Bible Commentaries

Genesis 2:9 — as symbolical, or metaphorical, making it a reference to some unexplained power of God and refusing to allow any efficacy from the eating of some physical tree. All of that may be partially true, but the appearance of the tree of life in Revelation 21—22, and the statement of God Himself in Genesis 3:22 compel us to see something more than mere symbolism. All of the machinery for immortality is in man's body already. The tree of life, whatever it was, had the power to activate and continue

Genesis 26:1-5 — passed since Abraham had solved a similar problem by going into Egypt, it appears that Isaac decided to do the same thing, but God intervened in a special appearance to Isaac, in which the Abrahamic covenant was repeated and reaffirmed to Isaac. Genesis 26:1, here, announced that Isaac went unto Abimelech, but that was not "on the way" to Egypt from Beersheba, and so we must understand Genesis 26:2-5 as a parenthesis explaining why Isaac went to Abimelech (Genesis 26:1) and dwelt in Gerar (Genesis 26:5).

Exodus 11:9-10 — included. The fact that one author names some gods and other authors cite different gods is due to the fact that each wonder confronted and discredited multiple pagan deities. This is Geisler's summary: a.    Bloody water (Exodus 7:12), against the god Nilus, the sacred river god. b.    Frogs (Exodus 8:6), against Hekt, the goddess of reproduction. c.    Lice (gnats) (Exodus 8:17), against Seb, god of the earth. d.    Flies

Exodus 35:1-35 — incense, and onyx stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate. "And let every wise-heartedBetter, "skilled" (Harry M. Orlinsky, Notes on the New Translation of the Torah; Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1969, p. 200). man among you come, and make all that Jehovah hath commanded: the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its clasps, and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; the ark, and the staves thereof, the mercy-seat, and the veil of the screen;

Leviticus 12:1-5 — shall be unclean two weeks, as in her impurity; and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days." The appearance here of the "forty" and "double forty" time periods is interesting. To each of the Numbers 33 days (Leviticus 12:4) and 66 days (Leviticus 12:5), one must add the seven days of Leviticus 12:2 and the fourteen days of Leviticus 12:5, making totals of 40 and 80. When a male child was circumcised on the "eighth day," that day was reckoned with the 33. The highly

Leviticus 3:6-11 — this regulation were applied to an American sheep, it would be very surprising, but the mystery disappears when we learn that in the species of sheep common in the Biblical times and places, the tail was very large, reaching a weight equivalent to 15-20% of the weight of the whole sheep, and that it was held to be particularly delicious and desirable as food.Robert Jamieson, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1957), p. 436. Also J.

Ezekiel 36:25-31 — SPIRITUAL CLEANSING OF ISRAEL "Ye shall be clean from your filthiness… a new heart will I give you… I will put my Spirit within you" As Pearson analyzed this cleansing of Israel, it consisted of three steps: "(1) the forgiveness of sins; (2) regeneration; and (3) the reception of the Holy Spirit."Anton T. Pearson in Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 753. Significantly, none of these was available under the Law of Moses. Only under the gracious terms of the New

Daniel 1:1-2 — arguments. The more unbelievable their arguments are, the greater is the volume of them. Nothing could be any more certain than the historical accuracy of the passage before us, but reminding us of that "river" out of the serpent's mouth (Revelation 12:15), Biblical enemies have literally tried to wash this passage away with their denials. The first attack is based on the fact that Jeremiah placed this event in "the fourth year of Jehoiakim" (Jeremiah 25:1). "Daniel, however, evidently employed the

Deuteronomy 17:14-17 — prophecy was most circumstantially fulfilled in the days of Samuel. "The monarchy must be viewed as permitted only, not ordained, by God."Peter E. Cousins, The New Layman's Bible Commentary, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979), p. 299. We reject as absolutely irresponsible, the assertion, "That these verses were written in criticism of a known monarch. He would multiply horses, wives, or money (Deuteronomy 17:16-17). This is a reference to Solomon's activity."G. Ernest Wright,

Deuteronomy 30:1-5 — Babylon."Robert Jamieson, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House), p. 139. The reasons why the Jews take this position are: (1)    not all of them returned after Babylonian exile; (2)    they had not, at that time, been scattered among all nations; (3)    they were not multiplied above their fathers (Deuteronomy 30:5); (4)    their hearts were not circumcised to love the

