Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 6. Moses' call 3:1-4:18
  3:1-12 Horeb is another name for Sinai (v. 1). It probably indicates a range of mountains rather than a particular mountain peak. The writer called it "the mountain of God"because it was the place where God later gave the Mos...
• 2. Haman's promotion 3:1-6
  The events we read in chapter 3 took place four years after Esther became queen (cf. 2:16; 3:7).Agag was the name of an area in Media that had become part of the Persian Empire.54However, Agag was also the name of the Amaleki...
• The first banquet 5:1-8
  Here we have another remarkable example of how God controls the hearts of kings (v. 2; Prov. 21:1; cf. Gen. 39-41; Ezra 1:1-4; Neh. 2; Dan. 2; 3; 4; 5; Acts 2:23). "To half of the kingdom"(v. 3) is hyperbole and means, "I wil...
• 4. Further advice for pleasing God 19:1-22:16
  As was true in the chapter 10-15 section, this one (16:1-22:16) also becomes more difficult to outline as it ends because there are fewer groupings of proverbs.19:7 The first part of this verse is hyperbole (overstatement to ...
• The certainty of redemption 42:10-43:7
  God had not forgotten nor was He unable to deliver His people. Their redemption was certain."This vision of what God will accomplish through his Servant is so exciting that Isaiah breaks into the ecstatic hymn of praise (vv. ...
• Zedekiah's request and Jeremiah's response 21:1-10
  This passage probably dates from the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 588-586 B.C. (vv. 2, 4; cf. 2 Kings 25). King Zedekiah sought advice from Jeremiah more than once (cf. 37:3-10, 17-21; 38:14-28). This passage consists of ...
• Jeremiah's first letter to the exiles 29:1-23
  29:1-3 Jeremiah sent a letter to all the Judahites who had gone into exile in Babylon with King Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) in 597 B.C. We do not know the date of its composition, but Jeremiah probably wrote it within a few years o...
• Bibliography
  Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers; and New York: Macmillan Publishers Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. Revis...
• 3. A judgment speech against the ruler of Tyre 28:1-10
  28:1-2 Ezekiel was to speak an oracle to the contemporary leader (Heb. nagid, prince, ruler, king) of Tyre in the Lord's name, probably King Ethbaal II (also known as Ittobaal II and Ithobalus II, ca. 590-573 B.C.). As usual ...
• Theology
  Theologically the book stresses the sovereignty of God."The absolute sovereignty and transcendence of God above all angels and men literally permeates the book."11"The theme running through the whole book is that the fortunes...
• Message22
  The Book of Daniel contains many unique and significant emphases. I would like to point out some of these first before we organize them into an explanation of what God has given us this book to reveal.Theologically Daniel str...
• Outline
  I. The character of Daniel ch. 1A. Historical background 1:1-2B. Nebuchadnezzar's training program for promising youths 1:3-7C. Daniel's resolve to please Yahweh 1:8-13D. The success of the test 1:14-16E. God's blessing of Da...
• B. Nebuchadnezzar's training program for promising youths 1:3-7
  1:3-5 Nebuchadnezzar's enlightened policy was to employ the best minds in his kingdom in government service regardless of their national or ethnic origin. We do not know how many other Jews and Gentiles were the classmates of...
• II. The Times of the Gentiles: God's program for the world chs. 2--7
  Daniel wrote 2:4b-7:28 in the Aramaic language. This literary change gives the reader a clue that this part is a distinct section of the book. The content of this section also identifies it as special. It concerns the future ...
• 2. The failure of the king's wise men 2:4-13
  2:4 The Chaldeans took the lead in replying to the king. They responded in the Aramaic language that was widely used in business and in government throughout the empire. This reference to Aramaic introduces the section of the...
• 8. The consequences of Daniel's interpretation 2:46-49
  2:46-47 Clearly Daniel had done what everyone considered humanly impossible. He had told the king the dream that Nebuchadnezzar alone knew, and had perhaps even forgotten, and he had given an interpretation of the dream that ...
• B. Nebuchadnezzar's golden image ch. 3
  There is a logical connection between the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream (ch. 2) and the image that he had built on the plain of Dura (ch. 3). Perhaps he got the idea for the statue he built from the statue he saw...
• 1. The worship of Nebuchadnezzar's statue 3:1-7
  3:1 The whole image that the king built was gold. The head of the image that Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his dream was also gold."Daniel had told him that he was the head of gold (2:38) but that he would be followed by another...
• 2. The charge against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego 3:8-12
  3:8-11 The Chaldeans who brought charges against Daniel's three friends were nobles, not just astrologers. The Aramaic term gubrin kasd'inmakes this clear.113They were in a position to profit personally from the execution of ...
• 3. The response of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego 3:13-18
  3:13-14 Nebuchadnezzar reacted to the news of the three Jews' response angrily (cf. 2:12; 3:19). He evidently took their disobedience as a personal affront as well as an act of insubordination. Nevertheless he controlled hims...
• 4. The execution of the king's command 3:19-23
  3:19 The determination of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to withhold the form of allegiance that Nebuchadnezzar required made the king as angry as he could be. He apparently ordered the furnace heated to seven times its nor...
• 5. God's deliverance of His servants 3:24-27
  3:24-25 As Nebuchadnezzar watched what was happening inside the furnace, he marveled to see that the three Jews did not perish in an instant. Rising from his seat he saw them loosed from their bonds and walking around inside ...
• 6. The consequences of God's deliverance 3:28-30
  2:28-29 Nebuchadnezzar's acknowledgment of Yahweh's superior power was an advance upon his earlier tribute to Yahweh's ability to reveal mysteries (2:47). The pagans believed that the gods used messengers to carry out their w...
