Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 14. Jacob's blessing of his sons 49:1-28
  Jacob blessed all 12 of his sons and foretold what would become of each of them and their descendants. He disqualified Reuben, Simeon, and Levi from leadership and gave that blessing to Judah. He granted the double portion to...
• Moses' intercession 32:7-14
  God's recounting the news of the golden calf to Moses gives the reader the divine perspective on Israel's sin. Moses stressed three points in this pericope."These three points--idolatry of the golden calf, Israel's stiff-neck...
• Moses' rebellion at Kadesh 20:1-13
  At the end of 37 years the Israelites returned to the wilderness of Zin and Kadesh. Kadesh was a large area of desert located on the edge of the wilderness of Zin. God had previously judged the older generation of Israelites ...
• Moses' successor 27:12-23
  Another preparation for entering Canaan involved appointing a new leader to take Moses' place.God foretold that Moses would die without entering the land (cf. 20:1-13). Graciously He allowed His servant to see the Promised La...
• Outline
  I. Introduction: the covenant setting 1:1-5II. Moses' first major address: a review of God's faithfulness 1:6-4:40A. God's past dealings with Israel 1:6-3:291. God's guidance from Sinai to Kadesh 1:6-462. The march from Kades...
• 2. God's appearance at Mt. Horeb 4:9-14
  "The abstract nature of God in the Israelite religion, and the absence of any physical representation of him, imposed great difficulties for a people living in a world where all other men represented their gods in visual, phy...
• VII. MOSES' LAST ACTS chs. 31--34
  Having completed the major addresses to the Israelites recorded to this point in Deuteronomy, Moses needed only to make a few final arrangements before Israel was ready to enter the land. The record of these events concludes ...
• 3. The commissioning of Joshua 31:14-23
  Whereas previously Moses had presented Joshua to the people (vv. 1-8) now God officially commissioned him to his new responsibility as Moses' successor. He did this at the tabernacle, the appropriate place for this official c...
• 2. The song itself 32:1-43
  One writer called the Song of Moses "one of the most impressive religious poems in the entire Old Testament."336It contrasts the faithfulness and loyal love of God with the unfaithfulness and perversity of His people. As othe...
• 1. Moses' exhortation to obedience 32:45-47
  Moses addressed the Israelites again after he had taught them his song. He urged them to take to heart not only the words of the song but all the words of the law, namely, the entire covenant text of Deuteronomy (cf. 17:19; 2...
• 2. The announcement of Moses' death 32:48-52
  The same day Moses gave his song to the Israelites God directed him to prepare for his death (v. 48; cf. Num. 27:12-14). Mt. Nebo is one of the peaks in the Abarim range that stands to the east of the Arabah northeast of the ...
• E. Moses' death and burial: narrative epilogue ch. 34
  "A testament is of force only after the death of the testator [cf. Heb. 9:16-17]. So the Deuteronomic Covenant in it testamentary aspect . . . would not become operative until after the death of Moses. Only then would Joshua ...
• Bibliography
  Adams, Jay. Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology seri...
• 1. The victory over Jabin and Sisera ch. 4
  4:1-3 As long as Ehud lived he kept Israel faithful to God (v. 1). However after he died, God's people again turned from the Lord. In discipline God allowed the Canaanites in the North to gain strength and dominate the Israel...
• 2. Hannah's song 2:1-10
  Some commentators have seen Hannah's prayer as a non-essential song of praise included in the text for sentimental reasons, but this magnificent prayer provides the key to interpreting the rest of 1 and 2 Samuel. In this pray...
• 4. The oracle against Eli's house 2:27-36
  The rest of the chapter explains why God would put Eli's sons to death (v. 25). The specific criticism that the man of God (a prophet, cf. 9:9-10) directed against Eli and his sons was two-fold. They had not appreciated God's...
• David's verbal defense to Saul 24:8-15
  The object lesson that David presented to Saul had a double application. David proved that he was not trying to kill Saul because Saul was the Lord's anointed. Furthermore he showed that it was inappropriate for Saul to seek ...
• D. David's Last Testament 23:1-7
  The combination of David's final song (ch. 22) followed by his last testament (23:1-7) recalls the similar combination of Moses' final song and his last testament (Deut. 32 and 33). This was David's final literary legacy to I...
