Bible Commentaries

Genesis 38:1-11 — It also revealed Onan’s selfish heart that wanted for himself what would have gone to his elder brother’s heir. If Tamar had borne him a son, that child would have been the perpetuator of Er’s name as well as that of Onan (cf. Ruth 4:5; Ruth 4:21-22). God judged Onan’s sin severely because descendants were important in His plans for the Israelite patriarchs. Onan was frustrating the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (cf. Genesis 11:4). This is

Exodus 4:10-17 — Rather than inspiring confidence in Moses, God’s commission frightened him (Exodus 4:10-12). Moses’ claim to be slow of speech (not handicapped, but lacking in eloquence) was a thinly veiled excuse by which Moses hoped to escape his calling. Stephen said Moses was eloquent (Acts 7:22). Apparently Moses felt he did not have sufficient

Psalms 2:12 — characteristic Old Testament word for the New Testament words "faith" and "believe." The Hebrew words for taking refuge in (e.g., Ruth 2:12), leaning on (e.g., Psalms 56:3), rolling on (e.g., Psalms 22:8), and waiting for (e.g., Job 35:14) all refer to trusting in. [Note: The New Scofield . . ., p. 602. See also Ronald B. Allen, Rediscovering Prophecy: A New Song for a New Kingdom, pp. 155-72.] Psalms 1 opened with a benediction, and Psalms 2 closes with one. The Apostle Peter saw in

Ecclesiastes 1:3 — being unemployed. He only meant that all the work that a person may engage in does not yield permanent profit-even though it may yield short-term profit, including financial security (cf. Mark 8:36). [Note: See John F. Genung, Words of Koheleth, pp. 214-15.] "Under the sun," used 29 times in Ecclesiastes and nowhere else in the Old Testament, simply means "on the earth," that is, in terms of human existence (Ecclesiastes 1:9; Ecclesiastes 1:14; Ecclesiastes 2:11; Ecclesiastes 2:17-20;

Zechariah 3:9 — Zechariah also saw in the vision a stone in front of Joshua. The stone, too, is a common figure of God and Messiah in the Bible (Zechariah 10:4; Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:7-11; Psalms 118:22; et al.). In the past God promised that the Stone would be a secure, never-failing refuge for His people (Isaiah 28:16; 1 Peter 2:6). When Messiah appeared, however, He proved to be a stone over which the

Zechariah 6:15 — When the Branch appeared, Gentiles from afar would come and help build the temple of Yahweh (cf. Zechariah 2:11; Zechariah 8:22; Isaiah 2:2-4; Isaiah 56:6-7; Isaiah 60:1-7). The donors mentioned earlier (Zechariah 6:10; Zechariah 6:14) were typical of Gentiles who would come from afar in the last days to help build the Lord’s house (cf. Isaiah 60:4; Isaiah 60:6; Isaiah 60:9). When this

Matthew 4:1-2 — all using anagein [’to lead up’]), so does the Spirit of God lead Jesus into the desert after he is baptized." [Note: W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew , 1:354. Cf. Deuteronomy 8:2; Deuteronomy 8:16.] "According to Hosea 2:14-23, the wilderness was the place of Israel’s original sonship, where God had loved His people. Yet because they had forsaken Yahweh their Father, a ’renewal’ of

Matthew 8:13 — interesting to observe that the Gentile follows the Jew in the sequence of healing events. This is in accord with Matthew’s plan of presenting Jesus first as Son of David and then as Son of Abraham." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 124.] This healing marked Jesus as the Messiah who was under God’s authority. The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law 8:14-15 (cf. Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39) Peter and his family were evidently living in Capernaum when Jesus performed this miracle

Deuteronomy 5:18 — The seventh commandment 5:18 This commandment deals with adultery only. Whereas murder violates life itself, adultery violates the most important and sacred human relationship, marriage. [Note: Merrill, Deuteronomy, p. 154.] God dealt with other forms of sexual sin elsewhere (cf. chs. 22-25). Adultery is the sexual union of a man and a woman when one or both of them is married to someone else. Adultery is an act, not a state, as is true of all the other prohibitions in

Mark 4:10 — Mark alone noted that those who asked Jesus to explain the parables included the Twelve plus other disciples (Mark 4:10). Evidently their question concerned why Jesus was using parables to teach as well as what they meant. He could have been clearer.

Acts 2:42 — These new converts along with the disciples gave ("devoted," Gr. proskartereo, cf. Acts 1:14) themselves to two activities primarily: the apostles’ teaching and fellowship. The grammar of the Greek sentence sets these actions off as distinct from the following two activities that define fellowship. The apostles’ teaching included

Romans 15:7-13 — 4. The importance of accepting one another 15:7-13 This section concludes Paul’s instructions concerning the importance of accepting one another as Christians that he began in Romans 14:1. In this section the apostle charged both the strong and the weak.

1 Corinthians 1:6 — The Corinthians’ reception of these gifts had corroborated the truthfulness of the gospel. Giving these gifts was one of the ways God validated the gospel message in the early history of the church (cf. Galatians 3:2-5; Hebrews 2:3-4).

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 — The ordering of the women 14:34-35 Paul had formerly acknowledged that women could share a word from the Lord in the church meetings (1 Corinthians 11:4-16). Now he clarified one point about their participation in this context of prophesying.

2 Corinthians 2:9 — This action would also show that the church accepted Paul’s apostolic authority. This was a test of its obedience to his authority. The reference to a previous letter seems to be another allusion to the severe letter (2 Corinthians 2:3-4).

Galatians 4:8-11 — The appeal 4:8-11 Paul next reminded his readers of their former way of life, the transformation that their adoption into God’s family had wrought, and his concern that they were in danger of trading their future for a mess of pottage.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 — A. Christian living 4:1-12 Paul used the opportunity this epistle afforded him to give his readers basic instruction concerning Christian living. He did this to promote their maturation in Christ and to guard them from error (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:10).

2 Thessalonians 3:4 — He was also confident that his readers, strengthened by the Lord, would continue to follow apostolic instruction as they had in the past. Paul had confidence in these Christians. Note the chiastic structure of Paul’s thought in 2 Thessalonians 3:1-4.

2 Timothy 4:22 — D. Benediction 4:22 In conclusion, Paul first wished the Lord’s ministry of grace on Timothy’s spirit, perhaps to encourage him to remain faithful. Then he wished God’s grace for all the readers (plural "you" in the Greek text) of this epistle.

1 Peter 4:7-11 — D. The Importance of Mutual Love in End-Times Living 4:7-11 To prepare his readers to meet the Lord soon, Peter urged them to make the best use of their time now that they understood what he had written about suffering.