Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 3. Praise of the Creator 104:24-32
  104:24-30 The psalmist broke out in praise to Yahweh for His wisdom in creating as He did. He also acknowledged that all God created belonged to Him. This even included the sea with all its hidden treasures. Leviathan probabl...
• The appeal to gain wisdom 8:32-36
  On the basis of all that precedes Solomon exhorted his sons to live by his words and thereby gain wisdom. Again wisdom leads to life, but those who lack wisdom begin to die."Many have equated wisdom in this chapter with Jesus...
• 1. Instruction about marriage 19:3-12 (cf. Mark 10:2-12)
  Matthew evidently included this instruction because the marriage relationships of His disciples were important factors in their effective ministries. Jesus clarified God's will for His disciples that was different from the co...
• A. The preincarnate Word 1:1-5
  John began his Gospel by locating Jesus before the beginning of His ministry, before His virgin birth, and even before Creation. He identified Jesus as co-existent with God the Father and the Father's agent in providing creat...
• 4. Praise for God's wise plan 11:33-36
  This doxology corresponds to the one at the end of chapter 8 where Paul concluded his exposition of God's plan for bringing His righteousness to humankind (8:31-39). There the emphasis was on the people of God. Here it is on ...
• The content of the way of knowledge 8:4-6
  Paul resumed his discussion of knowledge after digressing briefly in verses 2 and 3 to comment on the superiority of love over knowledge.8:4 In this verse Paul returned to the original subject of eating meals in idol temples ...
• Supplication 1:17-23
  1:17 Paul returned to his concept of God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 3; cf. Matt. 6:9). He combined with this fact the idea that all glory belongs to the Father (vv. 6, 12, 14; cf. Acts 7:2; 1 Cor. 2:8).Paul as...
• The example of Christ 2:5-11
  This paragraph is the most important one in the epistle and the most difficult to interpret."By anyone's reckoning, 2:6-11 constitutes the single most significant block of material in Philippians."582:5 Paul introduced an ill...
• Historical background
  The city of Colosse lay in the beautiful Lycus Valley about 100 miles east of Ephesus. It had been an important town during the Persian War of the fifth century B.C. Since then new trade routes had carried most traffic to its...
• Message9
  The whole message of this epistle finds expression in 2:9-10a. The two declarations in this sentence are the great revelations of the Colossian letter.The fullness of the godhead is in Christ. This is an eternal fact that is ...
• Outline
  I. Introduction 1:1-14A. Salutation 1:1-2B. Thanksgiving 1:3-8C. Prayer 1:9-14II. Explanation of the person and work of Christ 1:15-29A. The preeminent person of Christ 1:15-201. In relation to God the Father 1:15a2. In relat...
• 2. In relation to all creation 1:15b-17
  "First-born"(Gr. prototokos) may denote either priority in time or supremacy in rank (cf. v. 18; Exod. 4:22; Ps. 89:27; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 1:15). It may also denote both of these qualities. Both seem to be in view here...
• 3. In relation to the church 1:18-20
  So far everything Paul had written about Christ other New Testament writers also revealed, but what follows in verse 18 is uniquely Pauline.In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and Romans 12:4-8 Paul used the human body to illustrate th...
• B. The true doctrine of Christ 2:8-15
  Paul revealed what his readers enjoyed in Christ in this pericope to encourage them to remain faithful to the true revelation they had received and believed."The apostle now makes his most direct attack against the Colossian ...
• Bibliography
  Abbott, T. K. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians. International Critical Commentary series. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1897.Barclay, William. The Letter to the Philipp...
• A. The Agent of God's Final Revelation 1:1-4
  The writer began his epistle with an affirmation of Jesus Christ's greatness to introduce his readers to his subject. This section is one sentence in the Greek text. It contrasts God's old revelation with the new, specificall...
• 1. Destination and description of Christ 3:14
  The last of the seven cities (modern Eski-hisar, "the old fortress") lay about 40 miles southeast of Philadelphia and 90 miles east of Ephesus. It was a wealthy town that specialized in banking, producing black woolen cloth, ...