Bible Commentaries

Exodus 20:14 — wicked, that God flung His "Thou shalt not!" squarely against it. Nevertheless, the highest intelligence and reason approve and endorse the commandment. The sin of adultery is against a number of vitally important entities: (1) It is against God (Genesis 39:9); (2) It is against the very body of the sinner (1 Corinthians 6:18); (3) It is even against the soul of the violator (Proverbs 6:32); (4) It is against the family. No marriage can withstand the destructive force of this sin (Matthew 19:9); (5) It

Exodus 27:1-8 — evidently stood somewhere near the grand entrance into the court of the tabernacle, being by far the most important thing that fell upon the eyes of anyone entering the court. "The bronze (brass) speaks of manifested divine judgment (Numbers 21:9, John 3:14, Revelation 1:15). At Calvary, Christ met the burning heat of divine justice against sin. Upon this altar the burnt offering was completely consumed, portraying Him who knew no sin, yet was `Made… sin for us, enduring the full wrath of God

Psalms 72 overview — particulars. However, as Halley stated it, "The general tenor of the Psalm and some of the specific statements in it can allude only to that One Greater than Solomon."Henry H. Halley's Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House), p. 243. THE JEWISH CONCEPTION OF MESSIAH When God called Abraham, He prophesied that in him and in his seed (singular) all the families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). That it would be some glorious Individual through whom such blessings would

Leviticus 15:1-12 — overtones of human depravity and the need of divine cleansing. "There is an almost necessary connection between religion and sex because both belong to the sphere of the sacred."Nathaniel Micklem, Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 2 (New York: Abingdon Press, 1953), p. 74. An amazing difference here from previous chapters lies in the fact that they dealt with defiling things that were outside of man, but this deals with "the defiling things that come OUT OF US."Merrill F. Unger, Unger's Commentary on the Old

Ezekiel 38 overview — Ezekiel 38-39 GOG AND MAGOG It is agreed by all scholars that these two chapters are a single oracle regarding Gog and Magog, only a short paragraph at the end of Ezekiel 39 having any reference to anything else. We are a little embarrassed at the prevailing

Ezekiel 44:1-31 — also give unto the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on thy house. The priests shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself, or is torn, whether it be bird or beast." The east gate is assigned to the priests (Ezekiel 44:1-3). The priesthood is reproved and condemned for their sins (Ezekiel 44:4-14). Next are given specific regulations for cleansing and purifying the priesthood (Ezekiel 44:15-31).

Zechariah 7:2-3 — to worship, and that God's will would be made known from that city. "Sharezer and Regemmelech" "Sharezer is regarded as a Babylonian name, meaning `protect the king.'"Merrill F. Unger, Zechariah (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1963), p. 121. "Regemmelech means `king's friend'";Ibid. and the significance of these names points to the period of the Babylonian captivity, and shows how the old Jewish custom of naming their children with names that honored God had given place to names

Matthew 27:50 — to the "seven utterances." The time of the Master's death was three o'clock in the afternoon on the day of preparation for the Passover, making it occur on the afternoon, before sunset, when the actual Passover legally began. Matthew 27:51-53 relate to the Six Wonders of Calvary which received considerable attention in Matthew's gospel and which are of such surpassing interest that a special study of them is here included. THE PHENOMENA ATTENDING THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION There are

Matthew 28:6 — important word spoken to men than that of the glorious angel who said, "He is not here; he is risen, even as he said"! Even as he said! Christ made at least three grand prophecies of his death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22-23; Matthew 20:17-19), besides many other detailed references to it. See notes on those passages. The true gospel is not merely that Christ arose, but that he did so "even as he said, and according to the Scriptures" (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Come

Mark 12:29-30 — to love him without measure; for the immense goodness of God deserves all the love that we can give him."St. Bernard, as quoted by E. Bickersteth, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), Vol. 16, p. 137. See an entire chapter on this commandment in "The Ten Commandments," pp. 19-29. Monotheism is dogmatically affirmed in this commandment; and the need for man to love God with his entire being is firmly declared. … mind … soul

