Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Scope
  The events recorded in Genesis stretch historically from Creation to Joseph's death, a period of at least 2500 years. The first part of the book (ch. 1-11) is not as easy to date precisely as the second part (ch. 12-50). The ...
• Purpose
  Genesis provides the historical basis for the rest of the Bible and the Pentateuch, particularly the Abrahamic Covenant. Chapters 1-11 give historical background essential to understanding that covenant, and chapters 12-50 re...
• Message12
  The message of the Bible might be the best place to begin our study of the Old Testament. What is the Bible all about? We could state it as follows: God desires to glorify Himself by blessing humankind.The message of the Pent...
• Outline
  The structure of Genesis is very clear. The phrase "the generations of"(toledotin Hebrew, from yaladmeaning "to bear, to generate") occurs ten times (really eleven times since 36:9 repeats 36:1), and in each case it introduce...
• I. PRIMEVAL EVENTS 1:1--11:26
  Chapters 1-11 provide an introduction to the Book of Genesis, the Pentateuch, and the whole Bible."What we find in chaps. 1-11 is the divine initiation of blessing, which is compromised by human sin followed by gracious prese...
• The first day 1:3-5
  1:3 The world came into being by God's word (cf. Ps. 33:9; Heb. 11:3). Each of the six creative days began with God speaking.55Jesus Christ, the Word of God, was the Creator (John 1:3). The theme of God's word (spoken, writte...
• The sixth day 1:24-31
  1:24-25 "Cattle"probably refers to animals that man could tame and "beasts"to wild animals.What happened to the dinosaurs? Conservative Bible interpreters generally believe they existed but became extinct before the Flood or ...
• B. What became of the creation 2:4-4:26
  Moses described what happened to the creation by recording significant events in the garden of Eden, the murder of Abel, and the family of Cain."The section begins with a description of the creation of Adam and Eve and traces...
• 1. The garden of Eden 2:4-3:24
  This story has seven scenes that a change in actors, situations or activities identifies. Moses constructed this section of Genesis in a chiastic (palistrophic, crossing) structure to focus attention on the central scene, the...
• The creation of woman 2:18-25
  2:18 Adam's creation was not complete because he lacked a "helper"who corresponded to him. This deficiency led God to pronounce Adam's condition "not good."151God not only evaluated Adam's condition, He also rectified it.152"...
• The temptation of Eve 3:1-5
  As in chapters 1 and 2, the word of the Lord is very important in chapter 3. Here Adam and Eve doubted God's integrity. This pericope also has something to teach about the acquisition of wisdom. Chapter 2 anticipated God's gi...
• The judgment of the guilty 3:14-21
  As the result of man's disobedience to God, the creation suffered a curse and began to deteriorate.195Having been thrice blessed by God (1:22, 28; 2:3) the creation now experienced a triple curse (3:14, 17; 4:11)."In the Bibl...
• Effects on humanity generally 3:17-19
  1. Adam would have to toil hard to obtain a living from the ground (vv. 17-18). Adam already had received the privilege of enjoying the garden (2:15), but this did not require strenuous toil."As for the man, his punishment co...
• Expulsion from the garden 3:22-24
  Verse 22 shows that man's happiness (good) does not consist in his being likeGod as much as it depends on his being withGod (cf. Ps. 16:11).221"Like one of us"may mean like heavenly beings (God and the angels; cf. 1:26).222Ch...
• 2. The murder of Abel 4:1-16
  Chapter 4 shows the spread of sin from Adam's family to the larger society that his descendants produced. Not only did sin affect everyone, but people became progressively more wicked as time passed. Verses 1-16 show that the...
• Conditions and events before the Flood 6:9-7:10
  6:9-12 "The same explanation for Enoch's rescue from death (he walked with God') is made the basis for Noah's rescue from death in the Flood: he walked with God' (6:9). Thus in the story of Noah and the Flood, the author is a...
• 3. The curse on Canaan 9:18-29
  This pericope presents the characteristics of the three branches of the human family that grew out of Noah. Moses stressed the themes of blessing and cursing. God cursed Canaan with slavery because Ham showed disrespect towar...
• 2. The dispersion at Babel 11:1-9
  The main emphasis in this section is not the building of the tower of Babel but the dispersion of the peoples. We can see this in the literary structure of the passage.361AAll the earth had one language (v. 1)Bthere (v. 2)C o...
• F. What became of Shem 11:10-26
  "The Babel account (11:1-9) is not the end of early Genesis. If it were, the story would conclude on the sad note of human failure. But as with earlier events in Genesis 1-11, God's grace once again supersedes human sin, insu...
• II. PATRIARCHAL NARRATIVES 11:27--50:26
  One of the significant changes in the emphasis that occurs at this point in Genesis is from cursing in the primeval record to blessing in the patriarchal narratives. The Abrahamic Covenant is most important in this respect. H...
