Bible Commentaries

Ezra 1:5-11 — Babylonians. "Even these did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth… and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah" "This is a reference to Nebuchadnezzar's looting of the Temple of Solomon on both of those occasions when he captured Jerusalem in 597 B.C. and in 587 B.C.Ibid. These sacred vessels he had laid up as trophies in the house of his gods; and upon the night when Babylon fell, the drunken king Belshazzar was having a great feast for his lords and concubines, when he sent for the sacred

Ezra 10:1-4 — (Jehiel) mentioned in Ezra 10:26, but Williamson denied the certainty of that identification, writing that, "Jehiel is a common enough name to preclude certainty of identity, even with a single extended family."Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Vol. 16, p. 150. Keil wrote that, "This Shechaniah is a different person from the descendant of Zattu (Ezra 8:5), nor is Jehiel identical with the individual of that name mentioned in Ezra 10:26."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 3c,

Ezra 10:18-44 — Christians individually, and as the Church, are called to be `light' and `salt,' elements that function effectively precisely because of their difference from the setting in which they are placed. `But if the salt has lost its savor…?' (Matthew 5:13-16)."Wycliffe Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 162.

Ezra 8:1-14 — names appear in both lists, although not in the same order. "The numbers here are much smaller, never reaching even a third of the totals in the other list, and sometimes falling below one twelfth."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8a, p. 122. Only in Ezra 8:5 (Shecaniah), Ezra 8:9 (Joab) and Ezra 8:10 (Shelomith) do we find new families mentioned; and two of these are disputed. The authenticity of his list has been challenged; but Bowman mentioned that, "It has also been defended, and that it fits."The Interpreter's

Job 9:25-35 — this cry for a daysman (umpire), for God with his majesty laid aside, as an instinctive prophecy of the Incarnation, although Job had no such thing in his mind."Arthur S. Peake, A Commentary on the Bible (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 354. "This passage is strongly looking forward to Bethlehem. There was really no answer to Job's problem short of the Incarnation. In this cry for an umpire between God and man, we see a prophetic reaching out for that One Mediator between God and men,

Psalms 35:1-10 — "chaff" to be burned up, which was the usual way of disposing of it, but that it be "driven away." He did not pray that his enemies would be killed but that they would fall into the net in a pit they had prepared for him. "The destruction" (Psalms 35:8) is not a reference to the destruction of his enemies, but to the destruction of their purpose of killing David. Note that it is the destruction `with,' not `of' them. There is no prayer here for the slaughter of his foes, but for God to "stop the

Psalms 4:1-2 — vanity, and seek after falsehood? (Selah)" Regarding the inscription, Matthew Henry observed that in the Old Testament, "All of the singing was done by the choristers, not by the people; but the New Testament appoints all Christians to sing (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16)."Matthew Henry, On the Old Testament (Fleming H. Revell Company), p. 251. We also should point out that the use of instruments of music by the Jews constitutes no authority whatever for Christian use of them in the worship of God. "God

Psalms 91:9-13 — comments on that episode, see in my New Testament series of commentaries under those references. "There shall no evil befall thee" Promises just as glorious as these are provided for the Christians in the New Testament, as for example, in Romans 8:35-39; but as Kidner cautioned, "The assurance here is that nothing can touch God's servant except by God's permission, and that no rebel (Psalms 91:8) can escape God's punishment."Derek Kidner, op., cit., p. 332. Kidner also quoted Luke 21:19 in this

Psalms 96:7-9 — the same as the bloody sacrifices of the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant, God's family of worshippers are called by the apostle Peter, "A spiritual house… to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). "Through him (Christ) let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips which make confession to his name" (Hebrews 13:15). Also, in the quotation from Malachi 1:11, it is a "pure" offering that is to be required,

Proverbs 4:20-27 — Proverbs 3:21, another example of the constant repetition in Proverbs. "The repeated message is that, `it is not enough to hear wise instruction; it must be assimilated, pondered and kept at the center of man's being.'"The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 555. "Keep thy heart with all diligence… etc." Here is another favorite verse which many have committed to memory. The heart, as the word is used in the Bible, means the mind, which is the center of human intelligence, emotions and the will. "The

Proverbs 6:12-19 — blood; A heart that deviseth wicked purposes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief, A false witness that uttereth lies, And he that soweth discord among brethren." "A worthless person, a man of iniquity" Beginning here and through Proverbs 6:15 we have a description of a wicked and deceitful man; but it is not revealed just what was meant by the various winks, signs, gestures and other bodily movements by which he made evil signals, communicated with confederates, or in other ways hoodwinked,

Ecclesiastes 9:13-15 — butchered their thousands and tens of thousands on bloody battlefields, but not the wise statesmen who negotiated peace. "How warped are our human value systems! Jesus said, `Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God'" (Matthew 5:9)."James Waddey, p. 56. The sad fact of this little city's true benefactor having been forgotten is only one of a million other similar situations in which there have been gross miscarriages of human justice and even intelligence. Why? The status of

Song of Solomon 2:3-6 — house."? This is clearly a reference to some public eating place. In the light of these considerations, we find full agreement with Balchin who wrote that these verses recall, "A meeting the maiden had with her lover."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 582. We include here a sample of the allegorical speculations with regard to the meaning of this chapter: "This is a poetical, allegorical representation of what takes place in the Church and in the experience of believers individually. Examples of this

Song of Solomon 6:4-10 — very dramatic and sufficient sense from any of the women in Solomon's seraglio; and it was undeniably that difference which was praised. What was it? She was the only one who would not submit to Solomon's advances. She overcame him (Song of Solomon 6:5). There are all kinds of interpretations suggested for these verses; but we have cited here the one that makes the most sense to this writer.

Song of Solomon 7:1-9 — smelled like apples (Song of Solomon 7:7), and her kisses were like wine. All of this says in tones of thunder: "You look delicious, and I'm ready to eat you!" Delitzsch and other scholars attribute the first part of this paragraph (Song of Solomon 7:1-5) to the women of the king's harem who are praising the maiden's beauty. This theory is based upon the alleged mutual love and admiration among the women of the harem; and we reject it, because it is contrary to human nature and is absolutely unsupported

Isaiah 16:1-5 — a throne shall be established in lovingkindness; and one shall sit thereon in truth, in the tent of David, judging, and seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness." This 16th chapter was divided as follows by Hailey: (1) Moab's hope (Isaiah 16:1-5); (2) Moab's rejection of this hope (Isaiah 16:6-12); (3) the appointed time for the execution of God's judgment upon Moab (Isaiah 16:13-14).Footnote is not available As regards these first five verses, there is much uncertainty and disagreement. Who

Isaiah 30:23-26 — Israel after the return from Babylonian captivity; but the continued rebellion of Israel prevented the full blessings God intended for Israel after their return. God had promised to bless Israel "above the blessings upon their fathers" (Deuteronomy 30:5) and that he would do more for them than at their "beginning" (Ezekiel 36:11); but it seems never to have occurred to Israel that these blessings were contingent, absolutely, upon their fidelity to God and upon their honoring and abiding by the teachings

Isaiah 48:16 — Old Testament quotation, Psalms 40; Psalms 6-8, where again the pre-incarnate Christ is the speaker, and his subject the projected visitation of our poor earth by the Dayspring from on High. The author of Hebrews discussed this at length (Hebrews 10:5-7). See my comment on this in Vol. 10 of the New Testament Series (Hebrews), pp. 213ff. Jamieson, noting that Isaiah, not Christ, is the author of the passage, stated that, "Isaiah here speaks not in his own person so much as in that of the Messiah,

Isaiah 60:19-22 — call the Millennium; but all of the Biblical passages bearing upon the reign of Christ show that, (1) it is in progress now (Matthew 28:18-20); (2) the second advent will not be the beginning of the reign of Christ, but the end of it (1 Corinthians 15:25-28); (3) there is no such thing as a rapture that shall allow God's people to escape the great tribulation (Acts 14:22); (4) the general resurrection will be the occasion of the final judgment (Matthew 25); (5) Christ's reign on the throne of David

2 Samuel 19:24-30 — course, Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of Saul, but the use of the term "son" in the Bible is very flexible: (1) It may mean simply descendant of (Matthew 1:1); (2) grandson as here; (3) Levirate son; (4) adopted son (Luke 3:23); (5) actual son; (6) son by creation (Luke 3:38); (7) a possessor of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14); (8) merely a follower of as in Acts 13:10; or (9) son-in-law (Luke 3:23). "He had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes"