Bible Commentaries

Ezra 5:6-17 — Tattenai’s letter 5:6-17 In contrast to Rehum and Shimshai’s letter to Artaxerxes (Ezra 4:11-16), Tattenai’s letter to Darius was fair and objective. He gave no indication of wanting to stop the Jews’ project. He only wanted to know if Cyrus had really given permission for the Jews to rebuild the temple and if Darius wanted that

Job 4:12-21 — Eliphaz’s vision 4:12-21 Eliphaz’s authority was a vision (Job 4:12). It seems that his vision was not a revelation from God for the following reasons. He did not say that it was from the Lord. God normally identified revelations from Himself as such, to those who

Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 — The living can enjoy life, but the dead cannot. "The dead do not know anything" does not mean they are insensible. Later revelation indicates that the dead are aware of their feelings, the past, other people, and other things (cf. Matthew 25:46; Luke 16:19-31; et al.). In the context, this clause means the dead have no capacity to enjoy life as the living can. Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 do not contradict Ecclesiastes 4:2-3, where Solomon said the dead are better off than the living. A person who

Isaiah 27:3 — Yahweh had been its keeper, faithfully meeting its needs and vigilantly warding off its enemies (cf. Isaiah 5:1-4; Psalms 121:4-5; Matthew 21:33; John 10:11-13).

Isaiah 9:2 — really in the future. He used this verb tense to emphasize that what was future was as sure to happen as if it had happened already. God would enlighten those in darkness by bringing new light to them, even though they did not deserve it (cf. Matthew 4:15-16). This was revelation about the future that was sure, compared to the unreliable predictions of mediums and wizards (cf. Isaiah 8:19). ". . . the very region where Assyrian armies brought darkness and death would be the first to rejoice in

Obadiah 1 overview — B. The Breaching of Edom’s Defenses Obadiah 1:2-4 Obadiah 1:2-9 contain three sections, which the phrase "declares the Lord" marks off (Obadiah 1:4; Obadiah 1:8).

Malachi 1:2 — The Lord’s first word to His people was short and sweet. He had loved them. He had told His people of His love for them repeatedly throughout their history (cf. Deuteronomy 4:32-40; Deuteronomy 7:7-11; Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Deuteronomy 15:16; Deuteronomy 23:5; Deuteronomy 33:2-5; Isaiah 43:4; Hosea 11:1; Hosea 11:3-4; Hosea 11:8-9). Yet they were now questioning His love and implying that there was no evidence of it in their

Malachi 3:7-6 — IV. JUDAH EXHORTED TO RETURN AND REMEMBER (THE ECONOMIC ANGLE) 3:7-4:6 The Lord had said that Israel’s earlier history was a time when the priests and the people of Israel pleased Him (Malachi 3:4). Now He said that those early days were short-lived (cf. Exodus 32:7-9). In contrast to His faithfulness (Malachi

Matthew 4:1-11 — 3. Jesus’ temptation 4:1-11 (cf. Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13) ". . . Jesus’ testing in the wilderness of Judea is one of the most significant indicators of His uniqueness. In fact it may not be stretching the point to say that the very purpose of the temptation narratives

Deuteronomy 4:1-40 — B. An exhortation to observe the law faithfully 4:1-40 Moses turned in his address from contemplating the past to an exhortation for the future. This section is the climax of his first speech. "The parallel between the literary structure of this chapter and that of the Near Eastern treaty is noteworthy.

Luke 4:1-2 — Reference to Jesus’ fullness with the Spirit links this incident with Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:22). There seems to be a deliberate comparison between Israel as God’s Son (Exodus 4:22-23; Hosea 11:1) and Jesus as the Son of God in this story. Both sons experienced temptation in the wilderness for 40 periods of time, Israel for 40 years and Jesus for 40 days (cf. Genesis 7:4; Exodus 24:18; 1 Kings 19:8; Jonah 3:4). Perhaps God

Acts 9:19-22 — of ways. We should probably understand "immediately" in a general sense. As soon as Saul became a Christian he began to contend that Jesus was the Messiah when he attended synagogue worship, which he did regularly (cf. Acts 13:5; Acts 13:14; Acts 14:1; Acts 17:2; Acts 17:10; Acts 17:17; Acts 18:4; Acts 18:19; Acts 19:8). This proclamation was the result and evidence of his being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17) as well as the result of his conversion. Saul later wrote that immediately

2 Corinthians 4:15 — Gratitude is always the proper response to God’s grace. "As God’s grace expanded in their hearts and through them reached ever-increasing numbers, so too, the volume of thanksgiving to God for the receipt of illumination (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:6) would increase and promote the glory of God." [Note: Harris, p. 344.] So far Paul gave three reasons for his refusal to become discouraged as he served the Lord. In the past he had received a divine commission to proclaim a new and better covenant

Galatians 3:17-18 — Paul summarized his point in Galatians 3:17. The 430 years probably began with God’s reiterating the promises to Jacob at Beersheba as he left Canaan to settle in Egypt (in 1875 B.C.; Genesis 46:2-4). They probably ended with the giving of the Mosaic Law (in 1446 B.C.; Exodus 19). The "inheritance"

Ephesians 4:31 — feelings and is the source of the other four vices. [Note: See René A. López, "A Study of Pauline Passages with Vice Lists," Bibliotheca Sacra 168:671 (July-September 2011):301-16.] This verse may seem to contradict Ephesians 4:26. There Paul permitted anger, but here he seems to condemn it (cf. James 1:19-20). Two explanations are possible. First, we may view the command in Ephesians 4:26 as governing angry behavior even though anger is never God’s will (Ephesians 4:31).

Philippians 4:8 — This "Finally" signals the last of the three imperatives that explain how to stand firm (Philippians 4:1; cf. Philippians 4:2; Philippians 4:4). It also introduces Paul’s next to the last exhortation in this list that deals with what the believer should spend his or her time thinking about. This subject obviously relates to prayer since both activities

1 John 4:5 — and as a description of those members of the community who were led astray by the false teachers. That some members of the community were easily persuaded to forsake the truth of the gospel should not bewilder the faithful." [Note: Barker, p. 341.] "The word ’world’ has several nuances of meaning; in 1 John 4:3 it means more the area inhabited by men, but in 1 John 4:4 it refers rather to sinful mankind, while in 1 John 4:5 the stress is more on the sinful principle found

Revelation 1:2 — Forty-four times in this book John wrote "I saw" (Revelation 1:12-13; Revelation 4:1; Revelation 4:4; Revelation 5:1-2; Revelation 5:6; Revelation 5:11; Revelation 6:1-2; Revelation 6:4-5; Revelation 6:8-9; Revelation 6:12; Revelation 7:1-2; Revelation 7:9; Revelation 8:2; Revelation 8:13; Revelation 9:1; Revelation 9:17; Revelation

Revelation 10:11 — "They" may refer to God or Jesus Christ (Revelation 10:4; Revelation 10:8) and the strong angel (Revelation 10:9). Many interpreters, however, believe this is a third person plural of indefinite reference that expresses reverentially the divine prompting that John experienced (cf. Revelation 12:6; Revelation

Ruth 2 overview — II. NAOMI AND RUTH’S PLANS CHS. 2-3 Chapter 1 prepares for chapters 2-4, which constitute the heart of the book. Chapter 1 presents a problem, but chapters 2-4 provide the solution. The key to the solution, on the human level, was the planning of Naomi and Ruth. There are really two plans, one to obtain food, the immediate