Bible Commentaries

Job 18:5-21 — are some of the things both Eliphaz and Bildad pointed out concerning the wicked.EliphazThe Wicked . . . BildadJob 15:22-23; Job 15:30experience darknessJob 18:5-6; Job 18:18Job 15:30 b, Job 15:32-33are like unhealthy plantsJob 18:16Job 15:30; Job 15:34are destroyed by fireJob 18:15Job 15:27-31lose their influenceJob 18:7; Job 18:15-16Job 15:21; Job 15:24are terrified by anguishJob 18:11; Job 18:14Job 15:34lose their homesJob 18:6; Job 18:14-15Job 15:4; Job 15:13; Job 15:25-26oppose or do not know

Psalms 68:15-18 — Even the rebellious Jebusites gave gifts to David. Of course, God was the real Commander-in-Chief who took the mountain for His people, led the captives captive, and received the gifts from them. The Apostle Paul referred to Psalms 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8, but he quoted it very loosely and even changed receiving gifts to giving gifts. One explanation for this difference is that Paul may have been following a popular Jewish interpretation of his day, the Targum, which attributed these actions to Moses.

Proverbs 3:13-35 — Covenant. The tree of life figure (Proverbs 3:18) implies that wisdom is the source and sustainer of a long and beneficial life (cf. Proverbs 3:16). [Note: See Ralph Marcus, "The Tree of Life in Proverbs," Journal of Biblical Literature 62 (1943):117-20.] The point is that by pursuing the way of wisdom, a person can obtain the best things God has to offer him or her. "It’s good to have the things money can buy, provided you don’t lose the things money can’t buy. What

Daniel 11:40 — Finally the very end time of the seventieth week will arrive (cf. Daniel 11:27; Daniel 11:35; Daniel 12:4; Daniel 12:9). Then this king will be the focus of attack by the king of the South (cf. Daniel 11:42-43), a power south of Palestine, and the king of the North, a force to its north. Evidently these two rulers will attack him simultaneously. Apparently

Daniel 7:24-25 — changes in times (the calendar?) and in law. Archer recorded an interesting account of an unsuccessful attempt during the French Revolution to replace the Christian (Gregorian) calendar with a Revolutionary calendar. [Note: Archer, "Daniel," p. 94.] Someone, obviously the sovereign God, will allow this ruler to have his way for "a time, times, and half a time" (cf. Daniel 12:7). Even some liberal interpreters concede that this is a period of three and one-half years (cf. Daniel 4:16;

Jonah 2:9 — he despaired of being able to offer an animal or vegetable offering. He also promised to pay his vow to God. This probably refers to his commitment to serve the Lord faithfully from which he had departed but to which he now returned (cf. Psalms 50:14; Psalms 69:30; Psalms 107:22). The testimony that salvation comes from Yahweh is the expression of Jonah’s thanksgiving that he promised God. The last declaration in this psalm is one of the great summary statements about salvation in the Bible.

Matthew 24:9-13 — future when these things will happen. Jesus was again speaking beyond His immediate audience. The word "tribulation" or "persecuted" (Gr. thlipsis, or "distress") is a key word in this passage occurring three times (Matthew 24:9; Matthew 24:21; Matthew 24:29; cf. Matthew 13:21). These are all the occurrences of the word in Matthew’s Gospel. The outstanding characteristic of this time will be thlipsis. This persecution will lead many disciples to turn away from the faith

Matthew 5:11-12 — These two verses expand and clarify the last beatitude (Matthew 5:10; cf. Matthew 6:12; cf. Matthew 6:14-15) and provide a transition to what follows. Matthew 5:11 broadens the persecution to include insult and slander. It also identifies Jesus with righteousness. "This confirms that the righteousness of life that is in view is in imitation of Jesus.

Matthew 5:44-47 — Jesus answered the popular teaching by going back to the Old Testament that commanded love for enemies (Exodus 23:4-5). Love (Gr. agapao) here probably includes emotion as well as action in view of Jesus’ previous emphasis on motives. "To love one’s enemies, though it must result in doing them good (Luke 6:32-33) and praying for them (Matthew 5:44),

Matthew 7:21-23 — The two claims 7:21-23 (cf. Luke 6:46) Matthew 7:15-20 deal with false prophets, but Matthew 7:21-23 deal with false followers. The repeated cry of these false disciples reveals their fervency. "In Jesus’ day it is doubtful whether ’Lord’ when used to address him

