Bible Commentaries

Genesis 49:21 — "Naphtali is a hind let loose: He giveth goodly words." The meaning of this is not clear; and nothing more is recorded concerning this tribe except that in conjunction with Zebulun they won a notable victory over Jabin a Canaanite king, memorialized by the prophetess Deborah in her celebrated song (Judges 4 and Judges 5).

Job 24:13-17 — identifies the gross wickedness of evil men as generally being perpetrated at night. This is in full harmony with the New Testament references to such sins as, "the works of darkness" (Romans 13:12), "the hidden things of darkness" (1 Corinthians 4:5), and "the unfruitful works of darkness" (Ephesians 5:11). Like certain animals of prey, such men sleep in the daytime and operate their nefarious business at night. Christians are everywhere referred to in the New Testament as the "Children of light." "The

Psalms 49:5-8 — them by any means can redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him (For the redemption of their life is costly, And it abideth forever)." "Days of evil… iniquity at my heels… they that trust in riches" The proximity of Psalms 49:5-6, is not accidental. Although the psalm does not say that all rich persons are wicked, it is clear enough that the days of evil and the encircling iniquity mentioned in Psalms 49:5 are clearly due to rich men who are evil, who trust in their riches

Psalms 53 overview — Kay, this is a musical term indicating that it is to be sung `Maestoso.'"The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 411. This is a musical instruction meaning, "`With Majesty,' `Majestically,' or `Stately.'"Britannica World Language Dictionary, Vol. 2, p. 765. Maschil. This word means a "a meditative poem."Henry H. Halley, p. 241. The most important fact about this psalm is that it is almost in its entirety a duplication of Psalms 14, except for two things. (1) The word [~'Elohiym] (God) is substituted throughout

Proverbs 10:12 — "Hatred stirreth up strifes; But love covereth all transgressions." "James 5:30 and 1 Peter 4:8 are connected with this verse by the word `covers.'"The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 559. These are not direct quotations, but both passages stress the same thought. Love indeed covers a multitude of transgressions.

Song of Solomon 8:4 — THE FAMILIAR REFRAIN "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, That ye stir not up, nor awaken my love, Until he please." This is repeated in Song of Solomon 2:7 and Song of Solomon 3:5. See comment under those verses. It is not clear why this refrain is repeated just here.

Zephaniah 3:6 — introduced as a warning to Judah. As Hailey said: "When God gave them the land of Canaan, he had told the people that it was not because of their righteousness but because of the wickedness of the inhabitants whom he was casting out (Deuteronomy 9:4-5), and that if they would forget him, he would likewise cast them out (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28)."Homer Hailey, Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1972), p. 242. Israel was called "Canaan" twice in this prophecy, meaning that they had

Malachi 2:6 — "The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned away many from iniquity." This verse, along with Malachi 2:5; Malachi 2:7-8, is given to show Levi's obligation under the covenant of life and peace. What God did here was to cite the provisions of the covenant law that Levi once kept, but that his successors were violating. Clarke has given a summary of these

Matthew 10:32 — case of the apostle Peter (Matthew 16:17-18) whom Jesus confessed then and there. From this it would appear that when any person confesses Christ and is buried with him in baptism (the two actions being considered together in such passages as Ephesians 5:26 (Goodspeed's translation)), Christ confesses those who have been born again in the presence of God and the angels. It is possible that such is precisely the occasion when the redeemed have their names written in the "Lamb's book of life"

Matthew 20:8 — Payment will come at the end of the day; and it may be dogmatically assumed that any who abandoned work earlier received nothing at all for their labors. It corresponds to Bible teaching that these men were paid at the end of the day (see Deuteronomy 24:15; Leviticus 19-13; Job 7:2; Malachi 3:5; James 5:4).

Matthew 9:27 — people COULD! Even a blind man knew that the Messiah had indeed appeared in the person of Jesus Christ. Matthew alone recorded this incident. From various Old Testament passages, it is clear that blindness is a type of sin (See Deuteronomy 28:29; Isaiah 59:10; Job 12:25; Zephaniah 1:17; Isaiah 29:8; also Ephesians 5:8; and Matthew 15:14). A number of examples of Jesus' restoring sight to the blind are recorded and were prophetically included as a positive mark of the Messiah's power when he should be

John 15:1 — I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (John 15:1) This is parallel to John 15:5 and the seventh of the great "I am's" of this Gospel. For a list of these, see under John 8:12. Jesus' choice of this metaphor has been attributed to: (1) a fruitful vine growing over the window of the upper

1 Corinthians 4:16 — I beseech you therefore, be ye imitators of me. Paul never meant this in any absolute sense but in the sense of "Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). See also Ephesians 5:1, Philippians 3:17, 2 Thessalonians 3:9 and 1 Thessalonians 1:6.

Galatians 5:12 — I would that they that unsettle you would even go beyond circumcision. "The priests of Cybele, whom the Galatians had formerly worshipped," J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 956. made themselves eunuchs. Also, "The cult of Attis, whose famous temples were at Rome and in Phrygia of Asia Minor, practiced sacral castration."<14> None of the Galatians, therefore, could misunderstand Paul's ironic, and perhaps humorous,

1 Thessalonians 5:12 — But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; In this study, the entire paragraph beginning here and through 1 Thessalonians 5:22 is accepted and explained as Paul's instructions to the elders at Thessalonica. In all the history of true Christianity, there were never any persons appointed "over you in the Lord" except elders of the church; and the mention of this

1 Timothy 2:7 — whereunto I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I speak the truth, I lie not), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. The definite and emphatic missionary outreach of these first seven verses is supported by 1 Timothy 2:5-7, the "all men" of 1 Timothy 2:4 being inclusive of the Gentiles specifically mentioned here. The reason that "all men" were to be publicly prayed for by the church (including the Gentiles, of course) was stated in the Christology

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

James 2:8 — reference to the Law of Moses, because Moses was never a king. Furthermore, James mentioned the "law of liberty" a moment later (James 2:12); and he is presenting not two laws but one. In addition, the reference to the "kingdom" (James 2:5) leads naturally to the conclusion that it is the law of that kingdom to which reference is made here. Throughout James, there are dozens of references to the teachings of Jesus Christ (see introduction), and it is illogical to consider this as referring

James 5 overview — This chapter has a dramatic denunciation of the wealthy class who had murdered the Messiah, that is, the rich Sadducean aristocracy in Jerusalem who had slain "the Just One" (James 5:6), and whose approaching doom was prophetically announced in this denunciation. This paragraph (James 5:1-6) is parallel to those passages in the gospels which Jesus Christ pronounced against Jerusalem, and the similar pronouncement of the apostle

1 Peter 1:18 — knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; Ye were redeemed … This is one of the great ransom passages of the New Testament, along with Mark 10:45; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Timothy 2:5, Revelation 1:5, and many others. Not with silver or gold … These are some of the corruptible things cited as examples; nothing of earthly value or merit made up the purchase price of Christians, but only the