Acts 2:38 — doctrine, through the change of the context in which the churches have set baptism, DO NOT ARISE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (italics mine, JBC). They should not be permitted to affect our interpretation of its evidence. G. R. Beasley-Murray, op. cit., pp. 278, 279. Glimpses of the truth appearing in such comments are a vast improvement over many of the wild allegations of the nineteenth century; and it is devoutly hoped that men will come to accept what is so patently stated in the text before us, namely,

Romans 4:23-25 — the similarity of it to what Christians believe. Abraham believed in God's power to raise the dead, a faith which was manifested in the offering of Isaac; Christians believe in the resurrection of the dead: (1) that God raised Christ from the dead; (2) that all shall at last be raised from the dead by Christ (John 5:28-29), and, in the spiritual sense; (3) that all who hear Christ's voice and obey him shall be raised from the deadness of trespasses and sins (John 5:25). In Romans 4:17 Paul specifically

Ephesians 2:11-12 — no part in Israel's national or religious life, and spiritually they had no knowledge of the true God." George E. Harper, A New Testament Commentary, Ephesians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 463. Also in Ephesians 2:12 (beginning after the words "made by hands") "there is a fivefold negative description with a cumulative effect, the situation becoming graver and more terrible; and the last clause is the climax." W. G. Blaikie, op. cit., p. 63. Wherefore

Philippians 3:8-9 — (1885), the RSV and most of the so-called modern translations pervert the meaning of this passage by rendering "faith in Christ" instead of "faith of Christ"; and for a justification of the rendition followed here, see under Galatians 2:16, and in the extended note 3 at the end of Galatians 3. And be found in him … The great Pauline expression "in Christ," or as here "in him," which is found more than one hundred fifty times in his letters, identifies the

Hebrews 13:17 — if used as a title. Paul referred to himself and to others as "stewards of the mysteries of God," making such persons a class of men and declaring that "It is required of stewards, that a man be found faithful" (1 Corinthians 4:1-2). Moreover, he said of an "elder," called "bishop" in this verse, that "the bishop must be blameless as God's steward" (Titus 1:7); and the apostle Peter extended the terms to include, at least in some sense, all Christians,

Judges 9:7-21 — between a fable and a parable is that a parable teaches a lesson by mentioning occurrences that actually happened, or at least, could have happened, whereas, the "dramatis personnae" in a fable are animals, trees, etc. This fable and the brief one in 2 Kings 14:9 are the only two fables in the Old Testament. There are tremendous lessons in this fable. The general worthlessness of kings appears in this. "This contempt for the monarchy reflects a very early date for Judges. In this fable, the briar,

Revelation 13:12 — that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose death-stroke was healed. And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight … "This is the head of the beast wounded and restored." William Barclay, op. cit., p. 92. The wounded head was the beast in his sixth worldwide manifestation; namely, the Roman empire. Therefore, this beast is a successor to the sea-beast, being a worldwide dominion over the whole world, "every tribe and people and tongue and nation."

Revelation 16:19 — knew Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem; but when Revelation was written, the concern of the Christians regarded Rome, not Jerusalem. Incidentally, this is almost certain proof of the writing of Revelation before Jerusalem was destroyed. 2.    "And the cities of the nations fell …" This explains what was meant by the dividing of the city into three parts; it also illuminates the same figure of "a tenth of the city fell" in Revelation 11:13,

Ruth 2:1-7 — morning until now, save that she tarried a little in the house." "A mighty man of wealth… Boaz" "The Hebrew words from which this is translated are rendered a `mighty man of valour' Judges 11:1"The Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 7, p. 269. and may be considered as true both ways. The meaning assigned to the name Boaz is, `in him is strength,'Arthur S. Peake Commentary, p. 271. or `strength or fleetness.'All the Men of the Bible, Lockyer, p. 79. His name was assigned to the left pillar

1 Samuel 24:1-7 — Lord's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is the Lords anointed." So David persuaded his men with these words, and Saul rose up and left the cave, and went upon his way." A sampling of the critical comment here is that, "1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26 give two versions of the same story";Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 284. "We have two versions of the same story":International Critical Commentary, Samuel, p. 216. etc. (See my chapter introduction, above, for my response to this