Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 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...
• The garments of the lesser priests 28:40-43
  The clothing described in these verses appears to be the garments the priests other than the high priest wore. All the priests ministered barefoot out of reverence for the holiness of God (cf. 3:5; Josh. 5:15)."This prescript...
• Moses' last campaign ch. 31
  The writer now recorded the fulfillment of God's instructions to Moses that Israel should destroy the Midianites (25:16-18). In this account, the aftermath of the battle receives more attention than the battle itself. Evident...
• Date and Writer
  The Book of Joshua evidently came into being several years after the events recorded in the book took place. A number of statements point to a time of composition beyond the conquest and perhaps beyond the lifetime of Joshua....
• Scope
  As I have explained previously, the date of the Exodus was about 1446 B.C. (cf. 1 Kings 6:1).7Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness (Exod. 16:35; Num. 14:33-34). Thus Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered the land abo...
• Outline
  I. The conquest of the land chs. 1-12A. Preparations for entering Canaan chs. 1-21. God's charge to Joshua 1:1-92. Joshua's charge to Israel 1:10-183. The spying out of Jericho ch. 2B. Entrance into the land 3:1-5:121. Passag...
• 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...
• 2. Circumcision and celebration of the Passover 5:1-12
  "This chapter [five] records four experiences which God brought to Joshua and the people, each one centered about a token, or symbol . . . The Token of Circumcision: Restoration to covenant favor (5:2-9) . . . The Token of Bl...
• 1. The conquest of Jericho 5:13-6:27
  5:13-15 "Despite Joshua's long military experience he had never led an attack on a fortified city that was prepared for a long siege. In fact, of all the walled cities in Palestine, Jericho was probably the most invincible. T...
• 2. Defeat at Ai ch. 7
  At Jericho, Israel learned God's strength. At Ai, she learned her own weakness. She could only conquer her enemies as she remained faithful to God's covenant."We are never in greater danger than right after we have won a grea...
• The slaughter of the western kings 12:7-24
  The writer identified 31 kings in the order in which Joshua defeated them."Many of the same names appear in the Amarna letters, thus confirming the historicity of our text."158"The description was not complete. Shechem is not...
• Bibliography
  Aharoni, Yohanan. "The Province-List of Judah."Vetus Testamentum9 (1959):225-46.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwel...
• 2. The announcement of God's discipline 2:1-5
  The events of this pericope tie in directly with those of the previous one. Israel's failure recorded there led to the discipline announced here."The narrator moves from chap. 1 to chap. 2 like a modern preacher moves from te...
• The report of the spies 18:7-10
  The five Danites continued northward about 100 miles and finally came upon an area they felt would be ideal for their needs. They discovered the isolated town of Laish (Leshem, Josh. 19:47) that they believed they could captu...
• 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...
• Hannah's barrenness 1:3-8
  Elkanah was a bigamist, a condition forbidden by God (Gen. 2:24). However, he loved Hannah dearly and gave her special consideration since she was infertile (v. 5; cf. Jacob's relationship with Rachel and Leah). Hannah's ster...
• 1. The battle of Aphek 4:1b-11
  The Philistines, as we have already seen in Judges, were Israel's primary enemy to the west at this time. Samson, too, fought the Philistines (Judg. 13-16).52There are about 150 references to the Philistines in 1 and 2 Samuel...
• Israel's commitment to Saul 11:12-15
  Admirably Saul sought no personal revenge on those who initially had failed to support him (10:27; cf. Judg. 20:13; Luke 19:27). Furthermore he gave God the glory for his victory (cf. Jon. 2:9; Ps. 20:7; Prov. 21:31). He was ...
• 5. Yahweh's final rejection of Saul ch. 15
  "In the short pericope 13:7b-15a obedience was the stone on which Saul stumbled; here it is the rock that crushes him."147Chapter 15 records one of the battles Saul had with the Amalekites, Israel's enemy to the south (cf. 14...
• Ahab's wickedness 16:29-34
  Verses 30 and 33 bracket and set forth Ahab's unusual wickedness with special emphasis. The writer had just written that Omri was the worst king so far (v. 25), but now he said Ahab exceeded him in wickedness. For Ahab, the f...
