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Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

Showing 1376 to 1400 of 5000 results

1376. The Lord Rejects Saul as King

1 Samuel 15:1-35

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

Saul Is Rejected: 15:1–3 Verse 1 recalls Samuel’s previous influence in Saul’s life. Whether there is discord between them or in spite of any criticism he may have made since, Samuel reminds Saul that he had been appointed to anoint Saul as king. Now Samuel has a further task from God for Saul to carry out. He is to be entrusted with the punitive destruction of the Amalekites in a holy war. The reason given for this severe treatment is the Amalekites’ attacks on the vulnerable Israelites coming out of ...

1377. Abner Goes Over to David

2 Samuel 3:6-21

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

The Murders of Abner and Ish-Bosheth: 3:6–11 Although Ish-Bosheth was titular head of the northern tribes and Abner seemingly made no attempt to change that, real power centered around Abner. The fate of the country lay in his hands, and verse 6 implies that he took action to ensure that this remained the case. It is not surprising that Ish-Bosheth, who seems to have left all the decision making to his general (3:8–17), felt threatened by Abner (v. 11). Whether or not Abner had a relationship with Saul’s ...

1378. Job's Second Test

Job 2:1-10

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

Return to the Presence of Yahweh: 2:1–3 With only a few variations—and only one of real significance—these verses exactly repeat 1:6–8. Repetition and variation are part of the literary toolbox of ancient narrators and storytellers and may owe much to the oral tradition of telling and retelling these stories over the centuries. The similarity of language carries the hearer into the second conversation between the Satan and God and leads us to ponder what is to come. Will the Satan acknowledge the integrity ...

1379. Zophar

Job 11:1-20

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

11:1 The last of Job’s three friends makes his debut with rather breathtaking harshness. Zophar rejects Job’s claim to righteousness and even undermines his integrity by classifying Job’s claims as idle mockery which cannot go uncontested. The key to Zophar’s viewpoint is found in 11:6, where he clearly states that Job’s suffering is the result of his sin and is even less severe than deserved. While Zophar does hold out hope for Job, it has little to do with a confrontation with God. Such a collision would ...

1380. Eliphaz's Second Speech to Job

Job 15:1-35

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

Sin Prompts Your Mouth The “second dialogue cycle” begins here as we return to the argument of Eliphaz, from whom we last heard in chapters 4 and 5. There Eliphaz operated from the assumption that humans are “born to trouble” (5:7) and therefore “reap” what they “sow” (4:8). It is impossible for “a mortal to be righteous before God.” Since even God’s servants, the angels, are untrustworthy, “how much more” are humans subject to “error” (4:18–19). As a result, Job must deserve his suffering. His only hope ...

1381. Job's Second Reply to Eliphaz

Job 16:1-17:16

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

Miserable Comforters Job returns to the discussion even more hopeless than before. Whereas he had expressed a determination to carry his case before God when he last responded to Zophar (chs. 12–14), he now seems almost resigned to defeat and rejection by human beings and by God. By the end of this response to Eliphaz, Job declares his hopelessness and prepares to go down to Sheol unrequited (17:16). 16:1–3 As often before, Job’s response begins with a critique of his friends’ lack of compassion and ...

1382. Job's Third Reply to Eliphaz

Job 23:1--24:25

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

Taking God to Court 23:1 One can hardly call Job’s words in chapters 23 and 24 a response to Eliphaz’s third speech. Job takes no notice of his friend or his argument, but he begins instead to consider the feasibility and benefit of bringing God to court so he might hope to find just resolution to his complaint. In chapter 23 Job reflects, at first confidently but ultimately with increasing terror, on the difficulty of locating God and securing his presence for the legal proceedings. 23:2 Job says, my ...

1383. The Lord Speaks

Job 38:1--41:34

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

God’s Appearance and Examination of Job Excursus: It should be clear from the outset that the fact God that appears in response to Job’s plea for a meeting immediately puts the lie to any claims to the contrary that Elihu and the other friends have made. God does appear in response to Job. His very appearance, therefore, proves Elihu’s earlier claim false—that God will not respond to Job because he has already spoken his final word of judgment in Job’s suffering. Deciding how to characterize this divine ...

1384. An Eye for an Eye

Matthew 5:38-42

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

Sermon on the Mount: Kingdom Ethics and the Law: Matthew’s Gospel has a didactic purpose. Special emphasis is given to the message of Jesus. One of the distinct features of Matthew’s Gospel is that the teaching of Jesus is collected into five sections. The Sermon on the Mount (chaps. 5–7) is the first of these blocks. The others are Instructions to the Twelve (chap. 10), Parables of the Kingdom (chap. 13), Life in the Christian Community (chap. 18), and Eschatological Judgment (chaps. 23–25). Each block ...

1385. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Matthew 14:13-21

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

Feeding of the Five Thousand: Jesus was not the only prophet who was rejected by his own (cf. 13:53–58). John the Baptist had been treated the same way by Herod, ruler of Galilee and Perea. Matthew tells of Herod’s concern that Jesus might be John the Baptist returned from the dead (v. 2). This in turn caused Jesus to withdraw from a public to a secluded area (v. 13). Verses 3–12 record the death of John the Baptist, which had taken place earlier but is brought into the narrative at this point by Matthew. ...

