Bible Commentaries

Genesis 21:1-34 — should centre in Isaac. 14. Beer-sheba] 30 m. S. of Hebron. 15. Bottle] (RM ’skin’): made of the skin of a sheep or goat. All openings are sewn up and made watertight with pitch except the neck, which is tied up when the skin is full. 17, 18. Formerly (Genesis 16:7-8) God sought out Hagar to reprove her, and bid her go back upon her course: now He appears to her to comfort her, and supply her needs and those of her child. In both ways, He displays His grace. 19. A miraculous supply

Exodus 14:1-31 — Suez. 3. The wilderness is the Egyptian wilderness, a tract of desert land lying between the Nile and the Red Sea. To the south, in front of the advancing host, rose an impassable mountain chain, so that they found themselves entangled in the land. 7. The Egyptian chariots were low two-wheeled cars open behind and drawn by two horses abreast. Each chariot contained a driver and a warrior, sometimes two. The chosen chariots were probably those of the king’s bodyguard. The Hittites are known

Micah 1:1-16 — Judgment on Samaria and Judah Sargon destroyed Samaria, the capital of North Israel, 722 or 721. Micah, about 720 b.c., declaring (Micah 1:6) that Samaria’s fall has been due to its sin, announces a like fate for Jerusalem, guilty of a like sin (Micah 1:9). To the prophet this ruin of the people is not like that of the other nations

Habakkuk 3:1-19 — prays that He will do again. The power which He revealed on Israel’s behalf at the dawn of her history, He can make known again in the midst of the years. 1. Upon Shigionoth] RV ’Set to Shigionoth.’ This very obscure phrase (cp. Psalms 7) has been supposed to mean ’in a wandering, ecstatic manner,’ implying that the poem that follows is a sort of dithyramb. Probably, as the LXX suggests, the original word simply meant, ’to the accompaniment of stringed instruments.’ 3.

Zechariah 6:1-15 — to explain the two adjectives. The first etymologically means ’spotted as with a hailstorm’; and those who see a significance in the colours of the horses connect hail with the judgment which the fourth chariot carries: cp. Revelation 8:7; Revelation 16:21. The second adjective has, in reality, no reference to colour (see RM), and some scholars omit it. Grisled] = ’grizzled,’ ’grey.’ 5. The four spirits of the heavens] RV ’winds’ (the word for ’wind’

Matthew 1:11 — Después de Josías, San Mateo omite a Eliaquim ( 2 Reyes 23:34 ). Los hermanos de Jechoniah (Joaquín) son realmente sus tíos, Joacaz y Sedequías, Sedequías, el último rey de Judá, aunque en realidad el tío de Joaquín ( 2 Reyes 24:17 ; Jeremias 37:1 ), es llamado su 'hermano' incluso en ANTIGUO TESTAMENTO. ( 2 Crónicas 36:10 ). 12. Jechoniah (Joaquín) probablemente no tenía hijos (sin embargo, ver Jeremias 22:30 ), y adoptó a Salatiel (Shealtiel) como su heredero (ver 1 Crónicas

Luke 22:1-71 — Jesus. The Jewish Trial 1-6. Conspiracy of the chief priests. Treachery of Judas (Matthew 26:1-5, Matthew 26:14-16; Mark 14:1-2, Mark 14:10-11). See on Mt. St. Luke omits the anointing at Bethany, because he has already recorded a similar incident (Luke 7:37). 4. Captains] i.e. the Levitical guard or police of the Temple, not the Roman garrison of Jerusalem. 7-13. Preparations for the Last Supper (Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:12). See on Mt. 12. Furnished] arrayed for the Passover. 14-23. Institution of the

Luke 4:1-44 — read out of the book of Esther either standing or sitting, but not so out of the Law.’ Jesus having stood to read, sat to expound. As He read in Hebrew, the Methurgeman, or Interpreter, translated into the vernacular Aramaic. See on Matthew 2:6 17. There was delivered.. the book (or ’a roll’)] The rolls were in the charge of the hazzan, or attendant (Luke 4:20), who handed them to the reader, and received them back when read. Sometimes the prophets formed a single roll, sometimes

Luke 7:1-50 — Raising of the Widow’s Son. The Woman who was a Sinner 1-10. Healing of the centurion’s servant. See on Matthew 8:5. 11-17. The raising of the widow’s son (peculiar to Lk). On the credibility and significance of Christ’s miracles of resurrection, consult Matthew 9:18; John 11:1. 11. Nain] 25 m. SW. of Capernaum on the hill ’little Hermon’ as it slopes

John 10:1-42 — the flock of the True Shepherd, i.e. in the Christian Church, the mild discipline of which is contrasted with the cruel severity of the synagogue. The allegory is based entirely on OT. figures: see Psalms 23 Ezekiel 34 Jeremiah 23:1-4; Zechariah 11:4-17. 1. The thieves and robbers mentioned here are primarily the Pharisees who have unjustly excommunicated the blind man, and secondarily and prophetically false pastors in the Christian Church. Christ is the rightful owner of the flock, and those who

Romans 14:1-23 — al extremo opuesto y se ocupa de la escrupulosidad ascética de ciertos cristianos. Bajo la ley judía había una distinción entre carnes limpias e inmundas. Esta distinción, que perpetuaba la separación entre judíos y gentiles, Cristo la abolió ( Marco 7:19 , Marco 7:19 RV), como más tarde le fue revelada a Pedro ( Hechos 10:28 , Hechos 10:28 ), y decidida por el Concilio de Jerusalén ( Hechos 15:28.) Sin embargo, el Concilio ordenó a los cristianos gentiles de Antioquía, Siria y Cilicia que se abstuvieran

1 Corinthians 1:1-31 — for various teachers which was prevalent among them; such a spirit lost sight of Christ crucified, the one subject of all Christian teachers. 1-9. Greeting and Thanksgiving. 1. Called to be an apostle] chosen by God, not self-appointed: see Acts 22:17-21. Sosthenes] This may be the ruler of the synagogue of Acts 18:17, converted since that time. 2. Sanctified in Christ Jesus] consecrated to God through faith in Christ, having Christ living in them and His influence moulding them. Called to be saints]

1 Corinthians 10:1-33 — our baptism, which is, (1) deliverance from the bondage of sin and entrance upon a new life; (2) discipleship to Christ and union with Him. So the spiritual meat (the ’manna,’ Exodus 16) and spiritual drink (water from the rock, Exodus 17 Numbers 20) by which their life was sustained, were types of the Body and Blood of Christ, by which our souls are nourished. Our Lord Himself made the manna a type of Himself, the Living Bread (John 6:31-35). Here only in the NT. are the two Sacraments

Galatians 5:1-26 — in our flesh, and in consequence of our faith in Christ and not of works we perform, that we hope for justification before God. (6) Circumcision is wholly unimportant; the only condition of salvation is a faith which evinces its vital power in love. (7) You were making good progress in the Christian life; who has misled you into disloyalty to the gospel? (8) This teaching by which you have been led astray is not of God; (9) and though it has so far done only a little mischief, it will spread like

Ephesians 4:1-32 — Baptism.’ 6. ’One God, the supreme Source and Sustainer.’ In you all] RV ’in all.’ Throughout the v. the ’all’ is vague and may be neuter: we must leave it vague. Note the Trinitarian background: Spirit, Lord, Father. 7-16. ’But the various members have various gifts and functions.’ 8. He saith] There is no pronoun in the Greek, and the nominative may be ’it,’ ’the Scripture,’ viz. Psalms 68:18. The important parts of the quotation

1 Timothy 3:1-16 — Concerning the Officers of the Church 1-7. The fourth charge to Timothy, in respect to presbyters. 1. Desireth a good work] i.e. a noble occupation. 2. A bishop] RV ’the bishop,’ RM ’overseer.’ Some think (see General Intro.) that the terms ’bishop’ and ’elder’

1 Timothy 5:1-25 — is, if they had none to help them (1 Timothy 5:4-5). In return, they did what services they could to the brethren. 4. Nephews] RV ’grandchildren,’ whose duty it was to take charge of their relations. Them] i.e. the children or nephews. 7. Blameless] RV ’without reproach,’ that the Church widows may not be spoken ill of as women whom their relatives ought to support. 9, 10. The qualifications for being put on the widows’ list, besides being destitute, are, (1) to be

Judges 9:1-57 — over the single city of Shechem; nothing implies that the Hebrews recognised this royalty. Plain] RV ’oak’: cp. Genesis 35:4; Joshua 24:26; 1 Samuel 11:15. Pillar] like the ’asherah,’ a regular feature of a Canaanite shrine. 7-21. Jotham’s parable and flight. 7. Gerizim] Shechem lies between Gerizim (nearly 3,000 ft. high) on the S. and Ebal on the N. 8-15. Jotham’s Fable. Its connexion with the moral which Jotham wishes to point is somewhat loose, and perhaps

Jude 1:1 — I. Judges 1:1, Judges 1:2. Greeting. II. Judges 1:3-16. The ungodly men. (a) 3, 4, ’I was writing a pastoral letter to you when the news that certain ungodly men have crept in obliged me to address you with a special admonition.’ (b) 5-7. ’I would remind you—though as Christians you already know all I can tell you—that the examples of Israel and of the angels prove that it is possible to fall away from grace, and that a punishment—of which the destruction of

Ruth 1:1-22 — Ephrathah is another name for Bethlehem, or perhaps the name of the district of Bethlehem. 4. The author of our book sees nothing wrong in their marrying Moabite wives. In this he agrees with earlier ideas and customs (Judges 14:1; Judges 16:4; 1 Kings 7:14), not with such enactments as Deuteronomy 23:3., or such stern proceedings as Ezra and Nehemiah took when they compelled the Jews to abandon their foreign wives (Ezra 9, 10 Nehemiah 13:23-30), or the Targum here, which says, ’And they transgressed