Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Scope
  The events recorded in Genesis stretch historically from Creation to Joseph's death, a period of at least 2500 years. The first part of the book (ch. 1-11) is not as easy to date precisely as the second part (ch. 12-50). The ...
• Purpose
  Genesis provides the historical basis for the rest of the Bible and the Pentateuch, particularly the Abrahamic Covenant. Chapters 1-11 give historical background essential to understanding that covenant, and chapters 12-50 re...
• Outline
  The structure of Genesis is very clear. The phrase "the generations of"(toledotin Hebrew, from yaladmeaning "to bear, to generate") occurs ten times (really eleven times since 36:9 repeats 36:1), and in each case it introduce...
• The creation of man 2:4-17
  2:4 Having related the creation of the universe as we know it, God next inspired Moses to explain for his readers what became of it.129Sin entered it and devastated it."The destiny of the human creation is to live in God's wo...
• The creation of woman 2:18-25
  2:18 Adam's creation was not complete because he lacked a "helper"who corresponded to him. This deficiency led God to pronounce Adam's condition "not good."151God not only evaluated Adam's condition, He also rectified it.152"...
• D. What became of Noah 6:9-9:29
  The Lord destroyed the corrupt, violent human race and deluged its world, but He used righteous Noah to preserve life and establish a new world after the Flood."Noah's experience presents decisively the author's assertion tha...
• Conditions and events before the Flood 6:9-7:10
  6:9-12 "The same explanation for Enoch's rescue from death (he walked with God') is made the basis for Noah's rescue from death in the Flood: he walked with God' (6:9). Thus in the story of Noah and the Flood, the author is a...
• F. What became of Shem 11:10-26
  "The Babel account (11:1-9) is not the end of early Genesis. If it were, the story would conclude on the sad note of human failure. But as with earlier events in Genesis 1-11, God's grace once again supersedes human sin, insu...
• 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...
• A. What became of Terah 11:27-25:11
  A major theme of the Pentateuch is the partial fulfillment of the promises to the patriarchs. The promises in Genesis 12:1-3 and 7 are the fountainhead from which the rest of the Pentateuch flows.397Walter Kaiser labeled the ...
• The divine promises 12:1-9
  "These verses are of fundamental importance for the theology of Genesis, for they serve to bind together the primeval history and the later patriarchal history and look beyond it to the subsequent history of the nation."414"W...
• God's word 12:1-3
  12:1 This section begins with a wawdisjunctive in the Hebrew text translated "Now"in the NASB. It introduces an independent circumstantial clause (cf. 1:2). Probably the revelation in view happened in Ur. The NIV captures thi...
• 2. Abram in Egypt 12:10-20
  The second crisis Abram faced arose because of a famine in Canaan. Abram chose to sojourn in the Nile Valley until it was past. In this incident Abram tried to pass Sarai off as his sister because he feared for his life. By d...
• 3. Abram's separation from Lot ch. 13
  This chapter records how Abram, though threatened with major conflict with Lot because of their herdsmen's strife, magnanimously gave his nephew his choice of what land he wanted. Lot took an area that was very fertile, thoug...
• Abram's war with four kings 14:1-16
  A major significance of this literary unit is that it describes two more challenges to God's faithfulness and Abram's faith. So far Abram had had to contend with several barriers to God's fulfilling His promises to him. His w...
• 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...
• 6. The birth of Ishmael ch. 16
  Sarai and Abram tried to obtain the heir God had promised them by resorting to a culturally acceptable custom of their day even though it involved a failure to trust God. This fleshly act created serious complications for Abr...
• 7. The sign of circumcision ch. 17
  The Lord confirmed His covenant with Abram by commanding him to circumcise all the males in his household. Circumcision thereby became the physical demonstration (sign) of the obedient faith of Abram and his descendants.510Go...
• 16. The purchase of Sarah's tomb ch. 23
  Abraham's purchase of a burial site in the Promised Land demonstrated his intention to remain in Canaan rather than going back to his native homeland. Since he was a sojourner in Canaan his friends probably expected him to bu...
• Abraham's death and Isaac's blessing 25:7-11
  Isaac would have been 75 years old and Jacob 15 when Abraham died (v. 7; cf. 21:5; 25:26).617"It is one thing to live a long life. It is another thing to live a long life that is also a happy life. This obituary notice about ...
• C. What became of Isaac 25:19-35:29
  A new toledotbegins with 25:19. Its theme is "the acquisition of the blessing and its development and protection by the Lord."625Moses set up the whole Jacob narrative in a chiastic structure that emphasizes the fulfillment o...
• 3. Isaac and Abimelech 26:1-11
  God prevented Isaac from leaving the Promised Land and renewed the covenant with him, but then He had to protect Rebekah when Isaac lied about his relationship with her to Abimelech."In the short span of one chapter, the writ...
• 6. Jacob's vision at Bethel 28:10-22
  Yahweh appeared at the top of an angel-filled stairway restating the promise to Abraham and adding more promises of blessing and protection for Jacob. The patriarch acknowledged God's presence, memorialized the place with a m...
• God's encouragement to move 46:1-7
  The structure of chapters 46 and 47 is also chiastic.887AGod appears to Jacob (46:1-4)BJacob journeys to Egypt (46:5-27)CJoseph meets Jacob (46:28-34)DJoseph's brothers meet Pharaoh (47:1-6)C'Jacob meets Pharaoh (47:7-10)B'Jo...
• Jacob's announcement of Joseph's birthright 48:21-22
  Jacob (Israel, the prince with God because of his faith) firmly believed God's promise to bring his descendants back into the Promised Land (cf. 46:4). Jacob's prophetic promise to Joseph (v. 22) is a play on words. The word ...
• Bibliography
  Aalders, Gerhard Charles. Genesis. The Bible Student's Commentary series. 2 vols. Translated by William Heynen. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas...
• 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 ...
• 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...
• 7. The proclamation of the tenth plague ch. 11
  ". . . the slaying of the first-born is both the culmination of the plague narrative and the beginning of the passover tradition. Chapter 11 as a literary unit, therefore, points both backward and forward."187Evidently Moses ...
• 3. The exodus of Israel out of Egypt 12:37-42
  12:37-39 The record of Israel's sojourn in the wilderness really begins here.Rameses is probably the same city as Raamses, also called Avaris (v. 37; cf. 1:11). It was the city from which the Israelites left Egypt, and it lay...
• 2. Israel's passage through the Red Sea ch. 14
  14:1-4 Scholars have not been able to locate definitely the sites referred to in verse 2."An Egyptian papyrus associates Baal Zephon with Tahpahnes . . . a known site near Lake Menzaleh in the northeastern delta region."235Ho...
• 5. The friendliness of Jethro the Midianite ch. 18
  As a Midianite, Jethro was a descendant of Abraham as was Amalek. Both were blood relatives of the Israelites. Nevertheless the attitudes of the Amalekites and Jethro were very different, though Midian as a nation was hostile...
• 1. Preparation for the Covenant ch. 19
  Moses revealed God's purpose for giving the Mosaic Covenant in this chapter.19:1-6 The Israelites arrived at the base of the mountain where God gave them the law about three months after they had left Egypt, in May-June (v. 1...
• 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...
• God's punishment of the people 14:20-38
  The fact that God granted the people pardon in response to Moses' intercession is another indication of His grace (vv. 20-21).The failure of the Israelites would not frustrate God's purpose to manifest His glory throughout th...
• Israel's defeat of Sihon 21:21-32
  This account fits chronologically after 21:13. It records two great victories that God gave His people over two of the mighty Amorite kings."The term Amorite has various meanings in the OT: Canaanites generally (e.g., Gen. 15...
• 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...
• Command to destroy the Canaanites and their idolatry ch. 7
  This chapter is a logical development of what Moses said in chapters 5 and 6. God had called on His people to acknowledge that He is the only true God and to be completely loyal to Him. In Canaan they would encounter temptati...
• The consequences of obedience and disobedience ch. 11
  The section of Deuteronomy dealing with general stipulations of the covenant ends as it began, with an exhortation to covenant loyalty (5:1-5; cf. 4:32-40)."This chapter is to be understood as a re-emphasis of these principle...
• 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 ...
• Message10
  Joshua reveals that God hates sin because He loves people. (This is the message statement.) Of course He also hates sin because it offends His holiness. However in Joshua I believe the emphasis is on God's concern for the Isr...
• 1. God's charge to Joshua 1:1-9
  In one sense verses 1-9 are a preamble to the whole book. They contain the basic principles that were to guide Joshua and Israel so they could obtain all that God had promised their forefathers.1:1 The first word of the book ...
• 3. The spying out of Jericho ch. 2
  As preparation for entering Canaan, Joshua sent spies to reconnoiter the area Israel would enter."Although Joshua had received a promise from the Lord of His almighty help in the conquest of Canaan, he still thought it necess...
• The conquest of the land 11:16-23
  The writer referred to Canaan as "the land of the sons of Israel"first here in Scripture (v. 22). The Anakim were the mighty warriors that the 10 spies had feared (Num. 13:28). Israel destroyed most of these."The hardening of...
• 2. Caleb's inheritance 14:6-15
  Before the casting of lots began Caleb came to Joshua with his fellow tribesmen from Judah to request the inheritance that Moses had promised him (v. 9; Deut. 1:36; cf. Num. 14:26-38). Moses had promised Caleb land in Canaan ...
• The leadership of Judah 1:1-21
  1:1 The Book of Judges begins with a conjunction translated "now"or "and."God intended Judges to continue the narrative of Israel's history where the Book of Joshua ended (cf. Josh. 1:1). This verse provides a heading for the...
• 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...
• 3. The giving of the Davidic Covenant ch. 7
  In response to David's desire to honor God (ch. 6), God promised to honor David with a line of descendants that would continue to rule Israel (ch. 7). Thus God would not only establish David's reign as long as he lived but fo...
• God's purpose to honor David 7:4-17
  The promises Yahweh made to David here are an important key to understanding God's program for the future.God rejected David's suggestion that he build a temple for the Lord and gave three reasons. First, there was no pressin...
• B. Four Giant Killers 21:15-22
  This record emphasizes the supernatural character of the victories David was able to enjoy because God fought for him by using various men in his army."The lists of heroes and heroic exploits that frame the poetic centre-piec...
• Solomon's prosperity 4:20-28
  We can explain the writer's unusual reference to Judah and Israel at this time, before the division of the kingdom. When he wrote Kings the nation had split, so probably the writer was using the designation that was common in...
• 2. The record of God's faithfulness to Israel 105:7-41
  105:7-11 God remembered His people (v. 7, cf. v. 42) so His people should remember Him (v. 5). God had been faithful to the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3, 7; 15:18-21; 22:15-18; 28:13-15). He made this covenant with Abraham...
• The former failure 48:1-11
  This section recapitulates the revelation that Yahweh predicts the future so that when what He predicts happens people will recognize that He is the only true God. He can cause new things to happen because He alone is the Cre...
• Listening to the Servant 51:1-8
  This section of Isaiah, like the preceding one, reflects on the third Servant Song (50:4-9). Here the emphasis is on the expectations of those who will listen to the Servant as well as encouragement to those followers of righ...
• The linen waistband 13:1-11
  This is the first of several symbolic acts that Jeremiah performed to communicate divine messages (cf. 16:1-4; 18:1-12; 19:1-2, 10-11; 27:1-28:17; 32:1-15; 43:8-13; 51:59-64). Other prophets did the same thing (cf. Isa. 20:2-...
• Treachery against servants 34:8-22
  This incident happened during the respite in the siege, as did those recorded in 32:1-15; 37-38; and 39:15-18 (cf. vv. 21-22). The year was about 588 B.C.34:8-9 The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Zedek...
• The birth of Jerusalem 16:1-5
  16:1-2 The Lord instructed Ezekiel to make the detestable practices of the people of Jerusalem known to them. He prophesied to the exiles, but his message presented the people of Jerusalem as the primary object of his attenti...
• The first objection: God's conduct 18:19-23
  God proceeded to adopt a dialogical teaching style in which He both asked and answered questions about individual responsibility.18:19-20 The Israelites were claiming that a righteous son (themselves) would die for his father...
• Israel's rebellion in Egypt and God's grace 20:5-9
  The Lord's history lesson for these elders described Israel in four successive periods: in Egypt (vv. 5-9), in the wilderness (vv. 10-26), in the Promised Land (vv. 27-29), and in the present time (vv. 30-38).281What the Lord...
• An illustration of Israel's restoration 37:1-14
  This well-known apocalyptic vision of the valley of dry bones pictures the manner in which Yahweh would restore His people.473This may be the best known section of the Book of Ezekiel."Few other passages have suffered more fr...
• 5. Topographical aspects of the Millennium chs. 47-48
  God promised Abraham that He would give a particular piece of real estate to his descendants (Gen. 12:7). Later He reiterated this promise and became more specific about its boundaries (Gen. 15:7, 18-21; 17:8; Num. 34:1-12). ...
• Message8
  The Book of Amos is distinctive from the other prophetic books of the Old Testament in two respects.First, the prophet Amos was not a prophet in the same sense that the other prophets were prophets. He was not recognized as a...
• God's past grace 2:9-12
  In this section Amos reminded the Israelites of Yahweh's past blessings on them. This made the heinousness of their sins even clearer. Israel's treatment of the poor had been destructive, but Yahweh's treatment of the poor Is...
• B. Jonah's lack of compassion 1:4-6
  1:4 Jonah subjected himself to dangers that Israel and the entire ancient Near East viewed as directly under divine control when he launched out on the sea. The sea to them was the embodiment of the chaotic forces that humans...
• 3. Praise for forgiveness 7:18-20
  Micah had prayed, he received the Lord's answer, and this answer moved him to worship (cf. Exod. 34:6-7).447:18 The prophet praised Yahweh as a God who is unique in that He pardons the rebellious sins of the surviving remnant...
• Message9
  The story that Nahum told is a story of the utter and irrevocable destruction of a great city and a great people. Nahum told the story as prophecy, but what he predicted is now history. Nahum lived when Assyria was threatenin...
• 2. The Lord's indictment of Babylon 2:4-5
  Having prepared the prophet for His answer, the Lord now gave it. What follows must be that revelation.2:4 Proud Babylon was not right in doing what she did but was puffed up with pride and evil passions. In contrast, the rig...
• 1. Judgment coming on Philistia 2:4-7
  2:4 The prophet announced that destruction would overtake four of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis (cf. Isa. 14:28-32; Jer. 47; Ezek. 25:15-17; Amos 1:6-8). He listed them from south to north. Gath had evidently d...
• 3. Israel's regathering 3:18-20
  3:18 In the past Jews who lived far from Jerusalem were very sad because they could not travel to Jerusalem to observe Israel's annual feasts. They suffered a certain criticism from their fellow Jews for living far away from ...
• The deliverance and blessing of Zion's people 9:11-17
  Before Messiah can reign in peace, He must destroy all enemies and deliver and restore His people (cf. Ps. 110).9:11 As for the Israelites (Zion), the Lord promised to set free those of them whom their enemies would hold pris...
• A. The King's genealogy 1:1-17 (cf. Luke 3:23-38)
  Matthew began his Gospel with a record of Jesus' genealogy because the Christians claimed that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. To qualify as such He had to be a Jew from the royal line of David (Isa. 9:6-...
• The parable of the wicked tenant farmers 21:33-46
  Jesus proceeded immediately to tell another parable. Luke wrote that Jesus addressed it to the crowds in the temple courtyard (Luke 20:9). The chief priests and elders continued to listen (vv. 45-46).21:33-34 Jesus alluded to...
• The seventh woe 23:29-36
  23:29-30 By building monuments to the prophets and other righteous people that their forefathers had martyred, the Pharisees were saying that they would not have killed them if they had been alive then. These construction pro...
• 7. The King's judgment of the nations 25:31-46
  Jesus concluded the Olivet Discourse with further revelation about the judgment that will take place at the end of the present age when He returns. He had referred to it often in the discourse, but now He made it a special su...
• 2. The angel's announcement to Zechariah 1:8-23
  1:8-9 Zechariah was serving God faithfully by discharging some temple function as a member of his priestly division. There were so many priests then that the great privilege of offering incense on the golden incense altar in ...
• The older brother 15:25-32
  15:25-27 Jesus pictured the older brother, symbolic of the Pharisees and scribes, as working hard for the father. The Jews as well as the Jewish religious leaders likewise enjoyed the privileged status of an older brother in ...
• 6. Zaccheus' ideal response to Jesus 19:1-10
  This section in Luke's long narrative of Jesus' ministry as He travelled to Jerusalem (9:51-19:27) is climactic. It is a choice example of Jesus offering salvation to a needy person. Zaccheus accepted Jesus' offer and respond...
• The violent response of Jesus' critics 8:48-59
  8:48 Since the Jews could not refute Jesus' challenge they resorted to verbal abuse (cf. 7:52). Perhaps they called Him a Samaritan because He had questioned their ties to Abraham. This may have been a Samaritan attack agains...
• The descent of the Spirit 2:1-4
  Luke introduced the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry with His baptism with the Spirit (Luke 3:21-22). He paralleled this with the beginning of Jesus' heavenly ministry with the Spirit baptism of His disciples (Acts 2:1-4)...
• The Abrahamic Covenant 7:2-8
  Stephen began his defense by going back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, and to the Abrahamic Covenant, God's foundational promises to the Jews.7:2-3 Stephen called for the Sanhedrin's attention addressing his hea...
• The career of Moses 7:17-36
  Stephen's understanding of Moses was as orthodox as his view of God, but his presentation of Moses' career made comparison with Jesus' career unmistakable. As in the previous pericope, there is a double emphasis in this one, ...
• C. The proof of justification by faith from the law ch. 4
  Paul's readers could have understood faith as being a new method of salvation since he contrasted faith with the law. He began this epistle by saying that the gospel reveals a righteousness from God implying something new (1:...
• 1. Abraham's justification by faith 4:1-5
  Paul began this chapter by showing that God declared Abraham righteous because of the patriarch's faith.4:1 By referring to Abraham as "our forefather after the flesh"(v. 1) Paul revealed that he was aiming these comments at ...
• 5. The exemplary value of Abraham's faith 4:18-22
  Paul concluded his proof that faith was the only method of justification before the Cross by showing that what Abraham did in trusting God is essentially what everyone must do.4:18 Abraham's hope rested solely on God's promis...
• 4. Special revelations Paul received 12:1-10
  Paul had cited his freedom to minister without the Corinthians' financial support and his sufferings in ministry as grounds for boasting. He next mentioned the special visions and revelations that God had granted him. He refe...
• The blessing of faith 3:6-9
  3:6 The Judaizers, in emphasizing the Mosaic Law, appealed to Moses frequently. Paul took them back farther in their history to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation. He cited Genesis 15:6 to prove that God justified Abrah...
• The purpose of the Law 3:19-22
  3:19 In view of the foregoing argument, did the Law have any value? Yes, God had several purposes in it. Purpose, not cause, is in view, as is clear in the Greek text.There have been four primary interpretations of what "beca...
• 2. How the gospel was received 2:13-16
  Paul reminded his readers how they had welcomed the gospel message to vindicate further his own ministry and to emphasize the importance of proclaiming this message. He did this so the Thessalonians would continue to herald i...
• 5. James' rebuttal 2:19-23
  2:19 James refuted the argument of the objector stated in verse 18. Genuine faith does not alwaysresult in good works. The demons believe that what God has revealed about Himself is true. The Shema(Deut. 6:4) was and is the p...
• 1. Renouncing sin reaffirmed 3:4-9
  "The present vv, 3:4-9, form six strophes, each of which divides . . . roughly into half. The two halves of the strophes balance one another; for the second part of the v provides a development of the first part (vv 4, 5, 7),...
• 8. The sixth bowl 16:12-16
  The final three bowl judgments all have political consequences.16:12 The problem that this judgment poses for earth-dwellers is not a result of the judgment itself but its consequences, namely, war. It does not inflict a plag...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• God's Covenant With Abram
  Genesis 15:5-18
• 4. Consider The Covenant Which Is The Consequence Of Abram's Faith,
  And the proof of his acceptance.It is important to observe that the whole remainder of this chapter is regarded by the writer as the result of Abram's believing God. The way in which verse? and the rest are bolted on, as it w...
• Faith And Righteousness
  Genesis 15:6It is remarkable to find this anticipation of New Testament teaching so far back. It is like finding one full-blown flower in a garden where all else is but swelling into bud. No wonder that Paul fastened on it to...
• III. He Has Been Arguing From The Very Nature Of Faith, And The Relation Between It And Conduct.
  Now he turns to history and appeals to Abraham's case. In these verses he goes over the same ground as Paul does in Romans v., and there is a distinct verbal contradiction between James 2:24 here and Romans 3:28; but it is on...