Bible Commentaries

Proverbs 3:1-10 — hardly refer to anything else. The same writer admitted that there is probably an allusion to Exodus 20:12 in the following verse; and Walls pointed out that, "The reference to first-fruits in Proverbs 3:9 points back to the Mosaic Law in Deuteronomy 26, where the worshipper was commanded to bring each year as an offering to God the first-fruits of his fields and flocks."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 553. "There are definite reflections of the Book of Genesis in Proverbs 3:19-20. Also, as Kidner

Numbers 10:1-10 — with some remarkable perversions of God's will, as was pointed out by Jesus. "When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have the glory of men." - Matthew 6:2. One finds a tremendous amount of writing with regard to the exact types of signals that meant one thing or another; but, as Gray pointed out: "Whether the verbs (Numbers 10:6-7) mean to blow a series of short staccato notes, or a single long blast,

Deuteronomy 10:12-17 — is exactly the equivalent of what Cardinal Cushing did in his prayer at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as President of the U.S.A. The Cardinal told God no less than five times in that single prayer what the date was! "On this 21st of January, 1961" etc., etc. Micah 6:8 is an echo of this passage, indicating that Deuteronomy is far older than the minor prophets (848-844 B.C.), and at the time of their writing, already well known throughout Israel. "What doth Jehovah thy God require of thee…

Deuteronomy 20:1-4 — nor tremble, neither be ye affrighted of them; for Jehovah your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." "To the Israelites, horses and chariots were always objects of terror in war (Joshua 11:4; Joshua 17:16; Judges 1:19; Judges 4:3, and 1 Samuel 13:5)."W. L. Alexander, The Pulpit Commentary, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 230. Furthermore, all of the nations they would confront in Canaan were well supplied with

Luke 17:1-2 — those yet living against such a sin. Spence agreed that "There does seem a clear connection here with the narrative immediately preceding."H. D. M. Spence, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), Vol. 16, Luke, ii, p. 86 After noting the opinions of many to the contrary, Geldenhuys also said, "It appears to us that there is a unity between the various pronouncements and that (although Luke does not say so) they were uttered on one and

Luke 21:5-6 — thing ever seen on earth. Josephus (Book V, Chapter 5) described the snow-white stones of such great size, some of which were overlaid with pure gold, and the magnificence of this structure which required the labor of thousands of men from 20-19 B.C. to 64 A.D. to build. Although not completed until long after Jesus' words, it was nevertheless sufficiently built, even then, to justify what is said of it here. In addition to the fundamental structure, there were adornments of the most extravagant and

John 1:19-20 — is the witness of John, when the Jews sent unto him from Jerusalem priests and Levites to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ. The apostle John had already referred to John the Baptist (John 1:6-8); and as it was he who had first turned the eyes of the apostle to Jesus, it was most appropriate that he should have developed that witness more fully. These events were placed in the holy record primarily because of their testimony to the divine

John 10:3 — To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. There are two extended metaphors in view here, the first ending with John 10:6, and the other extending through John 10:18. David Lipscomb's concise analysis is helpful: In the first parable, Jesus is the Shepherd entering into the fold and calling his sheep. In the second, Jesus is the door by or through which the sheep enter

John 19:32 — time for such a separation to have taken place. In addition, as Westcott pointed out, "the separation of the blood into its constituent parts is a process of corruption." Ibid. The Father did not permit the Holy One to see corruption (Psalms 16:10). John attached the greatest importance to this phenomenon, and also wrote, "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood" (1 John 5:6). The Ante-Nicene writers

Acts 1:8 — inclusive and not selective, which is another way of saying that it is gracious and not conditional. There are no conditions in Acts 1:8. Frederick Dale Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1971), pp. 160, 161. It is impossible, however, for such a view to be reconciled with Galatians 4:6, which states that "Because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, etc." God's Spirit was never given to any man to make

