Bible Commentaries

Genesis 23:3-16 — Typically ancient Near Easterners buried family members in their native land. [Note: Ross, "Genesis," p. 66.] Abraham’s desire to bury Sarah in the Promised Land shows that he had turned his back on Mesopotamia forever (Genesis 23:4). Canaan was his adopted homeland. God had made Abraham a powerful person, which his neighbors acknowledged (Genesis 23:6). [Note: On Abraham as a "mighty prince," see Wiseman, "Abraham . . . Part II: Abraham the Prince,"

Genesis 3:6 — to be something apart from God’s will, i.e., as wise as God, or gods). It was the quest for wisdom that led Eve to disobey God. [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 51.] Eve saw, coveted, and took the fruit (cf. Joshua 7:21; 2 Samuel 11:2-4). We perceive, then lust, then act. "We have already noted . . . how the scenes themselves are arranged in a concentric palistrophic pattern (ABCDCBA). Within this central scene, the same device is used; the midpoint ’and he ate’

Genesis 48:1-11 — Jacob’s adoption of Joseph’s sons 48:1-11 The events recorded in the last three chapters of Genesis deal with the last days of Jacob and Joseph. In these last chapters there are many other references to earlier episodes in the book. "This constant harking back to earlier episodes

Exodus 12:1-14 — Directions for the Passover 12:1-14 The Jews called their first month Abib (Exodus 12:2). After the Babylonian captivity they renamed it Nisan (Nehemiah 2:1; Esther 3:7). It corresponds to our March-April. Abib means "ear-month" referring to the month when the grain was in the

1 Kings 3:1-3 — Solomon’s attitudes 3:1-3 Should Solomon have married Pharaoh’s daughter? In view of 1 Kings 11:1-2 and 2 Chronicles 8:11 there is no way we can say yes. Furthermore, Solomon already had a wife when he married Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Kings 14:21; cf. Genesis 2:24). Why then did the writer not point out this sin here? He may have not done so because his purpose in this part of his history was to show the greatness of Solomon. In chapter 11 he emphasized Solomon’s failures. Here it is

2 Kings 8:7-15 — preparation of God’s instrument of judgment on Israel 8:7-15 Hazael was the governor of Damascus. [Note: J. A. Brinkman, "Additional Texts from the Reigns of Shalmaneser III and Shamshi-Adad V," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 32 (1973):43-44.] The Gentile King of Aram had more interest in inquiring of Yahweh than Jehoram’s predecessor did (2 Kings 8:8; cf. 2 Kings 1:2). It was customary in the Near East to make a great show of giving gifts. It was also common to have one camel

1 Chronicles 17:1-15 — the temple of the city-state and the palace of the king of the city-state. The temple was the earthly residence of the deity, and the palace was the residence of the earthly representative of the deity, that is, the king." [Note: Thompson, p. 144.] "Often we may have to accept that the work which we would dearly like to perform in terms of Christian service is not that for which we are best equipped, and not that to which God has in fact called us. It may be, like David’s, a preparatory

Job 12:1-19 — friends is based on certainty that they cannot deceive God (9), or get away with things done in secret (10). God will deal with them in strict justice, and their ’defences [sic] will crumble like clay’ (12, NEB)." [Note: Andersen, pp. 164, 165.] Job 12:12 may also be irony; this was not what Job believed. On the other hand, Job may have been quoting his friends or asking a rhetorical question: "Is wisdom with aged men . . .?" Job then proceeded to show that

Job 2:1-10 — that Job served God only because God had made it advantageous for Job to do so. Job still had his own life. Satan insinuated that Job had been willing to part with his own children and his animals (wealth) since he still had his own life (skin, Job 2:4). "Satan implies that Job, by his doxology had only feigned love for God as the exorbitant but necessary fee for health insurance." [Note: Kline, p. 463.] Satan could do nothing to Job without God’s permission. Having received that,

Numbers 22:21-41 — he did not sense the presence of the Angel of the Lord or his greed had blinded him to the Angel’s presence. The Angel had drawn his sword (Numbers 22:23), symbolic of God’s wrath against Balaam, for acting as he was doing (cf. Genesis 3:24; Exodus 12:12). God finally caught Balaam’s attention by speaking through the donkey (Numbers 22:28; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:27). Then he saw the Angel and bowed in submission before Him (Numbers 22:31). ". . . even a beast is more capable of

