Introduction

Introduction

How To Use This Commentary

This commentary has been written to help people study the Bible. It should not be read in the same way that one reads an ordinary book. First, the reader should read and prayerfully meditate upon the portion of scripture that begins each section of the commentary. After doing that, the reader should study each verse together with its corresponding comment, proceeding verse by verse. It is important to understand the meaning of every verse in the Bible as fully as possible. The commentary will help the reader do this. Finally, after understanding the meaning of each verse, the reader should go back and read the entire scripture portion again. Together with understanding the meaning of each verse, it is also necessary to understand the context and meaning of the entire scripture portion as a unit. To understand the full spiritual meaning of the Bible text, it is necessary above all to ask for help from the Holy Spirit. The Bible is God’s living word. Whenever we read from the Bible, we must always pray this prayer: “Lord, open my mind; speak to me through your word.”

Following this introduction there is a Word List, which gives the meaning of fifty-one important words. These words are used many times throughout the New Testament. In this commentary the first main occurrence of one of these fifty-one words in any of the chapters is printed in small capitals. In order to understand the meaning of any verse in which one of these important words occurs, it is first necessary to understand the meaning of that word.

Following the Word List there is a series of General Articles. These articles give help in understanding a number of very important subjects. Therefore, when a comment on a verse relates to one of these subjects, very often at the end of the comment there will be written: “(see General Article: …).” By referring the reader to these General Articles, the commentary avoids repeated explanations of the same subject, and thus much space is saved.

In many of the comments in this commentary the reader is advised to refer to some other verse or verses. Sometimes only the name and number of the verse is given; for example: “(Matthew 5:22).” Sometimes the word “see” is added; for example: “(see Matthew 5:22).” Whenever the word “see” is added in this way, it means that it is necessary to look up that verse in order to fully understand the verse being studied. Sometimes the words “and comment” are added after the verse number; for example: “(see Matthew 5:22 and comment).” When this is written, it is necessary to look up both the other verse and its corresponding comment in order to understand the verse under study. By referring the reader to other comments in this way, the commentary does not have to repeat the same comment over and over for many different verses, and thus much space is saved.

Sometimes a Bible verse is not commented upon; instead, the reader is referred directly to another verse and its comment. When this happens, it is because that other verse and the verse being studied are almost identical. In this commentary, when two or more New Testament verses are almost identical, only one of them is commented upon. Again this is to save space and avoid repetition. The reader will encounter this situation especially when studying the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, because many of the verses in those two Gospels are also found in the Gospel of Mark. Thus to read the comments on those verses, the reader must refer to the corresponding verses in Mark’s Gospel. Similarly, many verses in Luke are referred to the equivalent verses in Matthew.

In this commentary, some books and some sections of the New Testament are given more lengthy and detailed comments than others. Therefore, for one studying the New Testament for the first time, it is advisable to study these books and sections early in the course of one’s study. Examples of such sections and books would be: Matthew Chapters 5-7, Mark, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Gal-atians, and Ephesians.