Bible Commentaries

Amos 5:23 — "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols." There are two things God condemned in this verse: (1) the noise of the songs of their worship, and (2) the mechanical instruments used in their worship. Commentators generally have (1) either skipped the questions raised by this verse as did McKeating;[53] (2) dismissed the verse on the grounds that the only thing God had against anything at Bethel

Amos 5:23 — "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols." There are two things God condemned in this verse: (1) the noise of the songs of their worship, and (2) the mechanical instruments used in their worship. Commentators generally have (1) either skipped the questions raised by this verse as did McKeating;[53] (2) dismissed the verse on the grounds that the only thing God had against anything at Bethel

Matthew 19:29 — and shall inherit eternal life. What a promise of blessing for God’s children is this! Two things, yea three, are promised here: (1) First, there is the multiplication, on a vast scale, of the wealth that people may forsake to follow Christ. (2) Second, there is the multiplication, on the same vast scale, of loved ones, however near and dear, who may be forsaken for his name’s sake. (3) Third, there is the promise of eternal life. But, looking beyond this magnificent triple promise,

Matthew 20:8 — Payment will come at the end of the day; and it may be dogmatically assumed that any who abandoned work earlier received nothing at all for their labors. It corresponds to Bible teaching that these men were paid at the end of the day (see Deuteronomy 24:15; Leviticus 19-13; Job 7:2; Malachi 3:5; James 5:4).

Matthew 21:16-17 — And Jesus saith unto them, Yea, did ye never read; Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? And he left them, and went forth out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there. Again Jesus appealed to the Scriptures (see Psalms 8:2). The praise of the children Jesus did not reject. It was indeed fulfillment of prophecy and should have been recognized by the Pharisees as additional proof of the identity of the Holy One among them. The fulfillment of God’s purpose is seen

Matthew 27:66 — "his day"? The presumption that would make it so is offensive to the emotions and contrary to reason. THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS These were: 1.    "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). 2.    "Verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). 3.    "Woman, behold thy son … Behold thy mother" (John 19:26,27). 4.    "My

Matthew 27:66 — his residence in the tomb be called "his day"? The presumption that would make it so is offensive to the emotions and contrary to reason. THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS These were: 1. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). 2. "Verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). 3. "Woman, behold thy son ... Behold thy mother" (John 19:26,27). 4. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). 5. "I thirst!" (John

Matthew 27:66 — his residence in the tomb be called "his day"? The presumption that would make it so is offensive to the emotions and contrary to reason. THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS These were: 1. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). 2. "Verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). 3. "Woman, behold thy son ... Behold thy mother" (John 19:26,27). 4. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). 5. "I thirst!" (John

Matthew 3:4 — leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey. John had evidently been schooled in the knowledge that he was to be another Elijah, and he promptly adopted the type of dress that would identify him as "Elijah." In 2 Kings 1:8, Elijah’s garb is mentioned, especially the leather girdle. This type of clothing was worn by the prophet for another reason, and that was as a protest against the luxury of the ruling classes in Jerusalem. His austere manner of dress

Matthew 4:24-25 — Christ in this phase of his ministry. The various diseases, etc., mentioned show that Christ’s power to heal extended to every possible condition of suffering and handicapped humanity. McGarvey noted that "The facts of this section (Matthew 4:12-25) furnish another argument in favor of the claims of Jesus (as the Messiah): (1) They show that his dwelling place was where the prophet Isaiah had predicted the appearance of a great light; (2) and that Christ was such a light. (3) That he was so

Mark 2:5 — which this is one, in which the Lord proclaimed forgiveness to men. The declaration of Jesus had profound implications: (1) it was an assertion of his deity, the convictions of all ages sustaining the view that "only God" can forgive sins. (2) It was an indication that he had read the hearts of the five men before him, especially of the sufferer, and that he had determined the spiritual attitude of the man to have been fully consistent with the reward bestowed. (3) It proved that Jesus understood