Numbers 7:1-89 — place at the time the Israelites dedicated the tabernacle (Numbers 7:1-2; cf. Leviticus 8:10). "The purpose of this section of narrative is to show that as the people had been generous in giving to the construction of the tabernacle (Exodus 35:4-29), now they showed the same generosity in its dedication." [Note: Sailhamer, p. 379.] First, the tribes presented six wagons and 12 oxen to carry the materials of the tabernacle (Numbers 7:1-9). The Gershonites received two wagons and the Merarites

Matthew 2:1-2 — "In the 708th year from the foundation of Rome (46 B.C. by Christian reckoning) Julius Caesar established the Julian Calendar, beginning the year with January 1st. But it was not until the sixth century A.D. that Dionysius Exiguus, a Scythian monk living in Rome, who was confirming the Easter cycle,

Deuteronomy 2:1-23 — Kadesh, Moses had asked permission from the Edomites to pass through their land on the Arabah road (Deuteronomy 2:8). This route ran east from Kadesh to the King’s Highway, the main north-south road east of the Seir mountains (cf. Numbers 20:14-21). The Edomites denied Moses’ request. Apparently later when Israel was moving north toward Edom from Elath God told Moses that they would pass through Edom (Deuteronomy 2:4-6). They did this through "the way of the wilderness of Moab"

John 4:23 — in spirit and truth. What does it mean to worship in spirit and truth? The Greek text has one preposition ("in") that governs both nouns ("spirit," "truth") linked by the conjunction ("and," cf. John 3:5; John 4:24). This means that Jesus was describing one characteristic with two nouns, not two separate characteristics of worship. We could translate the phrase "truly spiritual." This is a hendiadys, a figure of speech in which the speaker expresses

Joshua 7:16-26 — mental sin to overt physical sin. Finally he sought to cover his action rather than confessing it. The same progression appears in the story of the Fall and in the story of David’s sin with Bathsheba (Genesis 3:6-7; Genesis 3:10; 2 Samuel 11:2-4; 2 Samuel 11:8). One shekel weighed about four ounces. Josephus wrote that the mantle from Shinar that Achan took was "a royal garment woven entirely of gold." [Note: Josephus, 5:1:10.] The Israelites punished Achan’s children with

2 Thessalonians overview — assuming Galatians was his first. A few scholars argued that Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians before 1 Thessalonians. [Note: E.g., T. W. Manson, "St. Paul in Greece: The Letters to the Thessalonians," Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 35 (1952-53):438-46; and Charles A. Wanamaker, The Epistles to the Thessalonians, pp. 37-45.] But this view has not found wide acceptance. [Note: See Donald A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament, pp. 543-44.] "The external evidence

Revelation 20:8 — The devil will then resume his former work of deceiving the nations (Revelation 20:3) into thinking they will be better off submitting to his authority than to Jesus Christ’s (cf. Genesis 3; Matthew 4). He will eventually gather innumerable soldiers from all parts of the world to fight against Jesus Christ (cf. Revelation 7:1; Isaiah 11:2; Ezekiel 38:3-6; Ezekiel 39:1-2). "At the close of the Millennium, Satan will be released from the pit and

Revelation 21:2 — In the same vision, John next saw a city descending out of heaven from God (cf. Revelation 21:10; Revelation 3:12; Hebrews 11:13-16). It was holy in contrast to the former Jerusalem (cf. Revelation 11:8; Isaiah 52:1; Matthew 4:5; Matthew 27:53). As the old Jerusalem will be Jesus Christ’s capital during the Millennium, so the New Jerusalem will be His capital from then on. In the bride-husband simile, the city is the bride, and Christ is the husband (Revelation 21:9-10;

1 Samuel 28:8-14 — Saul’s conversation with the medium 28:8-14 Evidently Saul knew the woman would not cooperate with him if she knew who he was, so he disguised himself (1 Samuel 28:8). He further hid his hypocrisy by visiting her under cover of darkness. Saul sank so low as to swear to the woman in the Lord’s

2 Samuel 18:9-18 — royal mount; losing his mule [2 Samuel 18:9] Absalom has lost his kingdom." [Note: Conroy, p. 60.] The text says Absalom’s head caught in an overhanging oak branch (2 Samuel 18:9). Josephus interpreted this, perhaps in view of 2 Samuel 14:26, as his hair got caught in the tree. [Note: Josephus, 7:10:2.] "The great tree, inanimate though it is, has proved more than a match for the pride of Absalom." [Note: Baldwin, p. 270.] "The reader who recalls 14,26 will almost certainly