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
Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
“The strength of Israel - A phrase which occurs only here. The word means, perpetuity, truth, glory, victory, and trust, or confidence.”
“I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel.
“The pertinacity with which Saul clings to Samuel for support is a striking testimony to Samuel’s integrity. With all his worldly-mindedness Saul could perceive and appreciate the purity of Samuel’s character as a man of God. The Lord thy God - As above, 1Sa 15:15.”
But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
“Hewed in pieces - Only found in this passage. Samuel thus executed the חרם chērem 1Sa 15:3 which Saul had violated, and so both saved the nation from the guilt of a broken oath, and gave a final example to Saul, but apparently in vain…”
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.
“The Spirit ... came upon David - The exact phrase used of the Judges and Saul. See 1Sa 10:6, note; Jdg 3:10, note; Jdg 6:34, note; Jdg 11:29, note; Jdg 14:18, note; Jdg 15:14, note.”
Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you.
“The “evil” or “melancholy” spirit here spoken of was “the Spirit of God,” or “of Jehovah,” as being God’s messenger and minister, sent by Him to execute His righteous purpose upon Saul (see 1Ki 22:19-22 note).”
Let our lord command your servants here to seek out someone who can skillfully play the harp.
“The medicinal effects of music on the mind and body, especially as appeasing anger, and soothing and pacifying a troubled spirit, are well known.”
When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul admired him greatly, and David became his armor-bearer.
“The difficulty of reconciling this verse with 1Sa 17:55-58, is met thus: The words here are the ultimate sequence of David’s first visit to Saul, and of his skill in music, and are therefore placed here; but they did not really come to pass until…”
Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.
“The narrative reverts to the Philistine wars 1Sa 14:52; the other introductory details concerning Saul’s rejection, and David’s introduction upon the stage of the history, having been disposed of in the intermediate chapters.”
The Philistines stood on one hill and the Israelites stood on another, with the valley between them.
“(In the middle of the broad open valley 1Sa 17:2 is a deep trench 1Sa 17:3 with vertical sides, a valley within a valley: the sides and bed of the trench are strewn with water-worn pebbles. (Conder.))”
and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels,
“Coat of mail - Or “breastplate of scales.” A kind of metal shirt, protecting the back as well as the breast, and made of scales like those of a fish; as was the corselet of Rameses III, now in the British Museum.”
The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him.
“Spear’s-head - literally, “the flame of his spear,” the metal part which flashed like a flame. Six hundred shekels - i. e., between seventeen and eighteen pounds avoirdupois.”
So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him.
“The trench - Rather, “the wagons,” which were all put together in the camp so as to form a kind of bulwark or fortification (see 1Sa 26:5, 1Sa 26:7). Here David left his “carriage” 1Sa 17:22, i.”
Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out to defy Israel?
“Free in Israel - In all the other passages (fifteen) where this word occurs, it means free, as opposed to being a slave (Deu 15:12-13, Deu 15:18, etc.)”
David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?
“The living God - This fine expression occurs first in Deuteronomy (marginal reference), and next in Jos 3:10, and 2Ki 19:4. We find it twice in the Psalms of David Psa 42:2; Psa 84:2, four times in the prophets, and frequently in the New Testament.”
Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked.
“Why camest thou down? - From the heights of Bethlehem to the valley of Elah. Thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart - See the similar expression, Jer. 49.”
“What have I done now?” said David. “Was it not just a question?”
“Is there not a cause? - i. e., is not Saul’s promise, and the insolence of Goliath, a sufficent cause for what I am about to do?”
And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all…
“The Lord saveth not with sword ... - Observe the consistent teaching of such passages as 1Sa 14:6; Exo 14:13-18; Jdg 7:2, Jdg 7:4,Jdg 7:7; Psa 44:6, etc., and their practical use to the Church as lessons of trust in God, and distrust of ourselves.”
Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron.
“The men of Israel and Judah - See 1Sa 15:4 note. Shaaraim - A town of Judah in the Shephelah (see the marginal reference), at this time probably in the possession of the Philistines.”
After David had finished speaking with Saul, the souls of Jonathan and David were knit together, and Jonathan loved him as himself.
“Was knit with the soul of David - The same forcible phrase occurs of Jacob’s love for Benjamin (marginal reference). Jonathan’s truly heroic character is shown in this generous love of David, and admiration of his great deed.”
And Saul was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to David,” he said, “but only thousands to me.
“What can he have ... - Rather, “There is only the kingdom left for him.” Compare for the same sentiment, 1Ki 2:22. “A kingdom (says Camden) brooketh no companion, and majesty more heavily taketh injuries to heart.””
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.”
“Saul had not hitherto fulfilled the promise of which David had heard (marginal reference); nor was it unnatural that Saul should delay to do so, until the shepherd’s boy had risen to a higher rank.”
“I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.”
“In the one of the twain - Some prefer “the second time” Job 33:14. The first contract had been broken by giving Merab to Adriel.”
But when Saul’s servants relayed these words to David, he replied, “Does it seem trivial in your sight to be the son-in-law of the king?
“A poor man and lightly esteemed - Compare Psa 119:141. Poor, and therefore unable to pay a sufficient dowry. See 1Sa 18:25.”
Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’”
“An hundred foreskins - This is merely another expression of the spirit which led to the constant application of the epithet uncircumcised to the Philistines 1Sa 14:6.”
When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived,
“The days were not expired - David was so rapid in his attack upon the Philistines that he was able to bring the required dowry within the time, and to receive his wife (Michal), before the time had expired within which he was to receive…”