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
Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”
“As birds flying - This is another comparison indicating substantially the same thing as the former, that Yahweh would protect Jerusalem.”
For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.
“For in that day - That is, in the invasion of Sennacherib, and the events that shalt be consequent thereon. Every man shall cast away his idols - (see the note at Isa 30:22; compare the note at Isa 2:20).”
Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is…
“And he shall pass over - Margin, ‘His rock shall pass away for fear.’ The Hebrew would bear this, but it does not convey a clear idea. The sense seems to be this.”
Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.
“Behold, a king - That is, Hezekiah. That it refers to him is apparent from the connection. The reign of Ahaz had been one of oppression and idolatry.”
Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
“And the eyes of them that see ... - The sense of this verse is, that there shall be, under the reign of this wise and pious prince, on the part of the prophets and teachers, a clear view of divine truth, and on the…”
The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.
“The heart also of the rash - Margin, ‘Hasty.’ The Hebrew word denotes those who hasten; that is, those who are precipitate in forming a judgment, or deciding on a course of action.”
No longer will a fool be called noble, nor a scoundrel be respected.
“The vile person - Hebrew, ‘Fool.’ But the connection requires us to understand this as the opposite of liberal; and it means a person who is close, miserly, narrow-minded, covetous. This person is designated, very appropriately, as a fool.”
The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
“The instruments also - In the Hebrew here there is a paronomasia which cannot be imitated in a translation. The word ‘instruments’ here denotes evidently the means by which the churl accomplishes his object; whether it be by words, by judicial decisions, or by crafty…”
Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters.
“Rise up ... - Rosenmuller supposes that this commences a new vision or prophecy; and that the former part Isa 32:9-14 refers to the desolation of Judea by the invasion of Sennacherib, and the latter Isa 32:15-20 to the prosperity which would succeed that invasion.”
In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones. For the grape harvest will fail and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
“Many days and years - Margin, ‘Days above a year.’ This is a literal translation of the Hebrew. Septuagint, ‘Make mention of a day of a year in sorrow, with hope.’ Targum, ‘Days with years.’ Kimchi supposes it means ‘two years.’”
Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists.
“Strip ye, and make ye bare - That is, take off your joyful and splendid apparel, and put on the habiliments of mourning, indicative of a great calamity. And gird sackcloth - (See the note at Isa 3:24).”
and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.
“Upon the land of my people - A description similar to this, in regard to the consequences of the invasion of Sennacherib, is given in Isa 7:20-25 (see the notes at that passage). Yea, upon all the houses of joy - Margin, ‘Burning upon.’”
until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
“Until the Spirit - The Spirit of God, as the source of all blessings, and especially as able to meet and remove the ills of the long calamity and desolation.”
Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.
“Then judgment shall dwell - Or, justice shall make its appropriate dwelling-place there. In the wilderness - In the place that was a wilderness, but that shall now be turned to a fruitful field.”
The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.
“And the work of righteousness - That which righteousness produces; or the effect of the prevalence of righteousness on the nation. Shall be peace - There shall be no internal agitation, and no conflicts with foreign nations.”
Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest.
“And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation - In cities and towns that would not be alarmed bv internal or external foes. And in sure dwellings - In dwellings that would be secure from invasion.”
But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink to the depths.
“When it shall hail - Hebrew, ברדת ברד bârad beredeth - ‘And it shall hail in coming down. There is a paranomasia in the original here, which cannot be expressed in a translation - a figure of speech, which, as we have seen, is common…”
Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
“Wo to thee that spoilest - This description accords entirely with Sennacherib and his army, who had plundered the cities and countries which they had invaded, and who were about to advance to Jerusalem for the same purpose (compare Isa 29:7-8; Isa 37:11).”
The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice; the nations scatter when You rise.
“At the noise of the tumult - Lowth supposes that this is addressed by the prophet in the name of God, or rather by God himself to the Assyrian, and that it means that notwithstanding the terror which he had caused the invaded countries, he…”
Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.
“And your spoil - The booty that the Assyrian army bad gathered in their march toward Jerusalem, and which would now be left by them to be collected by the Jews.”
The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
“The Lord is exalted - (compare Psa 97:9). The prophet here introduces a chorus of the Jews, celebrating the praises of God for delivering them from the Assyrian.”
The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded.
“The highways lie waste - This verse contains a description of the desolations that had been caused by the invasion of Sennacherib. Some have understood it as containing the account which the ambassadors sent by Hezekiah gave of the effects of the invasion.”
The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
“The earth mourneth - The land through which he has passed. For the sense of this phrase, see the note at Isa 24:4. Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down - For the situation of Lebanon, see the note at Isa 10:34.”
“Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.
“Now - This verse commences another transition. In the previous verses, the desolation of the land had been described, and the hopelessness of obtaining any terms of favor from Sennacherib, or of binding him to any compact, bad been stated.”
You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will consume you.
“Ye shall conceive chaff - An address of God to the Assyrians. The figure is one that denotes that their counsels would be in vain.”