• Solomon's prayer of dedication 8:22-53
  This great prayer centers on the Mosaic Covenant. That is its heart. Solomon introduced seven petitions with a backward look emphasizing God's faithfulness (vv. 23-26). He concluded with a forward look stressing God's mercy (...
• The reasons for the captivity 17:7-23
  In this section the writer catalogued Israel's transgressions of God's Word that resulted in her going into captivity. Ironically Israel's last king had sought help from Egypt from which Israel had fled 724 years earlier.They...
• Message16
  The central subject of 1 and 2 Chronicles is the temple of God. Someone evidently wrote these books at the end of the Babylonian exile to encourage the Israelites to reestablish Israel's national life in the Promised Land. In...
• 2. The opposition to the workers ch. 4
  Any attempt to fulfill God's desires will almost certainly draw opposition from God's enemies."The real test of a leader is how he or she faces crises and reacts to opposition. This chapter recounts several forms of oppositio...
• 3. God's blessings 18:30-50
  The psalmist rejoiced over God's character and His blessings to him (vv. 30-45), and he vowed to continue to praise Him forever (vv. 46-50). The purpose of the psalm is praise, not boasting.18:30-31 God's way is perfect, and ...
• 1. Request for salvation 61:1-2
  David began this psalm as he did many others by asking God to give attention to his prayer. He evidently felt separated from his own people and his secure surroundings on this occasion. The rock he requested may have been a l...
• Psalm 78
  This didactic psalm teaches present and future generations to learn from the past, and it stresses the grace of God."This could be sub-titled, in view of verses 12 and 68, From Zoan to Zion, for it reviews the turbulent adole...
• 3. A reason for consolation 94:16-23
  94:16-19 After looking everywhere for some consolation during the temporary ascendancy of the wicked, the psalmist found it only in God. If God had not strengthened him he would have died, slipped in his walk with God, and be...
• 2. The record of Israel's unfaithfulness to God 106:6-46
  106:6 The psalmist confessed that Israel had been unfaithful to God. This was true of his own generation as it had been true of former generations. This confession introduced a review of specific iniquities and wickedness.106...
• 3. Request for help 109:21-31
  109:21-25 David asked the Lord to deal with him in harmony with His loyal love for the sake of God's reputation. David had sought to follow the Lord faithfully, and God had promised to bless people who did that. However, Davi...
• 3. A way to rejoice in the Lord 149:6-9
  The Lord's will for Israel was that she overcome and defeat God's enemies on the earth. This would establish righteousness in the world and exalt the God of Israel as the sovereign Lord (cf. Deut. 32:1-6, 23; Josh. 1:1-8). Is...
• The woe against rebellion by God's children ch. 30
  There are several thematic connections between this chapter and chapter 28.298The general structure of the chapter is chiastic."AContemporary events: Egypt no help (1-7)BComing human events: the refusal of the word, the way o...
• Yahweh's day of judgment ch. 34
  This poem depicts the effects of Yahweh's wrath on the self-exalting nations. His judgment will be universal (vv. 1-4). Isaiah particularized it with reference to Edom, a representative nation (vv. 5-17; cf. 25:10-12)."Here w...
• Israel's hardness of heart 2:29-37
  Israel deserved judgment, and this pericope shows why. Jeremiah presented a series of pictures of the nation's irresponsibility and corruption.2:29 The Lord wanted to know why His people were angry with Him. The difficulties ...
• Yahweh's warning to His complacent people 5:20-31
  There were three aspects to Judah's failure: the people's perversity (vv. 20-25), their injustice (vv. 26-29), and their leaders (vv. 30-31).143"Jeremiah rebukes the Judeans as a whole for their utter stupidity and lack of mo...
• An oracle of Jerusalem's doom 22:20-23
  22:20 The prophet spoke of Jerusalem as a young woman in this oracle. He called on her to go up on the surrounding mountains to bewail the loss of her lovers (political allies and pagan gods). The Lebanon mountains were to th...
