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.
.jpg?width=640)
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
At that, Paul left the Areopagus.
“So Paul departed - Seeing there was little hope of saving them. It was not his custom to labor long in a barren field, or to preach where there was no prospect of success.”
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
“After these things - After what occurred at Athens, as recorded in the previous chapter. Came to Corinth - Corinth was the capital of Achaia, called anciently Ephyra, and was seated on the isthmus which divides the Peloponnesus from Attica.”
and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was.
“The same craft - Of the same trade or occupation. And wrought - And worked at that occupation. Why he did it the historian does not affirm; but it seems pretty evident that it was because he had no other means of maintenance.”
And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
“And when Silas and Timotheus ... - They came to Paul according to the request which he had sent by the brethren who accompanied him from Thessalonica, Act 17:15. Paul was pressed - Was urged; was borne away by an unusual impulse.”
So Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titus Justus, a worshiper of God.
“A certain man’s house - Probably he had become a convert to the Christian faith. Joined hard - Was near to the synagogue.”
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent.
“By a vision - Compare the notes on Act 9:10; Act 16:9. Be not afraid - Perhaps Paul might have been intimidated by the learning, refinement, and splendor of Corinth; perhaps embarrassed in view of his duty of addressing the rich, the polite, and the…”
So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching the word of God among the Corinthians.
“And he continued ... - Paul was not accustomed to remain long in a place. At Ephesus, indeed, he remained three years Act 20:31; and his stay at Corinth was caused by his success, and by the necessity of placing a church, collected out of…”
But since it is a dispute about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”
“Of words - A dispute about words, for such he would regard all their controversies about religion to be.”
At this, the crowd seized Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But none of this was of concern to Gallio.
“Then all the Greeks - The Greeks who had witnessed the persecution of Paul by the Jews, and who had seen the tumult which they had excited. Took Sosthenes ...”
When they reached Ephesus, Paul parted ways with Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned with the Jews.
“And he came to Ephesus - See the notes on Rev 2:1-5. This was a celebrated city in Ionia, in Asia Minor, about 40 miles south of Smyrna.”
But as he left, he said, “I will come back to you if God is willing.” And he set sail from Ephesus.
“Keep this feast - Probably the Passover is here referred to. Why he was so anxious to celebrate that feast at Jerusalem, the historian has not informed us.”
After Paul had spent some time in Antioch, he traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
“The country of Galatia and Phrygia - He had been over these regions before, preaching the gospel, Act 16:6. Strengthening - Establishing them by exhortation and counsel. See the notes on Act 14:22.”
He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
“This man was instructed - Greek: was catechised. He was instructed, in some degree, into the knowledge of the Christian religion. By whom this was done we have no information.”
When Apollos resolved to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.
“Into Achaia - See the notes on Act 18:12. The brethren wrote - The brethren at Ephesus. Why he was disposed to go into Achaia the historian does not inform us.”
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples
“While Apollos was at Corinth - It is probable that he remained there a considerable time. Paul, having passed through the upper coasts - The upper, or more elevated regions of Asia Minor.”
“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.
“Unto what - Unto what faith or doctrine. What did you profess to believe when you were baptized? Unto John’s baptism - See the notes on Act 18:25.”
On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
“When they heard this - When they heard what Paul had said respecting the nature of John’s baptism. They were baptized ...”
But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall…
“But when divers - When some were hardened. Were hardened - When their hearts were hardened, and they became violently opposed to the gospel. When the truth made no impression on them.”
God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul,
“Special miracles - Miracles that were remarkable; that were not common, or that were very unusual (οὐ τὰς τυχών ou tas tuchōn). This expression is Classical Greek.”
Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits.
“The vagabond Jews - Greek: Jews going about - περιερχομένων perierchomenōn. The word “vagabond” with us is now commonly used in a bad sense, to denote “a vagrant; a man who has no home; an idle, worthless fellow.””
Eventually, one of the evil spirits answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
“Jesus I know - His power to cast out devils I know. Compare Mat 8:29. Paul I know - Paul’s power to cast out devils, Acts . Act 19:12. But who are ye? - What power have you over evil spirits?”
This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came over all of them.
“The name of the Lord Jesus was magnified - Acquired increasing honor. The transaction showed that the miracles performed in the name of the Lord Jesus by Paul were real, and were performed in attestation of the truth of the doctrine which he taught.”
Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds.
“Their deeds - Their actions; their evil course of life. The direct reference here is to the magical arts which had been used, but the word may also be designed to denote “iniquity” in general.”
And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone.
“Curious arts - Arts or practices requiring skill, address, cunning. The word used here (περίεργα perierga) denotes properly “those things that require care or skill,” and was thus applied to the arts of “magic, jugglery, and sleight of hand” that were practiced so extensively in…”
After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia.
“After these things were ended - After the gospel was firmly established at Ephesus, so that his presence there was no longer necessary. Purposed in the spirit - Resolved in his mind.”