Who were the 400 outstanding wives in the book of Judges?

        Four hundred young virgins from Jabesh-Gilead (Judg. 21:12-23) were brought into the camp at Shiloh and given as wives to the defeated Benjamites. This incident followed the war started over the Ephraim Levite s concubine, who had been ill-treated by the wicked Sons of Benjamin, who had no wives.
       Grieved that the tribe of Benjamites was now nearly destroyed, the Israelites received them into their favor and found them wives from among their own daughters. After the Benjamites received the four hundred young virgins as wives, they went and repaired their cities and dwelt in them.
       Here is a striking example of how good wives can be the civilizers of men, thus influencing them away from evil into that which is good.

Who was Machir's wife?

       Machir's wife (I Chron. 7:15) was in the line of Zelophehad, who had the five distinguished daughters who declared their property rights. 

"Makir took a wife from among the Huppites and Shuppites. His sister’s name was Maakah. Another descendant was named Zelophehad, who had only daughters." 1 Chronicles 7:15

Who was Artaxerxes' Queen?

        The queen who sat beside Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:6) is only briefly mentioned when Nehemiah came before the king to ask for the commission to build again the wall of Jerusalem. 

"Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time." Nehemiah 2:6

Who was Job's wife?

        Job's wife (Job 2:9; 19:17; 31:10) has been called everything from the "adjutant of the devil" (St. Augustine) to the "faithful attendant upon her husband's misery" (William Blake). She is introduced after Job, one of the richest and greatest men of his time, has been bereft of his cattle, flocks, camels, and all his children. Moreover, he is suffering from a loathsome disease, probably leprosy.
       As he sat on an ash heap outside the city walls, Job still did not blame God. His wife, probably not so faithful and certainly not so patient, cried out, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die." Job 2:9  No doubt Job's wife regarded a quick death as better than long-drawn-out suffering. In those days sudden death was supposed to result from cursing God.
       In this statement we see Job's wife as an ordinary, normal woman. Though a dutiful wife, she probably failed to suffer with her husband in his hour of agony and consequently failed to share with him the marvelous victory of trusting God in spite of not understanding Him.
       There is another side, however, to Job's wife. She had endured her husband's affliction, even the loss of all their children and all their material possessions, and had survived these trials. Like her husband, she was bewildered amid so much calamity. Such a piece of advice as she gave him in his affliction could have been inspired by sympathy and love. Probably she would rather have seen him die than endure such great suffering.
       In the next scene where she is depicted, we find her turning from her husband (Job 19:17), because his breath is so offensive on account of the disease from which he suffered.
       Though Job's wife is not mentioned in the closing chapters, we learn in 42:14 that three daughters, Jemima, Kezia, and Keren-hap-puch, as well as sons, were later born to him. Probably Job's wife arose to new joy, just as he did, and regretted her own lack of faith when she had advised him to "curse God, and die."

Who was Ezekiel's wife?

        Ezekiel s wife (Ezek. 24:16, 17, 18) is referred to as the desire of his eyes. The wife of this prophet-priest of the sixth century B. C. was taken quite suddenly with a stroke. Ezekiel was warned that this would happen but was forbidden to perform the customary mourning rites.
       He restrained his tears and went forth to preach, probably the morning after he had been told that he would lose his wife. In the evening she died. But that morning he spoke to his people on the coming destruction of Jerusalem, when they also would lose loved ones, but he told them that they too must abstain from any outward signs of mourning. Ezekiel's own great grief, only a few hours away, enabled him to speak with greater conviction to those who looked to him for spiritual guidance.
       Doubtless Ezekiel's wife was a godly woman who had helped him serve his small, remote congregation. Their home was a little mud-brick house in a colony of exiles at Tel-abib on the Chebar, an important canal in the Euphrates irrigation system (Ezek. 3:15).

Who were the wives that burned incense to false gods?

       Wives who burned incense to other gods (Jet. 44:15) were Hebrew women who had left Judah and had fled to Pathros, a province of the land of Egypt. They were rebuked by Jeremiah for their idolatrous worship. He forewarned them of the dreadful evils that would befall them if they persisted in their false worship.
       These women presumptuously declared it was their intention to continue in the same course, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, as their fathers had done before them. They saw no evil in such a practice (Jer. 44:19).

Naaman's wife and her little Israelite maid...

Naaman's Little Maid.

        Naaman's wife (II Kings 5:2) had waiting on her a little Israelite maid, who had been captured in a border skirmish. Though Naaman was the successful commander-in-chief of Ben-hadad and had received many military honors and known much good fortune, he was now afflicted with leprosy. Through the maid's sympathetic interest in Naaman's condition he learned of Elisha's healing power. She probably told Naaman's wife, who carried the information to her husband, after which he went to Elisha, and was healed, and accepted the God of Israel as the "only God in all the earth."
       Though Naaman's wife is the background figure in the incident, at least she became a channel for God's healing, because she had the faith to listen to a little maid in her household, insignificant though she was.

