Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 9:1-9 — all this evil upon them." The first difficulty here is the matter of dating this Divine appearance to Solomon. Both Keil and Hammond place this event in the 24th year of Solomon's reign,C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 3a, p. 113. but there is no certainty that the Temple remained undedicated for the thirteen years between its completion and the completion of the king's palaces. Yes, God here told Solomon that he had heard his prayer and hallowed the Temple, etc., but

2 Kings 14:1-7 — critics go out of their way to deny what is written here. Honeycutt, for example, denied that 2 Kings 14:6 here reflects a statement in God's Word, declaring that, "It reflects the Deuteronomist conception of individualism."Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 261. On the contrary, as Stigers truthfully stated it, "2 Kings 14:6 is a citation from the Law of Moses and is evidence that Deuteronomy is NOT a late composition as some critics hold."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, op. cit., p. 353. If the

Psalms 18 overview — from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: and he said): Of all the Psalms accredited to David, "This is the one that can be assigned to him with the greatest confidence."J. R. Dummelow, Whole Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 336. There is another record of this same Psalm, with only insignificant variations, in 2 Samuel 22. The outdated, extravagant, and disproved allegations of radical critics which were popular in some schools of thought during the 19th and early

Psalms 40:6-8 — under the Old Covenant, the sacrifices mentioned here were absolutely required. Many of the commentators have softened what is said here by saying that, "Even in the Old Testament more was required than all forms of worship";J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, 345. "This means that, apart from a spirit of obedience,"The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 312. such sacrifices are not required. No! This is not what our text says, nor is such a thing what is meant. What is said here is that no kind of animal sacrifices

Leviticus 9:22-24 — Aaron went into the tent of meeting" This was a very significant event. The "tent of meeting" here means the Holy of Holies, where were located the candlestick, the altar of sweet incense, the table of showbread, etc. It seems to be here (Leviticus 9:23) that Moses formally placed Aaron in charge of everything pertaining to the tabernacle, thus investing him with the full dignity as High Priest of Israel. There is no indication whatever of how long this entry into the Holy Place lasted. For Moses,

Isaiah 48:1-6 — the earth." "Made mention of my name" This was not true of the nation of Israel, that name, having been given through Jacob in the third generation of Abraham's "seed." Gabriel, however, gave the name Jesus to the Messiah before he was born (Luke 1:31). "My mouth like a sharp sword" This indicated that the words which would come out of the mouth of Messiah would be the instrument of his power, the words which would judge men and angels on the last day (John 12:48). This is "the word" that hurled

Jeremiah 6 overview — throughout Jeremiah, the three subjects treated here, namely, (1) a description of the tragic fate of the city, (2) the character and identification of the instrument (the destroyer) God would use in the execution of his judgment against the city, and (3) a summary of the reasons why God judged Jerusalem and Judah to be worthy of the penalty about to fall upon them, Jeremiah jumbled all of these topics together. In our paraphrase, we shall reorganize them topically. THE AWFUL FATE TO BEFALL JUDAH AND

Matthew 6:7 — And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. (3) The third area of abuse of the sacred privilege of prayer is in the matter of vain, empty repetitions. The customs of Gentiles in regard to this abuse were well known. Water wheels, wind chimes, endless chanting over and over of prescribed words are

Matthew 9:18 — first resurrection recorded in the New Testament. There were three such wonders, forming a sequence: (1) Jairus' daughter had been dead only a very short time. (2) The son of the widow of Nain had been dead longer and was being carried to the tomb. (3) Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days (Luke 7:12; John 11). Christ considered raising the dead a part of his ministry (Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22), and he delegated the power to the apostles (Matthew 10:8). Peter raised Dorcas from the dead,

Deuteronomy 32 overview — God."Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of the English Language, International Edition combined with Britannica World Language Dictionary (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. and New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1960), pp. 728 for Leibnitz, and 1320 for theodicy. This poem was not written as "an attempt" to justify anything. It is a magnificent prophecy pertaining to the future of Israel in particular, and to the nature of God and of rebellious men in all generations. As Cook said, "This song

Mark 10:52 — … may also be translated, "Thy faith hath saved thee" (see the English Revised Version (1885) margin). From this, Turlington concluded that "the story is not only historical but a parable."Henry E. Turlington, op. cit., p. 354. Cranfield concluded that Bartimaeus became a disciple of Jesus and supposed that fact to underlie the fact of his name being remembered. This would also explain why Mark mentioned only one of the two blind men actually healed, as indicated in Matthew;

Mark 7:17-19 — fads regarding diet, lose all significance in the light of these words. Making all meats clean … Paul wrote that "Every creature of God is good (to eat), and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving" (1 Timothy 3:4). This lifting of restrictions on diet was hard even for the apostles to accept; and long after Jesus said this, Peter affirmed that he had never eaten "anything that is common and unclean" (Acts 10:14). It may also be inferred from this

Luke 2:13-14 — praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased. A multitude of the heavenly host … A host of angels is represented in the Old Testament as forming the bodyguard of Deity (Psalms 103:21; Daniel 7:10). As Boles said, "This praise was a proclamation of the newborn King and a confirmation of the glorious tidings to the shepherds, and through them to all people."H. Leo Boles, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Nashville: The

Romans 5:6-8 — God's purpose of the ages. Even before the foundation of the world, the plan of redeeming men through the death of Christ was clearly formed in God's eternal purpose, which purpose he, in fact, declared in the great protoevangelium of the Bible (Genesis 3:15). When even an earthly king visits a place, he announces his purpose in advance, displays his royal credentials to prevent misunderstanding, and, in due course, arrives "as planned"; thus it was with the coming of the Son of God into our

1 Corinthians 15 overview — giving the following outline of it: Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1949), p. 280. Numerous changes were made in this outline. I.    The dead will be raised (1 Corinthians 15:1-34). A.    The resurrection of Christ proves it (1 Corinthians 15:1-11). 1.    The Scriptures foretold it (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). 2.    Eyewitnesses attested it (1 Corinthians 15:5-11). B.    To

Ephesians 5:19 — that does not appear in the passage at all. With Lipscomb and many others it is viewed here as instruction regarding the public worship of the Christians. David Lipscomb, New Testament Commentaries, Ephesians (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1937), p. 106. Singing … The meaning of this term is to produce music vocally; and regardless of ancient meanings attributed to the word [@psallo], rendered "making melody" used here in conjunction with it, no translator has ever rendered

Joshua 1:1 — late literary sources (the alleged sources of the Pentateuch ). This is only a rationalistic attempt to explain away the miraculous element."Ibid., p. 280. "The servant of Jehovah" This was, above all other designations, the title of Moses (Deuteronomy 34:5), and it was carried over into the New Dispensation by the author of Hebrews. "Moses was indeed faithful over all his (God's) house as a servant" (Hebrews 3:5). The meaning of the term "servant" is very close to that of "slave," but it was the accepted

Hebrews 1:14 — considered appropriate to set forth some of the basic scriptural teachings concerning them. They are innumerable (Hebrews 12:22); and from such impressions as may be gathered from our Saviour's reference to "legions of angels" (Matthew 26:53) and the use of words like "archangel" (Jude 1:1:9), as well as from our Lord's making angels of little children to be of the highest rank in heaven (Matthew 18:10), it is inferred that the angelic host are an organized company, or kingdom;

Judges 3:1-6 — left… to prove Israel" This passage gives two reasons why the Lord did not drive out all of the Canaanites before Israel, namely: (1) to prove them, whether or not they would obey the Lord; and (2) to teach those ignorant of it, the art of war; (3) A third reason is also given, namely, that of punishing Israel for their disobedience. The bankruptcy of radical criticism is seen in the fact that Moore declared these reasons to be "a contradiction"International Critical Commentary, p. 78. of Josh.

Revelation 20 overview — Christ. Beginning back in Revelation 12:1, the three great enemies of Christ were introduced in successive visions: (1) the dragon, identified as Satan himself; (2) the sea-beast with seven heads and ten horns, identified as persecuting government; and (3) the land-beast, later identified as the harlot, and still later as the false prophet, identifiable throughout as false religion, first as paganism, then as apostate Christianity and the derivatives of it. Significantly, in this prophecy, all three