by the metaphor of birth without travail. This was fulfilled, "By the far-flung commonwealth of the Christian Church springing up all over the Roman empire in a single generation."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 653. "She was delivered of a man-child" The oldest Christian understanding of this passage identifies it with the birth of the Christ. "This was the position of Jerome";Albert Barnes' Commentary, Vol. II, p. 431. and we have never seen any improvement

Jeremiah 1:17-19 — is the equivalent to the modern admonition for one to "roll up his sleeves" and go to work. The loose robe-type garment generally worn was shortened and made less cumbersome by tightening the thong usually tied around the middle. Although Jeremiah 1:5 had made the fact of predestination a sure factor in Jeremiah's life, Jeremiah 1:17 "Enunciates the requirement of obedience. The prophet who is ashamed to stand forth with the word will soon have no word to proclaim; but the Lord of the word can make

Jeremiah 25:17-19 — Isles of the Mediterranean on the west; next in the far east, various Arabian nations; and then northward to Media and Elam; and finally to the kings of the north, far and near!"Scribner's Bible Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898), p. 452. We shall not attempt a nation by nation analysis of what is written here, because, very obviously, what the prophet reveals here is that "all earthly nations" were to fall under the punitive judgment of Almighty God. That is the simple meaning of

Jeremiah 49:14-18 — Jeremiah prophesied more than two centuries afterward. See Vol. 2 of the minor prophets series of commentaries for a full discussion of Obadiah. Obadiah is not the only prophet who gave pronouncements of God's wrath upon the Edomites. Others are Ezekiel 25:12-14; Ezekiel 35:1-15; Joel 3:19; Amos 9:12; Isaiah 21:11-12; Isaiah 34:5-7; Isaiah 63:1-6. So far I have already commented upon all of these (except the ones in Ezekiel). To all of these, of course, there must also be added the prophecies against

Jeremiah 7:30-31 — great disaster for Judah; and we do not believe that modern Protestantism in "going beyond" what God has commanded in such things as the worship of God with man-made instruments of music can possibly be pleasing to God. (See Revelation 22:18; Acts 17:25; and 2 John 1:9). "The have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name" 2 Kings 21:5 records the acts of Manasseh in this desecration; but it leaves us wondering if the vulgar immorality of the pagan worship was actually perpetrated

Ezekiel 6:4-7 — Commentary, p. 69. "And ye shall know that I am Jehovah" This expression is found some sixty times in Ezekiel and was the customary way of concluding an oracle or a section of an oracle throughout the prophecy.Moshe Greenberg, p. 133. One finds it in Exodus 7:5; Exodus 14:4; Exodus 14:18, again demonstrating the familiarity of Ezekiel with the Book of Moses. "The motive for most of God's actions was to bring about the acknowledgment by the nations of his sole power and deity."G. R. Beasley-Murray in the New

Daniel 5:10-12 — well acquainted with the character and services of Daniel."Arthur Jeffery, op. cit., p. 427. This grand lady might well have been a believer in the true God; and, as Jeffery stated, "Although gods is used in the plural form both in this place (Daniel 5:11), and in Daniel 4:8, the sense is singular."Robert D. Culver, op. cit., p. 786. One of the primary words for God in the Old Testament is [~'Elohiym], and the term is plural; but as in the case here, the meaning is singular. We have already noted

Hosea 1:10 — them, Ye are not my people, it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." This is a definite promise and prophecy of the coming of the Gentiles into the favor of God, as indicated by Paul's quotation of this very passage in Romans 9:25, where he declared: "And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, Then shall they be called sons of the living God." No possible fulfillment of this may be sought for in the subsequent history of the Jews after

Hosea 5:8 — emergency alert. Jesus Christ even applied it to the general assembly of all mankind for the Great Assize at the last day, an event which he said would be ushered in by "the sound of the trumpet." (Matthew 24:31). Paul used the same metaphor (1 Corinthians 15:52). The cornet and the trumpet appear here in parallel; Hosea did not mean to stress any difference in the instruments. The two were probably slight variants of the same instrument. The Mishna states that the shopar was sometimes straight and sometimes