Voices and influences
Albert Barnes
The Philadelphia pastor who rose at four every morning to write Bible notes for his own Sunday school, and sold a million volumes of them.
Summary
This site quotes Albert Barnes 8,265 times across 66 books, and lists 0 works.
- Lived 1798 to 1870.
- Quoted here most in Isaiah: 746 of 8,265.
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Albert Barnes
- Lived
- 1798 to 1870
- Tradition
- Presbyterian
5 of 8,265 quotations
Own words
Quoted in full, because Albert Barnes died in 1870 and these works are out of copyright. Each citation below names its edition and its year. A citation naming a modernised text means that edition makes its own editorial changes, and that edition's terms are not in this site's record.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts - Interpreters have differed in regard to the connection of this verse with the preceding.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
It is evident, I think, that it is properly connected with the subject of pardon; and the sense must be, that the plans and purposes of God in regard to forgiveness are as far above those of people as the heavens are higher than the earth, Isa 55:
Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. BSB
He hath shewed thee - Micah does not tell them now, as for the first time; which would have excused them. He says, “He hath shewed thee;” He, about whose mind and will and pleasure they were pretending to enquire, the Lord their God.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
He had shewn it to them. The law was full of it. He shewed it to them, when He said, “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him and to serve the Lord, thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command thee this day for thy good?” Deu 10:12-13. They had asked, “with what outward thing shall I come before the Lord;” the prophet tells them, “what thing is good,” the inward man of the heart, righteousness, love, humility. And what doth the Lord require (search, seek) of thee? - The very word implies an earnest search within. He would say (Rup.), “Trouble not thyself as to any of these things, burnt-offerings, rams, calves, without thee. For God seeketh not thine, but thee; not thy substance, but thy spirit; not ram or goat, but thy heart.” : “Thou askest, what thou shouldest offer for thee? Other thyself. For what else doth the Lord seek of thee, but thee? Because, of all earthly creatures, He hath made nothing better than thee, He seeketh thyself from thyself, because thou hadst lost thyself.” To do judgment - are chiefly all acts of equity; “to love mercy,” all deeds of love. Judgment, is what right requires; mercy, what love. Yet, secondarily, “to do judgment” is to pass righteous judgments in all cases; and so, as to others, “judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” Joh 7:24; and as to one’s self also. Judge equitably and kindly of others, humbly of thyself. […]
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? BSB
(Compare Exo. 39:1-31.) Moses is now commanded to commit all that pertains to the offerings made to the Lord in the sanctuary to the exclusive charge of the members of a single family, who were to hold their office from generation to generation.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
In the patriarchal times, the external rites of worship had generally been conducted by the head of the tribe or family, in accordance with the principle involved in the dedication of the firstborn Exo 13:2; Num 3:12-
Exodus 28:1 “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests. BSB
The leper was to carry about with him the usual signs of mourning for the dead. Compare Lev 10:6 and margin reference.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
The leper was a living parable in the world of the sin of which death was the wages; not the less so because his suffering might have been in no degree due to his own personal deserts: he bore about with him at once the deadly fruit and the symbol of the sin of his race. Exo 20:
Leviticus 13:45 A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ BSB
Chambers - (Margin, floors). Rather, a lean-to, which completely surrounded three sides of the building, the north, the west, and the south.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
1 Kings 6:5 Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms. BSB
Influence, on the record
This site quotes Albert Barnes 8,265 times across 66 books.
This site’s own count of what it does with the voice
The life, in order
The life told as one accountfrom this site's record
Albert Barnes was born at Rome, New York, on December 1, 1798. He was headed for the law. At Hamilton College he was converted, changed direction, and went to Princeton Theological Seminary instead, graduating in 1824. His first pastorate was Morristown, New Jersey, from 1825 to 1830. In 1830 he was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, where he preached until 1867 — thirty-seven years in one pulpit. The habit that made him famous was the alarm clock. Barnes rose at four every morning and wrote until nine, before the day's pastoral work began. What he wrote were notes on the Bible for his own Sunday school teachers and Bible class — plain explanations, verse by verse, aimed at people with no Greek and no library. He published them, beginning with the Gospels in 1832. They did not stop. Notes, Explanatory and Practical eventually covered the whole New Testament and much of the Old — Job, the Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel — and sold more than a million volumes in his lifetime, an astonishing number for the period. Generations of American laymen learned their Bible out of Barnes. He was also tried for heresy. His 1829 sermon The Way of Salvation, and then his notes on Romans in 1835, were charged with departing from the Westminster Confession on original sin and the atonement; Barnes taught that Christ's death was a provision made for all rather than a payment restricted in advance to the elect. The Presbytery of Philadelphia suspended him from the ministry in 1835, and the General Assembly reversed the suspension in 1836. He was acquitted, but the fight was one of the fuses of the Old School–New School division that split the American Presbyterian church in 1837. Barnes stood on the New School side. He fought slavery hard and early. An Inquiry into the Scriptural Views of Slavery (1846) took up the biblical arguments the Southern churches used and dismantled them one at a time; The Church and Slavery followed in 1857. The books were read widely in the North during the years the country came apart. His eyesight failed badly in later life, and he kept working with help. He resigned the pulpit in 1867 and died in Philadelphia on December 24, 1870, at seventy-two. What he left is unusual for a scholar. Not a monument — a tool. A working pastor's commentary, written before breakfast for people who had no one else to explain the text, still in print and still free more than a century and a half later. Sources: Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the New Testament and An Inquiry into the Scriptural Views of Slavery; the published minutes of the Presbyterian General Assembly, 1835–1837; Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church; George Marsden, The Evangelical Mind and the New School Presbyterian Experience.
8,265 quotations across 66 books
Where this voice is quoted
From Zebulun: 50,000 fit for service, trained for battle with all kinds of weapons of war, who with one purpose were devoted to David.
