Recent Commentaries

There were three great Jewish festivals to which every male Jew living within twenty miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to come—the Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Pentecost was so called because it fell on the fiftieth day, a week of weeks, after the Passover. At …

Several days after the children of Israel had left Egypt the Egyptians were still mourning the death of their first-born. The Lord instructed Moses to have the people camp between Migdol and the Red Sea (vv. 1-2). News of Israel’s departure caused Pharaoh …

Any theology which said Jerusalem was safe because of the Temple failed to take note of the hypocrisy practiced there. Those who came to the Temple had been guilty of stealing, murder, adultery, and false swearing. They had sacrificed to Baal and walked after other gods. Yet because …

The people of Judah believed they were being punished for the sins of their ancestors and not their own. This proverb that the children were suffering for the sins of their fathers had been circulating in Jerusalem and Babylon (vv. 1-2). While there are cumulative effects …

Solomon was the richest and wisest king in the world (vv. 22-24). The promise was fulfilled, that God would give him riches and honor, such as no kings have had or shall have. As a summary, the writer points out Solomon’s military strength (v. 25) and his political power (v. 26) …

The procession came to a place called “Golgotha” or the “place of a skull” located northwest of the city, just outside the city wall (v. 33). Before the act of the crucifixion, the soldiers kept offering Jesus wine mixed with myrrh to dull the senses and pain but He refused to drink it (v. 34). Then …

This chapter records the first battle in the Bible. It was between four powerful kings of the East and five Jordanian kings (vv. 1-2). The battle took place at the intersection of the Mediterranean ?“ Mesopotamian caravan route (running East to West) and a highway running south to Sodom and …

Jesus explains to Peter how Satan wanted to crush he and the other disciples like grains of wheat (v. 31). He hoped to find only chaff and blow it away. However, Jesus assured Peter that He had been praying for him; and his faith, although it would falter, would not be de …

Paul traveled to Arabia after his conversion. When he returned to Damascus, he faced opposition, escaped from his enemies, and made a brief visit to Jerusalem. Paul might have skipped this next part if his own personal safety was his main concern. Instead, he told how he had returned to …

The substance of the prophet’s vision now returns to a description of parts of the temple area and regulations concerning the temple’s future use. At the very heart of the temple was its altar; the prophet first describes the altar, and then indicates the procedures by whic …