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...
• Message12
  The message of the Bible might be the best place to begin our study of the Old Testament. What is the Bible all about? We could state it as follows: God desires to glorify Himself by blessing humankind.The message of the Pent...
• 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...
• I. PRIMEVAL EVENTS 1:1--11:26
  Chapters 1-11 provide an introduction to the Book of Genesis, the Pentateuch, and the whole Bible."What we find in chaps. 1-11 is the divine initiation of blessing, which is compromised by human sin followed by gracious prese...
• The sixth day 1:24-31
  1:24-25 "Cattle"probably refers to animals that man could tame and "beasts"to wild animals.What happened to the dinosaurs? Conservative Bible interpreters generally believe they existed but became extinct before the Flood or ...
• 4. The seventh day 2:1-3
  "2:1-3 echoes 1:1 by introducing the same phrases but in reverse order: he created,' God,' heavens and earth' reappear as heavens and earth' (2:1) God' (2:2), created' (2:3). This chiastic pattern brings the section to a neat...
• 1. The garden of Eden 2:4-3:24
  This story has seven scenes that a change in actors, situations or activities identifies. Moses constructed this section of Genesis in a chiastic (palistrophic, crossing) structure to focus attention on the central scene, the...
• 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"...
• The temptation of Eve 3:1-5
  As in chapters 1 and 2, the word of the Lord is very important in chapter 3. Here Adam and Eve doubted God's integrity. This pericope also has something to teach about the acquisition of wisdom. Chapter 2 anticipated God's gi...
• God's confrontation of the sinners 3:9-13
  This section begins to relate the effects of the Fall. We now see the God who was creator and benefactor in chapters 1 and 2 as judge (cf. 1:3-4). He first interrogated the offenders to obtain a confession, then announced new...
• 2. The murder of Abel 4:1-16
  Chapter 4 shows the spread of sin from Adam's family to the larger society that his descendants produced. Not only did sin affect everyone, but people became progressively more wicked as time passed. Verses 1-16 show that the...
• 2. The dispersion at Babel 11:1-9
  The main emphasis in this section is not the building of the tower of Babel but the dispersion of the peoples. We can see this in the literary structure of the passage.361AAll the earth had one language (v. 1)Bthere (v. 2)C o...
• 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...
• 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...
• 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...
• Peace in the family of Jacob 50:15-21
  The words of Joseph's brothers may or may not have been true (vv. 16-17). Jacob may have left such a message even though Moses did not record it in Genesis. Since Moses did not record it, he probably intended the reader to co...
• 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...
• 10. The sign of the Sabbath 31:12-18
  "As a sign of the Noahic covenant is the rainbow (Gen. 9:13), and as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision (Gen. 17:11), the sign of the Mosaic covenant is the observance and celebration of the Sabbath day (Exod....
• Distinctions between clean and unclean animals 11:1-23
  We have here the same threefold division of animals that inhabit the land, sea, and air as the one that appears in the story of creation (Gen. 1:20-23)."It has long been recognized . . . that the order of the purity laws in L...
• 2. Uncleanness due to childbirth ch. 12
  The laws of purification begun in this chapter connect in principle with the preceding ones that deal with unclean food and animals. The defilement dealt with in this group (chs. 12-15) proceeded from the human body. Pollutio...
• Bibliography
  Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell, The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology series. H...
• The sixth commandment 5:17
  The meaning of the Hebrew word ratsahtranslated "kill"or "murder"(NASB, NIV) is "murder"or "slay."Of course, humans rather than animals are in view. Both forms of murder, premeditated and non-premeditated (i.e., manslaughter ...
• 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...
• Bibliography
  Achtemeier, Paul J., and Elizabeth Achtemeier. The Old Testament Roots of Our Faith. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979.Ackerman, James S. "Knowing Good and Evil: A Literary Ananysis of the Court History in 2 Samuel 9-20 and ...
• 1. The wish that he had not been born 3:1-10
  Job evidently considered his conception as the beginning of his existence (v. 3). His poetic description of his birth sets forth his regret that he had left his mother's womb alive."Leviathan [3:8] was a seven-headed sea mons...