“Expert in war ... - Rather “arrayed for battle with all harness of battle, who set the battle in array with no double heart,” excelling, that is, in the matter of their arms and accoutrements.”
Then David conferred with all his leaders, the commanders of hundreds and of thousands.
“The captains ... - Such an organisation had probably been established generally through the tribes prior to the time of David: but David seems to have been the first to recognize in these officers of the host representatives of the people, to consult them on…”
Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters, to build a palace for him.
“Compare 2Sa 5:11-25, the only important variations from which are in 1Ch 14:4-7, the list of the sons of David (see 1Ch 3:1 note), and in 1Ch 14:12, where the fact is added that the idols taken from the Philistines were burned.”
There the Philistines abandoned their gods, and David ordered that they be burned in the fire.
“When they had left their gods there - The practice of carrying images of the gods to battle was common among the nations of antiquity, and arose from the belief that there was virtue in the images themselves, and that military success would be obtained…”
David constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.
“And pitched for it a tent - The old “tent” or “tabernacle” was still in existence at Gibeon 1Ch 16:39; 2Ch 1:3; but the ark had long been separated from it, and David probably thought that something newer and more magnificent was requisite.”
From the Kohathites, Uriel the chief and 120 of his relatives;
“The sons of Kohath - The order of the sons of Levi according to primogeniture is, Gershom, Kohath, Merari Gen 46:11; Exo 6:16. But the Kohathites, of whom came the priestly family of the Aaronites, had precedence in all respects.”
It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the LORD our God burst forth in anger against us.
“The “due order” was that the ark should be borne on the shoulders of Kohathite Levites - not that it should be placed upon a cart, drawn by oxen, and rudely shaken.”
David also told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers to lift up their voices with joy, accompanied by musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals.
“The singers - Singing had long been recognized as appropriate to religious ceremonies Exo 15:21; Jdg 5:1; 1Ch 13:8; but this is the first occasion on which we find the duty of conducting musical services expressly laid on the Levites.”
And Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres according to Sheminith.
“Harps on the Sheminith - “Sheminith” properly means “the eighth,” and has been compared with the modern musical term “octave.””
Now David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, as well as the singers and Chenaniah, the director of…
““Fine linen” (byssus) is here first spoken of as used for dress. It seems to have been reserved for nobles of the highest rank Est 8:15, for kings, and for priests 2Ch 5:12.”
David appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to celebrate, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.
“This passage is interposed by the writer of Chronicles between two sentences of the parallel passage in Samuel. It contains a detailed account of the service which David instituted at this time, a service out of which grew the more elaborate service of the temple.”
I will be his Father, and he will be My son. And I will never remove My loving devotion from him as I removed it from your predecessor.
“My son - The minatory clause which occurs after this in Samuel is here omitted, because the writer is not about to record the sins of Solomon, or the sufferings 1 Kings 11:9-40 which he thereby brought upon himself.”
And as if this was a small thing in Your eyes, O God, You have spoken about the future of the house of Your servant and have regarded me as…
“Hast regarded me ... - i. e., “Thou hast elevated me above other men, by making my kingdom perpetual, regarding me as if I were a man of high degree.” Compare the 2Sa 7:19 note.”
What more can David say to You for so honoring Your servant? For You know Your servant,
“For the honor of thy servant - i. e., “for the honor which Thou hast done for Thy servant.” The Septuagint omits “Thy servant,” and renders it: “What can David say more to Thee to glorify Thee? For Thou knowest,” etc.”
so that Your name will be established and magnified forever when it is said, ‘The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God over Israel.’
“Some prefer, “And let Thy name be established and magnified forever:” i. e., “Let not only Thy promise stand firm, but let Thy Name also stand firm (continue to be held in honor) and be magnified,” etc.”
And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to console Hanun concerning his father.
“Hanun - A Philistine king of this name is mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions as paying tribute to Tiglath-pileser and warring with Sargon.”
So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, as well as the king of Maacah with his troops, who came and camped near Medeba while the Ammonites came from their…
“They hired thirty and two thousand chariots - The reading is corrupt. Such a number as 32,000 chariots alone was never brought into battle on any occasion. Compare the numbers in Exo 14:7; 1Ki 10:26; 2Ch 12:3.”
Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
“As the books of Scripture are arranged in our Version, Satan is here for the first time by name introduced to us.”
And Joab reported to David the total number of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, including 470,000 in Judah.
“In 2Sa 24:9 the numbers are different. The explanation there given is not so generally accepted as the supposition that the numbers have, in one passage or the other (or possibly in both), suffered corruption.”
between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague…
“And the angel of the Lord destroying ... - These words are not in Samuel, which puts the third alternative briefly. They prepare the way for the angelic appearance 1Ch 21:16, on which the author is about to lay so much stress.”
When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David…
“Here a picture of awful grandeur takes the place of the bare statement of the earlier historian 2Sa 24:17. And here, as elsewhere, the author probably extracts from the ancient documents such circumstances as harmonize with his general plan.”
Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
“It has been observed that it is only in books of a late period that Angels are brought forward as intermediaries between God and the prophets.”
So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site.
“Compare the marginal reference and note. It may also be conjectured that we should read “six” for “six hundred” here; since, according to the later Jewish system, six gold shekels were nearly equal in value to fifty silver ones.”
Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God, as well as the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
“This is the house of the Lord God - The double miracle - that of the angelic appearance and that of the fire from heaven - had convinced David that here he had found the destined site of that “house” which it had been told…”
And David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent—famous and glorious throughout all lands.
“Young and tender - The exact age of Solomon at this time is uncertain; but it cannot have been more than 24 or 25. It may have been as little as 14 or 15. Compare the 1Ki 2:2 note.”