What is Meant by "Buy the Truth and Sell It Not?

       The passage in Prov. 23:23 - "buy the truth and sell it not" is not to be interpreted as meaning that both the buying and selling must be wrong. On the contrary, the meaning is that we should get the truth, whatever it may cost us, and that we should not part with it for any consideration, money, pleasure, fame, etc., for it is more precious than all of these. (See Prov. 4:5-7.) The inspired teacher urges us to get the principal thing, the truth, wisdom, understanding; the world's motto is: "Get riches and with all thy getting get more."

What is meant by the passage "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found"?

        It is a wholesome warning that a probable contingency may arise when the seeker, who postpones his search, may lose his power or disposition to seek. There are many instances of men who have put off seeking until they have made a fortune, or done something else, and then the time they set, having arrived, discover that business habits and long-time associations absorb them. They are out of touch with God. Even in church their thoughts are running on worldly concerns. It is very rare for an old man who has been
indifferent, or careless, or wicked, to turn to God. Not that God is unwilling to be found, but the man has become incapable of seeking him. None who really seek ever fail to find. (Isaiah 55:6)

In what sense is it true that "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away?'

        When we use the customary phrase that God takes away any of our friends from this world, it is simply a familiar form of acknowledging submission to his will as the Disposer of all things. Life and death are in his hands. There is nothing irreverent about such an expression. All our blessings come from him and if trial and discipline also come we should accept them in the proper spirit. We should learn to bow to his will, even though it may sometimes try our hearts sorely to do so. (Job 1:21)

Are any by nature "Children of God"?

        There is a large and true sense in which all mankind are children of God. Paul could say to the idolaters at Athens, "We are also his offspring." But there is a higher, closer, nearer sense in which regenerated men only are God's children. John says: "To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." Speaking pointedly to believers, he says, "Beloved, now are we the sons of  God." So there is no discrepancy between Paul and John. The one is speaking of God's children in the large human sense, while the other speaks of them in the restricted, adopted sense. We have, in fact, to recognize four grades of sonship. In the lowest grade there is the whole human family. In the next higher grade we have the regenerated children, who are really children in the spirit. Then in the next grade, we have the angels, who in the Book of Job are specially designated the "Sons of God" (38:7). Then, highest of all, in a sense absolute, unapproachable, divine, we have Jesus Christ, preeminently God's own Son. There is no need, therefore, to stumble at the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God; only we need to distinguish between what is implied in the more outward and the more inward relationship.

What Was Manna?

        It is supposed that the manna of the Israelites was a saccharine exudation of a species of tamarisk, the
sap of which was set flowing by an insect. Several trees yield manna, as the flowering ash of Sicily and
the eucalyptus of Australia. In India a sweet exudation comes from the bamboo, and a similar substance
is obtained from the sugar-pine and common reed of our own country.

What became of Moses' rod?

        There is nothing to show what became of Moses' rod. Aaron's rod, however, is said to have been preserved in the sacred Ark of the Jews along with the tables of the law and the pot of manna.

"Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant." Hebrews 9:3-4

What Two Bible Chapters Are Alike?

        The two chapters in the Bible that are alike are II Kings 19 and Isaiah 37. Both are regarded as the work of Isaiah, relating a series of events which in one book are placed in their proper historical setting and in the other find their true place among the prophecies.

What is the meaning of "Mizpah?"

        Mizpah, or Mizpeh, was the name of several localities in Old Testament history. The word means "a watch-tower'' and in literature the whole of the beautiful remark made by Laban to Jacob has been included in its meaning: "The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from the other." Genesis 31: 149

Who and What Was Melchisedec?

       It is in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis that Melchisedec is historically presented to us. The incident and its record, although so brief, and standing in such singular isolation from the thread of the history which it interrupts, is not only in itself most striking and interesting, but also in its typical teaching profoundly instructive. How suddenly and altogether unexpectedly does Melchisedec here appear before us - a most kingly and majestic form, yet clad in priestly robes, and with the mystic emblems of eucharistic offering - bread and wine - in his hands. We see those priestly hands raised in blessing; we observe the great patriarch, Abraham - the father of the faithful and the Friend of God - bowing before the mysterious priest king, and presenting to him the tithes of all his spoil; and then, as abruptly as it appeared, the vision passes away, and for nearly a thousand years the voice of inspiration utters not again the name of Mechisedec. Then, however, in an ecstatic Psalm of a most distinctly Messianic character, and descriptive of our Lord's exaltation in the day of his power, we meet with it once more in the solemn declaration: "The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec'' Ps. 110:4. Again, something like a thousand years pass away, and then, once more, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews take up the subject of this mysterious personage, who, "Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days, or end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually" Heb. 7:3; and on the two brief references to him, above given, which are all that the Scriptures contain, founds an argument to show the superiority of Christ's priesthood, as being "after the order of Melchisedec'' to that of Aaron, or Levi, which it had superseded.
       Who was Melchisedec? Much labor has been wasted in attempts to answer the question. Later Jewish tradition identified him with Shem; and it is certain that that patriarch was not only alive in the days of Abraham, but even continued to live till Jacob was fifty years old. (Compare Gen. 2:2 with verses 12:26, 21:5, 25:7-26.) According to others he belonged to the family of Ham, or of Japheth; and it has been said that this is necessarily implied by the language of the Apostle when drawing a parallel between Melchisedec and Christ, he says that our Lord belonged to "a tribe of which no man gave attendance at the altar." Some, again, have suggested that he was an incarnate angel, or other superhuman creature, who lived for a time among men. Others have held that he was an early manifestation of the Son of God; and a sect, called the Melchisedecians, asserted that he was "an incarnation of the Holy Ghost." But, in all these conjectures, the fact has been strangely overlooked that the reticence of Scripture on the point is typical and significant, for, could it be determined who Melchisedec really was, it could no longer be said that he was "without father, without mother, without genealogy"; which statement is to be understood, not as implying that he was not a natural descendant of Adam, but that he designedly appears and disappears in the sacred narrative without mention either of his parentage or death.    
       There can, however, be no question that, whoever Melchisedec may have been, he was an eminent type of Christ. This is placed beyond doubt, not only by the language of the 110th Psalm - the Messianic character of which has ever been recognized by Jews and Christians alike - but especially by the argument of the Apostle, in the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in the course of which there occurs the explicit declaration that he was - in the various respects mentioned - "made like unto the Son of God."

Did God give Job into the hands of Satan to be tempted?

        "Tempted" is scarcely the word to use in that case. Job was tried or tested. The question was what his motive was in serving God. Satan with his natural doubt about any one having pure motives, asserted that Job served God only for what he gained by it, and that if his property was taken away from him, he would curse God. So Job was put to the proof, to see what he would do under trial, and whether he was really as disinterested as God believed him to be. The object of the author appears to have been to correct a false view of adversity, which view was prevalent in his time. People had the idea that severe calamities were punishments dealt out by God because of sin. When a man of good moral character, therefore, was in trouble, people suspected that he had sinned secretly, and that God was punishing him for it. It was often a cruel and unjust suspicion. In writing this description, the author evidently was trying to eradicate it. After reading such a book, a man who saw another in trouble, instead of despising him as a sinner, might say, "Perhaps he is being tried as Job was," and so might sympathize instead of blaming him. Our concern should be to learn the lesson the book was designed to teach, rather than to discuss the question whether it is history or parable, for that question cannot now be authoritatively answered.

Is the book if Job a real history or a dramatic allegory?

        Job is believed to have been a real personage - a type of the earliest patriarchs, a man of high intelligence and great faith. The story is cast in dramatic form. Professor S. S. Curry, of Yale and Harvard Divinity Schools, thus outlines it : the place, a hill outside the city ; a rising storm, flashing lightning, rolling thunder and a rainbow; the speakers, God, the patriarch Job, his friends, and Satan; the theme, the mystery of human suffering, and human existence. To which may be added, a sublime faith in the divine wisdom, righteousness and justice. The book of Job is regarded by the highest Bible scholarship as a spiritual allegory. The name Job is derived from an Arabic word signifying "repentance," although Job himself is held to be a real personage. 

“Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD. Ezekiel 14:13-14

"Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains." James 5:2-7

Who was Job?

       According to leading commentators, Job was a personage of distinction, wealth and influence who lived in the north of Arabia Deserta, near the Euphrates, some 1800 B. C. His life was patriarchal, his language the Hebrew of that early day, when it was interspersed with Syriac and Arabic. He lived before Moses. His book is probably the oldest book in the world. It is now interpreted as a public debate in poetic form, dealing with the Divine government. It abounds in figurative language. The "day" mentioned in Job 2:1 was one appointed for the angels to give an account of their ministry to God. Evil is personified in Satan, who also comes to make report. The question to Satan and his response are simply a dramatic or poetic form of opening the great controversy which follows.

What became of King Saul's eldest daughter?

       Merab (I Sam. 14:49; 18:17, 19), King Saul's eldest daughter, who had been promised to David for his prowess in slaying the Philistine Goliath. But Merab was not given to David as had been promised (I Sam. 17:25). In the meantime David was entertained in court and received such adulation from the crowd that King Saul became jealous of him.
       For the hand of his daughter Merab he incited David to more dangerous deeds of valor against the Philistines. By this time King Saul's other daughter, Michal, had shown a fondness for David, and matters were complicated.
       Merab finally was given to Adriel, the Meholathite. The passage in II Sam. 21:8 which seems to designate Michal rather than Merab as the mother of the five sons of Adriel, is thought by scholars to be
a scribal error. These five sons, along with the sons of Saul's concubine Rizpah, were put to death and their bodies were left on the gallows for several months until the rains fell.
       Scholars assume that Merab died comparatively young, leaving her five sons, who were cared for by her sister Michal. In later years they became identified as Michal's own children, when in reality they were Merab's children.