1386. The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-31

Understanding Series

William Nelson

We have seen evidence that the earlier chapters were independent traditions. For example, in chapter 1 the four Jews proved to be wiser than all the other sages, yet they are not asked to interpret the dream in chapter 2; Daniel is prominent in chapter 2 but missing from chapter 3. The author does not do a lot to provide smooth transitions between the different episodes, but there is some continuity in that the first four chapters feature King Nebuchadnezzar. The chasm between chapers 4 and 5 is greater ...

1387. Paying Taxes to Caesar

Mark 12:13-17

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

12:13–17 This passage deals with the first of three questions put to Jesus by his critics in 12:13–34. The purpose of the question is to trap him (lit., “to snare”). The trap does not succeed, however, and Jesus impresses his opponents in this discussion tinged with hostility. In order to understand the significance of the question and how it was intended as a snare for Jesus, it is necessary to take notice of the political situation of the time. The land of Palestine was under the rule of the Romans, and ...

1388. Joab Murders Abner

2 Samuel 3:22-39

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

1389. Ish-Bosheth Murdered

2 Samuel 4:1-12

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

1390. Jesus Sentenced to be Crucified

John 19:1-16, John 18:28-40

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The sentencing of Jesus to death takes place within the framework of a series of exchanges between the Roman governor Pilate and the Jewish religious authorities. The time is from early morning (18:28) to noon (19:14) of the day after Jesus’ arrest. The structure of the narrative is determined by the fact that the Jewish authorities, for reasons of ritual purity, would not go inside the palace that served as Pilate’s headquarters (v. 28). Contact with the dwelling of a Gentile—even a temporary dwelling, ...

1391. The Death of Jesus

John 19:28-37, John 19:17-27, John 19:38-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The mention of the soldiers by the NIV in verse 16b makes the natural and probably correct assumption that it was the Roman soldiers of verse 23 who took charge of Jesus. Though the verb took charge is, strictly speaking, used impersonally (i.e., “they” took charge of Jesus, or Jesus “was taken into custody”; see the first note on 18:28), its close link with verse 16a suggests the continuing involvement of the chief priests (and their officials) in all that happened. Clearly, they are present, as is Pilate ...

1392. The Burial of Jesus

John 19:38-42, John 19:17-27, John 19:28-37

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

1393. Listening and Doing

James 1:19-27, James 1:1-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Wisdom for Life’s Tests 1:1 The letter from James opens with a simple and direct greeting. The writer identifies himself simply as James, a servant of God. There was only one James so well known in the early church that he would need no other form of identification, and that was James the Just, brother of Jesus, leader of the church in Jerusalem. The readers are expected to recognize the name. Yet for all his prominence and important position in the church (so important that the letter from Jude begins, “ ...

1394. Suffering for Doing Good

1 Peter 3:8-22

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

To All of You 3:8 Finally (not to end the letter but to complete this passage) there comes a general exhortation to the whole Christian community, married and unmarried alike. Peter commends a set of attitudes which together depict what relationships within the Christian fellowship should be. Christian believers must live in harmony with one another, literally, “being of one mind” (a single word in the Greek). The term is intended to convey a unity of aim and purpose, a oneness in attitude. Idealistic? But ...

1395. Faith in the Son of God

1 John 5:1-12, 1 John 4:7-21

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

God’s Love and Our Love There is little agreement among those who have made a serious study of 1 John as to how to divide 1 John 4:7–5:4, but most have understood 4:7–12 to center around God’s love for us and, in response, our love for one another. It is likely that the opponents of the Elder had stressed their love for God (cf. 4:10, 20), their devotion, piety, and mystical spirituality (cf. 1:6, 8, 10; 2:4, 6, 9; 3:18; 4:1). But the Elder thinks that it is God’s love for human beings which is ...

1396. The Golden Calf

Deuteronomy 9:7-29

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Not because of Israel’s Righteousness: The warnings against false assumptions continue. Moses has already demolished any idea of national chauvinism arising from Israel’s election (7:6–10) and also any economic arrogance arising from their future prosperity (8:17f.). In this chapter he targets what is perhaps the most pernicious and perennial distortion of all—moral self-righteousness in the interpretation of military conflict. Together, these three challenges penetrate deeply to the evergreen sources of ...

1397. Jehoiakim King of Judah

2 Kings 23:36--24:7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

The End of Judah: Josiah, like Ahab, humbled himself before the LORD, and judgment, as in Ahab’s case, did not fall during Josiah’s reign. The implication of the analogy is that we may expect it to fall during the reign of Josiah’s son (cf. 1 Kgs. 21:28–29). This is exactly what we find now, as the story of Kings comes to its end. It is not, however, the first of Josiah’s sons to sit on his throne (Jehoahaz) who experiences the full force of God’s wrath (cf. 1 Kgs. 22:51–2 Kgs. 1:18), or even the second, ...

1398. Jehoiachin King of Judah

2 Kings 24:8-17

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

1399. Zedekiah King of Judah

2 Kings 24:18-20a

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

1400. The Fall of Jerusalem

2 Kings 24:20b--25:26

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan