Bible Commentaries

John 1:9 — the ultimate form of the genuine article, the real as opposed to the counterfeit. John did not mean that Jesus was "truthful" (Gr. alethes). Jesus was not only a genuine revelation from God, but He was also the ultimate revelation (cf. John 4:23; John 6:32; John 15:1; John 17:3; Hebrews 1:1-2). John usually used the word "world" (Gr. kosmos) in a negative sense in this Gospel (cf. John 1:10; John 7:7; John 14:17; John 14:22; John 14:27; John 14:30; John 15:18-19; John 16:8; John

John 2:19 — themselves unwittingly fulfilled." [Note: Edersheim, 1:375.] Why was Jesus not more cooperative? First, He controlled when as well as how He would act under the Father’s authority, and the time was not yet right for a dramatic sign (cf. John 2:4). Second, these Jews had already demonstrated that they had no real interest in justice, only in discrediting Jesus (John 2:18). They did not sincerely want a sign. They would not have acknowledged Jesus’ authority even if He had performed a miracle

John 2:4 — Morris, p. 158.] Similarly the words "What do I have to do with you?" (NASB) sound arrogant, but they were only a gentle rebuke. They constituted an idiom that is hard to translate (cf. Judges 11:12; 2 Samuel 16:10; Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:24; Mark 5:7; Luke 4:34; Luke 8:28). "What do we have in common?" meaning "Your concern and mine are not the same" [Note: Tasker, p. 60.] or "Madam, that concerns you, not me" [Note: The New Scofield Reference Bible, p. 1125.]

John 4:54 — miracles, and huge crowds followed Him because they witnessed them, they had the desired impact on relatively few individuals (cf. John 1:11-12). John recorded many witnesses to Jesus’ identity in his record of Jesus’ early ministry (chs. 2-4). The first sign testified to His creative power to change the quality of things. [Note: Merrill C. Tenney, John: The Gospel of Belief, p. 312.] His cleansing of the temple showed His authority over the institutions of Judaism. Nicodemus testified to

John 6:35 — Jesus now identified Himself as the bread about which He had been speaking (cf. John 6:47; Isaiah 55:1-2). The Jews regarded the real bread from heaven as the Law. [Note: Edersheim, 2:30.] Jesus did not say He had the bread of life but that He was that bread. He claimed to be able to satisfy completely as bread and water satisfy physically.

Acts 1:14 — proseuche) probably for the fulfillment of what Jesus had promised would take place shortly (cf. Daniel 9:2-3; Luke 11:13). "The" prayer (in Greek) suggests that they may have been praying at the Jewish designated times of prayer (cf. Acts 2:42; Acts 6:4). Proseuche sometimes has the wider meaning of worship, and it may mean that here. Luke stressed their unity, a mark of the early Christians that Luke noted frequently in Acts. The disciples were one in their purpose to carry out the will

Acts 11:20 — far from Antioch, and Cyrene, in North Africa (cf. Acts 2:10; Acts 6:9; Acts 13:1), visited Antioch (cf. Acts 13:1). Antioch was at this time the third largest city in the Roman world, after Rome and Alexandria. [Note: Josephus, The Wars . . ., 3:2:4.] These Jews may have travelled there on business. Antioch was about 15 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea on the Orontes River and 300 miles north of Jerusalem. It was the capital of the Roman province of Syro-Cilicia, north of Phoenicia, and

Acts 13:14-52 — Ministry in Antioch of Pisidia 13:14-52 Paul and Barnabas proceeded north from the coast about 100 miles to Antioch of Pisidia. The road took them from sea level to 3,600 feet elevation through bandit-infested country. [Note: Blaiklock, p. 105.] They arrived on a lake-filled plateau. Paul

Acts 17:18 — Epicureans were disciples of Epicurus (341-270 B.C.) who believed that pleasure was the greatest good and the most worthy pursuit of man. They meant pleasure in the sense of tranquility and freedom from pain, disquieting passions, and fears, especially the fear of death. Epicurus taught that

Acts 2:46-47 — This progress report summarizes the growth of the church thus far. It is one of seven in Acts each of which concludes a major advance of the church in its worldwide mission (cf. Acts 6:7; Acts 9:31; Acts 12:24; Acts 16:5; Acts 19:20; Acts 28:30-31). [Note: See Witherington’s excursus on the summaries in Acts, pp. 157-59.] The believers met with one another daily, enjoying the unity of the Spirit. They congregated in the temple area probably for discussion

Romans 8:26 — Hope helps us in our sufferings (Romans 8:24-25) and so does the Holy Spirit. The context suggests that our "weakness" probably refers to all our limitations as creatures (cf. Romans 8:23; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10). The NASB translators understood Paul to be saying, "We do not know

1 Corinthians 13:8 — in God’s presence we will know perfectly (1 Corinthians 13:12; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 12:8). The knowledge in view seems to be knowledge of God’s ways in the present age. As will become clearer in chapter 14, Paul’s preference regarding the gifts was prophecy, but the Corinthians favored tongues and knowledge. The verb Paul used to describe what will happen to prophecy and knowledge is in the passive voice in Greek and means "shall be terminated"

1 Corinthians 5:7 — ethics is the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31); (2) the pattern for such ethics is Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1); (3) the principle is love, precisely because it alone reflects God’s character (1 Corinthians 8:2-3; 1 Corinthians 13:1-8); and (4) the power is the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 6:19)." [Note: Fee, "Toward a . . .," pp. 51, 53.] The mention of the removal of leaven before the Passover led Paul to develop his analogy further. Christ, the final Passover

1 Corinthians 8:13 — off a trap that could snare a fellow believer. It could retard his progress and cause him pain. Paul was willing to forgo all such eating if by doing so he could avoid creating problems for other Christians in their relationships with God (cf. Romans 14:13-23). The issue in this chapter is not that of offending someone in the church. Paul dealt with that subject in 1 Corinthians 10:31 to 1 Corinthians 11:1 and Romans 14. It is, rather, doing something that someone else would do to his or her own hurt.

Galatians 2:20 — Christ. Therefore in this sense the Christian’s life is really the life of Christ. [Note: See Robert L. Saucy, "’Sinners’ Who Are Forgiven or ’Saints’ Who Sin?" Biblitheca Sacra 152:608 (October-December 1995):400-12, for discussion of the Christian’s essential identity. See also Robert A. Pyne and Matthew L. Blackmon, "A Critique of the ’Exchanged Life,’" Bibliotheca Sacra 163:650 (April-June 2006):131-57.] We can also live by

Galatians 6:1 — 1. Toward sinning Christians 6:1 "Walking by the Spirit will mean not only avoidance of mutual provocation and envy (Galatians 5:26) but also, positively, the rehabilitation of those who have lapsed into sin." [Note: Fung, p. 284.] The situation Paul envisioned here is that of sin overtaking a Christian as a runner overtakes a walker. It is not that God has caught him in the act of sinning as much as that sin has gotten the better of him in a particular instance. He has been

Philippians 1:9 — By praying Paul acknowledged the importance of asking God to work (cf. James 4:2). We may not be able to explain fully why God has ordained prayer as a vehicle whereby He works in the world or how prayer works. Nevertheless Scripture is unmistakably clear that prayer does effect objective change. [Note: See John Munro, "Prayer

Colossians 1:10-12 — introduced to some teacher’s tapes. Before long, they get so smart they become dumb! The ’deeper truths’ they discover only detour them from practical Christian living. Instead of getting burning hearts of devotion to Christ (Luke 24:32), they get big heads and start creating problems in their homes and churches. All Bible truths are practical, not theoretical. If we are growing in knowledge, we should also be growing in grace (2 Peter 3:18)." [Note: Wiersbe, 2:111.] Four

Colossians 1:9 — all His desires for them. The Greek word translated "knowledge" is epignosis. This word can mean either full knowledge or more precise knowledge. [Note: Lightfoot, p. 136; J. Armitage Robinson, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, pp. 248-54.] Probably Paul prayed for greater knowledge in both respects. This word always describes moral and religious knowledge in the New Testament. Especially it refers to full and comprehensive knowledge of God’s will that rests on the knowledge

Colossians 3:16 — us as to control all our thinking." [Note: Vaughan, p. 216.] "Many saved people cannot honestly say that God’s Word dwells in their hearts richly because they do not take time to read, study, and memorize it." [Note: Wiersbe, 2:140.] Teaching is the imparting of truth, and admonition is warning against error. We should perform these activities joyfully and with song. "Psalms" probably refers to the inspired Old Testament psalms. The word "psalms" implies