Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 11:21 — That Hadad should wait for the death of Joab before requesting leave to return to Idumaea shows how terrible an impression had been made by the severe measures which that commander had carried out twenty-five or thirty years previously 1 Kings 11:16. The inability of refugees to depart from an Oriental court without the king’s leave, and his unwillingness ordinarily to grant leave, are illustrated by many passages in the history of Persia.

1 Kings 18:22 — I, even I, only remain - He means, “I only remain in the exercise of the office of a prophet.” The others (Compare 1 Kings 18:4) had been forced to fly and hide themselves in dens and caves of the earth; their voices were silenced; they had not ventured to come to Carmel. Elijah contrasts his solitary appearance on the side of Yahweh at the great gathering with the crowd of those opposed to him.

1 Kings 6:13 — The first promise to “dwell among” the Israelites had been made to Moses Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:45, but had not been repeated to David. The next promise, “I will not forsake, etc.,” if not absolutely new, seems to have been more positive and general than previous similar promises Deuteronomy 31:6, Deuteronomy 31:8; Joshua 1:5. God will not at any time or under any circumstances wholly forsake Israel.

2 Kings 18:1 — In the third year - If Hoshea ascended the throne toward the close of the 12th year of Ahaz 2 Kings 17:1, and if Ahaz reigned not much more than 15 years 2 Kings 16:2, the first of Hezekiah might synchronise in part with Hoshea’s third year.Hezekiah - The name given by our translators follows the Greek form, Ἐζεκίας Ezekias, rather than the Hebrew, which is Hizkiah. Its meaning is “strength of Yahweh.”

2 Kings 18:14 — Return from me - Or “retire from me,” i. e., “withdraw thy troops.”Three hundred talents ... - According to Sennacherib’s own account, the terms of peace were as follows:(1) A money payment to the amount of 800 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold.(2) the surrender of the Ekronite king.(3) a cession of territory toward the west and the southwest, which was apportioned between the kings of Ekron, Ashdod, and Gaza.

2 Kings 25:21 — So Judah was carried away - The kingdom of the two tribes was at an end; and the task of the historian might seem to be accomplished. He still, however, desires to notice two things:(1) the fate of the remnant 2 Kings 25:22-26 left in the land by Nebuzaradan; and(2) the fate of Johoiachin, who, of all those led into captivity, was the least to blame 2 Kings 25:27-30.

1 Chronicles 12:18 — Amasai - The marginal reference identifies him with Amasa, David’s nephew, but it seems unlikely that David would have misdoubted a band led by his own nephew.The passionate earnestness of Amasai’s speech is strongly marked in the original, and will be better seen by omitting the words which our Version adds in italics. Here, as in 1 Chronicles 12:8-15, we have manifestly the actual words of a very ancient record.

1 Chronicles 2:16 — Sisters - i. e. half-sisters. Abigail and Zeruiah were daughters not of Jesse, but of a certain Nahash, whose widow Jesse took to wife 2 Samuel 17:25.From the present passage, and from the fact that Abishai joined David as a comrade in arms before Joab 1 Samuel 26:6, it would seem that, although Joab was pre-eminent among the three 2 Samuel 2:13, 2 Samuel 2:16, Abishai was the eldest.

2 Chronicles 15:11 — The prevalence of the number “seven” in the religious system of the Jews has been noticed often. Seven bullocks and seven rams were a common offering Numbers 29:32; 1Ch 15:26; 2 Chronicles 29:21; Job 42:8; Ezekiel 14:23. At the larger sacrifices, however, it is seldom that we find the number seven at all prominent (compare 2 Chronicles 30:24; 2 Chronicles 35:7-9; 1 Kings 8:63).

2 Chronicles 36:7 — In his temple - Compare “the house of his god” Daniel 1:2. Nebuchadnezzars inscriptions show him to have been the special votary of Merodach, the Babylonian Mars. His temple, which the Greeks called the temple of Behus, was one of the most magnificent buildings in Babylon. Its ruins still remain in the vast mound, called Babil, which is the loftiest and most imposing of the “heaps” that mark the site of the ancient city.

