Bible Commentaries

Ezekiel 26:2 — Divine judgment would come on this city-state because its people rejoiced at Jerusalem’s destruction (cf. 25:3; Genesis 12:3; Proverbs 15:5 b). According to other prophets the Tyrians had also sold Jews as slaves to the Greeks and Edomites (Joel 3:4-8; Amos 1:9-10). The Tyrians viewed Jerusalem’s destruction as advancing their commercial interests. The Tyrians controlled the sea routes, but Judah had controlled the land routes. Controlling trade routes enabled a nation to impose tolls and

Ezekiel 29:21 — Nebuchadnezzar invaded and defeated Egypt about 568-567 B.C. [Note: See Josephus, Antiquities . . .,10:9:7.] It would be as though a horn began to grow on Israel, the sign of new strength to come (cf. 1 Samuel 2:1; 1 Kings 22:11; Psalms 92:10; Jeremiah 48:25). A horn is also a symbol of Messiah in some passages, and a branch is a symbol in others (cf. Psalms 132:17; Isaiah 4:2; Jeremiah 23:5; Zechariah 3:8; Luke 1:69), but the context argues against a messianic interpretation here. Furthermore, no Messiah

Ezekiel 4:12-15 — excrement, as the Jews under siege in Jerusalem would have to do. The uncleanness of their food did not represent the type of food they would have to eat but the fact that they would have to eat their food among defiled people (in captivity, Ezekiel 4:13). The prophet complained that he had never eaten unclean food (cf. Ezekiel 44:31; Leviticus 22:8; Deuteronomy 12:15-19; Deuteronomy 14:21; Deuteronomy 23:9-14), so the Lord graciously allowed him to prepare his food over a fire made with cow’s

Ezekiel 9:4 — The Lord instructed this man to go through Jerusalem and put a mark on everyone who expressed grief over the abominations that existed in Jerusalem (cf. Revelation 7:3; Revelation 9:4; Revelation 14:1). The mark distinguished the godly from the wicked (cf. Exodus 12:7; Exodus 12:13; Joshua 2). Some expositors believed that this individual was the Angel of the Lord, the preincarnate Christ, because of his prominence among these messengers

Daniel 11:44-45 — Rumors of enemy armies from the East (cf. Revelation 9:13-21; Revelation 16:12) and from the North (cf. Daniel 11:40) will irritate him, resulting in his killing "many" more people (cf. Zechariah 13:8). Compare the invasion sequence by Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:7-8). He will also return to Palestine. His headquarters there will evidently be in Jerusalem. This

Daniel 5:2-4 — ’grandson.’ Forefathers are called ’fathers’ or ’fathers’ fathers.’ But a single grandfather, or forefather, is never called ’father’s father’ but always ’father’ only." [Note: Pusey, p. 346.] Evidently the vessels taken from the Jerusalem temple had been stored as trophies of war and not used previously (cf. Daniel 1:2). Their presence in the warehouses of Babylon was sufficient humiliation of Yahweh who, in the minds of the Babylonians,

Daniel 8:11 — Himself." [Note: Baldwin, p. 157.] Antiochus temporarily terminated the constant sacrifices (Heb. tamid) in the temple, including the daily morning and evening sacrifices, thereby depriving Yahweh of His people’s worship (cf. 1 Maccabees 1:44-49, RSV). [Note: Montgomery, pp. 335-36; Young, p. 172.] "Apparently Antiochus did not actually tear down the temple, although eventually he desecrated it to such a point that it was hardly fit for use [cf. 1 Maccabees 4:48]." [Note: Ibid.]

Daniel 8:8 — a drunken debauch at Babylon, not yet thirty-three years of age. His death left a great conquest without an effective single leader, and it took about twenty years for the empire to be successfully divided." [Note: Walvoord, Daniel . . ., p. 184.] As mentioned in my comments on Daniel 7:6, the most probable identifications of the four horns are Lysimachus, Cassander, Seleucus, and Ptolemy (cf. Daniel 11:4). [Note: Young, p. 169; Leupold, p. 344; Montgomery, pp. 332-33; Walvoord, Daniel . .

