Bible Commentaries

Nehemiah 9:5-38 — The prayer of praise 9:5-38 A second group of seven Levites (Nehemiah 9:5) led the people in the prayer of praise that Nehemiah included in this book, perhaps on a different day than the prayer he wrote about in Nehemiah 9:1-4. "The prayer is intended to instruct the readers. It gives us a survey of the history of Israel with emphasis on certain events in the life of the Chosen People. This approach is comparable to that of Psalms 78, 105, 106, 135, , 136." [Note:

Proverbs 1:7 — contains a positive statement followed by its negative corollary. The "fear of the Lord" occurs at least 18 times in Proverbs (Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 1:29; Proverbs 2:5; Proverbs 3:7; Proverbs 8:13; Proverbs 9:10; Proverbs 10:27; Proverbs 14:2; Proverbs 14:26-27; Proverbs 15:16; Proverbs 15:33; Proverbs 16:6; Proverbs 19:23; Proverbs 22:4; Proverbs 23:17; Proverbs 24:21; Proverbs 31:30). "Fear" includes not only a correct way of thinking about God but a correct relationship with

Isaiah 9:6 — through the influence of a child to be born (cf. Psalms 2:7; John 3:16). This child to be born to Isaiah’s people would have traits that demonstrated God was with them. Thus He would be the ultimate fulfillment of the Immanuel sign (Isaiah 7:14). Four titles underscore His deity and humanity. "Wonderful Counselor" is literally "wonder of a counselor" (cf. Judges 13:18), though there is nothing in the Hebrew construction to prevent taking these as two separate names. [Note:

Daniel 5:30 — W. Thomas, ed., Documents from Old Testament Times, pp. 81-83, 92-95; Flavius Josephus, Against Apion, 1:20; and J. M. Cook, The Persian Empire, p. 31.] Isaiah and Jeremiah had predicted Babylon’s fall (Isaiah 13:17-22; Isaiah 21:1-10; Isaiah 47:1-5; Jeremiah 51:33-58). The Persians diverted the water from the Euphrates River that flowed south through Babylon into an ancient lake located to the north. This allowed them to walk into the city on the riverbed and scale the undefended walls that

Jonah 3:5 — The people repented, apparently after only one day of preaching (Jonah 3:4), because of the message from God that Jonah had brought to them. [Note: See Steven J. Lawson, "The Power of Biblical Preaching: An Expository Study of Jonah 3:1-10," Bibliotheca Sacra 158:631 (July-September 2001):331-46.] Fasting and wearing

Matthew 13:11-12 — disciples but not to the multitudes (cf. Matthew 7:6). Therefore He presented this truth in a veiled way. The word "mysteries" (Gr. mysterion, secrets) comes from the Old Testament and the Hebrew word raz (Daniel 2:18-19; Daniel 2:27-30; Daniel 2:47 [twice]; Matthew 4:9). It refers to what God knows will happen in the future. "Mysteries" are "secrets," namely, divine plans for the future that He reveals to His elect. Paul defined a mystery in Colossians 1:26 where he wrote,

Matthew 3:11 — John baptized in water "in connection with" repentance. [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 104.] However the One coming after him, the King, would baptize with the Holy Spirit (cf. Joel 2:28-29) and fire (cf. Malachi 3:2-5). The Malachi prophecy speaks of fire as a refining or purifying agent, not as an instrument of destruction. Both prophecies

Mark 1:32-34 — 3. Jesus’ healing of many Galileans after sundown 1:32-34 (cf. Matthew 8:16-17; Luke 4:40-41) This little pericope shows that the former two healings were not isolated cases. Jesus’ power benefited many people who came to Peter’s house after sundown ended the Sabbath and enabled the Jews to travel

John 7:53-11 — 4. The woman caught in adultery 7:53-8:11 The textual authenticity of this pericope is highly questionable. Most ancient Greek manuscripts dating before the sixth century do not contain it. However, over 900 ancient manuscripts do contain it including

Acts 18:18 — didn’t force anyone else to make a vow. In fact, he said emphatically that no one has to do that. But if Paul wants to make a vow, that is his business. That is the marvelous freedom that we have in the grace of God today." [Note: McGee, 4:594. Cf. Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 300.] Even under the Old Covenant vows were optional. Evidently Paul had his hair cut just before he made his vow, when he left Cenchrea for Syria. He would have cut it when he arrived in Jerusalem. It seems less

