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
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.
“Compare the parallel history of 2 Kings 22 notes; 23:1-30 notes; the writer here being more full on the celebration of the Passover.”
In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to…
“He began to purge Judah - Jeremiah’s first prophecies Jer. 2–3 appear to have been coincident with Josiah’s earlier efforts to uproot idolatry, and must have greatly strengthened his hands.”
They also gave money to the carpenters and builders to buy dressed stone, as well as timbers for couplings and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had…
“The “houses” intended are either the “chambers” which surrounded the temple on three sides 1Ki 6:5, or out-buildings attached to the courts. The “kings of Judah” intended are, no doubt, Manasseh and Amon.”
were over the laborers and supervised all who did the work, task by task. Some of the Levites were secretaries, officers, and gatekeepers.
“Of the Levites there were scribes - Hereto the word “scribe” has never been used to designate a class (compare 1Ki 4:3). But here an order of scribes, forming a distinct division of the Levitical body, has been instituted.”
“Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for those remaining in Israel and Judah concerning the words in the book that has been found.
“For them, that are left in Israel and in Judah - Compare the words in Kings 2Ki 22:13. in both records the intention is to show that the king regarded the ten tribes as being under his care, no less than the two.”
And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the Levites—all the people small and…
“The writer has characteristically substituted “Levites” for the “prophets” of 2Ki 23:2. No doubt Josiah was accompanied by priests, prophets, and Levites, but the writer of Kings thought it enough to mention the two former, and merged the Levites in the mass of the people.”
And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the Israelites, and he required everyone in Israel to serve the LORD their God.
“All his days they departed not - This must be understood in the letter rather than in the spirit. There was no open idolatry in the reign of Josiah, but the reformation was seeming rather than real, superficial rather than searching and complete (compare the…”
To the Levites who taught all Israel and were holy to the LORD, Josiah said: “Put the holy ark in the temple built by Solomon son of David king of…
“Put the holy ark etc - The ark of the covenant may have been temporarily removed from the holy of holies while Josiah effected necessary repairs.”
Moreover, stand in the Holy Place by the divisions of the families of your kinsmen the lay people, and by the divisions of the families of the Levites.
“The sense of this verse probably is: “So divide yourselves that, for every distinct family among the people who come to the Passover, there shall be a portion of a Levitical family to minister.””
Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your fellow countrymen to carry out the word of the LORD given by Moses.”
“Prepare your brethren ... - i. e. “as you minister to your brethren the people, by killing and flaying their offerings and handing the blood to the priests, instruct them how they are to eat the Passover acceptably.””
His officials also contributed willingly to the people and priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the administrators of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 Passover offerings and…
“See the marginal references and note. 2Ch 35:8 His princes - i. e. his ecclesiastical princes, the chief men of the priests and Levites. For the poor families of their own order the leading priests furnished both Passover-cattle and cattle for thank-offerings.”
They set aside the burnt offerings to be given to the divisions of the families of the people to offer to the LORD, as is written in the Book of…
“They removed the burnt offerings - They separated from the Paschal lambs those parts which were to be burned on the altar. These parts they gave to the offerers, who took them up to the altar and handed them to the officiating priests.”
The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer.
“They might not depart - The singers and porters remained at their posts, while other Levites sacrificed for them and brought them their share of the lambs.”
But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What is the issue between you and me, O king of Judah?
“The house wherewith I have war - Necho viewed Babylon as the successor and representative of Assyria - the hereditary enemy of Egypt - and he means that he is merely continuing an old hostility with which Josiah has nothing to do.”
Josiah, however, did not turn away from him; instead, in order to engage him in battle, he disguised himself.
“Disguised himself - Compare the marginal reference. But most modern critics are dissatisfied with this sense in this place, and prefer to render “equipped himself;” or - with the Septuagint - adopt another reading, and render “took courage.””
Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the choirs of men and women sing laments over Josiah.
“Some find Jeremiah’s lament in the entire Book of Lamentations; others in a part of it Lam. 4. But most critics are of opinion that the lament is lost. Days of calamity were commemorated by lamentations on their anniversaries, and this among the number.”
Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
“The narrative runs parallel with 2 Kings (marginal reference) as far as 2Ch 36:13. The writer then emits the events following, and substitutes a sketch in which the moral and didactic element preponderates over the historical.”
Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon some of the articles from the house of the LORD, and he put them in his temple in Babylon.
“In his temple - Compare “the house of his god” Dan 1:2. Nebuchadnezzars inscriptions show him to have been the special votary of Merodach, the Babylonian Mars.”
As for the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominations he committed, and all that was found against him, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings…
“His abominations which he did - See Jer 7:9, Jer 7:30-31; Jer 19:3-13; Jer 25:1 etc.; Jehoiakim appears to have restored all the idolatries which Josiah his father had swept away.”
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
“Eight years old - Rather, eighteen (see the marginal reference). Jehoiachin had several wives and (apparently) at least one child Jer 22:28, when, three months later, he was carried captive to Babylon.”
He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God.
“The oath of allegiance was taken when he was first installed in his kingdom. On Zedekiah’s sin in breaking his oath, see Eze 17:18-20; Eze 21:25.”
Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which…
“Polluted the house of the Lord - Toward the close of Zedekiah’s reign idolatrous rites of several different kinds were intruded into the sacred precincts of the temple (compare Eze 8:10-16).”
So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither…
“The fearful slaughter took place at the capture of the city, in the courts of the temple itself (Eze 9:6-7; compare Lam 2:7, Lam 2:20).”
Those who escaped the sword were carried by Nebuchadnezzar into exile in Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
“Servants - Or, “slaves.” They were probably employed by Nebuchadnezzar in the forced labor which his great works necessitated. His sons - The word probably includes all Nebuchadnezzars successors in the independent sovereignty of Babylon.”
So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD through Jeremiah.
“See the marginal references. The 70 years of desolation prophesied by Jeremiah, commenced in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jer 25:1, Jer 25:12; compare Dan 1:1), or 605 B.C.; and should therefore have terminated, if they were fully complete, in 536 B.C.”