Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 4:29-34 — Solomon’s skill 4:29-34 Here is more evidence that God gave Solomon wisdom (Heb. hokmah) as He had promised (1 Kings 3:12). He was one of the outstanding sages of the ancient world. [Note: See John E. Johnson, "The Old Testament Offices as Paradigm for Pastoral

Isaiah 60:22 — The Lord would also bless His people with fertility so they would become the ancestors of numerous descendants. He would make of them what He had made of Abraham (cf. Isaiah 51:2). With posterity come glory, influence, and power (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31). The guarantor of these promises was Yahweh, who brought Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land (cf. Exodus 20:2). He will bring these promises into fulfillment quickly in their proper time (cf. Galatians 4:4).

Jeremiah 4:31 — Judah would cry out like a woman giving birth for the first time. She would be in agony because of the adversaries who had come to put her to death. Neither pretty words (Jeremiah 4:30), nor a pitiful cry (Jeremiah 4:31), would turn the Lord back from His decision to judge His people. [Note: Jensen, p. 31.] ". . . Jerusalem’s demise [in a fatal miscarriage] would be like that of a prostitute giving birth to a firstborn bastard." [Note: Craigie, p. 84.]

Ezekiel 17:11-12 — appear in the prophetical books of the Old Testament. It contains a summons to listen (Ezekiel 17:11-12 a), charges (Ezekiel 17:12-18), and assurance of judgment (Ezekiel 17:19-21). [Note: See Claus Westermann, Basic Forms of Prophetic Speech, pp. 169-94.] The first eagle stood for the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar (cf. Jeremiah 48:40; Jeremiah 49:22; Daniel 7:4). His invasion of Jerusalem (the specific identity of the Lebanon in the riddle, Ezekiel 17:3) devastated the land like a hot east wind

Ezekiel 40:8-9 — The vestibule stood at the far end of the gate complex and faced the courtyard. It was eight cubits (13 feet 4 inches) deep and 25 cubits (41 feet 8 inches) wide. Evidently the opening from this vestibule into the courtyard was 10 cubits (16 feet 8 inches) wide, but the "side pillars" supporting the doorframes around the opening were one cubit (1 foot 8 inches) wide on each side leaving an opening of eight cubits (13 feet 4 inches).

Malachi 4:1 — The Lord now elaborated on the day to which He had just referred (Malachi 3:17). There is no chapter division in the Hebrew Bible; all of chapter 4 appears as the end of chapter 3. This day of the Lord would be a day of judgment. The Lord compared it to a fiery furnace in which all the arrogant and every evildoer (a hendiadys meaning every arrogant evildoer) would burn like chaff (or stubble; cf.

Matthew 1:1-11 — I. THE INTRODUCTION OF THE KING 1:1-4:11 "Fundamentally, the purpose of this first part is to introduce the reader to Jesus on the one hand and to the religious leaders on the other." [Note: Jack Dean Kingsbury, Matthew as Story, p. 5. He believed the first major section of the book ends with 4:16.] The first two chapters of this section prepare the reader for Jesus’ ministry. Consequently they serve as a prologue to the Gospel.

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 — The presentation of the firstfruits 26:1-11 When the Israelites entered the land they were to bring a special offering of firstfruits they harvested from the land to Yahweh at the tabernacle (cf. Deuteronomy 14:22-27). It was to be an expression of their gratitude to God for fulfilling His promise to bring them into the land. This was to be a combination of the feast of Firstfruits and a ceremony of covenant renewal. [Note: W. J. Dumbrell, Covenant and Creation,

Mark 14:6-8 — Jesus defended Mary’s act and explained why it was appropriate. It was an act of devotion to Jesus, and it was an anointing for burial. We cannot tell how much about Jesus’ death Mary understood. She probably anointed Him only as an act of love. We should not interpret Jesus’ statement as expressing disregard for the poor (cf. Matthew 5:3; Matthew 6:2-4; Matthew 19:21; Luke 6:20; Luke 6:36-38; Luke 21:1-4; John 13:29).

Mark 6:1 — visited Nazareth as a rabbi preparing His disciples for their ministry. This was the second rejection in Nazareth that the synoptic writers documented. The first one came when Jesus left Nazareth to establish His base of operations in Capernaum (Matthew 4:13; Luke 4:16-31).