Mark 3:11-12 — unclean spirits, whensoever they beheld him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. And he charged them much that they should not make him known. Unclean spirits … For discussion of demon possession, see under Mark 1:24. Thou art the Son of God … This demonic witness was true, although proffered in keeping with some ulterior design of the evil one; and it is of the utmost significance that Jesus rejected this witness of the unclean. Two clear reasons for this

Luke 12:46 — nevertheless come to pass as the Lord promised. Cut him asunder … means "to punish with terrible severity."<footnote>J. S. Lamar, op. cit., p. 181. </footnote> This is a very strong word, bringing to mind such passages as Daniel 2:5; 3:29, etc., in which offenders in ancient times were literally cut in pieces. The use here is a metaphor for the utmost in severity. The next two verses were probably intended by Jesus to soften somewhat the terrible metaphor he had just used. Severely

John 11:11 — that I may awake him out of sleep. ASLEEP IN JESUS Lazarus is fallen asleep … Of all that Jesus ever said of death, this is the most encouraging. (1) Sleep is a temporary thing; and so by this our Lord revealed that death too is not permanent. (2) Sleep refreshes and rejuvenates; thus in the resurrection this mortal shall put on immortality and this corruptible shall put on incorruption. (3) From sleep, men awaken; and the promise is secure in the Master’s words that all that are in the

John 16:14 — I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you. Regarding the Trinitarian nature of this passage, Dummelow said: This is one of the leading Trinitarian passages in the New Testament. In it (1) the three persons are clearly distinguished; (2) their relative subordination is clearly taught, the Father giving his all to the Son, and the Son communicating his all to the Spirit; and (3) their equality of nature is distinctly affirmed, for the Son receives from the Father "all things whatsoever

John 7:25-26 — rulers did not know whom they crucified should be rejected. Jesus said publicly of them in a parable: "The husbandmen, when they saw the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come let us kill him, and take his inheritance!" (Matthew 21:23). They knew he was the Christ; but, because he was not the kind of Christ they wanted, they murdered him. True, they did not know that Jesus was God in the flesh; and it was of that ignorance which Paul spoke when he declared, "Had they known

Acts 3:22-23 — because there were many likenesses between Moses and Christ. Both were sons of virgin princesses, Moses by adoption, Jesus by the virgin birth, etc., etc. For a rather extended enumeration of these, please see my Commentary on Hebrews, under Hebrews 3:2, where nineteen likenesses and thirteen contrasts between Moses and Christ are presented. Significantly, Moses was rejected by Israel, but Moses ruled them despite that; and the inference from Peter’s mention of this prophecy is that Jesus, despite

Acts 5:34 — Gamaliel’s advice reflects that situation.<footnote> Everett J. Harrison, op. cit., p. 401.</footnote> Furthermore, Gamaliel himself was a man of heroic stature among the Jews of that generation. Saul of Tarsus had been his pupil. (Acts 22:3); and he was widely hailed as the greatest teacher of the Law in his day. Lightfoot further embellished the reputation of Gamaliel by affirming that he was the son of that Simon who took the Saviour in his arms (Luke 2), and the grandson of the famous

2 Thessalonians 1:6 — any sense as conditional. It is a Hebrew idiomatic way of arguing from a certainty. Rest ... is not a verb but a noun, being the thing that God will recompense to the just, just as affliction will be meted out to the persecutors. The thought of 2 Thessalonians 1:5-7 was summed up thus by Adam Clarke: The sufferings of the just and the triumphs of the wicked in this life are a sure proof that there will be a future judgment in which the wicked shall be punished and the righteous rewarded[15] At

2 Thessalonians 1:6 — any sense as conditional. It is a Hebrew idiomatic way of arguing from a certainty. Rest ... is not a verb but a noun, being the thing that God will recompense to the just, just as affliction will be meted out to the persecutors. The thought of 2 Thessalonians 1:5-7 was summed up thus by Adam Clarke: The sufferings of the just and the triumphs of the wicked in this life are a sure proof that there will be a future judgment in which the wicked shall be punished and the righteous rewarded[15] At