Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Jehu's assassination of Joram 9:14-26
  Israel had evidently retaken Ramoth-gilead after Ben-Hadad I had defeated Ahab there 12 years earlier. Israel was now defending it against the attacking Arameans (v. 14). The horsemen and Joram who asked Jehu, "Is it peace?"w...
• Jerusalem's incurable wickedness 13:20-27
  13:20 The Lord called Jerusalem to look north and she would see people coming.238The city was about to lose the flock of special people over whom the Lord had made her responsible, namely, His people of Judah.13:21 What would...
• A. The oracle against Egypt ch. 46
  This chapter on Egypt contains three separate prophecies that Jeremiah delivered about the fate of that nation. Their purpose seems to have been to discourage King Jehoiakim (609-598 B.C.) and the pro-Egyptian party in Judah ...
• The judgment of Jerusalem 16:35-43
  16:35-37 Yahweh announced the judgment that He would mete out to Jerusalem because of all her unnatural and rebellious unfaithfulness, idolatry, and bloodshed. He would bring all the nations that Jerusalem had opened her legs...
• The reasons for Jerusalem's present judgment 24:6-8
  24:6 Ezekiel was then to announce woe on the bloody city (no longer the holy city) of Jerusalem (cf. Nah. 3:1), which the pot represented (cf. 11:3, 7, 11; Jer. 1:13-14). The pot had rust (Heb. hel'ah) in it that evidently st...
• A poem extolling Assyria's glory 31:1-9
  31:1 The Lord gave Ezekiel a third oracle against Egypt in 587 B.C., less than two months after the previous one (30:20-26).31:2 The prophet was to speak this one to Pharaoh Hophra and to the Egyptians. Obviously Ezekiel was ...
• B. The Ninevites' repentance 3:5-10
  Jonah's proclamation moved the Ninevites to humble themselves and seek divine mercy.3:5 The people believed in God because of the message from God that Jonah had brought to them. Fasting and wearing sackcloth were signs of se...
• 6. The purification of Zion 5:10-15
  5:10-11 In that future eschatological day the Lord also promised to remove the vain sources of security that had always tempted the Israelites represented by horses, chariots, cities, and fortifications (cf. Deut. 17:16).5:12...
• Unity
  Some scholars have tried to prove that someone other than Nahum wrote sections of the book (1:1; 1:1-2:3; 1:2-10; 2:4-3:19), but their arguments are largely speculative. Jewish and Christian authorities have long held that Na...
• Date
  Nahum mentioned the fall of the Egyptian city of Thebes (3:8), so we know he wrote after that event, which took place in 663 B.C. The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal conquered it. The prophet predicted the fall of the Assyrian cap...
• 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...
• Outline
  I. Heading 1:1II. Nineveh's destruction declared 1:2-14A. The anger and goodness of Yahweh 1:2-8B. Yahweh's plans for Nineveh and Judah 1:9-141. The consumption of Nineveh 1:9-112. The liberation of Judah 1:12-133. The termin...
• II. Nineveh's destruction declared 1:2-14
  The rest of chapter 1 declares Nineveh's destruction in rather hymnic style, and chapters 2 and 3 describe its destruction. Each of these major parts of the book opens with a revelation of Yahweh....
• 2. The second description of Nineveh's fall 2:8-13
  The second description of Nineveh's fall is more philosophical than the first one and ends with a statement by Yahweh that gives the reason for its fall (v. 13).2:8 Nineveh had been as placid as the waters around the city for...
• 3. The third description of Nineveh's fall 3:1-7
  This description explains further the "why"for Nineveh's fall whereas the first two descriptions in the previous chapter gave more of the actual events, the "what"of it. There is much similarity between the descriptions of th...
• 4. The fourth description of Nineveh's fall 3:8-19
  This section, evidently another message that Nahum delivered concerning Nineveh's fall, begins by comparing it to the fall of another great city. Nahum proceeded to use many figures of speech to describe how various segments ...
• 4. Judgment coming on Assyria 2:13-15
  2:13 Zephaniah also prophesied the destruction of Assyria to Judah's north (really northeast) and her capital Nineveh (cf. Isa. 13:1-14:27; 21:1-10; Jer. 50-51). Since Nineveh fell to the combined forces of Babylonia, Media, ...
• The parable of the royal wedding banquet 22:1-14
  The three parables in this series are similar to three concentric circles in their scope. The scope of the parable of the two sons encompassed Israel's leaders (21:28-32). The parable of the wicked tenant farmers exposed the ...
• The cursing of the fig tree 11:12-14 (cf. Matt. 21:18-19)
  Mark gave more precise time intervals than Matthew did. Matthew related the cursing of the fig tree (Matt. 21:12-17) and Jesus' lesson to the disciples the following day (Matt. 21:18-22) back to back.11:12-13 The next day was...
• The impact of the locusts 9:1-6
  9:1 Again John saw a "star"(cf. 6:13; 8:10), but this time the "star"was an intelligent being. If "fallen"(Gr. peptokota) has theological connotations, the "star"may refer to Satan (vv. 2, 11; cf. 1:20; Job. 38:7; Luke 10:18)...
• 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...
• The invitation of the angel 17:1-2
  17:1 The fact that this chapter describes the judgment of Babylon referred to in 14:8 and 16:19 seems clear. It was one of the angels who poured out the bowl judgments who served as John's guide as he viewed these events in h...
• Further revelation of the beast 17:7-14
  17:7 The angel promised to interpret these revelations that were so baffling to John, particularly the mystery concerning the woman and the beast. More information about the beast follows in verses 7-14 and more about the wom...
• The first angelic announcement of judgment 18:1-3
  18:1 John next saw another scene on earth (Gr. Meta tauta eidon, "After these things I saw,"cf. 4:1). Another angel of the same kind as in 17:1 (i.e., one who descends from heaven to fulfill a special mission; cf. 10:1; 20:1)...
• The second angelic announcement of judgment 18:21-24
  18:21 The angelic act of throwing the millstone into the sea is symbolic of Babylon's fate (cf. Jer. 51:63-64). As it is impossible for that huge stone to rise to the surface, so the economic system that has driven this world...