Acts 27:1-15 — 4. Ministry on the way to Rome 27:1-28:15 For a number of reasons Luke seems to have described this stage of the gospel expansion in detail. He evidently wanted to demonstrate God’s protection of Paul, to illustrate the increasingly Gentile nature

Romans 1:28-32 — of this type in the New Testament. Its purpose is to show the scope of social evils that results when God hands people over to a depraved mind after they refuse to acknowledge Him. See Matthew 15:19; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Timothy 1:9-10; and 1 Peter 4:3 for other "vice lists." Paul’s use of the past tense in Romans 1:18-32 suggests that he was viewing humanity historically. Nevertheless his occasional use of the present tense shows that he observed many of these conditions in his

Romans 3:25 — hilasterion as referring to Jesus Christ as the sacrifice that satisfied God’s wrath and removed our sins (cf. Luke 18:13; Hebrews 2:17). This is the normal adjectival use, translated "sacrifice of atonement" (cf. 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10). Jesus Christ was the sacrifice, but the place where God made atonement was the Cross. The translation "through faith in His blood" (NIV) correctly represents the word order in the Greek text. Paul elsewhere urged faith in the person of

1 Corinthians 11:4 — public worship. Others have argued that 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 does not address congregational settings. [Note: E.g., Harold R. Holmyard III, "Does 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 Refer to Women Praying and Prophesying in Church?" Bibliotheca Sacra 154:616 (October-December 1997):461-72; J. N. Darby, Notes of Readings on the Epistles to the Corinthians, pp. 85-87; Olshausen, p. 174; C. T. Ellicott, St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 202; W. E. Vine, 1 Corinthians, p. 147; J. A.

Galatians 1:3-5 — Christian context refers to God’s undeserved favor that is the portion of His children. Galatians opens, closes (cf. Galatians 6:18), and is full of grace (Galatians 1:6; Galatians 1:15; Galatians 2:9; Galatians 2:21; Galatians 3:18; Galatians 5:4). The actual Greek word is chairein, which means, "rejoice," but this standard Greek greeting meant the equivalent of "hello." "When Paul prays for grace on his friends, it is as if he said, ’May the beauty of the wonder

Galatians 3:19 — transgressions" means. First, some take it to mean, "to restrain transgressions." [Note: E.g., David J. Lull, "’The Law Was Our Pedagogue’: A Study in Galatians 3:19-25," Journal of Biblical Literature 105:3 (September 1986):482.] This seems legitimate since all law has a restraining effect. Second, some understand the phrase to mean, "to reveal transgressions." This seems valid in view of other statements that Paul made (cf. Romans 3:20; Romans 4:15; Romans 5:13).

Ephesians 1:3 — Lord in the heavenly realms spiritually. We are there because of our present union with Christ. We are "in Christ." The expression "in Christ" and its parallels occur 36 times in Ephesians. [Note: For a chart, see Hoehner, pp. 173-74.] Union with Christ by saving faith places us in the heavenly realms. Ouranos (heaven or heavenly) appears in Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 3:15; Ephesians 4:10; and Ephesians 6:9, while epouanios (heaven or heavenly realms) occurs in Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians

James 5:17-18 — 3. The power of prayer 5:17-18 To illustrate the power of prayer James referred to Elijah’s experience (1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:1; 1 Kings 18:41-45). In view of the remarkable answers Elijah received, James reminded his audience that the prophet was an ordinary man. "Here the point is not that Elijah put up a particularly fervent prayer but that praying was precisely what he did."

Revelation 1:1 — "Revelation" (from the Latin revelatio) means unveiling or disclosure and is a translation of the Greek word apokalypsis, the transliteration of which is an alternative title for the book (i.e., the Apocalypse; cf. Daniel 2:28-30; Daniel 2:45-47). The Greek word occurs only here in the book. Jesus Christ was the giver of this revelation (cf. Matthew 11:27; John 1:18; John 5:19-23; John 12:49; John 17:8), and He is its main subject. The genitive in the Greek text is probably both objective

Revelation 6:2 — John saw a horse, which was a war machine in his day (cf. Job 39:19-25; Psalms 76:5-6; Proverbs 21:31), and its rider (cf. Zechariah 1:7-11; Zechariah 6:2-3; Jeremiah 14:12; Jeremiah 24:10; Jeremiah 42:17). The horse was white symbolizing victory, righteousness, and holiness. White has these connotations in other places in Scripture. The horse gave an appearance of purity, but that does not necessarily mean the rider