The Motley Crew
February 2, 2011
Matthew 23:27-39
Matthew 23:27-32
1. Why whitewash the tombs?
2. What does this say to the Pharisees?
3. What does this say to us?
4. Why does this upset Jesus so deeply?
5. What does Jesus mean by verse 32?
Matthew 23:33-39
6. How many after Jesus did they kill?
7. How many did they flog?
8. Do you see any significance to the repeating, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem?”
9. What does this say about God's grace?
10. Does Jesus' closing words of this chapter imply that some Jews will call Him blessed?
All citations from the Holy Bible are from the New International Version, used with permission.
The Motley Crew
February 2, 2011
Matthew 23:27-39
We opened with prayers of praise and intercession. Among the prayers of praise were of Simeon, an aged Jew who had been promised by God that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. On the Lutheran liturgical calendar, today are the feasts of the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord.
Luke 2:22-40. Jesus Presented in the Temple
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now
dismiss your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your
salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight of all
nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and
the glory of your people Israel.”
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
In Simeon and Anna, we have examples of great faith and a reminder that our God is a God who keeps His promises.
Matthew 23:27-32
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
1. Why whitewash the tombs?
Because dead bodies were ceremonially unclean, the tombs were whitewashed to keep a ceremonially clean Jew from touching them. Also, it makes them look nice on the outside.
Whited sepulchre. This is a tomb whitened with powered lime dust, the sepulchers of the poor in the fields or the roadside. Recently and freshly done at the time of this speaking, these were whitewashed a month before the Passover that travelers might see them and so avoid being defiled by touching them (Num. 19:16). A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament – Concise Edition, p. 48.
Numbers 19:16
“Anyone out in the open who touches
someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a
natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be
unclean for seven days.”
Rogers and Rogers, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament, indicate “to make white, to whiten with lime or chalk. Before the Passover it was customary to whitewash graves that people and the priest might not unintentionally touch them or contract ceremonial defilement. The graves were beautiful because of their structure and art.” (p. 52)
In general, cemeteries were outside of cities; but any dead body found in the field was to be buried on the spot where it had been discovered. A pilgrim to the Passover, for instance, might easily come upon such a grave in his journey, and contract uncleanness by the contact (Numbers 19:16). It was therefore ordered that all sepulchres should be whitewashed a month before Passover, in order to make them conspicuous, so that travellers might avoid ceremonial defilement. The fact that this general whitewashing was going on at the time when Jesus administered this rebuke to the Pharisees gave point to the comparison. The word νιαμένοις (whitened, from κόνις, dust) carries the idea of whitening with a powder, as powdered lime. Vincent's Word Studies
2. What does this say to the Pharisees?
They are clean on the outside, but decaying bones on the inside, a scathing accusation!
We would not have been partakers - They imagined themselves much better than their ancestors; but our Lord, who knew what they would do, uncovers their hearts, and shows them that they are about to be more abundantly vile than all who had ever preceded them. Clarke's Commentary on the Bible
Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. Luke 11:39-41
3. What does this say to us?
John 8:31-32 summarizes the message nicely:
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
We must look carefully and honestly at ourselves to ensure that we are not repeating the sins of the Pharisees, that we aren't hiding a secret sin, and applying coats of whitewash on ourselves, too.
It was observed that when we are clean on the inside, then being clean on the outside is not a sham. Otherwise, it is a lie, a sham. And it recalls the original meaning of “hypocrite,” as an actor in a play wearing a mask.
We talked about “good Christians” who are performing an immense service to the church on a daily and weekly basis, but whose personal lives are a wreck, including various types of abuse, alcohol, drugs (prescription and otherwise), etc. It was pointed out that we must be careful not to “point fingers” in such cases, but to continue to love the person while hating the sin.
We also talked about worshipers who are wearing their “Sunday best” when they come to worship. This including putting on masks; a tremendously large number of us have the influence of sin (falling short of the glory of God) in our lives, either directly in our immediate family (spouse & children), or indirectly in parents, siblings, cousins, etc.
4. Why does this upset Jesus so deeply?
Dr. Lenski observed, at p. 912:
Jesus says that to men, who judged only the appearance, the Pharisees, by their whitewash of legal observances, appear as people who surely had the verdict of the heavenly Judge in their favor. But what was the fact as this divine Judge – and it is he himself who here speaks – saw it? Inside, they were literally filled full of hypocrisy … and with άνομία, “lawlessness,” opposition to the genuine contents of the divine law. Among all the sins that Jesus found among men none aroused his fiery indignation more than hypocrisy with its sham of righteousness and holiness. Against no class of men did he hurl invectives that were as severe as those directed against the scribes and the Pharisees: “Hypocrites.”
