The Motley Crew – July 28, 2010

Matthew 17:1-13

The Questions

Read Matthew 17:1-13

1. Did Peter speak about this at a later date?

2. Why did Jesus go up on the mountain?

3. Where do you get away to pray?

4. What helps you listen to Jesus?

5. Why did Jesus take Peter, James and John?

6. Why Moses and Elijah?

7. How did they know it was Moses and Elijah?

8. Who still had to say something?

9. Look at verse 9. The second time in Matthew Jesus said this. Did you do your homework and find out how many more times Jesus spoke about His death and resurrection?

10. How could Elijah be the forerunner if Elijah is no longer around?

11. How can we prepare the way for the Lord?

Other Topics of Discussion

• The Descent Into Hell

• Matthew 3 and Matthew 17

• The Cloud.

The Motley Crew – July 28, 2010

Matthew 17:1-13

Some Suggested Answers

Read Matthew 17:1-13

Matthew 17 (New International Version).

The Transfiguration

1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."

5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

10 The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"

11 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Note: The parallel accounts from Mark and Luke add additional information about The Transfiguration. They are reproduced below.

1. Did Peter speak about this at a later date?

Yes, in his Second Epistle, 2 Peter 1:16-18.

16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."[a] 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

Footnotes:

1. 2 Peter 1:17 Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35

Likewise, in John 1:14 we read: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” [emphasis added]

Especially for Lutherans and other denominations who profess Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura), verses 21-22 provide assurance of the “verbal inspiration” of Scripture by the Holy Spirit, and Peter himself is here being guided by the Holy Spirit. This adds credibility to Scripture, and is an affirmation of Scripture interpreting Scripture. How wonderful to see that Isaiah predicted Jesus by some 700 years!

During the Transfiguration, Luke records that “As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” (Luke 9:29). Matthew recorded “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.” (Matt. 17:2).

We are also reminded that in the holy city of God, all light will be provided by a single source: “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” Rev. 21:23. Dr. Lenski added, at page 653, that “The remarkable thing is that the earthly clothes Jesus wore were transfigured in the same manner as His countenance.”

2. Why did Jesus go up on the mountain?

To pray, as we see in Luke's account of the Transfiguration in verse 28: “About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.”

As we have seen throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus often went up onto a mountain, or out into the wilderness, to pray. Dr. Lenski observed that “many of the great moments in the life of Jesus are marked by prayer.” (p. 651)

3. Where do you get away to pray?

Pastor Eddie: Up a tree, to the beach, and in my office.

Others in the group mentioned:

• A quiet room with a lock on the door.

• A walk, either alone or together.

• While driving.

• Christian tapes and CDs of sermons, music and books on tape.

• Sitting next to a lake, especially during the quiet time experienced during the week.

• At the beach, watching the endless succession of waves.

• In the mountains.

• Watching the sky, rejoicing in the dance of clouds and light.

• Wild flowers along the road.

• Laying down in the afternoon.

4. What helps you listen to Jesus?

Pastor Eddie: Music or being alone.

Others in the group mentioned:

• Majestic scenery.

• Slowly reading the words of the Gospel out loud (see the article at Wikipedia on Lectio Divina).

• Closing my eyes, to help concentrate on His words and to filter out distractions.

• Praying out loud to God.

• Words of songs, especially when they coincide with Scripture that is being read.

5. Why did Jesus take Peter, James and John?

They were the inner circle of Jesus' team during His ministry, and in the early years of the Church, we see Peter's leadership in Rome, James' leadership in Jerusalem, and the great impact of the spiritual writings of John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and the Apostle that lived the longest of the Twelve. These three were also Jesus' special witnesses to the healing of the daughter of Jairus in Mark 5:37, and will be His witnesses of His Agony in the garden of Gethsemane, Matthew 26:37.

It was God's intention that these three disciples should be witnesses of this transfiguration and, as all that precedes (16:13-28) and the following (v. 9) show, this transfiguration was intended to cast light on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Lenski, p. 656.

6. Why Moses and Elijah?

Moses represented the Law, and Elijah represented Prophecies.

