Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• The third commandment 20:7
  Taking God's name in vain means using the name of God in a common way. The name of God represents the person of God. The Israelites were to show respect for the person of God by their use of His name. They were not to use it ...
• The third commandment 5:11
  Whereas the second commandment deals with a potential visualtemptation to depart from Yahweh, the third deals with a potential verbaltemptation. Two of the Ten Commandments affect the use of the tongue and speech: the third (...
• The tenth commandment 5:21
  Coveting means inordinately desiring to possess what belongs to another person. This commandment deals with motivation rather than deed, with attitude rather than action. It gets at the spirit that often leads to the sins for...
• Appendix 1
  Four Interpretive Problems in Deuteronomy 24:1-4370Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is a passage that is very important in the biblical teaching on divorce and remarriage. There are four problems that need solving for us to determine the c...
• 2. Restoring fellowship with Yahweh ch. 14
  God blessed David and his kingdom because David had honored God by seeking to bring the ark into Jerusalem. The Chronicler recorded three instances of divine blessing in this chapter.First, God gave David favor in the eyes of...
• What God wants ch. 58
  Again Isaiah presented the folly of simply going through a system of worship without changing one's attitudes and conduct, especially in relationships (1:10-20; cf. Zech. 1; Matt. 5-7). In chapter 1, God threatened His people...
• Humility rather than sacrifice 66:1-6
  This section introduces judgment into the mood of hope that pervades this section describing Israel's glorious future (65:17-66:24). Oppressors of the godly remnant will not prosper nor will those who depend on externals for ...
• A. The people's arrogance 3:13-15
  3:13 The people had spoken arrogantly against the Lord, yet when faced with their disrespect they asked for proof.3:14 The Lord obliged them. They had said that serving the Lord and obeying Him did not benefit them, that it d...
• Plan and Structure
  Matthew often grouped his material into sections so that three, five, six, or seven events, miracles, sayings, or parables appear together.27Jewish writers typically did this to help their readers remember what they had writt...
• Outline
  I. The introduction of the King 1:1-4:11A. The King's genealogy 1:1-17B. The King's birth 1:18-25C. The King's childhood 2:1-231. The prophecy about Bethlehem 2:1-122. The prophecies about Egypt 2:13-183. The prophecies about...
• A. The beginning of Jesus' ministry 4:12-25
  Matthew gave much prominence to Jesus' teachings in his Gospel. The first of these is the so-called Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5-7). To prepare the reader for this discourse, the writer gave a brief introduction to Jesus' mini...
• 1. The setting of Jesus' ministry 4:12-16
  Comparison of John's Gospel and Matthew's shows that Jesus ministered for about a year before John the Baptist's arrest. John had criticized Herod Antipas for having an adulterous relationship with his brother Philip's wife (...
• 4. A summary of Jesus' ministry 4:23-25 (cf. Mark 1:35-39; Luke 4:42-44)
  This brief resumé (cf. 9:35-38) stresses the varied activities and the geographical and ethnic extent of Jesus' ministry then. It sets the stage for the discourse to follow (chs. 5-7) implying that this is but a sample o...
• B. Jesus' revelations concerning participation in His kingdom 5:1-7:29
  The Sermon on the Mount is the first of five major discourses that Matthew included in his Gospel. Each one follows a narrative section, and each ends with the same formula statement concerning Jesus' authority (cf. 7:28-29)....
• Their calling 5:11-16
  Jesus proceeded to clarify His disciples' calling and ministry in the world to encourage them to endure persecution and to fulfill God's purpose for them."Some might think that verses 11-12 constitute the concluding Beatitude...
• Jesus' view of the Old Testament 5:17-20
  It was natural for Jesus to explain His view of the Old Testament since He would shortly proceed to interpret it to His hearers.5:17 Some of the Jews may have already concluded that Jesus was a radical who was discarding the ...
• God's will concerning oaths 5:33-37
  5:33 Jesus next gave a condensation of several commands in the Old Testament that forbade taking an oath, invoking the Lord's name to guarantee the oath, and then breaking it (Exod. 20:7; Lev. 19:12; Num. 30:2; Deut. 5:11; 6:...
• Jesus' summary of His disciples' duty 5:48
  This verse summarizes all of Jesus' teaching about the Old Testament's demands (vv. 21-47). "Therefore"identifies a conclusion."Perfect"(Gr. teleios) often occurs in a relative sense in the New Testament, and translators some...
• Righteousness and the Father 6:1-18
  Jesus moved from correcting popular misinterpretations of selected Old Testament texts that speak of righteous conduct (5:17-48) to correcting popular misconceptions about righteous conduct. Throughout this entire section pro...
• Righteousness and the world 6:19-7:12
  Thus far in the Sermon Jesus urged His disciples to base their understanding of the righteousness God requires on the revelation of Scripture, not the traditional interpretations of their leaders (5:17-48). Then He clarified ...
• The disciple's relationship to God 7:7-12
  This section of verses brings the main body of the Sermon to a climactic conclusion.7:7-8 In view of such hard opposition Jesus' disciples need to pray for God's help. He will always respond positively to their words, though ...