Luke 15:8-10 — equivalent of Roman denarii, each worth about a day’s wage. They may have been part of the dowry or the savings that some Palestinian women wore around their heads on a chain. [Note: Jeremias, Jerusalem in . . ., p. 100; idem, The Parables . . ., pp. 134-35.] In any case the coin she lost was precious to her even though it did not represent great wealth. Its value is clear from the trouble to which she went to find it. The sheep was lost because of its foolishness (Luke 15:4), but the coin was lost

John 1:12 — The contrast with rejection is acceptance. Not everyone rejected Jesus when He came. Some accepted Him. [Note: See David J. MacLeod, "The Reaction of the World to the Word: John 1:10-13" Bibliotheca Sacra 160:640 (October-December 2003):398-413.] To these He gave as a gift the authority (Gr. exousian) to become God’s children (Gr. tekna). Receiving Jesus consists of believing in His name. Believing therefore equals receiving. "His name" summarizes

John 19:34 — that contains water. The fluids could have drained out as John described if the spear had entered the body near the bottom of the chest cavity. [Note: See A. F. Sava, "The Wound in the Side of Christ," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 19 (1957):343-46.] Apparently the soldier pierced Jesus’ side before His blood congealed into a solid. This eyewitness testimony stresses the fact that Jesus really did die and that He was a genuine man (cf. John 1:14). By the end of the first century, when

Acts 18:1 — Corinth, the largest city in Greece at this time, was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia and was a Roman colony. The Romans razed Corinth in 146 B.C., but it was rebuilt a century later in 46 B.C. Its site lay about 50 miles southwest of Athens at a very strategic location. Land traffic from northern Achaia to its southern peninsula, the Peloponnesus, crossed a land bridge very near Corinth.

Acts 6:7 — This verse is another one of Luke’s summary progress reports that ends each major section of Acts (cf. Acts 2:47; Acts 9:31; Acts 12:24; Acts 16:6; Acts 19:20; Acts 28:31). It also corresponds to other summary paragraphs within this section of the book (cf. Acts 4:32-35; Acts 5:12-16). Luke linked the spread of God’s Word with church growth. This cause

Acts 8:39-40 — "There is a contrast between Simon Magus and this Ethiopian treasurer which recalls the contrast between Gehazi and the stranger Naaman who was baptized in the Jordan." [Note: Rackham, p. 120.] The eunuch rejoiced in his new faith (cf. Acts 2:46-47; Acts 8:8; Acts 16:34). Presumably he returned home and became one of the earliest Gentile witnesses and missionaries in Africa. This is what happened according to early Christian tradition. [Note: See Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3:12:8-10.] Philip

1 Corinthians 11:3 — male human being (Gr. aner). Second, the male is the head of woman (Gr. gune). This Greek word for woman is very broad and covers women of any age, virgins, married women, or widows. Paul used it earlier in this epistle of a wife (1 Corinthians 7:3-4; 1 Corinthians 7:10-12; 1 Corinthians 7:14; 1 Corinthians 7:16). In this chapter it evidently refers to any woman who was in a dependent relationship to a man such as a wife to a husband or a daughter to a father. Paul probably did not mean every woman

1 Corinthians 6:13-14 — A]. Part 2: God has raised the Lord [B], and He will raise us [A] (by His power). One might conclude, and some in Corinth were evidently doing so, that since sex was also physical and temporal it was also irrelevant spiritually. [Note: Barrett, p. 147.] However this is a false conclusion. The body is part of what the Lord saved and sanctified. Therefore it is for Him, and we should use it for His glory, not for fornication. Furthermore the Lord has a noble purpose and destiny for our bodies. He

Galatians 2:1 — in a series of ’then’ clauses Paul stitched together to form an airtight argument for his apostolic independence from the Jerusalem church (cf. Galatians 1:18; Galatians 1:21)." [Note: George, p. 135.] Probably Paul calculated his 14 years from his conversion rather than from his first visit to Jerusalem (cf. Galatians 1:18). Paul visited Jerusalem at least five times, and the visit described here seems to have been his second (Acts 11:27-30). [Note: See Stanley D. Toussaint, "The

Ephesians 1:11 — chosen Jewish believers for salvation because He predestined them to have a part in His sovereign plan. Paul would say later that God’s plan for the present involves the church, which consists of both Jewish and Gentile believers (Ephesians 2:14-22). However, God chose the Jews first (cf. Acts 3:26; Romans 1:16). This verse contains one of the strongest statements in Scripture that God is sovereign (cf. Psalms 115:3; Proverbs 16:9; Proverbs 16:33; Daniel 4:34-35). God is sovereign over all