The question is inevitable, “Why just these two, Moses and Elijah?” The best answer seems to be “Moses was the great representative of the law, Elijah the great representative of prophecy. Both are outstanding figures of the Old Testament, and both represent prophecy as well as law. Moses stands at the head of Israel's history, Elijah appears when Israel had declined so that only 7.000 were left who had bowed to idolatry.” Lenski, pp. 654-5.

As we see from verses 30 & 31 of Luke's Gospel, Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about the fulfillment of His ministry: “Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” Beth pointed out that the word “departure” here is, in the Greek, the word “exodus” and means His death. This calls to mind the exodus of the Jews who were delivered from the slavery of the Pharaohs. In the same way, Jesus' “exodus” will be our deliverance from the slavery of sin.

In the Old Testament, when the blood of a spotless lamb was smeared on the doorposts of the homes of the Jews, the Angel of Death would pass over their homes. Exodus, Ch. 12. Likewise, Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God, whose blood sacrifice permits the Angel of Death to pass over us. It is surely no coincidence that Jesus was crucified on the eve of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the eve of the Passover.

... the appearance of these two with Jesus [was] intended to assure the disciples that the death of Jesus was in perfect accord with the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah ...; the disciples had other ideas, and found the death of Jesus a great stumbling block. Lenski, p. 655.

The time between the Exodus and the Crucifixion-Resurrection was nearly 1,500 years!

7. How did they know it was Moses and Elijah?

The Holy Spirit. Dr. Lenski has an instructive writing on page 655 of his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew:

How did these three disciples recognize Moses and Elijah? Certainly not by the correspondence of their features and their dress to ideas the disciples and the Jews had formed concerning their appearance. Nor do we hear that the disciples had to wait until Jesus told them who these two glorified men were. A far better answer is that the saints in heaven need not be introduced and named to us but are at once known through heavenly intuition.

Unfortunately, there weren't any Facebook pages at the time.

8. Who still had to say something?

Peter, of course. I sure love him, and I can't wait to meet him.

And many of us are looking forward to having the answers to questions at that time when we shall know fully, even as we are fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Beth told the story of a couple that she knew from Bible study. Sadly, the husband was killed in an accident, and Beth went to visit the wife. During their conversation, the wife expressed an envious note: that he already had answers to all those questions that their Bible study had raised, but could not be answered.

9. Look at verse 9. The second time in Matthew Jesus said this. Did you do your homework and find out how many more times Jesus spoke about His death and resurrection?

Matt. 17:9. “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, 'Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.' ”

Jesus spoke about His death and resurrection on six occasions (seven verses) in total. It is important to note that Jesus is repeating this prophecy frequently as a way to remind the disciples about the nature of His death, and, most importantly, of His resurrection!

#1. Matthew 16:4
2 He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' 3 and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away.

#2. Matthew 16:21
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

#3. Matthew 17:9, 12
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

10 The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"

11 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."

#4. Matthew 17:23
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." And the disciples were filled with grief.

#5. Matthew 20:18-19
17 Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18 "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"

#6. Matthew 26:32
31 Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
" 'I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' 32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."

10. How could Elijah be the forerunner if Elijah is no longer around?

Malachi 4:5. “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.”

Jesus is speaking of John the Baptist, who came in the form and in fulfillment of the prophecy of Elijah.

In Luke 1:17, we see: “And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Malachi 3:1. "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me."

John's ministry paralleled Elijah's prophetic career in key ways. John fulfilled the prophecy that Elijah would reappear before the Messiah. Lutheran Study Bible, p. 1704.

In Matthew 11:14, we read: “And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.” The other Gospels also record this.

11. How can we prepare the way for the Lord?

Live like the Good Samaritan.

We are the Body of Christ, an integral part of the entire corpus and not able to be separate from it. When we receive Holy Communion, we go out as the body of Christ to the world. In every thing we say and do, we can be Christ on earth. And the world does clearly recognize the Good Samaritans who act in it.

Just before Bible class, an elderly gentleman fell while walking along the street in front of the church. Four vehicle stopped in the street, and their drivers – all of whom were alone in their cars – got out to try to help the man. Several other cars also stopped.

Pastor stressed that we must use discernment in these situations. He would especially warn single women, traveling alone, not to stop in a potentially dangerous situation. If you have one, and the situation warrants it, use a cell phone to call for assistance.

Likewise, there are many community agencies in place to help those who are in need. Panhandlers should not given money. We shouldn't act as co-contributors to any type of dependence. Randy told of an individual who was holding a sign: “will work for money.” When Randy volunteered to take the man to a grocery story and buy food for him, the man said that he just wanted the money.

Nevertheless, we are Christ's church in this world. For example, when we bump into some who has drifted away from their church, there is the opportunity to be Christ to them today.

Other Topics of Discussion

After we finished discussing the questions that Pastor Eddie had prepared, there were brief discussions of three additional issues.

The Descent Into Hell.

This was a topic that came up last week. Mary mentioned several verses from Scripture that bear on this question:

• Ephesians 4:9. “What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[or: the depths of the earth]?”

• 1 Peter 3:18-20. “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,”

• Acts 2:31. “Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.”

Several other verses from Scripture are also said to support this.

• Matthew 12:40. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

• Acts 2:24. “...God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”

• Romans 10:7. “ 'Who will descend into the deep?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

• 1 Peter 4:6. “For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.”

Luther affirmed this doctrine in a couple of sermons, including the sermon delivered in Torgau in 1533, where he stated that Christ descended into Hell. A copy of that sermons can be found in Timothy J. Wengert, ed., The Pastoral Luther: Essays on Martin Luther's Practical Theology (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009). Another of Luther's sermons on this topic is "Sermons on the First Epistle of St. Peter," translated by Martin H. Bertram, from The Catholic Epistles, Vol. 30 of Luther's Works, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann. 55 Volumes. (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1967). 30:112.

This is also an article of faith in the Catholic Church, and the Vatican has an excerpt from one of their catechisms on this topic at http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p122a5p1.htm

Finally, there is a discussion of this topic on Wikipedia with the title “The Harrowing of Hell.” See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrowing_of_Hell

Matthew 3 and Matthew 17

Doug mentioned that the passage spoken by God the Father in Matthew 17:5 is identical to a passage spoken by God the Father during Jesus' baptism, Matthew 3:16-17. In Matthew 17:5, we read “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!' ”

And in Matthew 3:16-17, there is this passage: “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.' ”

The Greek text in both verses is identical: οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα.

In Matthew 17:5, as well as in Mark and Luke, there is the important addition “Listen to Him,” in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy of Deut. 18:15-19:

15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die."

17 The LORD said to me: "What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. [Emphasis added]

The Cloud.

Beth pointed to the language concerning the cloud that we saw in today's reading, and mentioned that this was a familiar motif in the Old Testament. Over 150 passages in both the Old Testament and the New Testament include the mention of clouds. A few of these passages include:

• Exodus 13:21
  By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

• Exodus 19:9
  The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said.

• Exodus 24:16
  and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.

• Exodus 33:9
  As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses.

• Exodus 34:5
  Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD.

• Matthew 17:5
  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

• Matthew 24:30
  "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

• Matthew 26:64
  "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

• Revelation 1:7
  Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.

• Revelation 10:1
  [ The Angel and the Little Scroll ] Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.

In many of the Old Testament writings, we see prophecies that are fulfilled in the New Testament by Jesus. Beth pointed out that although the recent class covered 44 such prophecies, there that were many more in the Old Testament, over 300 by some estimates.

We closed with prayer.

Parallel Versions

For Additional Study

Online Resources

Book of Concord in PDF Format, The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod <http://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/LCMS/TrigBOC.pdf> (2MB file)

These texts are in the public domain and may be copied and distributed freely. The source of these translations is Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921).

A number of important Lutheran texts can be found in the Belief and Practice section of the website of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod: http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=112

John S. C. Abbott and Jacob Abbott, Illustrated New Testament
http://www.studylight.org/com/ain/

Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament
http://www.studylight.org/com/bnn/

Harold F. Buls
http://www.pericope.org/buls-notes/index.html and
http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-bul.html
Adapted from Exegetical Notes, Series A, Festival Season Sundays, Gospel Texts, by Harold H. Buls, Concordia Theological Seminary Press: Ft Wayne IN, 1980

The Adam Clarke Commentary
http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/

Burton Coffman, Commentary on the Whole Bible
http://www.studylight.org/com/bcc/

John Darby, Synopsis of the Bible
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/darby/matthew1.htm

The Greek Interlinear Bible,
http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Greek_Index.htm
Based on NA26/27. A word-by-word translation of the Greek New Testament.

