Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 17:4 — So, king of Egypt, is generally identified with Shebek (730 B.C.), the Sabaco of Herodotus. Hoshea’s application to him was a return to a policy which had been successful in the reign of Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12:20 note), but had not been resorted to by any other Israelite monarch. Egypt had for many years been weak, but Sabaco was a conqueror, who at the head of the swarthy hordes of Ethiopia had invaded Egypt and made himself master of the country.

1 Chronicles 6:11 — Ahitub - Between Amariah and Hilkiah 1 Chronicles 6:13 this genealogy is most certainly defective, as it gives three generations only for a period for which nine generations are furnished by the list of the kings of Judah, and which cannot be estimated as much short of 200 years. Further,

Job 1:14 — the word usually rendered “angel,” appropriately rendered “messenger” here. The word properly means “one who is sent.”The oxen were plowing - Hebrew “the cattle” (בקר bâqâr) including not merely “oxen,” but probably also “cows;” see the notes at Job 1:3.And the asses - Hebrew אתון 'âthôn “she-asses.” The “sex” is here expressly mentioned and Dr. Good maintains that it should be in the translation. So it is in the Septuagint αἱ θήλειαι ὄνοι hai thēleiai onoi. So Jerome, “asinoe.” The reason

Job 11:18 — distressing anxieties and fears which you now have.Thou shalt dig about thee - The Chaldee renders this, “thou shalt prepare for thyself a sepulchre, and shalt lie down in safety.” The word used here (חפר châphar) has two significations. It means,(1) “to dig” - as, e. g. a well, and under this signification to search out, to explore; and,(2.) to be ashamed, to blush, Isaiah 1:29.According to Gesenius, the latter here is the signification. “Now thou art ashamed, then thou shalt dwell in quiet,”

Job 31:9 — beauty. The word rendered “deceived” פתה pâthâh means to open, to expand. It is then applied to that which is open or ingenuous; to that which is unsuspicious - like a youth; and thence is used in the sense of being deceived, or enticed; Deuteronomy 11:16; Exodus 22:16; Proverbs 1:10; Proverbs 16:29. The word “woman” here probably means a married woman, and stands opposed to “virgin” in ver. 1. The crime which he here disclaims is adultery, and he says that his heart had never been allured from conjugal

Job 41:14 — Who can open the doors of his face? - His mouth. The same term is sti 1 used to denote the mouth - from its resemblance to a door. The idea is, that no one would dare to force open his mouth. This agrees better with the crocodile than almost any other animal. It would not apply to the whale. The crocodile is armed with

Job 42:12 — So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job - To wit, by giving him double what he had possessed before his calamities came upon him; see Job 42:10.For he had fourteen thousand sheep ... - The possessions which are here enumerated are in each instance just twice as much as he possessed in the early part of his life. In regard to their value, and the rank in society which they indicated, see the

Psalms 53:2 — God looked down from heaven ... - See the notes at Psalms 14:2. The only change which occurs in this verse is the substitution of the word אלהים 'Elohiym, rendered “God,” for “Yahweh,” rendered Lord, in Psalms 14:2. The same change occurs also in Psalms 14:4, Psalms 14:6. It is to be observed, also, that the

Psalms 77:18 — The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven - Compare the notes at Psalms 29:1-11. The word rendered “heaven” here - גלגל galgal - means properly “a wheel,” as of a chariot, Isaiah 5:28; Ezekiel 10:2, Ezekiel 10:6; Ezekiel 23:24; Ezekiel 26:10. Then it means a “whirlwind,” as that which rolls along, Ezekiel 10:13. Then it is used

Psalms 89:5 — things which will fill them with joy. The idea is, that the inhabitants of the heavens - the holy angels - would take a deep interest in the fulfillment of this promise, as it would furnish new manifestations of the character of God. Compare Revelation 5:11-14; 1 Peter 1:12.

Psalms 97:5 — The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord - They seemed to flow down as if they were like melted wax: that is, they could not stand before him. The most firm, solid, lofty things were as nothing in his presence. Compare Revelation 20:11; Judges 5:5; Micah 1:4; Nahum 1:5. The object here is to describe the sublimity, the greatness, the majesty of God, as if nothing could stand before him; as if everything fled away when he approached. There is perhaps a general allusion to his glory

Leviticus 4:12 — A clean place where the ashes are poured out See Leviticus 1:16 note. It was a place free from impurities, not like those referred to in Leviticus 14:40, Leviticus 14:45. The flesh, though it was burned in an ordinary way, and not sent up in the fire of the altar (see Leviticus 1:9 note), was not to be confounded

Ecclesiastes 5:14 — Mal trabajo - Accidente adverso, o empleo fracasado (compare Eclesiastés 1:13; Eclesiastés 4:8).

Jeremiah 49:6 — En 1 Macc. 5: 6, 7, los amonitas aparecen nuevamente como una nación poderosa.

Mark 13:15 — En la parte superior de la casa - Vea las notas en Mateo 9:1.

John 10:40 — Donde John se bautizó por primera vez - En Bethabara o Bethany, Juan 1:28.

Joshua 15:15 — The name Debir belonged to two other places; namely,, that named in Joshua 15:7, between Jerusalem and Jericho, and the Gadite town mentioned in Joshua 13:26. The Debir here meant appears (and its site has been conjecturally placed at Dhaheriyeh (Conder)) to have been situated in the mountain district south of Hebron. It was

Joshua 17:14 — side of Jordan, the remaining children of Joseph could hardly be stronger than the Danites or the Issacharites. The children of Joseph seem therefore to exhibit here that arrogant and jealous spirit which elsewhere characterises their conduct (Judges 8:1; Judges 12:1; 2 Samuel 19:41; 2 Chronicles 28:7 etc.). A glance at the map shows that their complaint was in itself unreasonable. Their territory, which measured about 55 miles by 70 miles, was at least as large in proportion to their numbers as that

Judges 9:6 — Millo must have been a fortified place close to, but separate from, Shechem, and perhaps the same as the tower of Shechem mentioned in Judges 9:46-47. The building or enlarging of the better-known Millo, at Jerusalem was one of Solomon’s great works 1 Kings 9:15, 1 Kings 9:24. The population dwelling in Millo though perhaps numerically small, had great weight from possessing the stronghold. Their giving Abimelech the title of king indicates the strong Canaanite influence at Shechem. All the Canaanite

1 Samuel 7:17 — Shiloh to some place near to Ramah; and indeed it is in itself improbable that, brought up as he was from infancy in the service of the tabernacle, he should have left it. At the beginning of Solomon’s reign we know it was at Gibeon, close to Raimah 1Ki 3:4; 2 Chronicles 1:3, 2 Chronicles 1:6. If the tabernacle had been at Shiloh at this time, it is likely that Shiloh would have been one of the places at which Samuel judged lsrael. But Shiloh was probably waste, and perhaps unsafe on account of the