• 3. Praise of the Creator 104:24-32
  104:24-30 The psalmist broke out in praise to Yahweh for His wisdom in creating as He did. He also acknowledged that all God created belonged to Him. This even included the sea with all its hidden treasures. Leviathan probabl...
• 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 basic imperative 12:1
  Again Solomon began with a clear statement of his point and then proceeded to prove and illustrate its truth in the verses that follow. "Remember"means to live your life with what you know about God clearly in view, not just ...
• The coming of death 12:6-7
  12:6 Solomon described the end of life first as the extinguishing of a light. The "golden bowl"is a bowl that holds a flame. When the "silver cord"that holds it breaks, the bowl crashes to the floor and the light goes out. Go...
• The prophets second exhortation 2:22
  This section (2:5-22) closes as it opened, with an exhortation, this one negative. Isaiah called on his hearers to stop trusting in man. His life, after all, comes from God, who should be trusted (cf. Gen. 2:7; 7:22; Ps. 146:...
• Two woes against Jerusalem ch. 29
  There are two more "woes"that deal with Jerusalem in this chapter (vv. 1-14, 15-24) in addition to the one in chapter 28. The first of these is similar to the previous "woe"(cf. vv. 1-8 with 28:1-6, and vv. 9-14 with 28:7-13)...
• 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...
• The temple river 47:1-12
  47:1 Ezekiel's guide, who appears to have been his original guide in this vision (v. 3), brought him back to the main entrance to the temple proper. Ezekiel saw water flowing to the east from under the temple threshold.565It ...
• 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...
• D. God's rebuke of Jonah for his attitude 4:5-9
  The Lord proceeded to teach Jonah His ways and to confront him with his attitude problem.4:5 We might have expected Jonah to leave what so angered him quickly, as Elijah had fled from Israel and sought refuge far from it to t...
• The healing of a man with a withered hand 12:9-14 (cf. Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11)
  In the previous encounter Jesus appealed to Scripture, but in this one He did not. In that one His disciples were the target of Pharisaic criticism, but in this one He was.12:9-10 The Pharisees believed that it was permissibl...
• Jesus' teaching about the resurrection 12:18-27 (cf. Matt. 22:23-33; Luke 20:27-40)
  12:18 The Sadducees were mainly urban, wealthy, and educated Jews. Their numbers were comparatively few, but they occupied important positions including many in the priesthood. Their influence was greater than their size as a...
• 3. Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus 3:1-21
  John now presented evidence that Jesus knew people as no others did and that many believed in His name (2:23). This constitutes further witness that He is the Son of God. John summarized several conversations that Jesus had w...
• The healing of the man 9:1-12
  The exact time of this miracle and Jesus' resultant discourse is unclear. Evidently these events transpired sometime between the feast of Tabernacles (7:2, 10; September 10-17, 32 A.D.) and the feast of Dedication (10:22-39; ...
• 3. The appearance to the Eleven minus Thomas on Easter evening 20:19-23 (cf. Mark 16:14-18; Luke 24:36-43)
  This pericope contains another post-resurrection appearance of Jesus that bolstered the disciples' faith. It also contains John's account of the Great Commission.20:19 John moved his readers directly from the events of Easter...
• The analogy from Scripture 15:45-49
  Paul now returned to his analogy between Adam and Christ (cf. vv. 21-22) to reinforce his argument, which he had brought to a head in verse 44.15:45 The natural body is physical, the product of Adam who received life from God...
• B. The primary responsibilities of the men and the women in church meetings 2:8-15
  "In this paragraph Paul continues his instructions on prayers' begun in verse 1. But now the concern is for proper demeanor on the part of the pray-ers.' But whythese concerns, and why in this way? And why the inordinate amou...
• 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),...
• II THE LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES chs. 2--3
  Before analyzing each of the seven letters that follows we should note some of their features as a group. They are similar in that they are all brief, and each contains a unique description of the Lord Jesus drawn from 1:12-2...
• The restoration of Paradise 22:1-5
  Essentially what John saw next was Paradise regained (cf. 2:7; Gen. 2; Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:2). Having viewed the splendor of the New Jerusalem he now saw what will nourish and enrich the lives of God's people there."Up to t...