David Guzik, Commentaries on the Bible
http://www.studylight.org/com/guz/

The Geneva Study Bible
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/geneva/matthew1.htm

John Gill, Exposition of the Bible
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/gill/matthew1.htm

Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete)
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/mh/matthew1.htm

Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/mhc/matthew1.htm

Jamieson, Faussett and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/jfb/matthew1.htm

B.W. Johnson, People's New Testament
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/johnson/matthew1.htm

John Lightfoot, Bible Commentary
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/light/matthew1.htm

Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians
http://www.studylight.org/com/mlg/

J. W. McGarvey, Original Commentary on Acts
http://www.studylight.org/com/oca/

J. W. McGarvey and Philip Y. Pendleton, The Fourfold Gospel (also known as "Harmony Of the Four Gospels")
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/four/matthew1.htm

Alexander Maclaren's commentaries on the books of the Bible (various titles)
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/m#a2330

The NET Bible. <http://bible.org/netbible/> A completely new translation of the Bible with 60,932 translators’ notes. It was completed by more than 25 scholars – experts in the original biblical languages – who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Excellent notes, citing both the Greek and Hebrew, as needed. Greek and Hebrew fonts available without cost.

A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures of the New Testament
http://www.studylight.org/com/rwp/

C. I. Scofield, The Scofield Reference Notes (1917 Edition)
http://www.studylight.org/com/srn/

Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David
http://www.studylight.org/com/tod/

R.A. Torrey, The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
http://www.studylight.org/com/tsk/

W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
http://www.antioch.com.sg/bible/vines/

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/wesley/matthew1.htm

Other Additional Resources:
http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/SPLC/Motley%20Crew%20Research%20Resources.html

Other Resources

Barker, Kenneth L., ed., TNIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006)

Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Readers Edition. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006)

Davies, Benjamin, ed., Baker's Pocket Harmony of the Gospels (Baker Book House, 1975). Formerly printed as Harmony of the Four Gospels.

Goodrick, Edward W. and John R. Kohlenberger III, eds., The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999). This is the second edition, originally published as the Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance. It was originally published as The NIV Exhaustive Concordance. It should be distinguished from The NIV Complete Concordance by the same authors.

Green, Jay P., ed., The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament. Vol. IV. Second Edition. (Hendrickson Publishers, 1985)

Halley, Henry H., Halley's Bible Handbook. New Revised Edition (24^th Edition). (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1965)

Hickie, W.J., Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1977). This is a reprint of an older edition, originally published by Macmillan, August. 1893. A contemporary review described this as "A handy little volume, compiled on sound principles from trustworthy authorities." The 1911 edition is available online and for download at http://openlibrary.org/b/OL17866849M/Greek-English_lexicon_to_the_New_Testament

Hoerber, Robert G., ed., Concordia Self-Study Bible. NIV (Great Rapids, Zondervan: 1973, 1984).

Lenski, R.C.H., The Interpretation of St. Matthew's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943, reprinted 1964)

The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009).

Nave, Orville J., ed., Nave's Topical Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1979)

New Bible Dictionary. Second Edition. (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1962)

Nicoll, W. Robertson, The Greek Expositor's Testament. Vol. 1. Five Volumes. (New York: George H. Doran Co., ca. 1910). Excellent notes on the Greek text and summaries of commentators. Available at Google Books ( www.books.google.com ) and the Internet Archive ( www.archive.org - easier to find here than at Google Books).

NIV Archeological Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005)

Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (Text from Project Gutenberg)

Robertson, A.T., Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville: Holman Reference, 2000). This “Concise Edition” is derived from the six-volume work by Robertson published in 1933. Robertson was also the author of 45 books, including numerous commentaries, a Harmony of the Gospels, etc. Also available online

Rogers, Cleon L. Jr., and Cleon L. Rogers III, eds., The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998). This is the second edition of the excellent work by Fritz Rienecker, A Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament, translated and edited by Cleon L. Rogers, Jr.

Strong, James, ed., The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990)

Vine, W.E., Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words: A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Original Greek Words with their Precise Meanings for English Readers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, no date). Originally published circa 1940.