Bible Commentaries

Job 16:1-5 — had promised (Job 15:11). Job charged his visitors with being the real windbags (Job 16:3; cf. Job 8:2; Job 15:2). He claimed that he himself would provide more comfort than they were delivering, which Eliphaz had previously admitted Job could do (Job 4:4).

Psalms 4:1 — 1. Prayer to God 4:1 David called on God to hear and answer his prayer. He appealed to God as the righteous One who had delivered him from former distress. God is righteous in Himself, but He also does what is right for His children, namely, come to their rescue when

Hosea 6:4-14 — 1. Israel’s ingratitude and rebellion 6:4-8:14 Two oracles of judgment compose this section. Each one begins by referring to Israel’s breach of covenant (Hosea 6:7; Hosea 8:1), and each one contains a reference to Egypt near the end (Hosea 7:16; Hosea 8:13). Accusations involving ingratitude

Jonah 4:7 — The stress on God’s sovereignty continues. God had provided (Heb. manah, to appoint, provide, or prepare) a storm, a fish, a plant, and now a worm to fulfill His purpose. A different Hebrew word occurs in Jonah 1:4 describing the storm. He would provide a wind (Jonah 4:8). Clearly God was manipulating Jonah’s circumstances to teach him something. He uses large things such as the fish and small things like the worm. There may be some significance in the chiastic

Zechariah 10:8 — The Lord, the true shepherd of His flock, would simply whistle and His people would follow Him because He had redeemed them (Exodus 12; Isaiah 35:10; Micah 6:4; John 10:11-16; 1 Peter 1:18-19). They would again be as numerous as they had been in the days of their greatest prosperity. "Just as redemption, that is, election, theologically preceded the actual exodus escape from Egypt (Exodus 2:24; Exodus

Zechariah 11:7 — Zechariah proceeded to carry out his assignment from the Lord (Zechariah 11:4). He spoke as a shepherd of the sheep doomed to slaughter, the afflicted sheep, and so represented Israel’s Shepherd, Messiah. The two shepherd’s staffs that he named "Favor" (Heb. no’am, pleasantness, graciousness) and "Union"

Matthew 20:13-15 — depicting jealousy (cf. Matthew 6:23; Deuteronomy 15:9; 1 Samuel 18:9). The landowner’s rhetorical questions explained that he had distributed the wages as he had because he was gracious and generous as well as just (cf. Luke 15:11-32; Romans 4:4-6; Romans 11:6).

Matthew 24:4-6 — 2. Jesus’ warning about deception 24:4-6 (cf. Mark 13:5-7; Luke 21:8-9) Jesus began the Olivet Discourse by warning His disciples about the possibility of their concluding wrongly that He had returned or was just about to return. Kingsbury divided this speech on the "last times"

Luke 4:14-50 — IV. JESUS’ MINISTRY IN AND AROUND GALILEE 4:14-9:50 Luke commenced his account of Jesus’ public ministry with His return to Galilee following His temptation. This section of his Gospel ends with Jesus’ decision to leave Galilee for Jerusalem and the Cross (Luke 9:51). Luke did not

Luke 8:4-15 — 2. The parable of the soils 8:4-15 Luke’s account of Jesus’ parables by the sea is the shortest of the three, and Matthew’s is the longest. Luke limited himself to recording only two parables, namely, the parable of the soils and the parable of the lamp. He thereby

John 7:2 — The feast of Tabernacles occurred six months after Passover (John 6:4). That year it fell on September 10-17, A.D. 32. [Note: Hoehner, p. 143.] It was a fall grape and olive harvest festival (Exodus 23:16; Leviticus 23:33-36; Leviticus 23:39-43; Deuteronomy 16:13-15). In Jesus’ day it was the most popular of the

John 9:1 — the events just narrated in or near the temple. [Note: Edersheim, 2:177.] John apparently noted that the man had been blind from birth to prove his helpless condition and to compare him with those who were spiritually blind from birth (cf. John 9:39-41; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:1-3). While the Synoptics record several instances in which blind people received their sight, this is the only case of this happening to a man who was born blind. The miracle also illustrates the origin and development

Acts 18:5 — Maybe Paul was able to stop practicing his trade and give full time to teaching and evangelizing if Silas returned from Philippi with a monetary gift, as seems likely (cf. Philippians 4:14-16; 2 Corinthians 11:9). Timothy had returned from Thessalonica with encouraging news about the Christians’ progress there (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:6-10), but they were also having problems (1 Thessalonians 2:3-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13 to 1 Thessalonians

Acts 5:40 — Gamaliel convinced his fellow Sanhedrin members. They decided to settle for flogging the apostles, probably with 39 lashes (Deuteronomy 25:3; Acts 22:19; 2 Corinthians 11:24). The Mishnah contains a description of how the Jews normally did this. [Note: Mishnah Makkoth 3:10-15a.] This flogging was for disobeying their former order to stop preaching (Acts 4:18). This is the first instance of Christians receiving a physical

Romans 12:12 — We must never lose sight of our hope of things in the future that God has promised us. This will help us persevere in tribulation (cf. Romans 5:3-4). Prayer is our great resource whenever we feel stress and strain (cf. Philippians 4:6-7). Note the same progression from hope to perseverance to prayer in Romans 8:24-27. We should not just pray, but we should be devoted to prayer (cf. Acts 1:14).

1 Corinthians 11:21 — their food and drinks, each family was bringing its own and eating what it had brought. The result was that the rich had plenty but the poor had little and suffered embarrassment as well. This was hardly a picture of Christian love and unity (cf. Acts 2:44-46; Acts 4:32; Acts 4:34-35). Furthermore some with plenty of wine to drink were evidently drinking too heavily. They were eating their own private meals rather than sharing a meal consecrated to the Lord.

Colossians 1:18-20 — 3. In relation to the church 1:18-20 So far everything Paul had written about Christ other New Testament writers also revealed, but what follows in Colossians 1:18 is uniquely Pauline. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and Romans 12:4-8 Paul used the human body to illustrate the unity and diversity present in the church. Here he used it to illustrate the sovereignty of Christ over Christians (cf. Ephesians 4:11-13). Our Lord supplies authority and direction for His body. [Note: See

1 Peter 1:6 — [Note: Bigg, p. 103.] Peter was not denying that we face temptation from within, but he was addressing temptations from external sources particularly. [Note: See Gordon E. Kirk, "Endurance in Suffering in 1 Peter," Bibliotheca Sacra 138:549 (January-March 1981):46-56, for a good brief summary of Peter’s teaching on suffering in this epistle.] In comparison with the eternal bliss ahead, our present distresses are only temporary and brief (cf. Matthew 5:4-5; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

Revelation 19:1-10 — 1. The praise of God in heaven 19:1-10 This pericope has strong ties to what precedes (Revelation 16:17 to Revelation 18:24). It is the concluding revelation concerning the fall of Babylon (the latter-day Egypt and Tyre) and Antichrist (the ultimate Pharaoh of the Exodus and King of Tyre). The praise in this section is in response to the angel’s invitation for those

Revelation 7:9 — John next saw another vision (cf. Revelation 7:1; Revelation 4:1). This vision seems to reveal things happening in heaven at the same time as what John saw happening on earth in Revelation 7:1-8. John saw an innumerable multitude of people in heaven before God’s throne. They came from every nation, tribe,