Bible Commentaries

Nehemiah 13:23-29 — followed up his words with action. Evidently some of these Jews had divorced their Jewish wives to marry foreigners (Malachi 2:10-16). Plucking the beard (Nehemiah 13:25) was a form of punishment (cf. Isaiah 50:6), and it was a public disgrace (2 Samuel 10:4). The marriage of Joiada’s son to a foreigner (Nehemiah 13:28) was especially bad since he was the grandson of the high priest, and priests were to marry only Jewish virgins (Leviticus 21:14). "Any person in the high-priestly lineage could

Job 17:6-16 — unique in Bildad’s second speech, but it was harsher than his first speech. "Bildad’s second speech is straightforward. It is no more than a long diatribe on the fate of the wicked (5-21), preceded by a few reproaches addressed to Job (2-4)." [Note: Andersen, p. 187.]

Psalms 109:26-31 — With the light of later revelation, we understand better than David did, that God will not always vindicate the godly in this life, but He will do so eventually (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19; et al.; cf. Acts 17:30-31; Revelation 7:17; Revelation 21:4). In David’s day and in ours, God normally vindicates the righteous before they die, but His decision to postpone vindication often makes it appear that He is unjust (cf. Job). David’s "bottom line" concern in this psalm was the

Psalms 14:7 — 3. David’s longing for God’s kingdom 14:7 In the context, the enemy of God’s people is all the ungodly of the world from the beginning of history. David longed for God to save His people from these wicked antagonists. Zion was the place where the ark of the covenant and the Lord resided.

Psalms 2:1-12 — Psalms 2 In this "second psalm" (Acts 13:33), one of the most frequently quoted in the New Testament, David (Acts 4:25) exhorted the pagan nations surrounding Israel to forsake their efforts to oppose the Lord and His anointed king. He urged them to submit to the authority of the Son whom God has ordained to rule them (cf. 2 Samuel 10). The first and second psalms

Psalms 22:1-2 — Again David felt frustrated by God’s lack of response to his cries (cf. Psalms 13:1-4). God would not answer David regardless of when he prayed. The Lord Jesus quoted David’s words as He hung on the cross (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). "There are two ways in which we may understand Jesus’ use of these words, either as

Isaiah 19:14-15 — section (Isaiah 19:16-25) gives the Lord’s solution, point by point, to the problems of Egypt and, for that matter, of all powers and people that leave God out. The repetition of "in that day" (Isaiah 19:16; Isaiah 19:18-19; Isaiah 19:23-24) highlights a time yet future when God will reverse Egypt’s fortunes. Isaiah used this phrase 42 times, comprising half of all its occurrences in the prophets and a quarter of those in the Old Testament. The same "Yahweh Almighty" who

Isaiah 44:5 — In that day it will be an honor to be a member of the nation of Israel (cf. Psalms 87:4-6), not a dishonor (cf. Isaiah 43:28; Ezekiel 36:19-20). Many people will come to Yahweh because of His blessing on Israel. It is difficult to know whether the "ones" mentioned here are Israelites or Gentiles. Some will even write their identification

Isaiah 55:3 — described above (Isaiah 55:2). Real life would involve living under an everlasting covenant that God would make with His people. This is probably a reference to the New Covenant, since the implication is that God would make it in the future (cf. Isaiah 54:10). While Jeremiah 31:31 says that Yahweh would make a new covenant "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah," that covenant is the one under which all the people of God have lived since Jesus ratified it (2 Corinthians 3:6;

Isaiah 61:1 — Isaiah spoke for the Messiah, as is clear from what he said about Him (cf. Isaiah 49:1; Isaiah 50:4). The Spirit of sovereign Yahweh would be upon Him (cf. Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 48:16). This is a verse in which all three members of the Trinity appear. This verse indicates that He would possess supernatural wisdom and capacity (cf. Genesis

Isaiah 8:1-4 — The sign of Maher-shalal-hash-baz 8:1-4 Whereas the sign of Immanuel was for Ahaz primarily, the sign of Maher-shalal-hash-baz was for all the people of Judah. The preceding prophecies to Ahaz (Isaiah 7:10-25) are generally negative, but the following prophecies to the Judahites (Isaiah 8:1-10)

