Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 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...
• 5. The Abrahamic Covenant ch. 15
  Abram asked God to strengthen his faith. In response Yahweh promised to give the patriarch innumerable descendants. This led Abram to request some further assurance that God would indeed do what He promised. God graciously ob...
• Scope
  Exodus embraces about 431 years of history, from the arrival of Jacob and his family in Egypt (ca. 1876 B.C.) to the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai (ca. 1445 B.C.). However 1:1-7 is a review of Jacob's ...
• Outline
  I. The liberation of Israel 1:1-15:21A. God's preparation of Israel and Moses chs. 1-41. The growth of Jacob's family 1:1-72. The Israelites' bondage in Egypt 1:8-223. Moses' birth and education 2:1-104. Moses' flight from Eg...
• B. The establishment of the Mosaic Covenant 19:1-24:11
  The Lord had liberated Israel from bondage in Egypt, but now He adopted the nation into a special relationship with Himself."Now begins the most sublime section in the whole Book. The theme of this section is supremely signif...
• The basic principles of worship in Israel 20:22-26
  God did not just condemn forms of worship that were inappropriate, but He instructed the Israelites positively how they were to worship Him.This pericope serves as an introduction to 42 judgments in 21:1-23:12. A similar sect...
• Introduction 21:1
  The "ordinances"were not laws in the usual sense of that word but the rights of those living within Israel. The Book of the Covenant (20:22-23:33) was Israel's "Bill of Rights.""A selection of judgments' is provided as a samp...
• Property damage 21:33-22:15
  21:33-34 The pit represents a typical case of damage caused by an inanimate object or natural phenomenon. These specific cases doubtless served as precedents for other similar cases.21:35-36 The law concerning a cattle fight ...
• Crimes against society 22:16-31
  22:16-17 Next we have a case of seduction. Here the girl is viewed as the property of her father. If a young couple had premarital sex, the young man had to marry the young woman and give his father-in-law the customary payme...
• Yahweh's relation to Israel 23:20-33
  In this final part of the Book of the Covenant, which concludes with 23:33, God gave the Israelites promises and precepts relating to their conquest of the Promised Land. Suzerainty treaties normally concluded with an explana...
• 5. The ratification of the Covenant 24:1-11
  "The great event in chapter 24 is the climax of the Book of Exodus."41324:1-8 The remaining verses in this section contain God's directions to Moses personally. He, Aaron, Aaron's two eldest sons, and 70 of the elders of Isra...
• C. Directions regarding God's dwelling among His people 24:12-31:18
  Having given directions clarifying Israel's obedience in the Book of the Covenant (20:22-23:33) God now summoned Moses up into the mountain again to receive His directions regarding Israel's worship. The Book of the Covenant ...
• 2. The re-establishment of fellowship ch. 33
  Breaking God's covenant resulted in the Israelites' separation from fellowship with Him. It did not terminate their relationship with Him, but it did hinder their fellowship with Him. Similarly when Christians sin we do not c...
• 3. The renewal of the covenant ch. 34
  Moses had obtained God's promise to renew the covenant bond with Israel (33:14). Now God directed him to restore the covenant revelation by recopying the Ten Commandments on two new stone tablets. God both provided and wrote ...
• 3. The erection and consecration of the tabernacle ch. 40
  The Israelites erected the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, almost exactly one year after the Israelites left Egypt (vv. 2, 17). This was about nine months after Israel had arrived at Mt. Sinai (cf. 19:1).First...
• Bibliography
  Adams, Dwayne H. "The Building Program that Works (Exodus 25:4--36:7 [31:1-11])."Exegesis and Exposition1:1 (Fall 1986):82-92.Aharoni, Yohanan. "Kadesh-Barnea and Mount Sinai."In God's Wilderness: Discoveries in Sinai, pp. 11...
• The effects of the year on the personal freedom of the Israelites 25:35-55
  The Israelites were not to exploit one another (vv. 35-38). They were not to charge one another interest on loans (v. 37; cf. Exod. 22:25; Deut. 23:19-20). This policy would have enabled a poor farmer to buy enough seed for t...
• Israel's final rebellion and the termination of the older generation ch. 25
  This chapter contains one of the great failures of Israel that followed one of its great blessings.238As God was preparing to bless His people they were preparing to disobey Him."So now we come to the ultimate rebellion of Is...
• B. An exhortation to observe the law faithfully 4:1-40
  Moses turned in his address from contemplating the past to an exhortation for the future. This section is the climax of his first speech."The parallel between the literary structure of this chapter and that of the Near Easter...
• B. An exposition of selected covenant laws 12-25
  Moses' homiletical exposition of the law of Israel that follows explains reasons for the covenant laws that arose from the Ten Commandments. This address concludes with directions for celebrating and confirming the covenant (...
• Lending with interest 23:19-20
  The Israelites could charge interest when they made loans to non-Israelites, but they were not to charge their brethren interest (vv. 19-20; cf. Exod. 22:25; Lev. 25:35-37).". . . the evidence shows that ancient rates of inte...
• 3. The strife among the workers ch. 5
  This chapter evidently describes a situation that prevailed for more than the 52 days the wall was under construction (cf. v. 14). The writer probably included it in the text here because it was another situation that threate...
• 2. David's answer 15:2-5
  15:2a-b In this section the psalmist summarized what was necessary to have an intimate relationship with the Lord. First, he or she must have a pattern of life that is blameless (Heb. tamim). This word means genuine, free fro...
• 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 ...
• 6. Future invasion of the Promised Land chs. 38-39
  This is the sixth and last message that Ezekiel received from the Lord the night before the refugees reached the exiles with the message that Jerusalem had fallen (cf. 33:21-22). It too deals with God's plans for Israel in th...
• 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 importance of keeping the faith 2:26-27
  2:26 The "these things"in view probably refer to what John had just written (vv. 18-25)."The author concludes his attack on the false teachers with a warning and a word of encouragement for his followers."992:27 The "anointin...
• Bibliography
  Abbott-Smith, George. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1950.Aldrich, Roy L. "The Divisions of the First Resurrection."Bibliotheca Sacra128:510 (April-June 1971):117-19.Alford, Henry. ...