Ezra 1:11 — The sum of the numbers as they stand in the present Hebrew text is 2,499, instead of 5,400. In the Apocryphal Book of Esdras the sum given is 5,469, and with this sum the items in that place exactly agree (1 Esdras 2:13, 14). Most commentators propose to correct Ezra by the passage of Esdras; but the items of Esdras are improbable. Probably the sum total in the present passage has suffered corruption.

Ezra 4:3 — Ye have nothing to do with us - Because the Samaritans had united idolatrous rites with the worship of Yahweh 2 Kings 17:29-41. To have allowed them a share in restoring the temple would have been destructive of all purity of religion.As king Cyrus ... commanded us - The exact words of the edict gave the right of building exclusively to those who should “go up” from Babylonia to Judaea Ezra 1:3.

Psalms 106:37 — Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters - See 2 Kings 16:3; Ezekiel 16:20; Ezekiel 20:31; Isaiah 57:5.Unto devils - Hebrew, שׁדים shêdiym. The Septuagint, δαιμονίοις daimoniois, “demons.” So the Vulgate, “daemoniis.” The word is used only in the plural number, and is applied to idols. It occurs only in this place, and in Deuteronomy 32:17. On the meaning of this, see the notes at 1 Corinthians 10:20.

Psalms 113:1 — Praise ye the Lord - Margin, as in Hebrew, “Hallelujah.” See the notes at Psalms 106:1.Praise, O ye servants of the Lord - You who profess to serve and obey him; who acknowledge him as your God. In the original this is also the word “Hallelu,” הללוּ halelû.Praise the name of the Lord - Still the same word “Hallelu.” The name of the Lord is put here, as it is often, for the Lord himself.

Psalms 119:174 — I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord - See the notes at Psalms 119:166. The word rendered “I have longed” denotes an earnest desire or wish. Compare the notes at Psalms 42:1, and the notes at Psalms 119:20.And thy law is my delight - It is so much the object of my delight that I earnestly long or desire to see more and more of its richness and fullness.

Psalms 121:2 — My help cometh from the Lord - From Yahweh. This is the answer to the anxious inquiry in Psalms 121:1. It indicates(a) a consciousness that help could come only from God;(b) a belief that it would come from him; and a confident yet humble reliance on him.Which made heaven and earth - The great Creator of the universe. He must, therefore, be able to protect me. The Creator of all can defend all.

Psalms 69:34 — Let the heaven and earth praise him - All things; all above and all below.The seas - The waters - the oceans. This is in accordance with what often occurs in the Scriptures, when all things, animate and inanimate, are called on to praise God. Compare Psalms 148:1-14.And everything that moveth therein - Margin, as in Hebrew, “creepeth.” Compare the notes at Psalms 8:8. See also the notes at Isaiah 55:12.

Psalms 77:1 — I cried unto God with my voice - That is, he cried or prayed audibly. It was not mere mental prayer. See the notes at Psalms 3:4.Even unto God with my voice - The repetition here is emphatic. The idea is that it was an earnest or fervent cry. Compare the notes at 2 Corinthians 12:8.And he gave ear unto me - See Psalms 5:1, note; Psalms 17:6, note.

Proverbs 3:15 — Rubies - The פנינים pânı̂ynı̂ym were among the costly articles of traffic, and red or rose-colored Lamentations 4:7. The last fact has led some to identify them with coral, or (as in the King James Version) with “rubies.” Most commentators, however, have identified them with pearls, which may connect this passage with Matthew 7:6; Matthew 13:45. The words of the promise here are almost the echo of 1 Kings 3:11-13.

2 Samuel 12:24 — Solomon - Or “peaceable,” a name given to him at his circumcision. Compare Luke 1:59. The giving of the name Jedidiah, by the Lord through Nathan, signified God’s favor to the child, as in the cases of Abraham, Sarah, and Israel. The name Jedidiah (which contains the same root as the name David, namely, “to love”) indicated, prophetically, what God’s Providence brought about actually, namely, the succession and glorious reign of Solomon over Israel.