Bible Commentaries

Genesis 38:7 — profess to find a difficulty, but no difficulty exists. "There could have been many ways in which he died, but, whatever the manner of death, the wrath of God lay behind it."Hershel H. Hobbs, Teacher's Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972), p. 45. Willis also noted that, "The fact that the Lord kills people because of their wickedness is taught in both the O.T. and N.T."John T. Willis, op. cit., p. 394. N.T. examples of this are in Acts 5:1-11; Acts 12:23; and in Revelation 2:22. Such

Genesis 39:2 — "And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian." "And Jehovah was with Joseph" This is the key to the whole chapter. In Genesis 39:2-3; Genesis 39:5; Genesis 39:21, and Genesis 39:23, the same fundamental truth is repeated. The reader is expected to see the hand of the Lord in these marvelous events. "In the house of his master, the Egyptian" Some of the critics try to make this

2 Kings 9:25-26 — frequently covered their lord's body with their own shields. It is of interest that Jehu and Bidkar once performed that service for Ahab. (For a more complete comment on the murder and robbery of Naboth by Ahab and Jezebel, see my commentary on 1 Kings (2 Kings 21).)

Job 4 overview — Old Testament Commentary, p. 466. This chapter and the next record the first speech of Eliphaz, loaded with the false wisdom of his day, "It merely poured vinegar, rather than oil, upon Job's wounds."Preacher's Homiletic Commentary, Vol. 7, Job, p. 27. Out of the whirlwind, God Himself declared that Job's friends, "Had not spoken of God the things that were right" (Job 42:7); and the very first word that God spoke out of the whirlwind blasted the long-winded diatribes of Job's comforters, as "Darkening

Psalms 109:21-25 — them: When they see me, they shake their head." "My heart is wounded within me" Two things, among many others, might have broken David's heart, namely: (1) the malignity of Saul for whom David had risked his life in the encounter with Goliath; and (2) the treachery of Ahithophel, David's trusted friend and advisor, who betrayed him in favor of Absalom. "Tossed up and down as the locust" Dummelow suggested that this could be rendered, "I am shaken off like a locust."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p.

Psalms 18:25-29 — with the merciful, the perfect, and the pure. God's lighting his lamp is a reference to the constant enlightenment available to the faithful in God's Word. The ability to "leap over a wall," according to McCaw, may be, "A reference to the incident in 2 Samuel 5:6-10."Leslie S. McCaw, op. cit., p. 462.

Psalms 18:43-47 — significant degree. As Halley said, "`Head of the nations' could be true of David only in a partial sense. This looks forward beyond the time of David to the Throne of David's Greater Son."Henry H. Halley, Bible Handbook (Zondervan Publishing House), p. 236. "This is a Messianic prophecy, parallel with Psalms 2:8."G. Rawlinson, op. cit., p. 120.

Psalms 40:10-11 — the people of God to bear witness to all men, in the fullest extent of their ability, is inherent in the words of these verses. "I have not hid… I have declared… I have not concealed" "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so"! (Psalms 107:2) is the marching order for every saved person on earth. A man who never speaks of his faith in God to others invites the question of whether or not he has any faith; and certainly it is the duty of all Christians, `not to hide, not to conceal,' but

Psalms 49:9-12 — abideth not: He is like the beasts that perish." In addition to the things mentioned above which riches cannot do, there are some additional inabilities mentioned here. (1)    They do not enable the owner to live always (Psalms 49:9). (2)    They do not enable `their houses' to continue forever (Psalms 49:11). (3)    Riches do not enable the owner to determine what shall happen to them after his death (Psalms 49:10). The picture of the man who

Proverbs 24:21-22 — given to change: For their calamity shall rise suddenly; And the destruction from them both, who knoweth it?" This passage has part of the instruction that the apostle Peter gave; "Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king."1 Peter 2:17. "Company not with them that are given to change" apparently refers to malcontents seeking a change in the government; but there is even a wider application. Every church is plagued by a certain element within it which identifies change with `progress.'