• The divine promises 12:1-9
  "These verses are of fundamental importance for the theology of Genesis, for they serve to bind together the primeval history and the later patriarchal history and look beyond it to the subsequent history of the nation."414"W...
• 6. The birth of Ishmael ch. 16
  Sarai and Abram tried to obtain the heir God had promised them by resorting to a culturally acceptable custom of their day even though it involved a failure to trust God. This fleshly act created serious complications for Abr...
• Bibliography
  Aalders, Gerhard Charles. Genesis. The Bible Student's Commentary series. 2 vols. Translated by William Heynen. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas...
• 10. The sign of the Sabbath 31:12-18
  "As a sign of the Noahic covenant is the rainbow (Gen. 9:13), and as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision (Gen. 17:11), the sign of the Mosaic covenant is the observance and celebration of the Sabbath day (Exod....
• Israel's apostasy 32:1-6
  "Throughout the remainder of the Pentateuch, the incident of the worship of the golden calf cast a dark shadow across Israel's relationship with God, much the same way as the account of the Fall in Genesis 3 marked a major tu...
• Distinctions between clean and unclean animals 11:1-23
  We have here the same threefold division of animals that inhabit the land, sea, and air as the one that appears in the story of creation (Gen. 1:20-23)."It has long been recognized . . . that the order of the purity laws in L...
• 2. Uncleanness due to childbirth ch. 12
  The laws of purification begun in this chapter connect in principle with the preceding ones that deal with unclean food and animals. The defilement dealt with in this group (chs. 12-15) proceeded from the human body. Pollutio...
• Abnormalities in human skin 13:1-46
  God dealt with 21 different cases of skin diseases in this pericope. Some of these may have included measles, smallpox, scarlet fever, and other diseases characterized by skin rash.141Some authorities believe that exact ident...
• 1. The sabbatical year 25:1-7
  As God ordered the people to rest every seventh day, so He ordered them to let the land rest every seventh year. By resting the people renewed their strength and rejuvenated their productivity in His service. By resting the l...
• Bibliography
  Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell, The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology series. H...
• Message8
  To formulate a statement that summarizes the teaching of this book it will be helpful to identify some of the major revelations in Numbers. These constitute the unique values of the book.The first major value of Numbers is th...
• Commands regarding vows ch. 30
  The last chapter of Leviticus (ch. 27) contains instructions regarding how the Israelites were to handle vows under the Mosaic Law. In contrast this chapter deals with when and under what circumstances they could annul vows a...
• 1. God's guidance from Sinai to Kadesh 1:6-46
  Moses began his recital of Israel's history at Horeb because this is where Yahweh adopted the nation by making the Mosaic Covenant with her. The trip from Egypt to Sinai was only preparation for the giving of the covenant. Th...
• D. The curses that follow disobedience to general stipulations 28:15-68
  In this section Moses identified about four times as many curses as he had listed previous blessings (vv. 1-14). The lists of curses in other ancient Near Eastern treaty texts typically were longer than the lists of blessings...
• Jephthah's battle with the Ephraimites 12:1-7
  The writer's emphasis now shifts from Jephthah's foolishness to Ephraim's arrogance.The Ephraimites were the Gileadites' neighbors to the west. They resented the fact that Jephthah had not requested their assistance in the wa...
• The Levite's reaction to the atrocity 19:27-30
  "It is not only the action of the men of Gibeah which reveals the abysmally low moral standards of the age; the indifference of the Levite who prepared to depart in the morning without any apparent concern to ascertain the fa...
• Scope
  The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
• Message
  What this book is all about has been the subject of considerable debate. Many people think God gave it to us to provide His answer to the age-old problem of suffering. In particular, many believe it is in the Bible to help us...
• The last 20 sayings 23:13-24:22
  23:13-14 The sage again advocated discipline. Beating with a rod is not the only form of discipline advocated in Proverbs. It is simply one form used here as a poetic parallel to discipline (Heb. musar, moral correction). Oth...
• Death of liberty 3:16-4:1
  The Lord's condemnation of His people continues, but there is a change in focus. In verses 1-5 it was the male leaders who received criticism, but in this section the female citizens are more prominent. Undoubtedly what the L...
• The preservation of God's people within a world under divine judgment 24:1-20
  Isaiah revealed that the Lord's people are at the center of His plans for the world (cf. 14:2; 21:10). He will preserve them even though He will judge sinful humanity.227This passage contains many connections with the flood n...
• The fearful servant, Israel 41:1-20
  The Lord, through His prophet, assured fearful Israel in this segment. Israel need not fear the nations (vv. 1-7) because Yahweh remained committed to His people and would use them to accomplish His purposes in the world (vv....
• New heavens and a new earth 65:17-25
  God not only will be faithful to His promises in spite of Israel's unfaithfulness (63:1-65:16), but He will demonstrate His ability and desire to provide righteousness for sinful humankind by creating new heavens and a new ea...