Romans 12:19 — Hebrews. Who but Paul, of all the people of that generation, could have paraphrased a portion of Deuteronomy in exactly the same words? There also seems to be a different meaning from that of Moses, as similarly in other passages of Romans (Romans 10:6-8), thus still further tying the peculiar arrangement of these words to Paul alone. In Deuteronomy, the emphasis is upon the occurrence of some disaster, accident, or calamity to check the evil-doer, with the implication that God's agency might cause

1 Corinthians 14:27-28 — added a number of others which are given in this chapter, including these: 4.    Everything must be done unto edifying, and tongues do not edify. 5.    Love is a better thing to practice than speaking in tongues. 6.    Five intelligible words are to be preferred to ten thousand in an uninterpreted tongue. 7.    Under no circumstances let the women do it (1 Corinthians 14:34), interpreter or no interpreter. 8.    Greater

Ephesians 6:4 — to their children. They must instruct and discipline them "in the Lord," having the most urgent respect to the rights and feelings of the children. A moment later, he would thunder the obligations of masters toward their slaves (Ephesians 6:9). The epic nature of these admonitions is seen in the fact that in the society of Paul's day, wives, children and slaves had no rights. STATUS OF WIVES, CHILDREN AND SLAVES All women, wives in particular, were in practical fact the chattels of their

Colossians 1:12 — ff. II.    People's hearts must be open to receive the truth; and that all-important event is produced by the word of God which opens people's hearts. "Lydia … heard us, whose heart the Lord opened to give heed to the things which were spoken" (Acts 16:14 ff). III.    Belief enters into qualification for salvation; and, as Jesus said, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:29). IV.    Repentance also figures in

Colossians 2:13 — regarding so important a question as this. Note the following: We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). Wherefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things are passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17). Even in the sequence of verses before us, baptism is mentioned in Colossians 2:12 and the being made alive in the next verse, where it

1 Timothy 2:8 — Nute, op. cit., p. 509. Lifting up holy hands … This is not a prescription demanding any posture in prayer, but: It is merely an allusion to the ancient practice of presenting the uplifted hands in respectful petition to God, as in Nehemiah 8:6; Psalms 141:2 and Lamentations 3:41. E. M. Zerr, Bible Commentary Vol. VI (Marion, Indiana: Cogdill Foundation, 1954), p. 168. Without wrath and disputing … Hervey speaks of a number of instances cited by Chrysostom in which angry and vindictive

1 Timothy 4:3 — into the churches. The Jewish sects of the Essenes and the Therapeutae had already taught abstinence from marriage was meritorious. H. D. M. Spence, Ellicott's Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1970), p. 196. A hundred other instances could be cited in which there seems to be a total blindness to the one overwhelming, universal fulfillment of this very prophecy, namely, that found in the apostate church herself, which there is no need to name, because every

Hebrews 11:12 — that Keturah was the mother of Eliezar (Genesis 15:2-3), the apparent heir of Abraham for many years, suggesting that Eliezar was the oldest of the sons of the concubines. The number of concubines, though not given, was certainly plural (Genesis 25:6). The events relative to Hagar do not contradict the above view. Sarah, earnestly desiring a child, did not desire one by any of Abraham's concubines, as they were viewed as Abraham's servants, not hers; it was thus something different when she proposed

Hebrews 13:1 — the shorter verses of the Bible but worthy indeed of standing thus alone as a divine injunction of the greatest importance. Westcott divided the various exhortations listed in this chapter into the three categories of: (1) social duties (Hebrews 13:1-6); (2) religious duties (Hebrews 13:7-17); and (3) personal instructions of the author (Hebrews 13:18-25). Significantly, love of the brethren stands at the head of the list of all obligations. BROTHERLY LOVE Our brother! He stands before us, like ourselves,

Hebrews 3:1 — Spirit subsequent to their being baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38). Thus their holiness was not in any sense a consequence of their being born of Jewish parents, a preponderantly Gentile congregation receiving the same designation (1 Thessalonians 5:26, margin). Partakers of a heavenly calling is a reference to the universal and eternal dimensions of the Christian vocation, which is a heaven-centered faith, its emphasis being emphatically upon the things in heaven, rather than upon the things of earth.