Bible Commentaries

Genesis 1:2 — 2. Conditions at the time of creation 1:2 Genesis 1:2 probably describes what we now call the earth before God created it. Here "earth" refers to the whole planet, though the same English word also refers to the earth and the heavens (when

Genesis 1:28 — Note that God’s blessing of man finds expression in terms of posterity that connotes the ideas of seed and life, two prominent themes as Genesis and the whole Bible unfold. [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 38.] God’s blessing enables

Genesis 32:22-32 — 12. Jacob at the Jabbok 32:22-32 "Hebrew narrative style often includes a summary statement of the whole passage followed by a more detailed report of the event. Here Genesis 32:22 is the summary statement, while Genesis 32:23 begins the detailed

Genesis 4:17-24 — The descendants of Cain 4:17-24 "By virtue of being Cain’s descendants, the people named in the genealogy all inherit his curse. Thus the Cainite genealogy becomes part of the Yahwist’s account of man’s increasing sin." [Note:

2 Kings 22:3-27 — 2. Josiah’s reforms 22:3-23:27 Josiah began to seek Yahweh when he was 16 years old and began initiating religious reforms when he was 20 (2 Chronicles 34:3-7). His reforms were more extensive than those of any of his predecessors. One of them

2 Kings 25:8-30 — I. The Captivity of the Southern Kingdom 25:8-30 Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s commander-in-chief, returned to destroy Jerusalem more thoroughly and to preclude any successful national uprising in Judah. His burning of Yahweh’s house (2

Proverbs 1:8-36 — B. Instruction for Young People 1:8-8:36 The two ways (paths, worldviews) introduced in Proverbs 1:7 stretch out before the reader (cf. Matthew 7:13-14). In this section Solomon spoke to his son, guiding him into God’s way. "My son"

Isaiah 40 overview — IV. ISRAEL’S CALLING IN THE WORLD CHS. 40-55 This part of Isaiah picks up a theme from chapters 1-39 and develops it further. That theme is God’s faithfulness to His promises to give His people a glorious future after He disciplined them

Daniel 1:3-5 — Nebuchadnezzar’s enlightened policy was to employ the best minds in his kingdom in government service, regardless of their national or ethnic origin. We do not know how many other Jews and Gentiles were the classmates of Daniel and his three friends.

Hosea 1:2 — At the beginning of Hosea’s ministry, Yahweh commanded him to take a wife of harlotry and to have children of harlotry. The reason the Lord gave for this unusual command was that the land of Israel (i.e., the people of the Northern Kingdom, cf.

Haggai 2:23 — When He did that, the Lord promised to make Zerubbabel His servant. The title "my servant" is often messianic in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Samuel 3:18; 1 Kings 11:34; Isaiah 42:1-9; Isaiah 49:1-13; Isaiah 50:4-11; Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12;

Matthew 3:1-2 — John appeared "in those days" (Matthew 3:1). This phrase is a general term that says little about specific time but identifies what follows as historical. It is a common transitional statement in Matthew’s narrative. [Note: Robertson,

Matthew 3:16-17 — The Greek text stresses the fact that Jesus’ departure from the water and God’s attestation of Him as the Messiah occurred at the same time. The NIV translation gives this sense better than the NASB. The person who saw the Spirit descending

Matthew 6:9-13 — Jesus gave His disciples a model prayer known commonly as "The Lord’s Prayer." Obviously it was not His prayer in the sense that He prayed it, but it was His prayer in the sense that He taught it. He introduced the model as such. Here

Judges 11:34-40 — The fate of Jephthah’s daughter 11:34-40 Judges 11:1-33 record Jephthah’s success. The rest of his story (Judges 11:34 to Judges 12:7) relates his failure. The writer likewise recorded Gideon’s success first (Judges 6:1 to Judges 8:23)

Judges 4:4-11 — Deborah was one of three prophetesses identified as such in the Old Testament (Judges 4:4), along with Miriam (Exodus 15:20) and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14). Anna (Luke 2:36) and Philip’s four daughters (Acts 21:8-9) were also prophetesses. Deborah

1 Samuel 6:19-1 — 3. The removal of the ark to Kiriath-jearim 6:19-7:1 Not all the people who later assembled to view the returned ark were as careful as those from Bethshemesh, however. The Mosaic Law specified that no one was to look into the ark or that person would

2 Samuel 7:4-17 — God’s purpose to honor David 7:4-17 The promises Yahweh made to David here are an important key to understanding God’s program for the future. God rejected David’s suggestion that he build a temple for the Lord and gave three reasons.