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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 1951 to 1975 of 2404 results

1951. Feast of Tabernacles

Leviticus 23:33-44

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... of cultic practice. No doubt the monarchy took major steps to follow that direction at times such as Josiah’s reform (2 Kgs. 23:1–30). This standardization gave the people a framework to articulate and sustain identity, a significant achievement intended by religious education. The standardization also solidified and enhanced the institution of the priesthood. In the early church, the festivals were made part of the community’s life. Passover was linked to Good Friday and the Feast of Unleavened ...

1952. Saul's Jealousy of David

1 Samuel 18:1-30

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... his inability to pay and asks for a grotesque bride price, again calculated to lead to David’s death. However, this price, involving the killing of the Philistines (it is unlikely that they would agree to voluntary circumcision), is fully paid, and David achieves his ambition. Because Saul and David were playing a strategic game, it is possible that the task is symbolic or that the numbers are exaggerated. However, the numbers are small enough to be realistic, and the unusual nature of the task fits with ...

1953. Saul Takes His Life

1 Samuel 31:1-13

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... remember that God remained God. 31:11–13 The hope is unstated, but the brave action of the people of Jabesh Gilead serves as a fitting epitaph for Saul. His reign had not been without its failures and disasters, but it had not been without achievements either. One of his first acts after being anointed as king was to rescue Jabesh Gilead from the Ammonites (ch. 11). Their gratitude remained strong, and they could not allow Saul’s death to pass without a proper burial showing the respect that they felt ...

1954. David Conquers Jerusalem

2 Samuel 5:6-16

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... uses the same source but adds that David had the idols, abandoned by the Philistines, destroyed by fire. 1 Chron. 14:17 also stresses the way in which these battles brought fame to David. The defeat of the Philistines was one of David’s greatest achievements, and the writers here choose to emphasize God’s help for David rather than David’s increase in fame. The Chronicler presents the Davidic monarchy in as good a light as possible. The writers of Samuel share a profound interest in David and his ...

1955. David Defeats the Philistines

2 Samuel 5:17-25

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

1956. David's Officials

2 Samuel 8:15-18

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... north, probably even farther north than Damascus and possibly part of a regular alliance of Aramean tribes. The defeats of the Aramean kingdoms were not as comprehensive as that of the Philistines; they returned to fight another day. But for the moment peace was achieved. 8:4 Damaging the hamstrings of the vast majority of the captured chariot horses removed them as a threat. It may be that David did not want the problem of transporting these horses back to Israel, where they could not be used in the rough ...

1957. The End Times

Daniel 12:1-13

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... , made spotless and refined (12:10). These same three verbs are used in Daniel 11:35, although with different verbal forms and in a different order. There it is the wise ones who will “be refined, purified and made spotless.” But this is achieved through suffering as they stumble or fall victim to persecution (11:33–35). In that context the “wise” ones instruct the “many” (11:33), indicating two different groups. Here in chapter 12, it is not just the wise ones who are purified; the subject ...

1958. The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

John 4:27-38, John 4:1-26, John 4:39-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... for whom she and her people have been waiting (v. 26). The basis on which he said a time is coming (v. 21), and quickly added, a time is coming and now has come (v. 23), is made clear. Jesus’ interview with the woman (vv. 5–26) has achieved its purpose. A revelation has taken place, and the woman’s hope has become reality. The disciples, who have been mentioned only parenthetically in verse 8, come on the scene at this point (v. 27). Surprised that he would even talk with a woman (a Samaritan woman at ...

1959. The Claims of Jesus About Himself

John 8:48-59, John 8:31-41, John 8:42-47

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... , they would do what Abraham did, but in fact they are not. Grammatically, the first verb is present tense where an imperfect might have been expected. The effect of this is to heighten the supposition of reality, an effect that the GNB translators have achieved with their rendering, “If you really were …” The things Abraham did: lit., “the works of Abraham” (cf. James 2:21–23). In James the reference is to Abraham’s willingness to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice (Gen. 22:1–14), but ...

1960. Paul's Vision and His Thorn

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... . Yet the apostle has come to his understanding of suffering after realizing that the power of Christ manifests itself most fully and obviously when he is at his weakest. Paradoxically, when I am weak, then am I strong. His light and momentary troubles are achieving for him an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (4:17). Paul’s weaknesses are explicated in verse 10b by a short tribulation catalogue that resembles similar catalogues in 4:8–12; 6:4–10; and especially 11:23–29. This shows that ...

1961. Praise to God for a Living Hope

1 Peter 1:1-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... his great mercy, for there is no way in which they can ever be deserved or earned. They come to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that is, as the direct consequence of his total triumph over the worst that the powers of evil can achieve; namely, death itself. The concept of new birth is based on the teaching of Jesus (John 3:3–8). It speaks of the gift of spiritual life on a plane previously unknown in an individual’s experience. It can no more be acquired by self-effort than a ...