Although it is bad enough that they themselves are in sin, but it is worse because they are teaching and leading others into this sin.
“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” Luke 11:52
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for
darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
Isaiah 5:20.
As always, we must closely examine our own lives to be as certain as we can be that we are not doing the same thing.
A question arose concerning the different translations of the word άνομία in verse 28: “... on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (NIV). In the NKJV and ESV, the translation is “lawlessness.” The latter is also given in Rogers & Rogers, (p. 52). The New Strong's Complete Dictionary of Bible Words (Thomas Nelson, 1996, p. 579) gives “wickedness. – iniquity, x transgress(ion) of the law, unrighteousness.” Goodrick and Kohlenberger's NIV Exhaustive Concordance (1999) give “wickedness, lawlessness, lawless deed, ever-increasing wickedness, evil, evildoers, lawless acts, transgressions.” (#490)
5. What does Jesus mean by verse 32?
“Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!”
Again we'd like to quote Dr. Lenski, this time from p. 914:
The command is one of irony, of high scorn. The thing that these men are determined to do, from which no moral power can restrain them, they are told to go and do. … Judgment is like a measure into which guilt is poured. One wicked Jewish generation after another has already poured in all its black guilt, making the nation's measure almost full. … Jesus is speaking of one peculiar guilt, the most fatal of all, the bloody rejection of grace, of the Messiah, and of the gospel, not of the guilt of incidental sins.
The Lutheran Study Bible observes: “Jesus mockingly commands His opponents to do exactly what they ought not to do. This is a tragic recognition that some of Jesus' adversaries are beyond correction.” (p. 1635)
They will complete what their ancestors started when they arrest, try, torture and crucify Jesus in the coming days, thus rejecting God's plan with His Anointed, rejecting His current attempt to reach out to His children with the gift of redemption.
Matthew 23:33-39
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[c]”
Footnote:
Verse 39: Psalm 118:26:
Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you
6. How many after Jesus did they kill?
In the Bible, only the deacon Stephen is mentioned by name. Acts 7:56-60. By tradition, however, 10 of the apostles were also martyred (Matthew and John “fell asleep”).
Note: the “experts” are all over the map on the question of how the original Apostles died.
The phrase in verse 34, “... and pursue from town to town” generated a comment. In the ESV, the word given is persecute. Rogers and Rogers, citing διώξετε, gives “to hunt, to pursue, to persecute.” (p. 53), citing the new Strong's #1503, which gives “to pursue, persecute, to systematically oppress and harass a person or group, as an extended meaning of pursuing a person on foot in a chase; also from the image of the chase comes the meaning of striving and pressing on to a goal with intensity.”
7. How many did they flog?
Peter, John, and Paul were flogged by Jewish religious leaders, as were other Christian preachers (Acts 5:40; 2 Cor. 11:23-25). Lutheran Study Bible, p. 1635. In Acts 5:41, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” Paul describes his floggings in 2 Cor. 11:24:
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
There was the question of why “40 minus 1”? This is because if the one administering the flogging miscounted and delivered more than the appointed 40, the flogger himself was subject to punishment by flogging. To avoid this, the flogging consisted of “40 minus one.”
“... but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.” Deuteronomy 25:3
Paul was subjected to much more than just these five floggings, as we see in 2 Cor. 11:25-28:
25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Beth reminded us that there was one additional incident described by Paul (2 Cor. 11:32-33):
In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
In the history of the church, an uncounted number of Christians have been persecuted for His Name's sake, continuing today in Ethiopia and elsewhere.
Pastor Eddie reminded us of the incident concerning the Apostles before the Sanhedrin. When Peter and some other apostles were arrested, and freed that night from jail by an angel of the Lord, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin, and addressed the men there, saying: “But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Acts 5:39
We were also reminded about what Jesus said in John 16:33:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The triune God continues to work in this world today.