Ezekiel 28:1-2 — we are referring to the country as a whole. He is uniquely responsible, but he is also a representative figure. The king of Tyre had become very proud because of the prosperity of his seafaring kingdom (cf. 29:3; 2 Kings 18:33-35; Daniel 3:15; Daniel 4:30; Acts 12:21-23). He had even thought he was in God’s place of control over his own and Tyre’s affairs. Ancient Near Easterners often viewed their kings as the embodiment of their gods, and this king appears to have concluded that he was

Ezekiel 33:1-20 — Jerusalem’s fall reached the exiles (Ezekiel 33:21) than it was of his emphasis after they received that news. When the exiles learned that Jerusalem had fallen, Ezekiel’s messages changed. Before then he announced judgment on Judah and Jerusalem (chs. 4-24) and proclaimed several messages of judgment on the nations that opposed Israel (chs. 25-32). After that event his messages were more encouragements that God would restore Israel to her land (chs. 33-48). There are only two dated prophecies after

Ezekiel 6:11-14 — The people and Ezekiel were to express derision that the sword, famine, and plague (cf. Ezekiel 5:1-3; Ezekiel 5:12; Revelation 6:4-8) would come and judge these evil abominations (cf. Ezekiel 21:14-17; Ezekiel 22:13; Ezekiel 25:6; Lamentations 2:15; Nahum 3:19). These three instruments of judgment, summarizing the full range of divine punishment (cf. 2 Samuel 24:13; Jeremiah 27:13;

Daniel 11:32 — it was the same kind of large-scale betrayal of their covenant obligations toward the Lord that had made inevitable the former destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity in the days of Jeremiah." [Note: Archer, "Daniel," p. 140.] This most repulsive of all insults to the Jews precipitated the Maccabean revolt, in which thousands of Jews rebelled against Antiochus. Initiated by a priest named Mattathias from the town of Modein in Ephraim, and led by three of his sons, Judas,

Daniel 2:26-27 — the future from the heavens, but "the God of heavens" had revealed the mystery. Specifically it was information about "the end of the days" that God had given Daniel for the king (Daniel 2:28). This phrase occurs first in Genesis 49:1 and always refers to the future. The context determines how much of the future is in view, but it usually focuses on Messiah’s appearance. This phrase "refers to the future of God’s dealings with mankind as to be consummated and

Joel 1:15 — intervenes to judge His enemies. Gerhard von Rad argued that this term was originally associated with the Israelite concept of holy war, [Note: Gerhard von Rad, "The Origin of the Concept of the Day of the Lord," Journal of Semitic Studies 4 (1959):97-108.] but other scholars have disputed this aetiology. Most agree, however, that it had early associations with battles and conquest. Here the day of the Lord is obviously one of destruction, though elsewhere it also refers to a day of blessing.

Amos 7:16-17 — reported that Amos was preaching (cf. Amos 7:11). Amaziah had told Amos to stop prophesying, namely, to stop preaching (Amos 7:16). "Preaching" is from a verbal root meaning "drip" (Heb. natap), as the heavens drip rain (Judges 5:4; cf. Amos 9:13). The idea is that Amos should stop raining down messages from heaven on his hearers. True prophets were people who spoke fervently for Yahweh. [Note: Leon J. Wood, The Prophets of Israel, p. 63.] "Amaziah’s loyalty was to

Jonah 2:2-9 — three days in the fish. One wonders, however, how anyone could think very coherently inside a fish. This chapter corresponds to chapter one in its contents. [Note: John D. Hannah, "Jonah," in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, p. 1467.] Ch. 1: The SailorsCh. 2: The ProphetJonah 1:4Crisis on the seaJonah 2:3-6 aCrisis in the seaJonah 1:14Prayer to YahwehJonah 2:2; Jonah 2:7Prayer to YahwehJonah 1:15 bDeliverance from the stormJonah 2:6 bDeliverance from drowningJonah 1:16Sacrifice

Habakkuk 2:5 — The Lord advanced the thought of Habakkuk 2:4 further. When a person drinks too much wine it leads him to reveal his pride publicly. The Babylonians were known for their consumption of wine (e.g., Daniel 5). Wine makes a person dissatisfied with his present situation and possessions, and he often