Proverbs 30:7-9 — Feed me with the food that is needful for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is Jehovah? Or lest I be poor, and steal, And use profanely the name of my God." The two requests are (1) that he may be kept free of falsehood and lies, and (2) that he may be spared the temptations of being either rich or poor. The first of these is a request that God will aid him in the inward purity of life, "For the removal from him of all forms of falsehood, hollowness and hypocrisy";Barnes' Notes on

Jeremiah 13 overview — with abandoned wickedness. The dramatic warnings of this chapter were designed to stem the headlong rash of Israel to destruction; but the warnings were not heeded. The warnings were: (1) the parable of the mined linen loin-cloth (Jeremiah 13:1-11), (2) the parable of the wine jars (Jeremiah 13:12-14), (3) the warning against pride and arrogance toward God (Jeremiah 13:15-17), (4) the warning to the king and the queen-mother (Jeremiah 13:18-19), (5) the warning that identified "friends" of Israel,

Ezekiel 33:32-33 — according to Keil was that, "Ezekiel should not be prevented by the improper use of his words from preaching the whole truth to the people."Carl Friedrich Keil, Keil-Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) Vol. 2, p. 78. In time, all of the captives would learn the truth.

Micah 7:1 — soul desireth the first-ripe fig." Beginning here and through Micah 7:6, we have "one of the most poignant criticisms of a commercial community ever to appear."George Adam Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets (Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham), p. 429. Nothing "to eat" is a metaphor of the lack of honesty and integrity in Jerusalem, as appears in succeeding verses. Just as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, "There were not `ten righteous persons' for whose sake the city might have been spared!"Albert

Habakkuk 1:4 — Jr., op. cit., p. 981. This reference to God's law indicates positively that the people who were supposed to keep that law were the ones addressed in these verses. "The courts fail to meet the problem posed by violence."John D. W. Watts, op. cit., p. 125. A certain indication of the decadence of a society and its approaching ruin is always a breakdown of the system for administering justice. "The wicked doth compass about the righteous" Watts identified the persons meant by these words as "the guilty"

John 1 overview — This chapter falls easily into five divisions: (1) the prologue, John 1:1-18; (2) the deputation from Jerusalem to John the Baptist, John 1:19-28; (3) the events of the next day after that deputation, John 1:29-34; (4) the events of the second day after the deputation, John 1:35-42; and (5) the events of the third day following

Judges 17:11-13 — was in the house of Micah. Then said Micah, Now know I that Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest" "The Levite was content to dwell with the man" Boling pointed out that, "Here is an echo of the Moses-Jethro agreement in Exodus 2:21."The Anchor Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 257. "Now know I that Jehovah will do me good" This arrogant superstition for which Micah was so soon to atone, "Proves that at that time (shortly after the death of Joshua) the tribe of Levi held the position

Judges 5:1-2 — 45. As noted above, Deborah's authorship is confirmed in Judges 5:7. "For that the leaders took the lead in Israel" Myers mentioned an alternative rendition here, making the words read, "When locks hung loose in Israel,"The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 2, p. 719. making this a symbol of the vows which many Israelites had vowed unto the Lord. However, such an idea contradicts the revelation in Judges 5:8 that there was at that time a widespread "choice of new gods" instead of Jehovah, on the part of

Judges 7:1 — the spring of Harod: and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh in the valley" "It is impossible at this time exactly to locate these opposing armies,"C. F. Keil in the Keil-Delitzsch Commentaries, Old Testament, Vol. 2-A, p. 240. except that the confrontation was somewhere in the western portion of the valley of Jezreel. It is not the exact location here; this is important. The great fact is that Gideon, having been greatly encouraged by the sign of the fleece (at

Ruth 4:3 — was acting as an agent for her deceased sons in whom the land title was probably vested. Matthew Henry supposed that Elimelech had been compelled to mortgage the parcel during the famine that drove the family to Moab.Matthew Henry Commentaries, Vol. 2, p. 271. In that event, the land would have reverted to Elimelech's heirs in the year of Jubilee. Thus, what Naomi was selling really amounted to the use of the land for that unspecified number of years. "Our brother Elimelech's." The term `brother'