Bible Commentaries

Genesis 1:1-31 — EXCURSUS B: ON THE NAMES ELOHIM AND JEHOVAH-ELOHIM. Throughout the first account of creation (Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3) the Deity is simply called Elohim. This word is strictly a plural of Eloah, which is used as the name of God only in poetry, or

Genesis 2:1-3 — EXCURSUS B: ON THE NAMES ELOHIM AND JEHOVAH-ELOHIM. Throughout the first account of creation (Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3) the Deity is simply called Elohim. This word is strictly a plural of Eloah, which is used as the name of God only in poetry, or

Leviticus 19:19 — (19) Ye shall keep my statutes—that is, the following ordinances, which though not of the same high moral nature as the precepts laid down in the preceding verses, are yet necessary to attain to holiness. The Holy God has made everything “after its

Isaiah 9:6 — (6) For unto us a child is born.—The picture of a kingdom of peace could not be complete without the manifestation of a king. In the description of that king Isaiah is led to use words which cannot find a complete fulfilment in any child of man. The

Matthew 4:1 — IV. (1) The narrative of the Temptation is confessedly one of the most mysterious in the Gospel records. In one respect it stands almost, if not altogether, alone. It could not have come, directly or indirectly, from an eye-witness. We are compelled

Matthew 5:1 — V. (1) Lo que se conoce como el Sermón del Monte es obviamente colocado por San Mateo (que aparece en las tradiciones más antiguas relacionadas con su nombre como un coleccionista de los "Oráculos" o discursos de nuestro Señor) al principio de su registro.

Acts 28:16 — (16) And when we came to Rome.—This journey led them through Aricia (now La Riccia), where they would probably either stop for the night or for their noon-tide meal. From that point, as they neared the city, the Appian Road would present more of its

Romans 1:17 — (17) The gospel attains its end, the salvation of the believer, by revealing the righteousness of God, i.e., the plan or process designed by Him for men to become just or righteous in His sight. The essential part on man’s side, the beginning and end

2 Corinthians 12:7 — (7) There was given to me a thorn in the flesh.—The vague mystery with which St. Paul thus surrounds the special form of “infirmity” of which he speaks, has given rise to very different conjectures, which will require to be treated with more or less

Ephesians 2:15 — (15) The connection in the original is doubtful. The words the “enmity in His flesh” may be in apposition to the “wall of partition” in the previous verse; or, as in our version, to “the law of commandments.” The general sense, however, is but little

Ephesians 2:2 — (2) The course (or, age) of this world.—Here again are united the two words often rendered by “world,” the former signifying simply “the age,” or appointed period of this visible universe, the latter its material and sensuous character. When we are

1 Thessalonians 5:23 — (23) And.—The logic of such an expression as, “Do this, and may you be happy,” lies in the writer’s own connection with both the command and the prayer: “I bid you abstain from every evil kind of thing, and I pray that God Himself may enable you to

Hebrews 12:22 — (22) Unto mount Sion.—Literally (and in these difficult verses it is unusually important to follow the literal rendering of the Greek), Ye are come unto Zion (the) mountain and city of a Living God, a heavenly Jerusalem. The thought of a celestial city

Hebrews 5:7-8 — (7, 8) Who in the days of his flesh . . .—It will be observed that, of the two essential conditions mentioned in Hebrews 5:2 and Hebrews 5:4, the latter is first taken up in its application to Christ (Hebrews 5:5-6). This verse and the next correspond

1 Peter 1:24 — (24) For all flesh is as grass.—The citation is from Isaiah 40:6-8, and varies between the Hebrew and the LXX. in the kind of way which shows that the writer was familiar with both. But the passage is by no means quoted only to support the assertion,

Jude 1:5-7 — (5-7) We now enter upon the main body of the Epistle. Three instances of God’s vengeance: the unbelievers in the wilderness; the impure angels; Sodom and Gomorrha.(5) I will therefore put you in remembrance.—Or, But I wish to remind you. The “but” indicates

Revelation 1:16 — (16) And he had (or, having) in his right hand seven stars.—The stars are explained later on (Revelation 1:20) to be the emblems of the angels of the seven churches; they are described as stars in His right hand; they, perhaps, appeared as a wreath,

Revelation 11:2 — (2) But the court . . .—Translate, And the court which is outside the Temple cast out, and measure not it; because it was given to the nations (Gentiles): and they shall tread down the holy city forty and two months. The outer court—meaning, perhaps,

Revelation 19:16-21 — (16) And he hath on his vesture . . .—The King rides at the head of His host. On His robe, where it spreads out from the waist, His title is inscribed; it proclaims Him to be the one who is the true supreme King of all. Inscriptions on the outer garments

Revelation 2:5 — (5) Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, . . . and do the first works.—It is argued that we have here evidence that the later, or Domitian, date of the Apocalypse is the true one, since it describes a fall in spiritual life which might have