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
against every high tower, against every fortified wall,
“Every high tower - Towers, or fortresses, were erected for defense and protection. They were made on the walls of cities, for places of observation (compare the note at Isa 21:5), or in places of strength, to be a refuge for an army, and to…”
against every ship of Tarshish, and against every stately vessel.
“And upon all the ships of Tarshish - Ships of Tarshish are often mentioned in the Old Testament, but the meaning of the expression is not quite obvious; see 1Ki 10:22; 2Ch 9:21; 2Ch 20:36-37; Psa 48:7, ...”
Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises…
“And they shall go - That is, the worshippers of idols. Into the holes of the rocks - Judea was a mountainous country, and the mountains abounded with caves that offered a safe retreat for those who were in danger.”
They will flee to caverns in the rocks and crevices in the cliffs, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises…
“To go - That is, that he may go. Clefts of the rocks - see the note at Isa 2:19. Into the tops ... - The tops of such rocks were not easily accessible, and were, therefore, deemed places of safety.”
For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,
“For - This is a continuation of the previous chapter. The same prophecy is continued, and the force of the argument of the prophet will not be seen unless the chapters are read together; see the Analysis prefixed to Isa. 2.”
The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable.
“And the people shall be oppressed - This describes the state of anarchy and confusion which would exist under the reign of children and babes Isa 3:4, when all law would be powerless, and all rights violated, and when the feeble would be oppressed and…”
On that day he will cry aloud: “I am not a healer. I have no food or clothing in my house. Do not make me leader of the people!”
“In that day shall he swear - Hebrew, ישׁא yı̂shā' ‘Shall he lift up’ - that is, the voice, or the hand. To lift up the hand was one of the modes of taking an oath.”
The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
“The show of their countenance - The word rendered “the show” is probably derived from a word signifying “to know,” or “to recognize,” and here denotes “impudence” or “pride.” Septuagint, ‘The shame of their face.’”
Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
“Wo unto the wicked - To all the wicked - but here having particular reference to the Jews whom Isaiah was addressing. It shall be ill with him - The word “ill” is the only word here in the original.”
The LORD arises to contend; He stands to judge the people.
“The Lord standeth up - To “stand up” may mean the same as to “arise.” God would not sit in silence and see their wicked conduct; but he would come forth to inflict on them exemplary and deserved chastisement.”
The LORD brings this charge against the elders and leaders of His people: “You have devoured the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses.
“With the ancients ... - With the old men, the counselors. Ye have eaten up the vineyard - Hebrew ‘Ye have burnt up’ - that is, you have oonsumed or destroyed it.”
Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
“What mean ye - What is your object? Or, What advantage is it to you? Or, By what right or pretence do you do this? Beat my people to pieces - That is, that you trample on them; or cruelly oppress them; Psa 94:5.”
the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”
“Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab - There is some diversity of rendering to this expression. The Septuagint reads it: ‘The Lord will humble the principal daughters of Zion’ - those who belong to the court, or to the families of the princes.”
their pendants, bracelets, and veils;
“The chains - Margin, “sweet balls.” The word used here is derived from the verb נטף nâṭaph, to drop, to fall in drops, or to distil,” as juice from a plant.”
their signet rings and nose rings;
“The rings - Usually worn on the fingers. And nose-jewels - The custom of wearing jewels in the “nose” has generally prevailed in savage tribes, and was common, and is still, in Eastern nations - among the Arabians, Persians, etc.”
and their mirrors, linen garments, tiaras, and shawls.
“The glasses - There is a great variety of opinion about the expression used here. That ancient Jews had “looking-glasses,” or mirrors, is manifest from the account in Exo 38:8. These “mirrors” were made of polished plates of brass.”
Whoever remains in Zion and whoever is left in Jerusalem will be called holy—all in Jerusalem who are recorded among the living—
“He that is left in Zion - This “properly” refers to the remnant that should remain after the mass of the people should be cut off by wars, or be borne into captivity.”
Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night.
“And the Lord will create - The meaning of this verse and the next is, that God would take his people into his holy care and protection.”
I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
“Now will I sing - This is an indication that what follows is poetic, or is adapted to be sung or chanted. To my well-beloved - The word used here - ידיד yedı̂yd - is a term of endearment.”
“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard.
“And now ... - This is an appeal which God makes to the Jews themselves, in regard to the justice and propriety of what he was about to do.”
What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?
“What could I... - As a man who had done what is described in Isa 5:2, would have done all that “could” be done for a vineyard, so God says that he has done all that he could, in the circumstances of the Jews, to…”
Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its…
“Go to - The Hebrew word here is one that is commonly rendered, ‘I pray you,’ and is used “to call the attention to” what is said. It is the word from which we have derived the adverb “now,” נא nā'.”
I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
“In mine ears - This probably refers to the prophet. As if he had said, ‘God has revealed it to me,’ or ‘God has said in my ears,’ i. e, to me.”
For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
“Yea, ten acres - In this verse a reason is rendered why the houses mentioned in the previous verse should become desolate. The reason is, that the land would become sterile and barren, as a divine judgment for their oppression.”
Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
“Wo unto them - The prophet, having denounced “avarice,” proceeds now to another vice - that of “intemperance, or dissipation.” That rise up early ... - That rise “for this purpose,” when nothing else would rouse them.”