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
Yet in the latter days I will restore Moab from captivity,” declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.
“Bring again the captivity - (Or, “restore the prosperity.”) A similar promise is given to Egypt, Ammon, and Elam Jer 46:26; Jer 49:6. Thus far ... Moab - An editorial note by the same hand as the last words of Jer 51:64.”
Concerning the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Is he without heir? Why then has Milcom taken possession of Gad?
“Hath Israel no sons? - i. e., the Ammonites in seizing Gilead have acted as if the country had no rightful owner. The sons of Israel were to return from captivity, and the land was their hereditary property.”
Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites.
“Rabbah - i. e., the “great city.” See 2Sa 12:27 note for a distinction between Rabbah, the citadel, and the town itself, lying below upon the Jabbok. Daughters - i. e., unwalled villages (and in Jer 49:3). Shall Israel be heir ... - i.”
Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed; cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!
“Ai - Not the town on the west of the Jordan Jos 7:2; a place not mentioned elsewhere. For Ai some read Ar.”
Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
“Edom stretched along the south of Judah from the border of Moab on the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean and the Arabian deserts, and held the same relation to Judah which Moab held toward the kingdom of Israel.”
Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report; they are agitated like the sea; their anxiety cannot be calmed.
“Though the superscription is confined to Damascus, the prophecy relates to the whole of Aram, called by us Syria, which was divided into two parts, the northern, of which Hamath was the capital, and the southeastern, belonging to Damascus.”
Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee. Panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her like a woman in labor.
“And turneth - Omit and. The original is a rapid sequence of unconnected sentences. “Damascus is unnerved; she turned to flee, and a trembling seized her; anguish and writhings took hold of her etc.””
How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town that brings Me joy?
“An exclamation of sorrow wrung from the prophet at the thought of the people of Damascus remaining to be slaughtered. The words my joy express the prophet’s own sympathy.”
They will take their tents and flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. They will take their camels for themselves.
“Curtains - The hangings of the tents. Fear is on every side - Magor-missabib (see Jer 6:25 note); a cry, indicating the panic which followed the unexpected onset of the enemy.”
Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, one that dwells securely,” declares the LORD. “They have no gates or bars; they live alone.
“The wealthy nation - Or, a nation at rest, living securely and in confidence. Which dwell alone - They dwell alone, i. e., have neither alliances with other nations, nor contact by commerce.”
“Yet in the last days, I will restore Elam from captivity,” declares the LORD.
“Elam - Elam was subject to Babylon Dan 8:2, and its capital Shushan a favorite residence of the Persian kings Est 1:2.”
For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee.”
“Out of the north - Media lay to the northwest of Babylon. This constant use of the north, the quarter where the sun never shines, and therefore the region of darkness, is symbolic of the region from where danger ever comes. They shall remove ...”
All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their…
“Offend not - i. e., “are not guilty.” Israel having left the fold, has no owner, and may therefore be maltreated with impunity.”
For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north.
“I will raise - Or, stir up. An assembly of great nations - The Medo-Persian empire was as much an aggregate of discordant nations as that of Babylon. From thence - From the north, i. e., by the great nations coming thence.”
Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down.
“Shout - i. e., spoken of the war-cry. So in Isa 42:13, where God is compared to a warrior, it is said He shall shout (the King James Version cry), i. e., raise the war-cry.”
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time.
“The population is to be destroyed so utterly that the rich fields of Babylonia are to remain untilled.”
Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
“Israel is a scattered sheep - i. e., is like a flock which has been scared and driven in all directions, for lions have chased him. First the king ...”
I will return Israel to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
“Or, “I will bring Israel (the scared sheep) back to his pasturage (see Jer 50:7) and he shall graze etc.” The places named are the districts of Palestine most famous for their rich herbage.”
Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction. Do all that I have commanded you,” declares the LORD.
“The land of Merathaim - of double rebellion. Like Mitsraim, i. e., the two Egypts, Aram-Naharaim, i. e., Syria of the two rivers, or Mesopotamia, it is a dual.”
How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
“The hammer - Babylon, by whose instrumentality Yahweh had crushed the nations, is now cut asunder, i. e., the head of iron or bronze is cut away from the wooden handle, and broken.”
The LORD has opened His armory and brought out His weapons of wrath, for this is the work of the Lord GOD of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
“By a grand figure the prophet describes Yahweh arming Himself that in person He may execute justice upon the wicked city. For this is the work - Rather, for my Lord Yahweh of hosts hath a work to do in the land of the Chaldaeans.”
Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape.
“Or, “Summon the archers to Babylon, even all who bend the bow: encamp against her etc.” In this portion of the prophecy the capture of Babylon is regarded as the punishment due to her for burning the temple Jer 50:28.”
Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those…
“Redeemer - i. e., גאל gā'al. Yahweh is Israel’s next relative, bound by law to avenge him, as well as to ransom him from captivity. It was the Go’el’s duty also to plead his kinsman’s cause.”
A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men.
“Omit “is.” A summons comes from Yahweh, Israel’s Goel, to the sword to fall upon all the elements of Babylon’s greatness. The princes were her rulers at home and her generals in war.”
Behold, an army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are stirred up from the ends of the earth.
“An application to Babylon of the doom against Jerusalem Jer 6:22-24. Jer 50:41 The coasts of the earth - See the Jer 6:22 note.”