• C. The oracle against Moab ch. 48
  This oracle is similar to the one in Isaiah 15 and 16.555Other oracles against Moab appear in Ezekiel 25:8-11, Amos 2:1-3, and Zephaniah 2:9, but this is the longest one. It is very difficult to say when Jeremiah gave this or...
• A. An observer's sorrow over Jerusalem's condition 1:1-11
  Jeremiah first viewed Jerusalem's destruction as an outsider looking in. Verses 1-7 describe the extent of the desolation and verses 8-11 its cause.1:1 Jeremiah bewailed the abandoned city of Jerusalem that had once been so g...
• The interpretation of these acts 5:5-17
  Evidently Ezekiel's verbal explanation of this drama came at the very end of the drama, at the time of the real destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel was no longer silent then.5:5-6 The Lord explained that the center of the drama...
• The image of jealousy 8:1-6
  8:1 The following prophecy came to Ezekiel during September of 592 B.C. as he was sitting in his house with the elders of Israel.141This would have been during the time when he was lying on his right side for part of the day ...
• 5. The need of personal righteousness for deliverance 14:12-23
  This prophecy continues the emphasis on judgment from the previous one and stresses the irrevocability of Jerusalem's destruction (cf. Jer. 7:16; 15:1-4).14:12-14 The Lord spoke to Ezekiel again. He revealed that Jerusalem's ...
• 6. The unprofitable vine of Jerusalem ch. 15
  This is the first in a series of three parables designed to impress on the overly optimistic exiles that there was no possibility that Jerusalem would escape destruction (cf. chs. 16-17).15:1-2 The Lord asked Ezekiel how the ...
• The interpretation of the parable 21:1-7
  21:1-2 Again the Lord told His prophet to speak a message of judgment against Jerusalem, the pagan sanctuaries, and the whole land of Israel (i.e., Judah). This would be a clarification of the figures used in the previous par...
• 7. The interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream 2:36-45
  2:36 Daniel carefully distinguished the dream (vv. 31-35) from its interpretation (vv. 36-45) for the sake of clarity. His reference to "we"telling the interpretation is probably an editorial plural. This form of speech allow...
• The first answer 12:7
  The angel above the river swore by the eternal God that what he was about to say was true. Normally people who swore by God lifted one hand to heaven (cf. Deut. 32:40). This angel lifted both hands thus stressing the truthful...
• Judgment on the idolatrous worship 4:15-19
  4:15 The Lord warned the Israelites not to pollute their brethren in the Southern Kingdom with their unfaithfulness. He also warned them not to go to the pagan shrines and take an oath in His name since they did not really wo...
• B. The restoration promises 6:1-3
  This first part of chapter 6 envisions Israel's repentance. The prophet predicted the words that the penitent generation of Israelites would say when they sought the Lord (5:15). The message contains two cycles, each containi...
• Diminished fruitfulness 9:10-14
  9:10 In the early days of Israel's history in the wilderness, the Lord took great delight in His people, as one rejoices to find grapes in a desert or the first figs of the season. However, when they came to Baal-Peor, where ...
• Another lesson from Israel's history 12:12-14
  12:12 The Lord reminded the Israelites again of their humble origins. Jacob was a refugee who migrated to the land of Aram. There he had to work to pay for a wife, and he did so by tending sheep, a very humble occupation (cf....
• The perversity of Israel's idolatry 13:4-8
  13:4 Yahweh had been Israel's God since the Israelites had lived in Egypt.83He had commanded the Israelites not to acknowledge any gods beside Himself because He was the only God who could save them (cf. Deut. 11:28; 32:17; J...
• Covenant unfaithfulness punished 13:15-16
  13:15 With the removal of God's compassion (v. 14), Israel's prosperity would end. Hosea described that change like a hot eastern desert wind sweeping over Israel and drying up all its water sources. Israel had flourished amo...
• B. Theme 1:2
  This verse summarizes the message that Amos received from the Lord. Amos reported that Yahweh roared from Zion, as a lion roars before it devours its prey or as thunder precedes a severe storm (cf. 3:4, 8; Jer. 25:30; Hos. 5:...
