Bible Commentaries

Psalms 103:9-12 — These verses illustrate the truth of Psalms 103:8. God’s compassion is clear in that He does not constantly accuse or antagonize us, even though we constantly sin (cf. Ephesians 6:4). He is slow to anger and He does not maintain His anger continually. His gracious character is obvious in that He does not punish us for our sins immediately or completely, as we deserve. He does not pay us back what we deserve either. His loyal love

Psalms 104:35 — 5. Epilogue 104:35b The psalm concludes as it began, with the psalmist reminding himself to bless the Lord by praising Him. "Praise the Lord" translates the Hebrew haleluyah. The translators often simply transliterated this Hebrew expression as "hallelujah."

Psalms 109:1-31 — Psalms 109 This individual lament is one of the imprecatory psalms in which the writer called on God to avenge his enemies (cf. Psalms 3:7; Psalms 5:10; Psalms 6:10; Psalms 7:14-16; Psalms 28:4-5; Psalms 31:17-18; Psalms 37:2; Psalms 37:9-10; Psalms 37:15; Psalms 37:20; Psalms 37:35-36; Psalms 40:14-15; Psalms 54:5; Psalms 55:9; Psalms 55:15; Psalms 55:23; Psalms 59:12-13; Psalms 63:9-11; Psalms 64:7-9; Psalms 71:13; Psalms

Psalms 121:3-4 — the NET Bible] assumes that speaker one talks in Psalms 121:1-2, that speaker two responds to him with a prayer in Psalms 121:3 (this assumes the verbs are true jussives of prayer), and that speaker three responds with words of assurance in Psalms 121:4-8. If the verbs in Psalms 121:3 are taken as a rhetorical use of the jussive, then there are two speakers. Psalms 121:3-8 are speaker two’s response to the words of speaker one." [Note: The NET Bible note on Psalms 121.]

Proverbs 23:13-14 — withhold it from callous youth is. . . . However, the cleansing rod must be applied with warmth, affection, and respect for the youth. Warmth and affection, not steely discipline, characterize the father’s lectures (cf. Proverbs 4:1-9). Parents who brutalize their children cannot hide behind the rod doctrine of Proverbs." [Note: Waltke, The Book . . . 31, p. 252.]

Ecclesiastes 1:1 — 1. The title 1:1 The author identified himself by his titles (cf. Proverbs 1:1). These titles, as well as other references to the writer in the book (cf. Ecclesiastes 1:12; Ecclesiastes 1:16; Ecclesiastes 2:4-9), point to Solomon more than to any other person. [Note: See Kaiser, pp. 25-29, for a good defense of Solomonic authorship.] Later he claimed divine authority for this book (Ecclesiastes 12:1). The term "Preacher" (Heb. qohelet, NIV "Teacher")

Isaiah 28:1 — prophet’s "woe" was the leaders of Ephraim, the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The reason for his "woe" was the pride of these representatives that was their outstanding mark and that resulted in their complacent revelry (cf. Amos 4:1; Amos 6:1; Amos 6:6). This nation and its leaders had been objects of admiration, but now their glory was fading, like the flowers they wore in garlands on their heads as they indulged in drunken revelry. Ephraim’s capital, Samaria, stood like

Isaiah 45:18 — Again the Lord affirmed (cf. Isaiah 45:1; Isaiah 45:14) that He created the heavens, and there is no other God beside Him (cf. Exodus 20:1-3; Deuteronomy 6:4). These affirmations indicate that what follows substantiates what has gone before. God is trustworthy, and will not embarrass or

Isaiah 55:5 — than one nation is in view, because the verbs translated "knows" and "run" are plural in the Hebrew text. The last interpretation harmonizes with what Isaiah wrote elsewhere that Israel would do (cf. Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 35:2; Isaiah 42:4; Isaiah 46:13; Isaiah 49:3; Isaiah 60:9; Isaiah 60:21; Isaiah 61:3; Isaiah 62:3; Isaiah 66:18; Isaiah 66:21). Perhaps the Servant as the leader of Israel, which also would call the nations, is the solution.