1962. Be Holy

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... consequence that Jesus’ holy life is now within them. Furthermore, this new spiritual life is constantly prompting believers to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:18), that is, to grow more Christlike in moral purity. This they achieve by continuing to obey God’s word in their day-to-day conduct (Rom. 6:16). That very process of purification, and so of increasingly becoming Christlike, means that their relationship to fellow believers benefits too: so that you have sincere love for ...

1963. The Call of Abram

Genesis 12:1-9

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... peoples must interact with Abram’s offspring. Having selected one family, God in a sense shows favoritism, but his design is not parochial. God was and is working through one family for the benefit of all families. Through Abram’s seed he is achieving his goal in creating the earth, namely, people worshiping only him. That this program is just rests in God’s wise sovereignty. The centrality of these promises is evident in the way they function as a uniting link throughout Genesis. The promise of ...

1964. Lot and His Daughters

Genesis 19:30-38

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... of them would go to him and become impregnated. Their father’s willingness to compromise their honor to protect strangers (v. 8) must have diminished their respect for him. His behavior showed them how one could use a person, even a close relative, to achieve a selfish goal. Consequently, on two successive nights, each daughter in turn carried out this scheme. Both times Lot was so drunk that he was unaware of what was taking place. And both . . . daughters became pregnant. The text does not tell us when ...

1965. The Plague of Darkness

Exodus 10:1-20

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... also holds their parents hostage. “Clearly you are bent on evil.” This is the conflict in brief. For Pharaoh, losing his slaves to another “lord” would be an unbearable evil. Moses and the people certainly were “bent” on obeying the Lord. Achieving freedom to serve or worship another lord would mean the end of Pharaoh’s lordship over them. Literally, the expression is, “evil is before your faces,” meaning “on your minds.” It could also be a threat, suggesting that they might encounter ...

1966. Idolatry Forbidden

Deuteronomy 4:15-31

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... in an order that precisely reverses the order of the creation narrative: human beings, land animals, birds, fish, the heavenly bodies. The point, probably being made deliberately through this literary feature, is that idolatry not only corrupts God’s redemptive achievement for God’s people (v. 20), but perverts and turns upside-down the whole created order. The heavenly bodies were among the most powerful of the deities of the ancient Near East and were associated with its most powerful civilizations ...

1967. Tithes

Deuteronomy 14:22-29

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... nature, still less the gift of any fertility god of Canaan. Deuteronomy’s constant educational passion surfaces again at the end of the verse (so that you may learn . . . ), but with typical Deuteronomic human warmth. Inculcating the fear of God could be achieved during a family party just as much as during family prayers. The allowance made for long-distance commuters (vv. 24–26) only serves to reinforce the intention that the tithe should not be a solemn burden but a joyful celebration (v. 26b). And ...

1968. Curses from Mount Ebal

Deuteronomy 27:9-26

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... place. But then, if it was not, we have an exception to the alleged “rule” that no other sanctuaries were to be allowed—an exception that, in view of its significant position in the book, raises questions about the assumption that Deut. in its origins was so fundamentally intended to achieve centralization. 27:15–26 On the relation of these curses to Israel’s earliest law, and especially the “prohibitives,” cf. Bellefontaine, “The Curses of Deuteronomy 27.”

1969. The Dedication of the Temple

1 Kings 8:62-66

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... first occasion upon which God appeared to Solomon (1 Kgs. 3:4–15) marked the beginning of Solomon’s rise to greatness; he was endowed with the heavenly wisdom that enabled him to govern his empire well, to build the temple and the palace, and to achieve everything he desired to do (9:1)—probably a reference to other building work, as in 10:19. This second appearance of God marks the endpoint of Solomon’s upward mobility and points us ahead to disaster. The place of the temple as a focal point for ...

1970. The Lord Appears to Solomon

1 Kings 9:1-9

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

1971. Baasha King of Israel

1 Kings 15:33--16:7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... . For he, too, walks in the ways of Jeroboam and in his sin, with predictable consequences. A prophet appears—Jehu son of Hanani—to announce that the fate of his house will be the same as Jeroboam’s (16:3–4). Baasha no doubt had many other achievements (16:5) of which to boast. They are, however, unimportant in comparison to his failure to remove idolatry in Israel. That is why the authors allow only one more verse to the description of his reign of twenty-four years (15:33) than they do to the ...

1972. Elah King of Israel

1 Kings 16:8-14

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

1973. Zimri King of Israel

1 Kings 16:15-20

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

1974. Omri King of Israel

1 Kings 16:21-28

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan