Topic
Good, Chief
25 passages cited, from 1 classic reference work.
These works date from 1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Genesis 1:27ISBE
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
- Psalms 1:1–6ISBE
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a…
- Psalms 16:2ISBE
O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;
- Psalms 41:1–5ISBE
Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The LORD will…
- Psalms 43:5ISBE
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
- Psalms 73:25–28ISBE
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all…
- Proverbs 1:20ISBE
¶ Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
- Proverbs 8:1ISBE
Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
- Jeremiah 2:13ISBE
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
- Jeremiah 17:7ISBE
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
- Jeremiah 31:33ISBE
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
- Micah 6:8ISBE
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Show 13 more
- Habakkuk 3:17–19 ISBE
- Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 1:1 ISBE
- Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 5:1 ISBE
- Matthew 5:43–48 ISBE
- Matthew 5:45 ISBE
- Matthew 6:19 ISBE
- Matthew 6:33 ISBE
- Matthew 13:44 ISBE
- Romans 8:28 ISBE
- 1 Corinthians 15:28 ISBE
- Philippians 3:8 ISBE
- Colossians 3:1–4 ISBE
- Colossians 3:11 ISBE
In the reference works
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 26 references
What this consisted in was greatly discussed in ancient philosophy. Varro enumerated 288 answers to the question. By Plato "the good" was identified with God.
In the Old Testament while the "good" of the nation consisted in earthly well-being or prosperity (De 28 etc.), that of the individual was to be found only in God Himself (Ps 16:2 the Revised Version (British and American), "I have no good beyond thee"; Ps 41:1-5; 43:5; 73:25-28; Jer 31:33 f; Hab 3:17-19). This implied godly conduct (Mic 6:8, etc.), and led to the experience described as "blessedness" (Ps 1, etc.; Jer 17:7, etc.). It is the "Wisdom" extolled in Pr 1:20; 8:1 f (compare Ecclesiasticus 1:1 f; 5:1 f), elsewhere described as "the fear of Yahweh." That God alone can be the true "good" of man is implied in the fact that man was created in the image of God (Ge 1:27).
In the New Testament the true "good" is placed by Jesus in "the kingdom of God" (Mt 6:33; 13:44 f, etc.). This means nothing earthly merely (Mt 6:19), but heavenly and eternal. It implies the Old Testament conception that God is the true "good"; for to seek the Kingdom supremely means whole-hearted devotion to God as our heavenly Father and to His righteousness. It was also spoken of by Jesus, as sonship to the heavenly Father (Mt 5:45, etc.). This "good" is not something merely to be given to men, but must be sought after and won through taking up a right attitude toward God and our fellows, cherishing the Love that God is, and acting it out in kindness and righteousness, in resemblance to our God and Father (Mt 5:43-48; here Ge 1:27 is implied).
In some of the epistles Christ is represented as the true "good" (Php 3:8 f; Col 3:1-4,11). This is because in Him God was manifested in His Truth and Grace; in Him "the Kingdom" was present; through His cross the world is so reconciled to God that men can find acceptance and rest in Him as their "good"; Christ Himself in the Spirit is our Life; in Him we have "God with us." Having God as our "good," nothing but good, in the truest and highest sense, can come to us. Even the most seemingly adverse things are turned into good "to them that love God" (Ro 8:28).
Our true "good" is found thus in God even in this present life; but its fullness can be realized only in the eternal life beyond. Placing our "good" in God leads to such life in devotion to the "good" that God is, as tends to bring all that is best to this present world. It is men's failure to do this that is the source of our misery (Jer 2:13, etc.). The ultimate ideal is that God shall be "all in all" (1Co 15:28).
W. L. Walker
Texts: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.