• The vindication of Yahweh 18:17-40
  Ahab had a problem of perception similar to Obadiah's (v. 17; cf. v. 7). The real source of Israel's troubles was Ahab and Omri's disregard of the Mosaic Covenant and their preference for idolatry (Deut. 6:5)."This was a crim...
• God's deliverance of Israel 20:26-30
  The battle of Aphek (873 B.C.) took place on the tableland east of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee), the modern Golan Heights. The Arameans greatly outnumbered Israel (v. 27), but God promised Ahab victory so he and all Israel...
• The fate of the wicked 15:17-35
  Perhaps Eliphaz wanted to scare Job into repenting with these words. As before, Eliphaz's authority was his own observations (v. 17; cf. 4:8). To this he added the wisdom of their ancestors (vv. 18-19; cf. 8:8). Probably vers...
• 1. A prayer for deliverance 35:1-10
  In this section David asked God to deliver him from enemies who were trying to kill him without cause.35:1-3 David appealed to the Lord for defense as to a champion who goes out in battle for another (cf. Josh. 5:13-15).35:4-...
• 1. The reason for Israel's present trust in the Lord 44:1-8
  The psalmist recalled God's past faithfulness to Israel's forefathers and affirmed the nation's present confidence in the Lord.44:1-3 Speaking for the nation the psalmist related the account of God's giving the Promised Land ...
• 1. The oracle concerning Messiah 110:1-2
  The psalmist wrote that he heard a conversation between Yahweh and David's Master. Clearly this distinguishes two members of the Godhead. LORD (Yahweh) refers to God the Father and Lord (adonay) refers to God the Son, the Mes...
• 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...
• The witness to redemption 43:8-44:20
  Isaiah continued to show that Yahweh was both willing and able to deliver His people, a theme begun in 42:10. He confronted the gods, again (cf. 41:21-29), but this time he challenged them to bring forth witnesses to their de...
• The solitary Warrior 63:1-6
  "Having described the exaltation of Zion and her enlargement through the influx of the Gentiles, the prophet turns to describe the destruction of Zion's enemies."701"The oracle is most dramatic. The only OT passage that in an...
• 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...
• 3. The relentlessness of the army 2:6-9
  2:6 As this army advanced, all the people in and around Jerusalem felt terrified and turned pale with fear (cf. Isa. 26:17; Jer. 4:31; Mic. 4:10).2:7-9 The enemy soldiers ran with great stamina and climbed over walls, as locu...
• 2. The Lord's promise of blessing 2:19-27
  Having given His essential response to the people's repentance, the Lord now explained what He would do in more detail. This section is chiastic with the focus of emphasis on verses 21-24. Verses 19 and 26-27 promise a restor...
• Outline
  I. Introduction 1:1-6II. The eight night visions and four messages 1:7-6:8A. The horseman among the myrtle trees 1:7-171. The vision proper 1:7-152. The oracle about God's jealousy for Israel 1:16-17B. The four horns and the ...
• 1. The vision proper 1:7-15
  1:7 Zechariah received another revelation from the Lord three months after his previous one in Darius' second year, 520 B.C.35"On the same day (24 Shebat), five months earlier, the rebuilding of the temple had been resumed (c...
• The security of Israel 14:9-11
  14:9 In that day Yahweh would rule over the whole earth. He would be the only king; there would be no others. His name would be number one in the earth; there will be no other so-called gods (cf. Deut. 6:4-5). This verse refe...
• Introduction to the seven trumpet judgments 8:2-6
  8:2 John saw someone, perhaps God, give seven trumpets to a group of seven angels standing before the heavenly throne (cf. 1:4; 3:1; 8:6; 15:1). Exactly who these angels were is not clear. Some interpreters have identified th...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• The Captain Of The Lord's Host
  Joshua 5:14The army of Israel was just beginning a hard conflict under an untried leader. Behind them the Jordan barred their retreat, in front of them Jericho forbade their advance. Most of them had never seen a fortified ci...
• The Siege Of Jericho
  Joshua 6:10-11The cheerful uniform obedience of Israel to Joshua stands in very remarkable contrast with their perpetual murmurings and rebellions under Moses. Many reasons probably concurred in bringing about this change of ...
• Rahab
  Joshua 6:25This story comes in like an oasis in these terrible narratives of Canaanite extermination. There is much about it that is beautiful and striking, but the main thing is that it teaches the universality of God's merc...