The story of an emerging church in Atlanta was told. It seems that some members of this church had had a profound problem with some of the more recent policies of the ELCA. A group of individuals started to get together just to pray. As others heard about the prayer group, the number attending the group prayer meetings continued to grow and grow. After a recent ELCA decision concerning ordination of homosexual pastors, this group left that church in Atlanta which was one of the largest in the southeast. The number of individuals in the group kept growing, although none of them was reaching out to others. Although the group has only been in existence for less than a year, they are large enough now that they are looking to purchase a building for their continued meetings. As for the original church?, it continues to lose members.
Concerning the homosexuality issue, one of the members reported that on four occasions, she found herself in groups with one particular man. But over time, she gained respect for the man, and they continued to have a cordial relationship while she was in Atlanta.
One of our members made the point that we must never point fingers, but continue to love others, despite their perceived sins, always remembering that we are all sinful, we all fall short of God's expectations. God continues to love us despite our sin, and we must continue to love others if we are professing that we love God and follow His commandments (1. Love God. 2. Love others, “as I have loved you.”). She continued, saying that we must treat everyone with respect, even if we disagree with what they think. 2 Cor. 13:12 (“now I know in part”). Genuine love doesn't reject people. God always stays open to us, ready to forgive. We must do the same.
8. Do you see any significance to the repeating, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem?”
Jesus' heart was breaking. He knew the Father's will, and He too had wanted everyone to be saved. But He also knew that most would not repent. He knew what they were going to do.
These words are filled with tenderness; they come from a breaking heart. The Jews are without feeling, cold and hard as stone; Jesus is surcharged with emotion because of their obdurancy and their consequent inevitable judgment. … These repetitions are the voice of tender love. … “Jerusalem” stands for the nation whose capital and religious citadel this city was. Lenski, p. 921.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem. The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion. The NET Bible.
How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her. The NET Bible.
Jerusalem was the center of Jewish worship, and the use of the name indicated that Jesus was addressing all Jews then (and us today, too).
9. What does this say about God's grace?
It is for all, but it can be resisted.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“I have loved you with an
everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
Jeremiah 31:3
In Genesis, we saw the Lord walking in the Garden and seeking out Adam and Eve. The history of the Jews in the Old Testament shows that the Lord God has repeatedly sought us out. We only saw His anger when His people were unrepentant. But Noah was saved because he was righteous, and the King and the entire city of Nineveh was saved when it repented of its sin, donning sackcloth and ashes.
He continued to seek us out in the New Testament. And Jesus is the ultimate demonstration of the depth of the Father's love. Whenever we turn to the Father, repentant of our sin, we know that He will forgive us, and remember our sins no more. Jeremiah 31:34.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Grace is not irresistible; every case of resistance proves this …. Damnation results from man's own will which becomes permanent, obdurate, unaccountable resistance against God's will of grace. The more God draws the will with the power of grace, the more this will rejects God until grace can do no more. Lenski, p. 923
Jesus criticizes the Pharisees' hypocrisy and obstinacy. Of all the charges that will be laid against God's people on Judgment Day, none is more damning that the accusation that they despised God's Word. Even Jesus' most acrimonious denunciations are motivated by His sincere desire that people turn from sin and death and receive the gift of eternal life. Lutheran Study Bible, p. 1635.
In Hebrews 13, we are reminded:
God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”
We can be comforted, and our faith is strengthened, when we remember that He loves us with “an everlasting love.”
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
10. Does Jesus' closing words of this chapter imply that some Jews will call Him blessed?
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’
Yes! All of the Apostles were Jews. Most of His disciples were Jews. Today, we have organizations such as Jews for Jesus, http://jewsforjesus.org/; Apple of His Eye Ministry, http://www.appleofhiseye.org/,is our Lutheran partner with Jews for Jesus. Many Jews at that time called Him blessed, and others were converted after His crucifixion and resurrection.
And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:39
Note that this verse was used earlier in Matthew's Gospel.
Different use of the psalm sung earlier (Matt. 21:1-9, the entry into Jerusalem). Those who rejected and killed Jesus did not see Him after the resurrection. They will, however, see Him when He returns in glory (Php 2:10-11). Lutheran Study Bible, p. 1635.
“... that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and
under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ
is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians
2:10-11
Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you.
Psalm
118:26
We closed with prayer.
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
"His love endures
forever."
2 Let Israel say:
“His love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
“His love endures
forever.”
4 Let those who fear the LORD say:
“His
love endures forever.”
Parallel Verses
Luke 11:44. “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”
Luke 11:47-51.
47 “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. 48 So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ 50 Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.
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 (24th 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.