Obadiah 1:19-20 — Obadiah predicted that Jews living in various parts of Israel would possess parts of the Promised Land that other nations formerly occupied (cf. Isaiah 66:8; Zechariah 12:10 to Zechariah 13:1; Zechariah 14:1-9). These parts included Mt. Seir (Edom), Philistia, and territories to the north of Judah, including Ephraim and Samaria (the Northern Kingdom), and Transjordan (Gilead). Formerly exiled Israelites living to the north near Zarephath (in modern Lebanon)

Jonah 1:10 — The sailors’ exclamation (rather than question, cf. Genesis 4:10) expressed their incredulity at Jonah’s naïveté in trying to run away from the God who created the sea by taking a sea voyage. Surely Jonah must have known, they thought, that Yahweh would make their journey perilous. Evidently

Jonah 3:4 — The traditional view holds that after Jonah arrived at the edge of the city he proceeded into it and began announcing his message during his first day there. [Note: Ellison, "Jonah," p. 381; Keil, 1:405.] Alternatively, he may have done his first day’s preaching to the king and perhaps also to some of the people. The essence of his proclamation was that Nineveh would be overthrown in only 40 days. Periods of testing in Scripture were often

Zechariah 4:10 — 16:9). The Hebrew words translated "plumb line" may mean "separated [i.e., chosen] stone." In this case the idea would be that the Lord, in addition to His people, would rejoice when He saw the capstone put in place (cf. Zechariah 4:7; Ezra 6:16-22). Now His people could serve Him as He purposed. "Bible history is the record of God using small things. When God wanted to set the plan of salvation in motion, He started with a little baby named Isaac (Genesis 21). When He wanted

Matthew 10:32-33 — of the New Testament (e.g., John 10:28-29; Romans 8:31-39; et al.). Jesus was speaking here of rewards, not salvation. [Note: See also Robert N. Wilkin, "Is Confessing Christ a Condition of Salvation?" The Grace Evangelical Society News 9:4 (July-August 1994):2-3.]

Matthew 11:23-24 — Capernaum was Jesus’ base, and He performed many miracles there, half of the 10 recorded in this section of the Gospel (Matthew 4:13; Matthew 8:5-17; Matthew 9:2-8; Matthew 9:18-33). It, like wicked Babylon, would suffer eternal damnation (Isaiah 14:15). Hades is the place of the dead (cf. Matthew 5:22; Matthew 16:18). In view of the tower of Babel and the Exile the Jews regarded

Matthew 13:43 — In contrast to the unbelievers, the believers will continue to glorify God forever (Matthew 5:13-16; cf. Daniel 12:3). "The kingdom of their Father" is probably a synonym for the kingdom of the Son (Matthew 13:41) in the sense that the kingdom belongs to both the Father and the Son. However when the messianic (millennial) kingdom ends, the rule of the Son and the Father will continue forever in the new heaven and the new earth (Revelation 21-22). The Messiah’s

Matthew 15:3-6 — critics with breaking the former to keep the latter. ". . . the ordinances of the Scribes were declared more precious, and of more binding importance than those of Holy scripture itself." [Note: Edersheim, The Life . . ., 2:15.] In Matthew 15:4 Jesus quoted Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:17. "Curses" (NIV) is too strong. "Speaks evil of" (NASB) is better since the Greek verb kakologeo means "to insult." The Pharisees and scribes, however, had evaded the spirit of the

Matthew 5:10 — peacemaking. The world does not give up its hates and self-centered living easily. This brings opposition on disciples of Christ. Righteous people, those whose conduct is right in God’s eyes, become targets of the unrighteous (cf. John 15:18-25; Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:13-14). Jesus, the perfectly righteous One, suffered more than any other righteous person has suffered. The Old Testament prophets foretold this, calling Him the Suffering Servant of the Lord (cf. Isa_52:13 to Isa_53:12). Even

Matthew 7:9-11 — give gifts that are truly good to His children who request them (cf. Jeremiah 29:13; Luke 11:11-13; James 1:5-8). This is another a fortiori argument (cf. Matthew 6:26). Jesus’ disciples are in view as the children praying here (cf. Matthew 5:45). The good things they request have direct connection with the kingdom, things such as ability to follow God faithfully in spite of opposition (cf. Acts 4:29). God has ordained that we ask for the good gifts we need because this is the way He trains

Matthew 8:8-9 — The centurion confessed that he felt unfit, Levitically speaking, to entertain Jesus in his home (cf. Matthew 5:3). John the Baptist had also expressed a similar feeling of unworthiness (Matthew 3:14). The basis for the centurion’s feeling of unworthiness (Gr. hikanos) was his own perception of how Jews regarded Gentile dwellings and the authority that he believed Jesus possessed. He believed Jesus had sufficient authority to simply speak

Matthew 9:29-31 — condition for healing. Jesus "sternly warned" them against telling anyone about the miracle, probably because these blind men had identified Jesus as the Son of David. The verb embrimaomai occurs only five times in the New Testament (Mark 1:43; Mark 14:5; John 11:33; John 11:38). Jesus wanted to avoid the masses of people that would have dogged His steps and hindered Him from fulfilling His mission (cf. Matthew 8:4). He wanted people to hear about Him and face the issue of His messiahship,