Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 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...
• Title
  The title in the English text comes from the main character in the second part of the book (chapters 7-10). In the Septuagint translation this book also bore the name of Ezra or Esdras, the Greek transliteration of "Ezra.""Ez...
• Writer and Date
  Due to the ancient tradition that the same writer composed both parts of the book (chapters 1-6 and 7-10), many scholars believe Ezra produced all of it.5A passage in the Talmud credits Ezra with the authorship of Ezra-Nehemi...
• Scope
  The earliest historical reference in Ezra is to the decree of Cyrus that he issued in his first year on the throne (1:1), 538 B.C.12The latest historical reference was just prior to Nehemiah's first trip to Jerusalem (4:21-23...
• Outline
  I. The first return under Sheshbazzar chs. 1-6A. The return from Babylon chs. 1-21. The edict of Cyrus and its consequences ch. 12. The exiles who returned ch. 2B. The rebuilding of the temple chs. 3-61. The beginning of cons...
• Opposition during Cyrus' reign 4:1-5
  The Assyrian government encouraged its residents to move to Israel and to settle there after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C. This was official government policy during the reigns of the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon ...
• Opposition during Ahasuerus' reign 4:6
  "When he [the writer] discussed the problems of the building of the temple in 4:1-5, it reminded him of later similar troubles with the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, and so 4:6-23 has been inserted, almost parenthetica...
• The recruiting of Levites to return 8:15-20
  The immigrants assembled on the banks of the Ahava waterway that flowed through the district of Babylon that bore the same name. The site is presently unknown.". . . Babylonia was crisscrossed by a network of irrigation canal...
• The immigrants' spiritual preparation 8:21-23
  As is quite clear from these verses, Ezra sensed his great need for God's help in the dangerous trip that lay before them. This moved him to seek God's favor in prayer. Verse 21 was the text of John Robinson's last sermon at ...
• Conclusion
  The Book of Nehemiah records the fortification of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Jews, two essential steps that were necessary to reestablish God's people in His will and in their land.Nehemiah continued the good work t...
• C. Mordecai's Reaction 4:1-3
  We can understand why Mordecai reacted to Haman's decree so strongly (v. 1). Undoubtedly he felt personally responsible for this decree (cf. 3:2-5). However we should not interpret Mordecai's actions in verse 1 as a sign of g...
• 7. Daniel's rise and Belshazzar's fall 5:29-31
  5:29 Belshazzar kept his promise (v. 16) though Daniel's honors only lasted a few hours at most, typical of the honors of this world. The king's response is surprising. We might have expected him to execute Daniel for confron...
• Historical Background
  Malachi was one of the three post-exilic writing prophets along with Haggai and Zechariah, and he was quite certainly the last one chronologically, even though we cannot be dogmatic about a date for his writing.The first grou...
• Fasting 6:16-18
  6:16 Fasting in Israel involved going without food to engage in a spiritual exercise, usually prayer, with greater concentration. Fasting fostered and indicated self-humiliation before God, and confession often accompanied it...