• A. The anger and goodness of Yahweh 1:2-8
  "The opening verses of Nahum form a prologue dominated by the revelation of God's eternal power and divine nature in creation (cf. Rom 1:20). As in Romans 1:18-32, this revelation is characterized preeminently by God's justic...
• 2. Yahweh's angry actions 3:8-15
  Habakkuk now changed from describing the manifestation of God and the inanimate and animate reactions to it to a description of His acts on the earth.3:8 With rhetorical questions Habakkuk affirmed that Yahweh was not angry w...
• God's will concerning retaliation 5:38-42
  5:38 Retaliation was common in the ancient Near East. Frequently it led to vendettas in which escalating vengeance continued for generations. Israel's "law of retaliation"(Lat. lex talionis) limited retaliation to no more tha...
• The question of company 9:9-13 (cf. Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-32)
  The main point of this pericope is Jesus' response to the Pharisees' criticism that Jesus and His disciples kept company with tax collectors and sinners.9:9 This incident probably took place in or near Capernaum. The tax offi...
• Revelation about the church 16:18-20
  16:18 "I say to you"(cf. 5:18, 20, 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 8:10) may imply that Jesus would continue the revelation the Father had begun. However the phrase occurs elsewhere where that contrast is not in view. Undoubtedly it ...
• The exorcism of an epileptic boy67817:14-21 (cf. Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43a)
  "The contrast between the glory of the Transfiguration and Jesus' disciples' tawdry unbelief (see v. 17) is part of the mounting tension that magnifies Jesus' uniqueness as he moves closer to his passion and resurrection."679...
• D. The temptation of Jesus 4:1-13 (cf. Matt. 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13)
  Luke stressed how the Spirit who had come upon Jesus at His baptism guided and empowered Him in His temptation and how Jesus, God's approved Son, pleased His Father by His obedience. Jesus overcame the devil who opposed God's...
• Jesus' condemnation of His unbelieving generation 7:29-35 (cf. Matt. 11:16-19)
  John had questioned Jesus' identity, and Jesus had defended John's identity. Jesus now warned his hearers who rejected John's identity and Jesus' identity.7:29 Verses 29 and 30 do not appear in the Matthew parallel. They reve...
• 6. The exorcism of an epileptic boy 9:37-43a (cf. Matt. 17:14-20; Mark 9:14-29)
  The effect of Luke's omission of the conversation Jesus had with the disciples about Elijah is clear. This healing appears as the work of the Son of God whom the Transfiguration presented."It is the Jesus who has been transfi...
• Jesus' claims about His origin 8:21-30
  Jesus began to contrast Himself and His critics.3108:21 Evidently what follows continues Jesus' teaching in the temple when He spoke the words that John recorded in the preceding verses. The Greek word palin("again"or "once m...
• 1. Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet 13:1-20
  Jesus began His farewell address (cf. Moses, Deut. 31-33; Joshua, Josh. 23-24; Paul, Acts 20) with an object lesson....
• C. Jesus' high priestly prayer ch. 17
  This part of Jesus' private ministry has many connections with the preceding Upper Room Discourse. In the Old Testament, prayers often accompanied important farewell discourses (cf. Gen. 49; Deut. 32-33). The main theme is Je...
• 3. The continuing unbelief of Israel 10:16-21
  Even though the door of salvation is open to Jews as well as to Gentiles (vv. 8-15), the majority within Israel still refuse to believe in Jesus Christ.10:16 In spite of the good news of Israel's restoration and the promises ...
• Love for all 12:14-21
  12:14 Paul repeated Jesus' instruction here (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27-28). To persecute means to pursue. Blessing involves both wishing God's best on people and praying for them."The principle of nonretaliation for personal inju...
• 4. The importance of accepting one another 15:7-13
  This section concludes Paul's instructions concerning the importance of accepting one another as Christians that he began in 14:1. In this section the apostle charged both the strong and the weak.15:7 "Accept"repeats Paul's o...
• The tragic example of Israel 10:1-5
  The point of this example is that God's people can practice idolatry, and persisting in idolatry has dire consequences. Paul stressed the similarity of experience that the church, the Corinthian church particularly, and Israe...
