Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• The ark of the covenant 25:10-22
  The ark was the throne of Yahweh where He dwelt in a localized way and met with the Israelites through their high priest. It was the seat of His sovereignty but also the place where He met with His people (v. 22). This is why...
• The curtains 26:1-14
  The extent to which these curtains were visible from inside the tabernacle is not clear in the text and has been the subject of debate by commentators. They were of four colors that some writers have interpreted as having sym...
• The courtyard 27:9-19
  The courtyard was 50 cubits wide by 100 cubits long (75 feet by 150 feet, half the length of an American football field). This area is about the size of a modest residential lot in the United States. The curtains that formed ...
• The priests 28:1-5
  Aaron had been functioning as a priest (Heb. cohen; 4:16). Now Moses officially appointed him and his sons to this office. God apparently specified Aaron because he was the brother of Moses whom God had already designated as ...
• 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 ...
• E. The construction and dedication of the objects used in Israel's worship chs. 35-40
  The renewal of the covenant made the erection of the tabernacle possible. Here begins what scholars refer to as the Code of the Priests (Exod. 35--Lev. 16). Having broken the covenant once, God proceeded to give His people mo...
• Outline
  "At first sight the book of Leviticus might appear to be a haphazard, even repetitious arrangement of enactments involving the future life in Canaan of the Israelite people. Closer examination will reveal, however, that quite...
• I. The public worship of the Israelites chs. 1--16
  Leviticus continues revelation concerning the second of three elements necessary for any nation to exist, namely, a people (Gen. 12:10--Exod. 19), their law (Exod. 20--Num. 10:10), and their land (Num. 10:11--Josh. 24).Leviti...
• 4. The sin offering 4:1-5:13
  Keil and Delitzsch pointed out that ancient Near Easterners offered certain offerings before God incorporated these into the Mosaic Law. Moses previously mentioned burnt offerings in Genesis 12:7; 13:4, 18; 22; 26:25; 33:20; ...
• C. Laws relating to ritual cleanliness chs. 11-15
  A change of subject matter indicates another major division in Leviticus. We move now from narrative to more legislation. These five chapters pick up the idea introduced in 10:10: ". . . make a distinction between the holy an...
• 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...
• The ritual cleansing of abnormalities in human skin 14:1-32
  The procedures described here were not curative but ritual. God prescribed no treatment for the cure of leprosy here, but He explained how the priests and the Israelites could recognize healed skin so formerly afflicted indiv...
• 4. Uncleanness due to bodily discharges associated with reproduction ch. 15
  This chapter concludes the regulations on uncleanness (chs. 11-15)."The uncleanness laws start with uncleanness that is permanent: that associated with various animals and food (ch. 11). Then they deal with the uncleanness of...
• D. The Day of Atonement ch. 16
  The sacrifices and offerings that Moses described thus far in the law were not sufficient to cleanse all the defilement that the sins of the people created. Much sinfulness still needed covering. Therefore God appointed a yea...
• The scapegoat 16:20-22
  These verses describe the fourth and most striking phase of this day's ceremony. The second goat symbolically bore the sins of the people taking them to an unclean place far from God. There is difference of opinion among the ...
• 3. Instructions concerning the duty of the people 16:29-34
  These verses also contain instructions for the yearly celebration of the Day of Atonement. The fact that the Israelites repeated it year by year points to the incompleteness of the atonement that animal sacrifices made (cf. H...
• II. The private worship of the Israelites chs. 17--27
  The second major division of Leviticus deals with how the Israelites were to express their worship of Yahweh in their private lives."The first sixteen chapters of Leviticus are concerned primarily with establishment and maint...
• 1. Holiness of food ch. 17
  We move from public regulations in chapter 16 to intimate regulations in chapter 18 with chapter 17 providing the transition. In contrast to the first sixteen chapters, chapter 17 says very little about the role of the priest...
• 4. Punishments for serious crimes ch. 20
  The preceding two chapters specify correct behavior. This one sets forth the punishments for disobedience. Chapters 18-19 already discussed most of the subjects dealt with in this chapter."The difference between the laws in t...
• 6. The Day of Atonement 23:26-32
  Moses described this day (Heb. Yom Kippur) in chapter 16 more fully for the priests' benefit. Here he stressed the responsibilities of the average Israelite.This day was a fast rather than a feast. The people were to "humble"...
• Conclusion
  Genesis reveals how people can have a relationship with God. This comes through trust in God and obedience to Him. Faith is the key word in Genesis. God proves Himself faithful in this book.Exodus reveals that God is also sov...
• 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...
• B. Naomi's inability to provide husbands for Ruth and Orpah 1:6-14
  God eventually withdrew the famine from Judah (v. 6) probably in response to His people's calling out to Him for deliverance (cf. Judg. 3:9, 15; 4:3; 6:6; 10:10; 16:28). This verse sounds one of the major themes of the story:...
• Jeroboam's idolatry 12:25-33
  During its history the Northern Kingdom had three capitals: first Shechem (v. 25), then Tirzah (14:17; 15:33), and finally Samaria (16:23-24). Perhaps the king strengthened Penuel in west-central Gilead as a Transjordanian pr...
• The Servant wounded 53:4-6
  It becomes clear in this stanza of the song that the Servant's sufferings were not His own fault, as onlookers thought. They were for the sins of humankind and resulted in our healing. Furthermore, He would not merely suffer ...
• But true worship 58:6-14
  Isaiah contrasted God's conception of fasting with that of His people.58:6 The type of fasting that pleases God is giving up wickedness, oppression, enslavement, and binding of other people, not just food. Isaiah did not mean...
• G. The woman in the basket 5:5-11
  The preceding vision described the future removal of individual sinners from the land through divine judgment, and this one pictures the eventual removal of all wickedness from the future "holy land"(2:12; cf. 3:9)."In line w...
• Israel's national conversion 12:10-14
  The focus now changes from physical to spiritual deliverance (cf. Deut. 30:1-10).12:10 The Lord also promised to pour out on the Davidic rulers and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, representing all the Israelites, a spirit of re...
• 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...
• 3. The religious leaders' question about fasting 2:18-22 (cf. Matt. 9:14-17; Luke 5:33-39)
  The third objection the religious leaders voiced arose from the failure of Jesus' disciples to observe the traditional, not Scriptural, fast days that the Pharisees observed (cf. Lev. 16:29). Jesus' association with tax gathe...
• 4. Jesus' attitude toward fasting 5:33-39 (cf. Matt. 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22)
  The setting of this controversy is the same as the previous one, Levi's banquet.5:33 The religious leaders (v. 30; Mark 2:18) and John's disciples (Matt. 9:14; Mark 2:18) raised the question of fasting. They did so because it...
• Instructions Regarding Religious Duties 13:7-19
  "Within the structure of 13:7-19, vv 7-9 and vv 17-19 constitute the literary frame for the central unit of explanatory parenesis in vv 10-16."43713:7 The example of our spiritual leaders is one we should follow (cf. 12:1; 13...
• 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...