Luke 11:2-4 — that is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation. And when ye pray, say … According to Geldenhuys, this means that prayer should be used "as nearly as possible in the form in which he taught it";Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 319. but the more accurate exegesis is that "Christ did not design that we should be tied up to these very words, for then there would have been no variation"Matthew Henry, op. cit., p. 692. from the account given in Matthew. Father …

Luke 19:8 — American Commentary on the New Testament (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: The Judson Press, n.d.), Vol. II, Luke, p. 278. Since the Lord Jesus himself made a momentous argument for the immortality of the soul to turn on the tense of a single verb (Matthew 22:32 f), they must be rash indeed who set aside the present tense in this passage in favor of future tense. Nevertheless, it has been quite popular to do this. As Clarke said, "(The passage means that) probably he had already done so for some time

Luke 21:24 — clearly a part of the period indicated, that much time having already elapsed. (2)    The fact that these words "are to be understood as the antithesis of the season of Jerusalem" (Luke 19:44).George R. Bliss, op. cit., p. 304. The Times of the Gentiles will be comparable to the times during which Jerusalem held the favored position. (3)    The fact that the apostle Paul used a very similar term, "the fullness of the Gentiles," and prophesied

Luke 4:1-2 — incorrect. As Lamar said: The punctuation recommended by many of the learned, and adopted by the Bible Union is as follows: And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him (Mark 1:13). And he was led in the Spirit in the wilderness forty days, tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-2). As Lachman said, "In this way even the appearance of a discrepancy between Matthew and Luke, in regard to the actual point when the temptations began,

Romans 4:2 — libraries of teaching to this effect, here is presented a concise statement by Greathouse, for the purpose of showing the logic (?) of such writings. He said: We have already seen that a "man is justified without the deeds of the law" (Romans 3:28). It is by faith alone ("sola fide") because it is by grace alone ("sola gratia"). William M. Greathouse, Beacon's Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1968), p. 100. It apparently never entered that author's

Romans 6:5 — We die to sin through the absolute denial of ourselves and renunciation of our evil nature with its pride by being baptized into Christ, that action constituting the death of our old identity, because by that action we have put on Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). It is in that legal sense of being dead to sin through the body of Christ (since we are in him, we died with him) that Paul was speaking earlier; but at this point he spoke more of the demise of the old man, which is death to sin in a different

Hebrews 7:11 — through the Levitical priesthood (for under it hath the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? DIVISION IV (Hebrews 7:11—8:13) CHRIST IS THE SURETY OF A BETTER COVENANT The introduction of Aaron's name at this point, connecting it with the Levitical priesthood, is for the purpose of showing that, as far as this argument is concerned, there is no difference between them. It

Hebrews 7:8 — God and that the custom was honored by no less a person than the patriarchal head of the whole Hebrew nation; but more than this, Abraham is typically the patriarch of Christians as well. Are not all Christian's "Abraham's seed"? (Galatians 3:29). Then what king of children of Abraham are those who vow they have no duty to pay tithes? The well-known story of Jacob and his pledge of a tenth of all that he had to God should be understood as a promise on Jacob's part to honor a duty already

James 5:6 — Ye have condemned, ye have killed the righteous one; he doth not resist you. The righteous one … is an expression used of Christ in a number of New Testament references (Acts 3:14; Acts 7:52; Acts 22:14), and this is clearly the meaning of it here. That James did not specify Christ by name is no problem, because New Testament writers generally were most reluctant to mention by name their own family; and James adhered to this

1 John 2:18 — questions, Jesus gave a composite answer (Matthew 24), but not distinguishing for them the fact that these events would not all occur simultaneously; however, Jesus did deny them altogether any answer as to the time of his Second Coming (Matthew 24:36; Matthew 24:42). It is therefore the height of presumption to construe John's words here as meaning that Christ was coming soon. "The last hour" here has no reference whatever to the Second Coming and must be referred either to the destruction