• The incompatibility of Christianity and idolatry 10:14-22
  The apostle proceeded to warn his readers of the danger of idolatry further (cf. v. 7). This paragraph concludes the long argument that Paul began in 8:1 concerning going to temple feasts.10:14 Formerly Paul urged the Corinth...
• I. SALUTATION 1:1-2
  Paul began this very personal letter with a customary salutation to set the tone for what followed. The salutation reveals that this was not just a personal letter, however, as was Paul's epistle to Philemon, but it was also ...
• B. The Superiority of God's Son 1:5-14
  The writer proceeded to explain the exaltation of Jesus Christ to help his readers appreciate the fact that He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy concerning the Son of David. He did this so they would appreciate Him properly an...
• 2. The warning of judgment 10:26-31
  The writer turned from positive admonition to negative warning to highlight the seriousness of departing from the Lord."Between the imperatives of vv. 22-25 and 32, 35, the author describes, more fully than in 2:2f.; 6:4-6, t...
• B. Self-exaltation 4:11-12
  Having dealt with the source of interpersonal and inner personal conflicts that believers in particular and all people generally experience, James dealt next with a different aspect of the same problem. He did so to motivate ...
• 2. Growing in God 2:4-5
  2:4 Not only is Jesus Christ the source of the believer's spiritual sustenance, He is also our foundation. Peter not only changed his metaphor from growth to building, but he also changed it from an individual to a corporate ...
• C. End-time Events 3:7-10
  Next Peter outlined what will surely happen so his readers would understand what will take place.3:7 God has given orders that the present heavens and earth (vv. 5-6) will experience another judgment yet future. Then God will...
• The survivors' response 9:20-21
  9:20 These three severe judgments (fire, smoke, and brimstone, vv. 17-18) will not move the remaining unbelievers as a whole to repent (cf. Exod. 7:13, 23; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 35; 10:20; 11:10)."In all cases in the apocaly...
• 2. The announcement of the mighty angel 10:5-7
  10:5 The fact that the angel took an oath and swore by God seems to confirm that he is not God. Lifting the right hand toward God was and is a customary gesture when making a solemn oath (cf. Gen. 14:22; Deut. 32:40; Dan. 12:...
• The preparation of the agents of judgment 15:5-8
  15:5 "After these things I looked"(Gr. meta tauta eidon) indicates a transition to a new vision and a new subject: the bowl judgments. These are in a category of their own. John saw the heavenly temple opened. This gave the s...
• 6. The fourth bowl 16:8-9
  16:8 The fourth trumpet judgment darkened the sun (8:12), but this judgment increased the sun's intensity. There is a definite article before "men"in the Greek text. The men in view are evidently the people who have the mark ...
• The vision of the system 17:3-6
  17:3 The angel carried John away in the Spirit to a wilderness area (cf. 1:10; 4:1; 21:10). This wilderness may refer to the desert near literal Babylon,558or it may anticipate the desolate condition of the harlot.559There he...
• 1. The praise of God in heaven 19:1-10
  This pericope has strong ties to what precedes (16:17-18:24). It is the concluding revelation concerning the fall of Babylon, the latter-day Egypt and Tyre, and Antichrist, the ultimate Pharaoh of the Exodus and King of Tyre....
• 4. The judgment of the wicked 20:11-15
  20:11 This "And I saw"introduces something else John saw in this vision (cf. 19:11, 17, 19; 20:1, 4, 12; 21:1, 2). The continuation of chronological progression seems clear from the continued use of "And"to introduce new info...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• II. That Brings Me, And Very Briefly, To The Other Points That I Desire To Deal With Now.
  The second one, which is suggested to us from my second text in the Epistle to Titus, is that this possession, by God, of man, like man's possession of God, comes because God has given Himself to man.The Apostle puts it very ...
• Their Rock And Our Rock
  Deut. 32:31Moses is about to leave the people whom he had led so long, and his last words are words of solemn warning. He exhorts them to cleave to God. The words of the text simply mean that the history of the nation had suf...
• Seed Scattered And Taking Root
  And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apo...
• I. We Deal With The Negative Precept.
  Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto wrath.' Do not take the law into your own hands, but leave God's way of retribution to work itself out. By avenging, the Apostle means a passionate redress of private wrongs...