Bible Commentaries

Jeremiah 14:13-15 — Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 377. Why were the people deceived by the false prophets? The only plausible answer is that they WANTED to be deceived. "The secret of the power of the false prophets was given by the Lord in Jer. 5:32, `My people love to have it so.'"Scribner's Bible Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898), p. 406. Adam Clarke pointed out the fact that the people accepted the allegation of false prophets without any proof, and without investigating

Jeremiah 15:5-9 — hath been put to shame and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith Jehovah." The consistent use of the past tense in this paragraph should not be misunderstood. "The first few verbs here (Jeremiah 15:5) and the last verb (Jeremiah 15:9) are in the imperfect tense; and most of the rest are perfects. They portray that which has not yet happened as though it had already transpired, so certain is the prophet that it is going to come about."Broadman

Jeremiah 2:4-8 — us that the word "worthlessness," through a play on words (paronomasia) is a reference to Baal. He also stated that, in those Near Eastern international treaties, `To go after' (or walk after) meant to serve as a vassal."R. K. Harrison, Jeremiah, p. 53. In Israel's pursuit of worthlessness in their going after Baal, they had themselves become worthless, because men invariably become like what they love and worship. This immortal truth was allegorized by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his Legend of the Great

Jeremiah 7:4-7 — it, "It was the cant of the times; it was in their mouths upon all occasions. If they received bad news, they lulled themselves to sleep again, saying, `We cannot but do well, we have the temple of the Lord among us.'"Matthew Henry's Commentary, p. 450. Jeremiah's breaking in upon that crowd of arrogant, overconfident, hypocrites with the stinging words of Jehovah, commanding them either to repent or perish must have been resented like a plague of smallpox. "Is it any wonder that this `temple sermon'

Ezekiel 24:1-5 — unbelief of some alleged scholars never fails to astonish us. May, for example, stated that, Ezekiel was probably in Babylon when he wrote this, "To be able to know the very day of the beginning of the siege."H. G. May in the Interpreter's Bible, p. 195. Apparently such a `scholar' never heard of such a thing as 'Divine inspiration.' One may wonder why he wrote so much about a book in the Bible, the value of which is founded solely upon its being "inspired of God (1 Peter 1:21)." Feinberg accurately

Ezekiel 35:7-9 — than that which was inflicted upon Ammon and Egypt, who at least had a prospect of restoration held out to them (Jeremiah 49:6; and Ezekiel 29:14)."J. B. Thompson, p. 336. Note that this threat of perpetual desolation is repeated here from Ezekiel 35:5. However, the eternal justice of God is seen in this perpetual desolation of Edom. Who murdered the innocents of Bethlehem in his frenzied efforts to kill the Lord Jesus Christ? Answer: It was the savage Idumaean (Edomite) Herod the Great. Who murdered

Ezekiel 4:1-3 — Revell), p. 771. Ezekiel probably had many examples of this type of illustration to aid him in the fulfillment of God's command, because, "Assyrian bas-reliefs show in vigorous detail how a siege was carried out."International Critical Commentary, p. 51. In the analogy here, Ezekiel himself enacts the part of God as the true besieger of the city. It came to pass as Jeremiah prophesied, when God said, "I myself shall fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger, and in fury, and

Daniel 10:1-3 — apposition, the word mourning carrying with it the idea of fasting as indicated in Daniel 10:3. The special reason for Daniel's mourning would appear to be that, in the 3rd years of Cyrus, the restoration of the Temple (Ezra 1-3, especially Ezra 4:4-5) had been stopped, hence Daniel's concern and anxiety. "Three whole weeks were fulfilled" The literal words from which this expression is translated are: "three sevens days." "The reason for using the word 'days' here is to show the difference in the

Hosea 5:1 — Barnes was of the opinion that the prophet selected these two places for specific mention because "they were probably centers of corruption, or special scenes of wickedness."Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953), p. 55. Indeed, the text affirms this, since it is unbelievable that Hosea was merely speaking of catching birds and small game in the type of traps mentioned here. No, it was the people who were being entrapped and snared; and the old sexual orgies

Hosea 5:13 — human governments. In the example provided by this verse, they resorted to war in the hope of solving their problems. Where is there a better illustration of the perennial blindness of the wretched race of men? "Sent to Assyria" See comment under Hosea 5:8, above, for McKeating's comment on the historical instance of this. "And sent to king Jareb" There is no knowledge whatever of who this "king Jareb" might have been; and this is exactly the kind of problem that delights Biblical commentators. There

Joel 2:15-17 — participation in the solemn assembly must be achieved, even bridegrooms who by Jewish custom were exempted from all public duties during the first year of marriage (even war), as well as brides and infant children were required to attend. (See Deuteronomy 24:5.) The duties of priests, even including the exact prayer they were to pray, were included. Significantly, that prayer was not for the alleviation of the locust plague, but that God should avert the delivery of Israel into the hands of "the nations that

Micah 2:12 — prophecy. "I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah" This is a prophecy of the widespread acceptance of Christianity throughout the world in the times of Messiah. Allen accurately discerned that this casts "light upon the predictions in Micah 2:1-5."Leslie C. Allen, op. cit., p. 301. He also recognized that these verses fit perfectly into the larger framework of the whole prophecy, especially that of the chapter in which they are found. "It dovetails neatly into those which precede, answering

Micah 6:7 — any such excessive sacrifice as that; but it was one of the conceits of the northern Israel that the multiplication of sacrifices God had indeed commanded would make up for their shameless worship at the godless shrines of the Baalim. Amos (Amos 4:4-5) reveals that instead of offering sacrifices as God had requested, they were offering them "every morning"; and the tithes which were due once a year, they were offering "every three days." We followed other commentators in the supposition that all

Nahum 1:8 — literally by an overrunning flood that Nineveh fell. THE FALL OF NINEVEH "The Assyrian and Babylonian records are silent with regard to the fall of the city,"T. G. Pinches, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Chicago: Howard-Severance Co., 1915), p. 2151. a very instructive fact in its own right. Why should their records have stressed the God-ordered ruin of the great pagan city that, at the time, had been standing nearly as many centuries as have now elapsed since the birth of Christ? In

Malachi 1:14 — Herodians of Jesus' day were the moral and spiritual successors of the evil priests appearing in almost every line here. 2.    The Jews are effectually "without sacrifice," as they were also "without king, and without prince" (Hosea 3:4-5). The divine rejection of the whole system built around the Second Temple is all but bluntly stated in God's exclamation, "Oh that one of you would close it." 3.    One of the most magnificent Messianic prophecies in all the Bible

Matthew 15:5-6 — afterwards. (3)    It becomes appreciated as an "aid" to the worship, something helpful. (4)    Eventually, it is stressed and emphasized to the detriment of what it is supposed to "aid." (5)    It achieves, through long usage, a status of equality with God's word. (6)    It is finally performed, occasionally, but later, always, instead of God's commandment. (7)    Finally, it

Matthew 16:20 — died in an attempt to take Caesar's throne, the will of God would have been circumvented. Jesus took note of that situation when he said, "But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" (Luke 12:50). The exceedingly narrow line that Jesus walked was marked on one side by the fact that all men, insomuch as was possible, should be instructed that he was the Messiah and Savior of the world; and, on the other side, by the danger that they would misunderstand

Matthew 19:14-15 — practiced upon them in infancy, contrary to their will, or at least without their consent, and makes that imposition the true baptism. Such is only another instance in which people have made the word of God of none effect by their tradition (see on Matthew 15:9 ff). If an infant is "saved" by baptism (so-called) in infancy, such a person is saved without repentance, without confession, without knowledge of the Lord, without consciousness of sin, and without any intention of living right. There

Mark 4:21 — And he said unto them, Is the lamp brought to be put under the bushel, or under the bed, and not to be put on the stand? This verse and through Mark 4:25 make up a paragraph of disconnected sayings of Christ, brought together here in a remarkable application in a new context, indicating that the sacred Scriptures have a vitality and meaning of their own, even out of context. Jesus did here exactly what

Mark 4:30-32 — seeds … That certain seeds may be smaller than a mustard seed is no problem. Hyperbolic language was frequently employed then, as throughout history, in order to stress a point. Matthew's "all Judaea" is hyperbole. Compare Matthew 3:5 and Luke 7:30. Greater than all herbs … Many commentators stress the great size of the mature mustard tree, which in some parts of the world reaches to a height of more than twenty feet. Bickersteth reported such large specimens "on the