Isaiah 8:3 — the first intercourse between a man and his wife, it is possible that Isaiah’s first wife, the mother of Shearjashub (Isaiah 7:3), died and the prophet remarried. [Note: See Herbert M. Wolf, "A Solution to the Immanuel Prophecy in Isaiah 7:14-8:22," Journal of Biblical Literature 91 (1972):454; and Wiersbe, p. 19.] In this case, the ’alma of Isaiah 7:14 could refer to Isaiah’s second wife, and Immanuel could have been Maher-shalal-hash-baz. However, "approached"

Isaiah 9:17 — provoked by the defiance of his creatures. His love will never make peace with our evil. What we must understand is that God’s wrath is perfect, no less perfect than ’the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience’ (Romans 2:4). His wrath is not moody vindictiveness; it is the solemn determination of a doctor cutting away the cancer that’s killing his patient. And for God, the anger is personal, not detached and clinical. This Doctor hates the cancer, because he loves

Jeremiah 16:15 — from Babylon and all the other countries to which He had banished them. The Lord promised to bring His people back into the Promised Land that He had given their fathers, after He had disciplined them in those other countries (cf. Genesis 12:7; Isaiah 43:16-20; Isaiah 48:20-21; Isaiah 51:9-11). The returns from Babylonian exile, therefore, were only part of the fulfillment of this promise. There must still be a return of the Chosen People to the Promised Land "which I gave to their fathers"

Jeremiah 2:13 — The Israelites had committed two evils: one a sin of omission, and the other a sin of commission. They had forsaken Yahweh who, like a fountain, had provided for their deepest needs (cf. Psalms 36:9; John 4:10-14; Revelation 21:6). And they had pursued idols who, like broken cisterns, could not even hold water-much less provide it. The most reliable source of water in Israel was a natural spring, and the least reliable was a cistern. "The best cisterns,

Jeremiah 23:5 — "Behold, the days are coming," introduces a message of hope for the future 16 times in Jeremiah. [Note: Harrison, Jeremiah and . . ., p. 119.] Yahweh also promised to raise up another Davidic King in the future (cf. Psalms 2; Psalms 44; Psalms 72; Psalms 89-110). He would be as a branch or sprout (Heb. semah) that springs up from an apparently dead stump, namely, the Davidic line of kings (cf. Jeremiah 33:15; 2 Samuel 23:5; Psalms 132:17; Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 11:1; Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah

Jeremiah 3:14 — Changing the figure, the Lord invited the prodigal Israelites to return to their Father (Jeremiah 3:4). He would take them back and be their master (Heb. Ba’al) again. [Note: Perhaps this promise is the reason the prodigal son in Jesus’ parable asked to come back home as a servant rather than as a son (cf. Luke 15:11-32).] He, the sovereign

Ezekiel 14:1-11 — 4. The effect of false prophets on Israel’s leaders 14:1-11 This prophecy carries on the thought of the one in chapter 13 about false prophets. Those who resorted to false prophets would share their fate, namely, judgment by God. "Idolatry

Daniel 9:5-6 — Daniel stressed God’s transcendence and His loyal love (Heb. hesed) to Israel in his salutation (Daniel 9:4). He then proceeded to point out that, in contrast to Yahweh’s faithfulness to Israel, Israel had been unfaithful to Him. The prophet identified with his people. Personally he had been faithful to God. Yet since he was an Israelite he partook

Amos 7:12-13 — Amaziah then approached Amos and told him to move back to Judah and to earn his living in his home country (cf. Amos 1:1). By referring to Amos as a seer (another term for a prophet, cf. 1 Samuel 9:9; 2 Samuel 24:11; Isaiah 29:10), Amaziah was probably disparaging the visions that Amos said he saw (Amos 7:1-9). [Note: See Stuart, p. 376; and E. Hammershaimb, The Book of Amos: A Commentary, p. 116.] By telling him to eat (earn) his bread in Judah, he was hinting

Micah 1:5 — high place for idolatry rather than for holy worship. These capital cities had become leaders in wickedness rather than in holiness. Micah liked to use "Jacob" as a title for all Israel (Micah 2:7; Micah 2:12; Micah 3:1; Micah 3:8-9; Micah 4:2; Micah 5:7-8), though he also used it to describe the Northern Kingdom (here) and the patriarch Jacob (Micah 7:20). This name recalls the rebelliousness that marked the patriarch for most of his early life and that had subsequently marked his descendants.

Micah 3:5 — Lord also had a message concerning the false prophets who were misleading His people. The false prophets gave benedictions to those who paid them, but people who did not give them anything received maledictions of doom and gloom (cf. Lamentations 2:14; Jeremiah 6:14). Self-interest motivated these prophets rather than the fear of the Lord (cf. 2 Timothy 4:3). "It was an ancient and respectable practice for a prophet to accept payment for services rendered to his clients. After all, as Jesus