• C. Nebuchadnezzar's pride and humbling ch. 4
  We have seen that in the first three chapters of Daniel King Nebuchadnezzar came to an increasing appreciation of the greatness of Yahweh. In this chapter he learned that Yahweh is sovereign over kings as well as kingdoms (cf...
• 1. Nebuchadnezzar's introductory doxology 4:1-3
  4:1 The fact that Nebuchadnezzar addressed what follows to everyone living on the earth, even though he did not rule over the entire earth, should not be a problem. This was the universal language that he customarily used (cf...
• 3. Nebuchadnezzar's account of his dream 4:10-18
  4:10-12 The king described what he had seen in poetic language. His words therefore appear as a prophetic oracle. The ancients frequently used trees to describe rulers of nations (cf. Isa. 2:12-13; 10:34; Ezek. 31:3-17).141Th...
• 6. Nebuchadnezzar's restoration 4:34-37
  4:34-35 The narrative resumes in the first person adding the force of personal testimony to the story that the king had been telling. Raising his eyes to heaven implies that Nebuchadnezzar may finally have come to the end of ...
• 1. Belshazzar's dishonoring of Yahweh 5:1-4
  5:1 Older critical scholars have claimed that Belshazzar was never a king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.167However modern discoveries have shown that Belshazzar acted as king during his father's frequent and prolonged absences...
• E. Darius' pride and Daniel's preservation ch. 6
  Even though this chapter is one of the most popular in all the Bible, it has also been the target of strong critical attacks because of the problem of the identity of Darius. The chapter shares motifs with Psalm 2 and recalls...
• 2. The conspiracy against Daniel 6:4-9
  6:4 The text does not say why the other officials wanted to get rid of Daniel. Perhaps his integrity made it difficult for them to get away with graft and political corruption. Maybe since he was quite old they wanted to elim...
• 3. Daniel's faithfulness and Darius' predicament 6:10-15
  6:10 The new decree did not deter Daniel from continuing to pray for the welfare of the city where God had sent them into exile and for the Jews' return from exile. That this was the subject of his praying, among other things...
• 5. Daniel's deliverance and his enemies' destruction 6:19-24
  6:19-20 Evidently spending a night in the lions' den was the minimum that the law required because early the next morning Darius set out to free Daniel if he might have survived. Uncertain about the prophet's fate the king ca...
• 6. Darius' decree and praise of Yahweh 6:25-28
  6:25-27 This story ends as previous ones in the book did with the king praising and promoting Yahweh. This expression of praise, however, surpasses the others (cf. 3:28-29; 4:3, 34-35, 37). Not only did Darius personally prai...
• The angel's explanation of his activity 10:20-11:1
  10:20 The angel asked if Daniel knew why he had come to him. He apparently did this to focus the prophet's attention on the vision to follow anew since Daniel was quite weak.The angel informed Daniel that he needed to return ...
• Bibliography
  Albright, William F. From Stone Age to Christianity. 2nd ed. New York: Doubleday Press, Anchor Books, 1957.Aalders, G. C. Daniel. Koorte Verklaring servies. The Netherlands: Kampen, 1965.Albrektson, Bertil. History and the Go...
• Date
  "Haggai and Zechariah . . . are noteworthy for the chronological precision with which they related their lives and ministries to their historical milieu. This is not the case at all with Malachi. In fact, one of the major pro...
• The explanation of the parable of the weeds 13:36-43
  Matthew separated the explanation of this parable from its telling in the text (vv. 24-30). He evidently did this to separate more clearly for the reader the parables Jesus spoke to the multitudes from the parables He told Hi...
• 1. The setting of these revelations 24:1-3 (cf. Mark 13:1-4; Luke 21:5-7)
  24:1 The connective "and"(NASB, Gr. kai) ties what follows to Jesus' preceding denunciation of the generation of Jews that rejected Him and the divine judgment that would follow (23:36-39). However the "apocalyptic"or "eschat...
• The deliverance of a demoniac in Gadara 5:1-20 (cf. Matt. 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-39)
  Even though Mark had already reported that Jesus had exorcized many demons, this case was extraordinary.5:1 Mark and Luke called this area the country of the Gerasenes, but Matthew called it the country of the Gadarenes. Gerg...
• 2. The deliverance of a demoniac in Gadara 8:26-39 (cf. Matt. 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20)
  The raging of this demoniac was even worse than the raging of the waters of Galilee (cf. Ps. 65:7). Demonic power was evident in the Hellenistic world of Luke's original readers. The fact that this incident happened in predom...
• 2. The ungodliness of mankind 1:19-27
  1:19-20 These verses begin a discussion of "natural revelation."Natural revelation describes what everyone knows about God because of what God has revealed concerning Himself in nature. What He has revealed about Himself in S...
• The necessity of love 13:1-3
  In these first three verses Paul showed that love is superior to the spiritual gifts he listed in chapter 12."It is hard to escape the implication that what is involved here are two opposing views as to what it means to be sp...
• 4. Faith in subsequent eras 11:32-40
  11:32 The Old Testament is full of good examples of persevering, living faith. The writer selected these few for brief mention along with what such faith accomplished.372Each individual that the writer mentioned was less than...
• 3. Living with the promise in view 4:1-6
  Since Jesus Christ has gained the victory, Peter urged his readers to rededicate themselves to God's will as long as they might live. He wanted to strengthen their resolve to continue to persevere. He resumed here the exhorta...
• The beast out of the earth 13:11-18
  Most interpreters who see the first beast as an individual also see the second beast as one. Others who see the first beast as a power or movement tend to view the second beast similarly. Many of the Reformers identified the ...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• Harmless Fires
  Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. 14. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedn...