ebook img

DANIEL & ZECHARIAH - Free Bible Commentary PDF

345 Pages·2005·2.63 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview DANIEL & ZECHARIAH - Free Bible Commentary

TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ........................................................................................................................... i Brief Explanation About the Resources Used in the “You Can Understand the Bible” Commentary Series ...........................................................................................ii Abbreviations Used in This Commentary ........................................................................ iv A Word From the Author: How This Commentary Can Help You ................................. vi A Guide to Good Bible Reading: A Personal Search for Verifiable Truth .................... viii Introduction to Daniel .................................................................................................1 Daniel 1 .....................................................................................................................17 Daniel 2 .....................................................................................................................27 Daniel 3 .....................................................................................................................43 Daniel 4 .....................................................................................................................51 Daniel 5 .....................................................................................................................75 Daniel 6 .....................................................................................................................84 Daniel 7 .....................................................................................................................92 Daniel 8 ...................................................................................................................112 Daniel 9 ...................................................................................................................125 Daniel 10 .................................................................................................................143 Daniel 11 .................................................................................................................154 Daniel 12 .................................................................................................................170 Introduction to Zechariah ........................................................................................181 Zechariah 1 .............................................................................................................185 Zechariah 2 .............................................................................................................201 Zechariah 3 .............................................................................................................210 Zechariah 4 .............................................................................................................218 Zechariah 5 .............................................................................................................225 Zechariah 6 .............................................................................................................230 Zechariah 7 .............................................................................................................240 Zechariah 8 .............................................................................................................246 Zechariah 9 .............................................................................................................254 Zechariah 10 ...........................................................................................................267 Zechariah 11 ...........................................................................................................280 Zechariah 12 ...........................................................................................................288 Zechariah 13 ...........................................................................................................295 Zechariah14 ............................................................................................................300 Appendix One: Brief Definitions of Hebrew Verbal Forms Which Impact Exegesis .................................................................................308 Appendix Two: Introduction to Old Testament Prophecy ...........................................314 Appendix Three: Brief Historical Survey of the Powers of Mesopotamia ....................318 Appendix Four: Chart of the Entire Old Testament .....................................................325 SPECIAL TOPICS TABLE OF CONTENTS This Age and the Age to Come, Dan. 2:28 ......................................................................36 Cornerstone, Dan. 2:34 ....................................................................................................38 The Names for Deity, Dan. 4:2 ........................................................................................54 Hebrew Poetry, Dan. 4:3 ..................................................................................................57 Holy, Dan. 4:8 ..................................................................................................................60 Jesus the Nazarene, Dan. 4:15 .........................................................................................63 Righteousness, Dan. 4:27 .................................................................................................67 Almsgiving, Dan. 4:27 .....................................................................................................69 Lions in the Old Testament, Dan. 7:4 ..............................................................................95 Fire, Dan. 7:10 ...............................................................................................................100 Degrees of Rewards and Punishment, Dan. 7:10 ...........................................................101 Boasting, Dan. 7:11 ........................................................................................................102 OT Titles of the Special Coming One, Dan. 7:13 ..........................................................105 Angels and the Demonic, Dan. 10:13 ............................................................................149 Where Are the Dead?, Dan. 12:2 ...................................................................................173 Matthew 27:9, Introduction to Zechariah......................................................................182 Predestination (Calvinism) vs. Human Free Will (Arminianism), Zech. 1:3 .............188 Repentance, Zech. 1:3 ....................................................................................................192 Glory, Zech. 2:5 .............................................................................................................203 Satan, Zech. 3:1 ..............................................................................................................212 The Trinity, Zech. 4:6 ....................................................................................................220 The Tension Between Old Covenant Prophetic Models and New Covenant Apostolic Models, Zech. 6:12 ........................................................235 Covenant, Zech 6:15 ......................................................................................................238 Biblical Attitudes Toward Alcohol and Alcoholism, Zech. 10:7 ..................................273 Ransom/Redeem, Zech. 10:8 .........................................................................................275 Eleph (Thousand), Zech. 12:6 ........................................................................................292 This volume is dedicated in memory of two Board Members of Bible Lessons International who recently went to be with the Lord T. M. (Red) Davis and Edwin L. Baker both of these brothers and their wives Wilma Davis and Delores Baker have been a great blessing and encouragement to this ministry. i BRIEF EXPLANATIONS OF THE TECHNICAL RESOURCES USED IN THE “YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE” OLD TESTAMENT COMMENTARY SERIES I. Lexical There are several excellent lexicons available for ancient Hebrew. A. Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S. R. Dirver, and Charles A. Briggs. It is based on the German lexicon by William Gesenius. It is known by the abbreviation BDB. B. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, translated by M. E. J. Richardson. It is known by the abbreviation KB. C. A concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by William L. Holladay and is based on the above German lexicon. D. A new five volume theological word study entitled The New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, edited by Willem A. Van Gemeren. It is known by the abbreviation NIDOTTE. Where there is significant lexical variety I have shown several English translations (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, TEV, NJB) from both “word-for-word” and “dynamic equivalent” translations (cf. Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth, pp. 28-44). II. Grammatical The grammatical identification is usually based on John Joseph Owens’ Analytical Key to the Old Testament in four volumes. This is cross checked with Benjamin Davidson’s Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon of the Old Testament. Another helpful resource for grammatical and syntactical features which is used in most of the OT volumes of “You Can Understand the Bible” Series is “The Helps for Translators Series” from the United Bible Societies. They are entitled “A Handbook on ___________.” III. Textual I am committed to the inspiration of the consonantal Hebrew text (not the Masoretic vowel points and comments). As in all hand-copied, ancient texts there are some questionable passages. This is usually because of A. hapax legomenon (words used only once in the Hebrew OT) B. idiomatic terms (words and phrases whose literal meanings have been lost) C. historical uncertainties (our lack of information about the ancient world) D. the poly-semitic semantic field of Hebrew’s limited vocabulary E. problems associated with later scribes hand-copying ancient Hebrew texts F. Hebrew scribes trained in Egypt who felt free to update the texts they copied to make them complete and understandable to their day (NIDOTTE pp. 52-54). There are several sources of Hebrew words and texts outside the Masoretic textual tradition. A. The Samaritan Pentateuch B. The Dead Sea Scrolls C. Some later coins, letters, and ostraca (broken pieces of unfired pottery used for writing) But for the most part, there are no manuscript families in the OT like those in the Greek NT manuscripts. For a good brief article on the textual reliability of the Masoretic Text (A.D. 900's) see “The Reliability of the Old Testament Text” by Bruce K. Waltke in the NIDOTTE, vol. 1, pp. 51-67. ii The Hebrew text used is Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia from the German Bible Society, 1997, which is based on the Leningrad Codex (A.D. 1009). From time to time the ancient versions (Greek Septuagint, Aramaic Targums, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate) are consulted if the Hebrew is ambiguous or obviously confused. iii ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS COMMENTARY AB Anchor Bible Commentaries, ed. William Foxwell Albright and David Noel Freedman ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary (6 vols.), ed. David Noel Freedman AKOT Analytical Key to the Old Testament by John Joseph Owens ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts, James B. Pritchard BDB A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by F. Brown, S. R. Driver and C. A. Briggs IDB The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (4 vols.), ed. George A. Buttrick ISBE International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (5 vols.), ed. James Orr JB Jerusalem Bible JPSOA The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text: A New Translation (The Jewish Publication Society of America) KB The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner LAM The Holy Bible From Ancient Eastern Manuscripts (the Peshitta) by George M. Lamsa LXX Septuagint (Greek-English) by Zondervan, 1970 MOF A New Translation of the Bible by James Moffatt MT Masoretic Hebrew Text NAB New American Bible Text NASB New American Standard Bible NEB New English Bible NET NET Bible: New English Translation, Second Beta Edition NRSV New Revised Standard Bible NIDOTTE New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (5 vols.), ed. Willem A. VanGemeren NIV New International Version iv NJB New Jerusalem Bible OTPG Old Testament Passing Guide by Todd S. Beall, William A. Banks and Colin Smith REB Revised English Bible RSV Revised Standard Version SEPT The Septuagint (Greek-English) by Zondervan, 1970 TEV Today’s English Version from United Bible Societies YLT Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible by Robert Young ZPBE Zondervan Pictorial Bible Encyclopedia (5 vols.), ed. Merrill C. Tenney v A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR: HOW CAN THIS COMMENTARY HELP YOU? Biblical interpretation is a rational and spiritual process that attempts to understand an ancient inspired writer in such a way that the message from God may be understood and applied in our day. The spiritual process is crucial but difficult to define. It does involve a yieldedness and openness to God. There must be a hunger (1) for Him, (2) to know Him, and (3) to serve Him. This process involves prayer, confession and the willingness for lifestyle change. The Spirit is crucial in the interpretive process, but why sincere, godly Christians understand the Bible differently is a mystery. The rational process is easier to describe. We must be consistent and fair to the text and not be influenced by our personal, cultural or denominational biases. We are all historically conditioned. None of us are objective, neutral interpreters. This commentary offers a careful rational process containing four interpretive principles structured to help us attempt to overcome our biases. First Principle The first principle is to note the historical setting in which a biblical book was written and the particular historical occasion for its authorship. The original author had a purpose, a message to communicate. The text cannot mean something to us that it never meant to the original, ancient, inspired author. His intent—not our historical, emotional, cultural, personal or denominational need—is the key. Application is an integral partner to interpretation, but proper interpretation must always precede application. It must be reiterated that every biblical text has one and only one meaning. This meaning is what the original biblical author intended through the Spirit's leadership to communicate to his day. This one meaning may have many possible applications to different cultures and situations. These applications must be linked to the central truth of the original author. For this reason, this study guide commentary is designed to provide a brief introduction to each book of the Bible. Second Principle The second principle is to identify the literary units. Every biblical book is a unified document. Interpreters have no right to isolate one aspect of truth by excluding others. Therefore, we must strive to understand the purpose of the whole biblical book before we interpret the individual literary units. The individual parts—chapters, paragraphs, or verses—cannot mean what the whole unit does not mean. Interpretation must move from a deductive approach of the whole to an inductive approach to the parts. Therefore, this study guide commentary is designed to help the student analyze the structure of each literary unit by paragraphs. Paragraph and chapter divisions are not inspired, but they do aid us in identifying thought units. Interpreting at a paragraph level—not sentence, clause, phrase or word level—is the key in following the biblical author’s intended meaning. Paragraphs are based on a unified topic, often called the theme or topical sentence. Every word, phrase, clause, and sentence in the paragraph relates somehow to this unified theme. They limit it, expand it, explain it, and/or question it. A real key to proper interpretation is to follow the original author's thought on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis through the individual literary units that make up the biblical book. This study guide commentary is designed to help the student do that by comparing the paragraphing of modern English translations. These translations have been selected because they employ different translation theories: A. The United Bible Society's Greek text is the revised fourth edition (UBS4). This text was paragraphed by modern textual scholars. vi B. The New King James Version (NKJV) is a word-for-word literal translation based on the Greek manuscript tradition known as the Textus Receptus. Its paragraph divisions are longer than the other translations. These longer units help the student to see the unified topics. C. The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is a modified word-for-word translation. It forms a mid point between NKJV and NJB. Its paragraph divisions are quite helpful in identifying subjects. D. The Today's English Version (TEV) is a dynamic equivalent translation published by the United Bible Society. It attempts to translate the Bible in such a way that a modern English reader or speaker can understand the meaning of the Greek text. Often, especially in the Gospels, it divides paragraphs by speaker rather than by subject, in the same way as the NIV. For the interpreter's purposes, this is not helpful. It is interesting to note that both the UBS4 and TEV are published by the same entity, yet their paragraphing differs. E. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a dynamic equivalent translation based on a French Catholic translation. It is very helpful in comparing the paragraphing from a European perspective. 6. The printed text is the 1995 Updated New American Standard Bible (NASB), which is a word for word translation. The verse by verse comments follow this text. Third Principle The third principle is to read the Bible in different translations in order to grasp the widest possible range of meaning (semantic field) that biblical words or phrases may have. Often a Greek phrase or word can be understood in several ways. These different translations bring out these options and help to identify and explain the Greek manuscript variations. These do not affect doctrine, but they do help us to try to get back to the original text penned by an inspired ancient writer. Fourth Principle The fourth principle is to note the literary genre. Original inspired authors chose to record their messages in different forms (e.g. historical narrative, historical drama, poetry, prophecy, gospel [parable], letter, apocalyptic). These different forms have special keys to interpretation (see Gordon Fee and Doug Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth or Robert Stein, Playing by the Rules). This commentary offers a quick way for the student to check his interpretations. It is not meant to be definitive, but rather informative and thought-provoking. Often, other possible interpretations help us not be so parochial, dogmatic, and denominational. Interpreters need to have a larger range of interpretive options to recognize how ambiguous the ancient text can be. It is shocking how little agreement there is among Christians who claim the Bible as their source of truth. These principles have helped me to overcome much of my historical conditioning by forcing me to struggle with the ancient text. My hope is that it will be a blessing to you as well. Bob Utley East Texas Baptist University June 27, 1996 vii

Description:
It is based on the German lexicon by William Gesenius. It is known by the abbreviation BDB. B. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by
See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.