• 4. A funeral dirge for the king of Tyre 28:11-19
  "This is one of the more difficult passages in the Book of Ezekiel--if not in the whole Bible! The reason for the difficulty lies mainly in the lack of sufficient data to reach precise conclusions. There are many terms and ph...
• The blessings of the restored kingdom 9:13-15
  9:13 In contrast to the images of judgment that Amos had painted throughout this book, days were coming when these terrible conditions would be reversed. The land would become so productive that farmers planting seed for the ...
• D. God's rebuke of Jonah for his attitude 4:5-9
  The Lord proceeded to teach Jonah His ways and to confront him with his attitude problem.4:5 We might have expected Jonah to leave what so angered him quickly, as Elijah had fled from Israel and sought refuge far from it to t...
• Message11
  Malachi prophesied during the times of Nehemiah. The dates of Nehemiah's ministry were about 445-420 B.C. Possibly Malachi ministered during the time when Nehemiah returned to Babylon following the completion of Jerusalem's w...
• V. Oracle four: the problem of God's justice 2:17--3:6
  That another oracle is in view is clear from the question and answer format that begins this pericope, as it does the others. Verse 17 contains the question and answer, and the discussion follows in 3:1-6. The Israelites' cha...
• 3. Jesus' temptation 4:1-11 (cf. Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13)
  Jesus' genealogy and virgin birth prove His legal human qualification as Israel's King. His baptism was the occasion of His divine approval. His temptation demonstrated His moral fitness to reign. The natural question a thoug...
• The Roman soldiers' mockery of Jesus 15:16-20 (cf. Matt. 27:27-31; John 19:16-17a)
  15:16 Praetorium is a Latin loan word that describes a Roman governor's official residence (cf. Matt. 27:27; John 18:28, 33; 19:9; Acts 23:35). The Roman soldiers escorted Jesus to the courtyard (Gr. aule, cf. vv. 54, 66) of ...
• 1. The law's authority 7:1-6
  7:1 "Those who know law"--the article "the"before "law"is absent in the Greek text--were Paul's Roman readers. They lived in the capital of the empire where officials debated, enacted, and enforced laws. They of all people we...
• 2. The law's activity 7:7-12
  Paul wrote that the believer is dead to both sin (6:2) and the Law (7:4). Are they in some sense the same? The answer is no (v. 7). The apostle referred to the relationship between sin and the Law in verse 5, but now he devel...
• 1. Living without the Law 5:1-12
  The apostle warned his readers not to think that they could satisfy the demands of the Mosaic Law by obeying only a few of its commands. Only complete compliance satisfies its demands.5:1 Paul's readers were in danger of retu...
• B. Spiritual warfare 6:10-20
  That this section is distinct from the five that precede it is evident from two facts. Paul introduced it differently, and the emphasis in it is on God's resources. Earlier Paul urged the strengthening and growth of the body ...
• 4. The resources to choose right 4:6-10
  4:6 God has set a high standard of wholehearted love and devotion for His people, but He gives grace that is greater than His rigorous demand. Proverbs 3:34, quoted here, reminds us that God opposes the proud, those who pursu...
• The enticements of the world 2:15-17
  John next warned his readers of worldly dangers that face the Christian as he or she seeks to get to know God better. He did so to enable them to prepare for and to overcome these obstacles with God's help."As often in 1 John...
• 1. Renouncing sin reaffirmed 3:4-9
  "The present vv, 3:4-9, form six strophes, each of which divides . . . roughly into half. The two halves of the strophes balance one another; for the second part of the v provides a development of the first part (vv 4, 5, 7),...
• 3. Rejecting worldliness reaffirmed 4:1-6
  "The worldliness' in view here, as in 2:12-17, is primarily a wrong attitude: a determination to be anchored to a society which does not know God (cf. 3:1 . . .). But whereas in the earlier section John shows that worldly att...
• II THE LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES chs. 2--3
  Before analyzing each of the seven letters that follows we should note some of their features as a group. They are similar in that they are all brief, and each contains a unique description of the Lord Jesus drawn from 1:12-2...
• 1. The binding of Satan 20:1-3
  20:1 The first word, "And,"supports the idea of chronological sequence. It implies a continuation from what John just revealed (cf. 19:11, 17, 19; 20:4, 11, 12; 21:1, 2, 22). Amillennial interpreters disagree."John says nothi...
• 3. The final judgment of Satan 20:7-10
  20:7 At the end of the Millennium God will release Satan from the abyss (cf. 1 Pet. 3:19). Two reasons are implied in the text: to demonstrate the incorrigibility of Satan, and to demonstrate the depravity of humanity.695God ...
• 2. John's first vision of the New Jerusalem 21:2-8
  21:2 In the same vision, John next saw a city descending out of heaven from God (cf. v. 10; 3:12; Heb. 11:13-16). It was holy in contrast to the former Jerusalem (cf. 11:8; Isa. 52:1; Matt. 4:5; 27:53). As the old Jerusalem w...