• A. Demonstrations of the King's power 8:1-9:34
  Matthew described Jesus' ministry as consisting of teaching, preaching, and healing in 4:23. Chapters 5-7 record what He taught His disciples. We have the essence of His preaching ministry in 4:17. Now in 8:1-9:34 we see His ...
• 4. Jesus' continuation of His work 11:1 (cf. Mark 6:12-13; Luke 9:6)
  Here is another of Matthew's formulas that ended a discourse (cf. 7:28-29; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). Matthew had no concern for recording what happened when the Twelve went out having received Jesus' instructions. He passed over th...
• Revelation about the church 16:18-20
  16:18 "I say to you"(cf. 5:18, 20, 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 8:10) may imply that Jesus would continue the revelation the Father had begun. However the phrase occurs elsewhere where that contrast is not in view. Undoubtedly it ...
• 4. Instructions about the King's personal representatives ch. 18
  Chapter 18 contains the fourth major discourse that Matthew recorded (cf. chs. 5-7; ch. 10; 13:1-53; chs. 24-25), His Discipleship Discourse. This discourse continues Jesus' instruction of His disciples that He began in 17:14...
• The importance of forgiving a disciple 18:21-35
  From a discussion of discipline Jesus proceeded to stress the importance of forgiveness. Sometimes zealous disciples spend too much time studying church discipline and too little time studying the importance of forgiveness.18...
• 1. Jesus' preparation for the presentation 21:1-7 (cf. Mark 11:1-7; Luke 19:29-35; John 12:12-16)
  21:1-2 Jesus and his disciples travelled the 17 miles from Jericho to Bethany along the Roman road. They climbed about 3,000 feet in elevation between those towns. Bethphage ("house of figs") lay slightly farther west than Be...
• The second woe 23:15
  The scribes and Pharisees were very zealous to get Jews to subscribe to their doctrinal convictions. Some commentators stress that the Pharisees made disciples to Judaism. This may have been true, but their chief offense was ...
• The third woe 23:16-22
  Jesus had dealt with the subject of taking oaths in the Sermon on the Mount (5:33-37). He had called His critics blind guides before too (15:14). Here is a specific example of what Jesus condemned in the second woe (v. 15). B...
• 3. Jesus' lamentation over Jerusalem 23:37-39 (cf. Luke 13:34-35)
  This lamentation should help us realize that the judgment Jesus just announced in such strong language was not something that delighted Him. It broke His heart. This is also clear from His personalizing the people in Jerusale...
• Bibliography
  Abbott-Smith, G. A. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1937.Albright, W. F. and Mann, C. S. Matthew. The Anchor Bible series. Garden City: Doubleday, 1971.Alford, Henry. The Greek Testa...
• 2. The assembling of the people 6:17-19 (cf. Matt. 5:1-2)
  The similarities between the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and what Luke recorded in 6:20-49 seem to suggest that Luke condensed that Sermon. However the introductions to the two sections have led many students of these ...
• 3. The Sermon on the Mount 6:20-49
  Luke's version of this important address, primarily aimed at Jesus' disciples, is much shorter than Matthew's (Matt. 5:3-7:29). Matthew's account contains 137 verses whereas Luke's has 30. Both accounts begin with beatitudes,...
• The conduct of disciples 6:27-38 (cf. Matt. 5:43-48; 7:1-2)
  Jesus' explanation of the importance of true righteousness was the heart of the Sermon on the Mount as Matthew narrated it (Matt. 5:17-7:12). He reported that Jesus spoke of true righteousness in relation to three things: the...
• 1. Stephen's arrest 6:8-7:1
  6:8 Stephen was full of grace (cf. cf. 4:33; Luke 4:22) and power (cf. 2:22; 4:33) as well as the Holy Spirit (vv. 3, 5), wisdom (v. 3), and faith (v. 5). His ability to perform miracles seems unrelated to his having been app...
• 1. God's principles of judgment 2:1-16
  Before showing the guilt of moral and religious people before God (vv. 17-29), Paul set forth the principles by which God will judge everyone (vv. 1-16). By so doing, he warned the self-righteous.2:1-4 "Therefore"seems more l...
• The legitimacy of marriage 7:36-40
  This section concludes Paul's entire teaching on marriage in this chapter. However it contains problems related to the meaning of "virgin"as is clear from the three different interpretations in the NASB, the NIV, and the NEB....
• Message13
  The Book of James teaches us that faith in God should result in behavior that is in harmony with God's will. The theme of the book is "living by faith"or "spiritual maturity."James' concern was Christian behavior (ethics) as ...
• 3. The evidence of patience 5:12
  Swearing is an evidence of impatience."What he [James] means is that of all the manifestations of impatience in times of stress and affliction the most frequent is the taking of the Lord's name in vain by the use of explosive...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• St. Matthew 1-8
  Matthew 1-8
• The New Sinai
  And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him: 2. And He opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of hea...
• Swear Not At All'
  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34. But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's thron...
• The Touch That Cleanses
  When He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. 3. And Jesus put forth His hand, and touched...