Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 8:1-6 — that God supernaturally controlled to bring blessing on the Shunamite woman, as God had promised. God directed her away from the famine before it came on Israel for the nation’s apostasy (2 Kings 8:1; cf. Deuteronomy 11:16-17; Deuteronomy 28:38-40; 1 Kings 18:2; et al.). The timing of the length of the famine showed it was an act of God (2 Kings 8:1; cf. 2 Kings 4:38; 2 Kings 6:25; 2 Kings 7:4). Evidently the woman had sold her property before she left Israel and now wished to buy back her family

Leviticus 23:4-8 — 2. The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread 23:4-8 Leviticus 23:4 introduces the seven annual festivals. Whereas the Sabbath could be observed anywhere, the other feasts required attendance at the central sanctuary for participation. In one sense the Passover (Heb. Pesah, Leviticus 23:5) was the most

Isaiah 53:10 — great purpose of providing redemption for humankind. "The faithful God of the Bible would certainly not visit bad things on innocent people, would he? Yes, he would if some greater good would be served (cf. Job)." [Note: Oswalt, The Book . . . 40-66, p. 400.] The greater good in this case was that the Servant would be the perfect and final guilt (trespass) offering for sin thus taking away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The subject of this sentence, "He" or "His soul,"

Daniel 4:34-37 — 6. Nebuchadnezzar’s restoration 4:34-37     The narrative resumes in the first person, adding the force of personal testimony to the story that the king had been telling. "Raising his eyes to heaven" implies that Nebuchadnezzar finally came to the end of

Daniel 7:1 — We have already read of two dreams that Nebuchadnezzar had (Daniel 2:1; Daniel 4:5). Now God gave one to Daniel. It too was a vision from God that came to Daniel as he slept. "In referring to the experience as ’a dream’ (sing.) Daniel was emphasizing the unity of the revelation and in referring to it as ’visions’

Joel 3:21 — Joel was that He would avenge the blood shed by these enemies of Israel, which He had not yet avenged in the prophet’s day. He promised to do this because He dwelt in Zion, that is, He had a special covenant relationship with Israel (cf. Ezekiel 43:1-12; Zechariah 2:10-13). "Joel 3:1-21 [Joel 4:1-21] became the classic passage for the rest of the OT on God’s final judgment on all nations. It also became the classic statement for the blessed result for the people of God." [Note:

Obadiah 1:14 — Judahites instead of giving them refuge. This could be poetic hyperbole, but there is nothing in the text that indicates overstatement. All the other descriptions of Edom’s actions seem to be literal. Some English translations render Obadiah 1:12-14 as referring to the future while others have interpreted them as referring to the past. Most commentators take the time as past; God was describing something that had already happened. [Note: E.g., Finley, p. 340.] A few take it as future describing

Zechariah 14:16 — The remaining former enemies of Israel who would not die would bow to the sovereignty of Yahweh (cf. Zechariah 8:20-23; Isaiah 2:2-4; Isaiah 45:21-24; Isaiah 60:4-14; Ezekiel 40-48; Philippians 2:10). They would be expected to make annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship the one King, Almighty Yahweh (cf. Psalms 24:10; Isaiah 6:5; Revelation 11:15; Revelation 19:16), and to celebrate

Zechariah 9:8 — soldiers since enemies would oppose them. "House" is probably a metonym for the whole land including its people. No enemy would oppress them ever again because the Lord had seen the plight of His people and would defend them (cf. Zechariah 4:10; Exodus 3:7; Psalms 32:8). This promise of no more oppression anticipates the second advent of Messiah. "For their preservation at the time of Alexander and for their future deliverance from every oppressor, Israel is indebted to the providence

Matthew 16:8-12 — revelation that resulted in failure to accept Messiah. These critics tried to fit the King and His kingdom into their preconceptions and preferences rather than accepting Him as the Old Testament presented Him. This section of the Gospel (Matthew 13:54 to Matthew 16:12) emphasizes the continuing and mounting opposition to the King. Matthew recorded Jesus withdrawing from this opposition twice (Matthew 14:13; Matthew 15:21). In both instances He proceeded to train His disciples. The first time He ministered

Matthew 19:10-12 — disciples’ statement in Matthew 19:10 as evidence that they understood Him in this light. [Note: E.g., Francis J. Moloney, "Matthew 19, 3-12 and Celibacy. A Redactional and Form-Critical Study," Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2 (1979):42-60.] If a person has to remain unmarried after he divorces, it would be better if he never married in the first place. However this is probably not what Jesus meant in Matthew 19:9. The evidence for this is His reference to eunuchs in Matthew 19:12

Matthew 21:13 — Jesus explained why He was doing what He did to the authorities. He quoted Scripture here similarly to the way He did in replying to Satan (Matthew 4:1-10). First, He referred to Isaiah 56:7, a passage in which Isaiah looked forward to a time when the temple would be a house of prayer. Significantly Matthew omitted "for all the peoples" from Isaiah’s statement focusing his readers’

Matthew 25:35-40 — the King as seen in people’s reception or rejection of the King’s brothers. The King’s brothers are probably His faithful disciples who fulfill His will by preaching the gospel of the kingdom during the Tribulation (cf. Matthew 12:48-49; Matthew 28:10; Isaiah 58:7). Most of these will be Jews, including the 144,000, though some may be Gentile converts as well (cf. Revelation 7:1-8; Revelation 14:1-5). They will have become believers following the Rapture since all believers alive

Mark 1:6 — This description of John would have identified him as a typical "holy man" of the ancient East who lived in the desert. His clothing was woven camel’s hair held in place with a leather belt (cf. 2 Kings 1:8; cf. Malachi 4:5-6). This is how prophets typically dressed (cf. Zechariah 13:4). His diet consisted of dried locusts and the honey of wild bees. This was clean food for the Jews (cf. Leviticus 11:21-22). John may have been a lifelong Nazirite, or he may simply have

John 1:19-50 — Jesus. "Signs are miraculous works performed or mentioned to illustrate spiritual principles." [Note: Tenney, "The Symphonic . . .," p. 119. See also idem, "Topics from the Gospel of John," Bibliotheca Sacra 132:526 (April-June 1975):145-60, for a discussion of the seven signs in John’s Gospel.] Often John recorded a lengthy discourse that followed the miracle, in which Jesus explained its significance to the crowds. This section also contains two extended conversations that

Acts 3:12-15 — Luke recorded seven of Peter’s addresses in Acts (Acts 1:16-22; Acts 2:14-36; Acts 3:12-26; Acts 4:8-12: Acts 10:34-43; Acts 11:4-17; Acts 15:7-11). [Note: For the rhetorical forms of the speeches in Acts, see Witherington’s commentary.] It is noteworthy that in these sermons Peter did not discuss abstract doctrines

Judges 14:10-14 — Samson’s further willful behavior 14:10-14 It was customary among the Philistines for a seven-day feast to precede the actual wedding ceremony (Judges 14:10). In Samson’s case the groom provided this feast, and it took place at the bride’s home. It is most probable that during

2 Peter 3:9 — The fact that the fulfillment of the Lord Jesus’ promise to return for His own (John 14:2-3) lingers does not mean that God has forgotten His promise, was lying, or cannot fulfill it. "The Lord" seems to be a reference to Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Peter 3:15). It means that He is waiting to fulfill it so people will have time to repent.

1 Samuel 23:1-5 — plain on the west and the hill country of Judah on the east. The Philistines were plundering the threshing floors there. The threshing floors were places where the Israelites stored their threshed grain after threshing it (cf. 2 Kings 6:27; Joel 2:24). David sought to defend his countrymen and fellow Judahites from their hostile foreign enemy, even though he was also watching out for Saul. Saul should have come to their rescue since he was the king, but there is no mention of him doing so. The writer

1 Samuel 30:26-31 — did so because he viewed the booty as coming from the enemies of all Judah, even the enemies of the Lord (1 Samuel 30:26). He may have also done this to curry favor with the elders. They later anointed David king over the house of Judah (2 Samuel 2:4; 2 Samuel 5:1-3). David’s propensity to give made his new kingdom possible. "Many victorious kings have used surplus plunder to enrich themselves and to build grandiose palaces; David used these first spoils to show his gratitude to the citizens