Luke 3:23 — Luke probably mentioned the round number "30" to describe Jesus’ age when He launched His ministry because many significant Old Testament characters began their service of God when they were 30 (cf. Genesis 41:46; 2 Samuel 5:4; Ezekiel 1:1). This included Israel’s priests (Numbers 4). Evidently Jesus was 32 years old when He began His ministry. [Note: Hoehner, pp. 37-38.] Luke also clarified that Jesus was not the physical son of Joseph. People only supposed that He was.

Luke 7:17 — Luke concluded this pericope with a notation that the news (Gr. logos, word) about this incident radiated over that entire region (cf. Luke 4:14; Luke 4:37). The surrounding district probably refers to the area beyond Judea that included Perea where John heard of Jesus’ mighty works (Luke 7:18). "Jesus’ amazing healings and exorcisms contribute to the very rapid spread of

John 4:43-45 — 1. Jesus’ return to Galilee 4:43-45 John again bridged the gap between important events in his narrative with a transitional explanation of how Jesus moved from one site to another (cf. John 2:12; John 4:1-3). John typically focused on clusters of events in Jesus’ ministry (cf. John 1:19; John 1:29; John 1:35; John 1:43; John 2:1). However this move completed a cycle in Jesus’ movements and almost completed one in John’s narrative.

Acts 2:44-45 — These early believers had frequent contact with each other. Communal living was voluntary and temporary in the Jerusalem church (Acts 4:32; Acts 4:34-35; Acts 5:4); it was not forced socialism or communism. No other New Testament church practiced communal living to the extent that the Jerusalem Christians did. The New Testament nowhere commands communal living, and Acts does not refer

Acts 9:27 — Barnabas willingly reached out to the new convert in Jerusalem, as Ananias had done in Damascus. His behavior here is consistent with what we read of him elsewhere in Acts (cf. Acts 4:36-37; Acts 11:22-30; Acts 13:1 to Acts 14:28; Acts 15:2-4; Acts 15:12; Acts 15:22). Barnabas proved to be a true "Son of Encouragement" (Acts 4:36) for Saul. "First, the Church owed Paul to the prayer of Stephen. Then the Church owed

Romans 13:1 — necessarily present in obedience. Submission is essentially support. The Christian may have to disobey his government (Acts 5:29). Still in those cases he or she must still be submissive and bear the consequences of his or her disobedience (cf. Daniel 4:17; Daniel 4:25; Daniel 4:32). "Governing authorities" is a term that embraces all the rulers who govern the citizen. Every ruler exercises his or her authority because God has allowed him or her to occupy his or her position, even Satan (Luke

Romans 4:3 — In Paul’s day many of the rabbis taught that Abraham experienced justification because of his obedience rather than because of his faith. [Note: Harrison, p. 47. Cf. 1 Maccabees 2:51.] They also taught that Abraham had a surplus of merit that was available to his descendants, the Jews. [Note: Robertson, 4:350; Witmer, p. 453. Cf. Luke 3:8.] Consequently the apostle went back to Genesis 15:6 for his authority. Exactly

2 Corinthians 5:11 — to men." Paul tried to persuade people of the truth of the gospel but also of the truth about himself. His motives were pure (2 Corinthians 1:12), and his conduct had been consistent with his apostleship (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6). Paul’s knowledge that his life was an open book to God led him to voice the hope that it would be transparent to all the Corinthians too. "The ministry is ultimately responsible to God. Christian ministers are servants of the Lord (1

2 Timothy 4:1 — Paul wanted Timothy to proclaim the truth in his public ministry as well as to adhere to it in his personal life. He introduced the command in 2 Timothy 4:2 with a very solemn preamble in 2 Timothy 4:1 (cf. 1 Timothy 5:21; 1 Timothy 6:13). He reminded Timothy that God was watching him, as was Jesus Christ who will judge all people. He further reminded him that Christ will return (at any time implied)

Hebrews 9:15 — Since we have obtained "eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:12) through the death of our Mediator and the "eternal [Holy] Spirit" (Hebrews 9:14), we can have hope in an "eternal inheritance." In contrast, believers under the Old Covenant enjoyed mainly temporary blessings and had comparatively little understanding of eschatological rewards. "With a play on the double meaning