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
But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.
“But every man - Everyone, including Christ as well as others. In his own order - In his proper order, rank, place, time.”
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
“For he must reign - It is fit, or proper (δει dei), that he should reign until this is accomplished. It is proper that the mediatorial kingdom should continue till this great work is effected.”
For “God has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that everything has been put under Him, this clearly does not include the One who put everything under…
“For he hath put - God has put by promise, purpose, or decree. All things under his feet - He has made all things subject to him; or has appointed him to be head over all things; compare Mat 28:18; Joh 17:2; Eph 1:20-22.”
If these things are not so, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?
“Else what shall they do ... - The apostle here resumes the argument for the resurrection which was interrupted at 1Co 15:19.”
I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“I protest - (νὴ nē). This is a particle of swearing, and denotes a strong asseveration. The subject was important; it deeply interested his feelings; and he makes in regard to it a strong protestation; compare Joh 3:5. “I solemnly affirm, or declare.””
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
“Be not deceived - By your false teachers, and by their smooth and plausible arguments. This is an exhortation. He had thus far been engaged in an argument on the subject.”
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”
“But some man will say - An objection will be made to the statement that the dead will be raised. This verse commences the second part of the chapter, in which the apostle meets the objections to the argument.”
And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else.
“And that which thou sowest - The seed which is sown. Not that body that shall be - You sow one kernel which is to produce many others. They shall not be the same that is sown.”
Not all flesh is the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another, and fish another.
“All flesh is not the same flesh - This verse and the following are designed to answer the question 1Co 15:35, “with what bodies do they come?””
The sun has one degree of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
“There is one glory of the sun ... - The sun has one degree of splendor, and the moon another, and so also the stars. They differ from each other in magnitude, in brightness, in beauty.”
It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
“It is sown in dishonour - In the grave, where it is shut out from human view; hurried away from the sight of friends; loathsome and offensive as a mass turning to decay.”
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
“And so it is written, - Gen 2:7. It is only the first part of the verse which is quoted. The first man Adam was made a living soul - This is quoted exactly from the translation by the Septuagint, except that the apostle has…”
And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.
“And as we have borne the image of the earthy - As like our first father, we are frail, decaying, dying; as we are so closely connected with him as to be like him.”
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
“Behold I show you - This commences the third subject of inquiry in the chapter, the question, what will become of those who are alive when the Lord Jesus shall return to raise the dead?”
For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
“For this corruptible ... - It is necessary that a change should take place, either by dying and then being raised, or by being changed without seeing death; for we cannot enter heaven as we are now.”
“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”
““O death.” This triumphant exclamation is the commencement of the fourth division of the chapter, the practical consequences of the doctrine.”
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
“But thanks be to God; - See the notes at Rom 7:25. Which giveth us the victory - Us who are Christians; all Christians. The victory over sin, death, and the grave. God alone is the author of this victory.”
Now about the collection for the saints, you are to do as I directed the churches of Galatia:
“Now concerning the collection for the saints - The use of the article here shows that he had mentioned it to them before, and that it was a subject which they would readily understand.”
Then, on my arrival, I will send letters with those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem.
“Whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters - There has been great variety of opinion in regard to the proper construction of this verse.”
After I go through Macedonia, however, I will come to you; for I will be going through Macedonia.
“Now I will come unto you - I purpose to come unto you. He had expected to see them on his way to Macedonia, but, on some account, had been induced to abandon that design. See the notes at 2Co 1:15-17.”
For I do not want to see you now only in passing; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.
“For I will not see you now by the way - On the way to Macedonia. Something had occurred to change his mind, and to induce him to go to Macedonia by another way.”
But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,
“But I will tarry at Ephesus - This passage proves that this letter was written from Ephesus. It is by such indications as this usually that we are able to determine the place where the Epistles were written.”
No one, then, should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he can return to me, for I am expecting him along with the…
“Let no man, therefore, despise him - Let no one despise him on account of his youth and inexperience.”
Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.
“Watch ye - The exhortation in this and the following verse is given evidently in view of the special dangers and temptations which surrounded them.”
The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.
“The churches of Asia - The word “Asia” in the New Testament usually denotes Asia Minor in general; see the note on Act 2:9.”