Bible Commentaries

Psalms 128 overview — psalm says. It states in general (Psalms 128:1) the blessedness of those who fear the Lord. This blessedness is seen in: (a) their success in life; (b) a numerous, happy family (Psalms 128:3); (c) being permitted to see children's children (Psalms 128:6); (d) being permitted to see the prosperity of holy religion (Psalms 128:5); (e) seeing the prosperity of Jerusalem; and (f) peace upon Israel (Psalms 128:5-6).Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the

Proverbs 10:21 — "The lips of the righteous feed many; But the foolish die for lack of understanding." The kind of food with which the lips of the righteous may feed others is, "The food that abideth unto eternal life" (John 6:27), namely, the blessed Truth of the holy gospels, without which, "the foolish die for lack of understanding."

Proverbs 11:24 — "There is that scattereth, and increaseth yet more; And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth only to want." "One gives away, and still he grows richer: Another keeps what he should give, and is the poorer."Ibid. This corresponds exactly with the promises of God in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 9:6-11).

Proverbs 11:26 — "He that withholdeth grain, the people shall curse him; But blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it." The background of this proverb appears to be a situation in which evil men monopolized the supply of grain, withholding it from the market to increase the price. Similar evil practices are mentioned in Amos 8:4-6.

Jeremiah 19:8-9 — disobedience; and now Jeremiah warned that the Mosaic penalty would be enforced. Did such an awful thing actually happen? Alas, the answer must be that it did. (1) In the siege of Samaria that led to the fall of the Northern kingdom in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 6:26 ff);J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 451. (2) again in 586 B.C. in the Babylonian invasion by Nebuchadnezzar; and (3) also in A.D. 70 preceding the total destruction of

Jeremiah 23 overview — PROPHECY OF CHRIST AND A DENUNCIATION OF FALSE PROPHETS By far the most important thing in this chapter is the glorious prophecy of Jesus Christ in Jeremiah 23:5-6. Beginning in Jeremiah 23:9 and extending to the end of the chapter is a lengthy discourse against the false prophets The location of this chapter is significant. Jeremiah had just concluded the chapter in which he had severely denounced the sins of

Matthew 10:34 — commanded John to eat the little book. "Take it and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be as sweet as honey" (Revelation 10:9). The sword of Christ is: (1) a sword of separation, (2) the word of God (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12), (3) the sword of civil authority (Romans 13:1-8), (4) the sword of judgment (Genesis 3:24), (5) the sword of correction (Revelation 2:16), and (6) the sword of victory (Revelation 19:13). Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, was acquainted

Mark 7:35 — And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. The cure was accomplished completely by the Saviour's word of command. The prophecy of Isaiah 35:5-6 that "The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped … and the tongue of the dumb sing" was fulfilled by the Son of God.

John 10:39 — They sought again to take him: and he went forth out of their hand. Just how Jesus avoided capture here is not related. His will alone was more than enough to prevent it. John later recorded the incident of a whole detachment of soldiers falling to the ground in his presence, even though they had come to arrest him (John 18:6).

John 15:3 — be the cleansing agent in redemption; but this is not true, if by "agent" is meant the means of cleansing. The Spirit is sent into men's hearts not to make them sons of God, or to cleanse them, but because they are already so (Galatians 4:6). "The sword of the Spirit … is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17); therefore, the word of God is the means and the Holy Spirit is the applicator or wielder of the means of cleansing from sin. What was true of the Twelve is true of all

John 18:28 — are John's only reference to the formal trial in the Sanhedrin. He also omitted the all-night examination before Caiaphas, and the trial before Herod. Of the six trials before: (1) Annas, (2) Caiaphas, (3) the Sanhedrin, (4) Pilate, (5) Herod, and (6) Pilate; John mentioned (1), (4) and (6). That they might not be defiled … What a perverse inconsistency marks the behavior of men! They were willing to suborn testimony to effect the judicial murder of the Son of God, but were unwilling to put

John 21:13 — Jesus cometh and taketh the bread, and giveth them, and the fish likewise. See under John 20:9 where the similarity with John 6:11 is discussed. There was one significant difference here. The Lord was the waiter, as well as the provider, on this occasion, whereas the apostles were the waiters on the other; but, in both cases, he gave to them.

Romans 14:8 — is the same thought in other words. Life has many tedious and toilsome duties, but everything the child of God does is done in service to the Lord. In New Testament times, even such a thing as slave labor was discharged with that in view (Ephesians 6:6-8). What a golden glory this sheds upon all life's prosaic sands! What a silver lining this bestows upon every cloud. Even death itself here appears in a new dimension, for Christians are the Lord's even in death. Paul himself lived in daily contemplation

Galatians 1 overview — This chapter contains Paul's salutation (Galatians 1:1-5), the dramatic introduction of his reason for writing the epistle, which was the developing apostasy of the Galatians (Gal. 6-10), a bold defense of his apostleship (Galatians 1:11-17), and the additional evidence of his independence and authority as an apostle (Galatians 1:18-24).

1 Thessalonians 2:2 — … The memory of the grossly unfair and brutal treatment Paul and Silas had received at Philippi had not dimmed. For a full discussion of those events, in which Paul was beaten and imprisoned and made fast in the stocks, see my Commentary on Acts 16. Waxed bold … "This word is always used in the New Testament of the proclamation of the gospel and denotes freedom from stress." Peter A. Cousins, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969),

2 Thessalonians 3 overview — Following the prayer which concluded the previous chapter, Paul, in this, urgently requested that the Thessalonians would continue to pray for him (2 Thessalonians 3:1-5). Various practical exhortations were then given (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15), especially with regard to busybodies and idlers. Paul's autographic attestation and benediction (2 Thessalonians 3:16-18) conclude the letter.

1 Timothy 6:3 — insubordination of slaves; but Spence felt that this may be allowed: There is little doubt that some influential teaching, contrary to St. Paul's, on the subject of the behavior and disposition of slaves was in the apostle's mind when he wrote 1 Timothy 6:3 and 1 Timothy 6:4. H. D. M. Spence, op. cit., p. 209.

Hebrews 13:6 — So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear: What shall man do unto me? This is from Psalms 118:6 and is cited as a further support of the premise that believers should trust in the Lord, not fearing what people may be able to do to them.

James 1:11 — refer to 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 20:11 — him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw a great white throne … Is this God, or Christ? We should probably read it as Christ, to correspond with Matthew 25:31-46, and also with the truth that God has committed judgment unto the Son of man (John 5:22). From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away … Note that very similar things were written in Revelation 6:14; Revelation 16:20; Revelation 18:21;