Bible Commentaries

Psalms 147:4-6 — People count what they possess, and naming something expresses one’s sovereignty over it. Thus Psalms 147:4 expresses God’s sovereignty over the heavens. God’s greatness is also obvious in His abundant strength and boundless understanding. He upholds the afflicted and brings down the wicked. In other words, He controls all the heavenly bodies and all human beings.

Psalms 31:5 — David committed his life to God’s care. He did so confidently because God had faithfully delivered him in the past and had proved true to His promises. The Lord Jesus prayed the first line of this prayer on the cross (Luke 23:46). We should also follow this example in our times of suffering (1 Peter 4:19).

Psalms 95:1-11 — Psalms 95 The psalmist extolled Yahweh as the great King above all gods and urged the Israelites to worship Him alone rather than disbelieving Him. The Septuagint translators credited David with writing this psalm, which the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews followed (Hebrews 4:7). This is another "enthronement" psalm (cf. Psalms 47, 93, 96-99).

Song of Solomon 3:5 — The refrain repeated 3:5 Here the refrain marks the end of the section on the courtship (Song of Solomon 1:2 to Song of Solomon 3:5) as well as the Shulammite’s nightmare (Song of Solomon 3:1-4). Solomon and the Shulammite’s patience were about to receive the desired reward. Their marriage was now at hand.

Isaiah 2:1 — The presence of another superscription to the following prophecies (cf. Isaiah 1:1), the only other one in Isaiah, bears witness to the composite nature of the book; it consists of several different prophecies. Probably one appears here to set off the prophecies that follow (in chs. 2-4 or chs. 2-5) from what preceded (in ch. 1).

Isaiah 27:5 — Enemies of the vineyard could come to the Lord for His protection and He promised to provide it (cf. Isaiah 16:4-5). Peace would be possible for any enemies of God’s people. In the Hebrew text the emphasis is on "with Me" in the first "Let him make peace with Me" and on "peace" in the second.

Isaiah 37:37 — Sennacherib, the great "king of Assyria" (cf. Isaiah 36:4; Isaiah 36:13), then returned to Assyria, having lost a large part of his army, and having heard a rumor about the advancing Ethiopian ruler (Isaiah 37:7-9). He lived in Nineveh for 20 years before his death, and he conducted other military campaigns, but none in Palestine.

Isaiah 42:3 — The Lord’s Servant would be gracious and patient. He would not discard what seemed to others useless, and He would not extinguish what seemed to others too spent. His calling was to save, not destroy. He would be faithful to His calling to bring forth justice to the nations (Isaiah 42:1; cf. Isaiah 11:3-4).

Jeremiah 11:20 — The prophet prayed to Almighty Yahweh, who evaluates people’s motives and intentions, to judge them for their evil plans (cf. Psalms 17:13-14; Psalms 99:8; Psalms 149:7; Isaiah 34:8; Isaiah 35:4). He would not take vengeance himself, but he trusted the Lord to take vengeance for him (cf. Jeremiah 20:12).

Jeremiah 32:6-7 — The Lord told Jeremiah that his cousin Hanamel would offer to sell him a field in Anathoth, Jeremiah’s hometown, just a few miles northeast of Jerusalem. [Note: Hanamel’s name does not appear elsewhere in the Old Testament.] Jeremiah had the right to buy it according to the laws of redemption (Leviticus 25:25-31; cf. Ruth 4:1-12).

Jeremiah 33:19-21 — This promise of the restoration of a Davidic king and of Levitical priests would be as certain as the Lord’s promise that day will follow night forever (cf. Jeremiah 31:35-36; Genesis 1:5; Genesis 1:14-18; Genesis 8:22; Numbers 25:12-13; Deuteronomy 4:19; Psalms 19:1-6; Psalms 136:7-9).

Jeremiah 7:21-28 — Obedience as opposed to mere sacrifice 7:21-28 This seems to be a new message from the Lord. It is a good example of prophetic indictments of Israel’s sacrificial institutions (cf. Jeremiah 6:20; 1 Samuel 15:22; Psalms 51:16-17; Isaiah 1:4-15; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8).

Jeremiah 7:30 — The reason for this strange behavior was that the Judeans had done evil in the Lord’s sight. Specifically, they had brought things into the temple that were detestable to the Lord and that defiled it. These were idols and other objects associated with idolatry (cf. 2 Kings 21:5; 2 Kings 23:4-7; Ezekiel 8).

Ezekiel 1:26 — Over the heads of the creatures was also something like a throne that was dark blue and very beautiful, like lapis lazuli. Lapis lazuli is a dark blue semiprecious stone that the ancients valued greatly. Sitting on the throne high above the expanse was a figure that looked like a man (cf. Exodus 24:10; Revelation 4:2).

Ezekiel 29:11-12 — Egypt would not be inhabited for 40 years, and other desolated lands would surround her. Her cities would lie waste, and her people would disperse among other nations and live in other countries. Egypt’s fate was like a repetition of Israel’s in the wilderness (cf. 4:6). Egypt did indeed fall to the Babylonians in 568-567 B.C.

Ezekiel 9:11 — The man with the inkhorn returned to the Lord and reported that he had carried out his assignment as instructed. There were some that he was able to mark, and they remained alive. This was the faithful remnant that was a very small group at this time (cf. Romans 9:27-29; Romans 11:4-5).

Daniel 9:22-23 — Daniel’s concern for God’s reputation (Daniel 9:4-14) doubtless made him special to God (Daniel 9:23). The vision that God had sent Gabriel to convey constituted an answer to Daniel’s prayer. It revealed what would happen to the Jews. "For the first time in the book Daniel’s initiative occasions a revelation." [Note: Baldwin, p. 162.]

Hosea 9:17 — Hosea’s God would cast the Ephraimites out of the land because they proved unresponsive to Him (cf. Deuteronomy 28:62-64). They would end up wandering among the other nations of the world. Because they had wandered from the Lord, they would wander in the earth, like Cain whom the Lord also cursed (cf. Genesis 4:12).

Micah 1:2-7 — A. The judgment coming on Israel 1:2-7 This opening pericope sets the tone and forms the backdrop for the rest of the book. All people were to hear God’s indictment against His people (Micah 1:2). Punishment was coming (Micah 1:3-4) that would be both reasonable (Micah 1:5) and certain (Micah 1:6-7).

Zechariah 4:13 — Again the interpreting angel expressed surprise that Zechariah needed an explanation of these things (cf. Zechariah 4:5). He did not want to give an interpretation if Zechariah could figure it out himself. Normally God does not provide additional information until we have done all we can to discover His meaning. To do so would discourage human effort Godward.